FC Metalist Kharkiv
 | |||
| Full name | Football Club Metalist Kharkiv | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Zhovto-Syni (Yellow-Blues) | ||
| Founded | 1925 | ||
| Ground | Metalist Stadium (Capacity: 38,633) | ||
| Chairman | Oleksandr Yaroslavsky | ||
| Manager | Myron Markevych | ||
| League | Ukrainian Premier League | ||
| 2010–11 | 3rd | ||
| |||
FC Metalist Kharkiv (Ukrainian: ФК «Металіст» Харків) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kharkiv. It competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, the highest football level in the country. Founded in 1925, the team worked its way up the rungs of the Soviet football system, eventually being promoted to the Soviet Top League in 1960. After a rough period which included relegation, Metalist was promoted to the Top League again in 1982, where it remained until the league's dissolution. The team has won the Soviet Cup once, and were runners-up once. They have also won the bronze title of the Ukrainian Premier League five times in a row, starting in the 2006–07 season.
Metalist's home is the 38,633 capacity multi-use Metalist Stadium. The stadium was originally built in 1926. Recently, it was reconstructed to host Euro 2012 football matches to reach its current capacity.
History
USSR competitions
The team has played under the following names: KhPZ (1936–1946), Dzerzhinets (1947–1956), Avangard (1956–1965), Metallist (1965–1991) and FC Metalist (since 1992). FC Metalist Kharkiv was initially founded in 1925, when a local train construction facility (KhPZ) provided funding and allowed use of its territory to start a football club. Ten years later, the club won the city of Kharkiv championship, which allowed the club to enter the USSR Cup in the following season. Following World War II, the club resumed its play in local competitions, promoting itself to the Soviet Second League B in 1947 only to be demoted three seasons later.
In 1956, Metalist returned to the Soviet Second League B and would be promoted at first to Soviet First League in 1958 later to the Soviet Top League in 1960. She stayed in Top League for 4 seasons and demoted to First League in 1963. She continued her decline and demoted to Second League. In 1978, the club was promoted to the Soviet First League and two years later, the club finished third in the competition barely missing promotion to the top flight. The following season, the club improved on their previous performance and won the Soviet First League outright to earn a spot in Soviet Top League. The club would appear in the remaining 10 seasons of the Soviet Top League with several successes on the domestic front. In 1983, Metalist was the runner-up in the USSR Cup (losing 1–0 to Shakhtar Donetsk) and a few years later in 1988 would win the cup, beating Torpedo Moscow by a score of 2–0. As a result, Metalist Kharkiv earned a trip to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Metalist would only advance to the 1/16 finals of the competition, beating Yugoslavian side Borac Banja Luka and losing to the Dutch club Roda JC.
Ukrainian Premier League
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the formation of an independent Ukraine, Metalist would take part in the premier season of the Ukrainian Premier League in 1992. That season, Metalist took 5th place, an achievement it would never top until the 2006–07 season, finishing in 5th place three more times since, the most notable coming during the 2001–02 season. The club finished with 40 points, on par with FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for a three-way tie. Metalist was expected to take 4th place (and subsequently compete in the UEFA Cup) by virtue of having the best three-way head-to-head record among the three teams (which is the official tie-breaker to be used in domestic competitions), but following a protest by FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya and an arbitrary decision by PFL (the administrative body of the UPL), FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya was awarded 4th place on grounds that they had better head-to-head records independently against either side. Following unsuccessful protests from Metalist, a disheartened management, team and fan base would see the club finish last the following season and earning a demotion to the Ukrainian First League. However, the club would return to the UPL after one season and following a financial crisis and a takeover of the club by UkrSibbank co-owner Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, steady investment would see Metalist show improvement and balanced performance.
European Competitions
In the 2006–07 season, Metalist finished third place in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Cup 2007–08, for their second appearance in a UEFA competition. They were drawn against English club Everton. The first leg, away at Goodison Park, ended in a 1–1 draw. Everton won the second leg 3–2, eliminating Metalist.
Metalist's next European competition was the UEFA Cup 2008–09 season. Metalist beat Beşiktaş 4–2 on aggregate in the first round to qualify for the group stage. Here they were grouped with Galatasaray, Olympiacos, Hertha Berlin, and Benfica. Metalist finished top of the group, beating Galatasaray, Olympiacos, and Benfica, and drawing 0–0 with Hertha. In the Round of 32 Metalist defeated Italian club Sampdoria 3–0 on aggregrate, setting up for an all-Ukrainian Round of 16 tie versus Dynamo Kyiv. After losing in Kiev 1–0, Metalist won the return leg to win the match 3–2, but were eliminated on the away goals rule.
Stadium
Sponsors
The main sponsor is DCH – , the club technical sponsor is Adidas.
Honours and achievements
Ukraine
USSR
Players
Current squad
As of November 19, 2011: Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Former players
Player records
Top goalscorers
Most appearances
Former coaches
|
|
League and Cup history
Soviet Union
Ukraine
Metalist in Europe
See also
References
- Notes
External links
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FC_Metalist_Kharkiv&oldid=463440588
