The following years brought more and more disappointments for Daugava with the team failing to leave an impression among Class B squads.
The first season there was by far the best – the 12th position among 22 teams, including 2 wins against the eventual league winners – Torpedo Moscow.
This season was one of the best for Georgijs Smirnovs, it also was one of the best for the Lithuanian goalkeeper Vladas Tučkus who had won the Soviet Championship in 1956 with Spartak Moscow but had trouble recapturing his previous form afterwards.
In 1967 Daugava was very close to promotion to Class A – it finished second after Dynamo Kirovabad and a win with a four-goal difference in the last match would have put Daugava first, however a missed penalty from Gunārs Ulmanis and a rather bleak second half of the last match didn't let that happen.
The failure to get a promotion to the top division brought changes to the Daugava team with the results getting worse from year to year and in 1971 Daugava was relegated to the Second League (third division of Soviet football) where it joined another Latvian team – Zvejnieks Liepāja.
Climbing back the first league proved to be a tough task – despite being close to the top every season only in 1975 Daugava managed to get a promotion.
But it wasn't enough – as the top division was shortened after the 1985 season Daugava had to participate in a playoff tournament where it finished last despite a draw and a win against CSKA Moscow.