Teams
The league returned to a ten-team circuit after having been forced to play the 2011 season with only nine teams, following the withdrawal of SK Blāzma a few weeks before the season commenced. As a consequence of the Blāzma withdrawal, no team was directly relegated.
2011 Latvian First League champions FS METTA/Latvijas Universitāte from Riga were directly promoted. The team, which was founded by the METTA football school and the University of Latvia in 2007, entered the Higher League for the first time in their history.
JFK Olimps/RFS finished the 2011 season in ninth place and were therefore required to compete in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off against First Division runners-up Spartaks Jūrmala. Spartaks won the play-off 4–1 on aggregate and were therefore promoted to the Higher League. Similar to METTA/LU, they made their debut at the highest level of the Latvian football pyramid. Accordingly, Olimps/RFS were relegated to the First League after five seasons at the top flight.
Stadiums and locations
Following the promotion of FK Spartaks, the city of Jūrmala should have featured three clubs during the 2012 season, one more than the capital, Riga, but FK Jūrmala-VV moved to Riga, changing their name to Daugava Riga.
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
 FC Daugava
|
Daugavpils | Daugava Stadium | 4,100 |
 FK Daugava Rīga
|
Riga | Daugava Stadium | 5,000 |
 FB Gulbene
|
Gulbene | Gulbenes Sporta Centrs | 1,500 |
 FK Jelgava
|
Jelgava | Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs | 2,200 |
 FC Jūrmala
|
Jūrmala | Slokas Stadium | 5,000 |
 SK Liepājas Metalurgs
|
Liepāja | Daugava Stadium | 5,083 |
| FS Metta/LU
|
Riga | Rīgas 49. vidusskola Stadium | 250 |
| Skonto FC
|
Riga | Skonto Stadium | 10,000 |
| FK Spartaks Jūrmala
|
Jūrmala | Slokas Stadium | 5,000 |
 FK Ventspils
|
Ventspils | Olimpiskais Stadium | 3,200 |
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Daugava |  Ivan Tabanov
|
 Jurijs Sokolovs
|
Erreà | — |
| FK Daugava Rīga | Jurijs Popkovs
|
Vadims Gospodars
|
Adidas | — |
| FB Gulbene | Mihails Koņevs
|
Alberts Nikoļskis
|
Erreà | Piebalga |
| FK Jelgava | Dainis Kazakevičs
|
Valērijs Redjko
|
Macron | LDz Cargo |
| FC Jūrmala | Vladimirs Pačko
|
Maksims Daņilovs
|
Givova | — |
| SK Liepājas Metalurgs | Jānis Intenbergs
|
 Tomas Tamošauskas
|
Adidas | — |
| FS Metta/LU | Andris Riherts
|
Romāns Rožkovskis
|
Nike | SMS Credit.lv |
| Skonto FC | Marians Pahars
|
Germans Māliņš
|
Kappa | — |
| FK Spartaks Jūrmala | Arminas Narbekovas
|
Nauris Bulvītis
|
Masita | — |
| FK Ventspils | Jurģis Pučinskis
|
Vitālijs Smirnovs
|
Adidas | VK Tranzīts |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daugava Daugavpils |  Leonid Nazarenko
|
Sacked | 2011-12-22 | pre-season | Ravil Sabitov
|
2011-12-22 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | Artūrs Šketovs
|
Sacked | 2012-02-02 | pre-season | Oļegs Blagonadeždins
|
2012-02-02 |
| Daugava Daugavpils | Ravil Sabitov
|
Sacked | 2012-04-29[2] | 5th | Ivan Tabanov
|
2012-05-05 |
| Liepājas Metalurgs | Vladimirs Osipovs
|
Sacked | 2012-05-01[3] | 6th | Jānis Intenbergs
|
2012-05-24 |
| FK Ventspils |  Sergey Podpaly
|
Sacked | 2012-05-18[4] | 4th | Jurģis Pučinskis
|
2012-05-18 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | Oļegs Blagonadeždins
|
Sacked | 2012-07-20 | 4th | Arminas Narbekovas
|
2012-07-23 |
