In 2022, RFS became only the 2nd Latvian club to qualify for European group stages since FK Ventspils in the 2009/10 season, after beating Linfield in a play-off tie.

However, in early 2016 the Latvian Football Federation revoked the league licence of Skonto FC and awarded it to the club, which re-branded itself simply to RFS and returned to the top flight once again.

Learning that they were going to play in the higher league less than a month before the new season began, the club had to act fast by bringing in experienced players, mostly from Skonto FC.

With completely new management and identity, RFS started their first official season in the Virslīga and finished 6th, just 5 points ahead of the relegation play-off spot.

In the 2017 season, Andrejs Kaļiņins took over as RFS brought in more new faces, including former Watford and CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandrs Cauņa, Liepaja's Roberts Savaļnieks, and Georgian defender Lasha Shergelashvili.

RFS under Dambrauskas showed very good attacking football, scoring 57 goals in 28 games that season, which was the highest ratio in the league.

In the outgoing Kaspars Dubra and Lasha Seregashvili's places came the center-back partnership of Vitālijs Jagodinskis and Nauris Bulvītis from FK Ventspils.

RFS won their first ever title that year, as they defeated FK Jelgava 3–2 in the Latvian Cup final, thanks to an extra-time winner by Tomas Šimkovic.

That same season, RFS also made their debut on the European stage as they faced the Slovenian Cup winners NK Olimpija Ljubljana in the Europa League 1st qualifying round.

In the market, RFS saw the signing of Slovenian defender Žiga Lipušček, midfielders Leonel Strumia and Tomislav Šarić, and a young Brazilian prospect forward Emerson Deocleciano on loan from NK Lokomotiva.

Nevertheless, this was a breakout season for the Brazilian loanee Emerson, who managed to find the back of the net 11 times for RFS, also becoming Virslīga's top scorer that year.

Another notable player who left the squad was Latvian winger Jānis Ikaunieks, who joined Finnish side KuPS on a free transfer.

With summer approaching also came the qualifying stages for European club competitions, as RFS faced Faroese side KI Klaksvik in the 1st qualification round, snatching a 6–5 win on aggregate thanks to Tomislav Šarić's winner away from home in extra time.

With some of these funds, RFS brought in forward Kevin Friesenbichler, Deniss Rakels, and a young Serbian striker Andrej Ilić to hopefully replace him.

And thanks to a single goal from Brazilian midfielder Lucas Villela, RFS lifted the Latvian Cup trophy for the second year in a row.

However, just 3 days later, RFS secured an important win against BFC Daugavpils to stay ahead of the reigning champions Riga FC.

In the last matchday away to Daugavpils, with goals from Andrej Ilić and Tomáš Šimkovič, RFS became the champions of Latvia for the first time in their history, which eventually also completed a continental double.

In the Conference League 3rd qualifier round, they were drawn together with Maltese champions Hibernians, and in the 1st leg in Riga, despite the away team going down to 10 men, RFS were unable to take the lead as they eventually conceded, but a goal from Andrej Ilić managed to scrape a late draw.

They lost their opening game in their new training and facility complex, LNK Sporta Parks, 3–2 to relegation candidates SK Super Nova.

They consisted of a Latvian player from an academy in Italy, Dmitrijs Zelenkovs, alongside Brazilian winger Bill, who was loaned in from Ukrainian side Dnipro-1.

The last group match was at home versus Fiorentina, but despite scoring a goal, which was later disallowed, RFS lost 3–0 as their first ever European run came to an end.

At the start of the 2023 season, Tomáš Šimkovič, Kevin Friesenbichler, and Tomislav Šarić all left the club as many experienced Latvian players arrived – Mārcis Ošs, Roberts Savaļnieks, and Jānis Ikaunieks.

[7] The team began the season below expectations with just 2 wins in their first 5 matches, but slowly gained form and were the only unbeaten side in the league by the time the European qualifiers arrived.

With just 8 Gameweeks to go, the next match between RFS and Riga FC was considered the title decider as both teams faced each other for the fourth time this season and once again drew.

Back in Riga, RFS obtained a crucial penalty converted by Jānis Ikaunieks, granting them their second Latvian championship title.

[8] In the Europa League third qualifying round, RFS played Andorran champions UE Santa Coloma, winning by a score of 9–0 on aggregate.

In the Europa League playoff round, they faced the Cypriot champions APOEL FC, and shocked them by winning 4–2 on penalties, after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

[10] On 23 January 2025, RFS won their first-ever match in a European group or league stage, defeating Dutch club Ajax 1-0 in Riga, thanks to a goal from Adam Markhiyev.

In 2022, RFS also became only the second Latvian side to qualify for European competitions after defeating Linfield in the UECL play-off round and securing their place in the group phase.

There is a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in the Virslīga, RFS and Riga FC, made their debuts at the same time.