FC Metalist Kharkiv

Metalist Kharkiv

Full name	Football Club Metalist Kharkiv
Nickname(s)	Hor'ky (The Weasels)
Founded	11 December 1925
Ground	OSC Metalist
Capacity	40,003
Owner	Serhiy Kurchenko
President	Serhiy Kurchenko
Head coach	Oleksandr Pryzetko
League	Ukrainian Premier League
2014–15	6th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Football Club Metalist Kharkiv (Ukrainian: Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків [mɛtɐ'list 'xɑrkiw]) is a Ukrainian and a former Soviet professional football club based in Kharkiv.

It competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, the top football league 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 difficult period which included relegation, Metalist was promoted to the Top League again in 1982, where it remained until the league's dissolution. The club won the Soviet Cup once, and were also runners-up once. They have also won the bronze title of the Ukrainian Premier League six times in a row, starting in the 2006–07 season.

Metalist's home is the 40,003 capacity multi-use Metalist Stadium. The stadium was originally built in 1926 and was recently reconstructed to its current capacity to host Euro 2012 football matches.

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 on 11 December 1925, when a local locomotive construction facility (today the Malyshev Factory) provided funding and allowed use of its land to start a football club.^[1] Ten years later, the club won the city of Kharkiv championship,^[1] which allowed the club to enter the USSR Cup in the following season.^[1] Following World War II, the club resumed playing in local competitions, promoting itself to the Soviet Second League B in 1947^[1] only to be demoted three seasons later.

In 1956, Metalist as Avanhard returned to the Soviet Second League B^[1] replacing its city rivals Lokomotyv Khakriv. Soon thereafter it was promoted first to Soviet First League in 1958, and later to the Soviet Top League in 1960. The club stayed in Top League for 4 seasons, but was demoted to First League in 1963, continuing its decline with demotion to Second League. In 1978, the club was promoted to the Soviet First League^[1] and two years later, the club finished third in the competition narrowly 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.^[1] The club sustained 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 2–0.^[1] As a result, Metalist Kharkiv earned a trip to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Metalist only advanced to the last sixteen 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 joined the inaugural season of the Ukrainian Premier League in 1992. The club finished in fifth place, an achievement it would never top until the 2006–07 season, finishing in fifth place three more times since, the most notable coming during the 2001–02 season. The club finished with 40 points, on a par with Metalurh Zaporizhzhya and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for a three-way tie. Metalist was expected to take fourth 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 Metalurh Zaporizhzhya and an arbitrary decision by PFL (the administrative body of the UPL), Metalurh Zaporizhzhya was awarded fourth place on the grounds that it had better head-to-head records independently against either side.^[2]

Following unsuccessful protests from Metalist, a disheartened management, team and fan base would see the club finish bottom in 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 owner Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, steady investment would see Metalist show improvement and balanced performance. Yaroslavsky sold the club to new owner Serhiy Kurchenko late in December 2012.^[3] Kurchenko left Ukraine in February 2014 and his current whereabouts are unknown.^[4]

European competitions

In the 2006–07 season, Metalist finished third place in the league, qualifying for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, 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 while Everton won the second leg 3–2, eliminating Metalist.

Metalist's next European competition was the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. The club beat Beşiktaş 4–2 on aggregate in the first round to qualify for the group stage, where they were grouped with Galatasaray, Olympiacos, Hertha BSC and Benfica. Metalist finished top of the group, beating Galatasaray, Olympiacos and Benfica, whilst 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 against Dynamo Kyiv. After losing in Kiev 1–0, Metalist won the return leg 3–2, but were eliminated on the away goals rule.

When the competition was re-branded as the Europa League for the 2009–10 season, Metalist beat Croatian side HNK Rijeka 4–1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round before losing 2–1 on aggregate to Austrian side Sturm Graz, despite holding them 1–1 in Graz. The following season, they finished second in Group I behind Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, thus qualifying for the round of 32 where they were thrashed 6–0 on aggregate by Bayer Leverkusen. They reached the quarter-finals the following season, beating Olympiacos on away goals in the round of 16, but falling to Sporting CP. The following season, they then faced Bayer Leverkusen again—after beating Leverkusen 2–0 on 22 November 2012, Metalist finished above the side on head-to-head points (13), as they both finished on 13 points and had played out a goalless draw at the BayArena. In the round of 32, Metalist then faced English club Newcastle United. After holding them to a goalless draw at St James' Park in the first leg on 14 February, Shola Ameobi's penalty sent Newcastle through 1–0 on aggregate.

In August 2013, UEFA disqualified Metalist from all 2013–14 UEFA competitions.^{[5][nb 1]}

Stadium

As Metalist Stadium was one of the venues for UEFA Euro 2012, the management decided to reconstruct and expand the arena and turn it into a modern recreational and leisure facility. In May 2008, Metalist Arena was the venue for 2008 Ukrainian Cup Final.

Honours and achievements

Domestic

Ukrainian Premier League:

• Runners-up (1): 2012–13
• Third placed (6): 2006–07, 2007–08 (stripped^[5]), 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14

Soviet / Ukrainian First League:

• Winners (1): 1981
• Runners-up (1): 2003–04

Championship of the Ukrainian SSR:

• Winners (1): 1978^[1]

Soviet / Ukrainian Cup:

• Winners (1): 1988
• Runners-up (2): 1983, 1992^[1]

Soviet League Cup:

• Runners-up (1): 1987

Soviet / Ukrainian Super Cup:

• Runners-up (1): 1989

International

United Tournament:

• Runners-up (1): 2014

Football kits and sponsors

Years[8]	Football kit	Shirt sponsor
2000–01	Puma	–
2001–02	Puma/Adidas	–
2002–03	Lotto	TECHNOCOM[9]
2002–03	adidas	АВЭК[10]
2004–06	adidas	UKRSIBBANK
2006–08		UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group
2007–08		UKRSIBBANK/DCH[11]
2008–12		DCH
2012–13		DCH/ВЕТЭК[12]
2013–present		ВЕТЭК

Rivalry

Metalist Kharkiv supporters biggest rival today is Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.^[13] Despite this fans of both clubs marched in support of a "united Ukraine" in Kharkiv during the April 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine.^[13]

Players

Current squad

As of 23 April 2016^[14][15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Danylo Kanevtsev 2 MF Oleksiy Polyanskyi (on loan from Shakhtar) 7 MF Ivan Bobko 8 MF Serhiy Barylko 11 MF Maksym Tretyakov (on loan from Dnipro) 12 MF Artem Kasyanov 13 DF Ivan Zotko 15 DF Dmytro Ryzhuk 17 FW Yaroslav Halenko 19 FW Illya Kornyev 20 DF Oleksandr Kapliyenko 21 MF Ihor Kharatin (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv) 23 GK Serhiy Pohorilyi 29 GK Oleksandr Horyainov

No. Position Player 35 GK Oleksandr Ilyuschenkov 42 DF Yevhen Zubeyko 44 MF Oleh Synytsya 49 MF Andriy Ralyuchenko 52 MF Yuriy Kopyna 53 MF Serhiy Napolov 54 MF Vladyslav Krayev 55 FW Ivan Rodić 56 MF Ihor Koshman 75 GK Artur Denchuk 79 FW Serhiy Kuznetsov 80 FW Volodymyr Pryyomov (captain) 94 DF Semen Datsenko 95 DF Eduard Sobol (on loan from Shakhtar)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Denys Sydorenko (at Helios) MF Artem Putivtsev (at Termalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza)

No. Position Player FW Volodymyr Barilko (at Chornomorets)

Coaching

• Head coach -- Oleksandr Sevidov
• Coach -- Oleksandr Martyuk
• Coach -- Serhiy Popov
• Goalie coach -- Serhiy Zolotnytsky
• Coach -- Volodymyr Linke

Player records

Still active players in bold.

Top goalscorers

As of 25 May 2014^[16]

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Other	Total
1	Marko Dević	2006–12 2013–14	84	4	10	0	98
2	Nikolai Korolyov	1956–66	70	3	8	0	86
3	Vladimir Linke	1976–85 1994–96	77	4	0	0	81
4	Yuri Tarasov	1983–91 1993–94	61	11	2	0	74
5	Nodar Bachiashvili	1978–82	67	1	0	0	68
6	Yuri Tsymbalyuk	1973–77 1981	52	4	0	0	56
7	Oleksandr Karabuta	1991–00	46	5	0	0	51
8	Cleiton Xavier	2010–14	38	10	0	0	48
9	Stanislav Bernikov	1977–83	37	4	0	0	41
10	Sergey Melko	1974–75 1978–82	38	2	0	0	40

• Other – National Super Cup

Most appearances

As of 25 May 2014^[17]

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Other	Total
1	Oleksandr Horyainov	1993–95 1997–03 2005–	422	32	37	0	491
2	Vladimir Linke	1976–85 1994–96	351	25	0	0	376
3	Nikolai Korolyov	1956–66 1969	353	8	0	0	361
4	Ivan Panchishin	1985–90 1992–94 1996–98	282	35	4	0	321
5	Evgeniy Panfilov	1958–69	312	8	0	0	320
6	Yuri Sivuha	1976 1979–88	268	38	2	0	308
7	Aleksandr Savchenko	1965–73	260	15	0	0	275
8	Viktor Aristov	1967–73	254	16	0	0	270
9	Papa Gueye	2006–15	206	14	49	0	269
10	Alexander Kosolapov	1974–78 1980–83	249	17	0	0	266

• Other – National Super Cup

League and Cup history

Soviet Union

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Domestic Cup	Europe		Notes
1979	2nd	7	46	19	10	17	43	47	48	1/8
1980	2nd	3	46	24	12	10	76	40	60	1/16
1981	2nd	1	46	25	12	9	68	33	62	1/2			Promoted
1982	1st	12	34	10	11	13	32	34	30	Group stage
1983	1st	11	34	12	8	14	38	40	32	Finalist
1984	1st	12	34	12	5	17	42	53	29	1/8
1985	1st	10	34	12	7	15	39	55	31	1/16
1986	1st	12	30	9	9	12	21	25	27	1/16
1987	1st	11	30	10	7	13	23	32	27	1/4
1988	1st	11	30	8	10	12	29	36	26	Winner	CW	2nd Round	First international participation
1989	1st	7	30	10	10	10	30	33	30	1/8
1990	1st	11	24	5	8	11	13	28	18	1/4
1991	1st	15	30	8	9	13	32	43	25	1/16			Joined Ukrainian Supreme League
1992	no league competition									1/4			withdrew from the Soviet Cup[18]

Ukraine

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Domestic Cup	Europe		Notes
1992	1st	6	18	8	5	5	21	16	21	Runner-up
1992–93	1st	5	30	12	7	11	37	34	31	1/2 finals
1993–94	1st	18	34	6	8	20	22	63	20	1/16 finals			Relegated
1994–95	2nd	10	42	17	9	16	48	44	60	Second round
1995–96	2nd	19	42	10	9	23	40	54	39	1/32 finals
1996–97	2nd	12	46	18	9	19	55	53	63	Second round
1997–98	2nd	3	42	26	11	5	74	29	89	1/16 finals			Promoted
1998–99	1st	6	30	14	5	11	31	32	47	1/4 finals
1999–00	1st	5	30	12	8	10	41	35	44	1/16 finals
2000–01	1st	9	26	8	7	11	27	37	31	1/8 finals
2001–02	1st	5	26	11	7	8	35	36	40	1/4 finals
2002–03	1st	16	30	6	5	19	19	43	23	1/16 finals			Relegated
2003–04	2nd	2	34	19	9	6	51	24	66	1/16 finals			Promoted
2004–05	1st	11	30	9	7	14	25	37	34	1/16 finals
2005–06	1st	5	30	12	7	11	35	42	43	1/8 finals
2006–07	1st	3	30	18	7	5	40	20	61	1/2 finals
2007–08	1st	3	30	19	6	5	50	27	63	1/8 finals	UC	1st Round	Bronze stripped
2008–09	1st	3	30	17	8	5	44	25	59	1/2 finals	UC	Round of 16
2009–10	1st	3	30	19	5	6	49	23	62	1/8 finals	EL	Play-off Round
2010–11	1st	3	30	18	6	6	58	26	60	1/16 finals	EL	Round of 32
2011–12	1st	3	30	16	11	3	54	32	59	1/8 finals	EL	1/4 finals
2012–13	1st	2	30	20	6	4	59	25	66	1/8 finals	EL	Round of 32
2013–14	1st	3	28	16	9	3	54	29	57	1/4 finals	UCL	3rd qual. rnd.[19]
2014–15	1st	6	25	8	11	6	34	32	35	1/4 finals	EL	Group Stage	[20]
2015–16	1st									1/16 finals

Metalist in Europe

UEFA Team ranking

Rank	Country	Team	Points
45		Fiorentina	49.387
46		Red Bull Salzburg	46.185
47		Fulham	45.949
48		Metalist Kharkiv	45.693
49		Lille	45.300
50		Copehagen	45.260
51		Hannover 96	42.328

Last update: September 15, 2014
Source: xs4all.nl

European history

Metalist Kharkiv participates in European competitions since 1988 after playing its first against Borac Banja Luka. Since 2007, however, the club continuously participates on annual basis with variable successes.

Best results:

Season	Achievement	Notes
UEFA Cup / Europa League
2011–12	Quarter-Finalist	eliminated by Sporting CP 1–2 in Lisbon, 1–1 in Kharkiv

Games of Metalist in UEFA competitions
Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1988–89	Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Borac Banja Luka	4–0	0–2	4–2
		Second round	Roda JC	0–0	0–1	0–1
2007–08	UEFA Cup	First round	Everton	2–3	1–1	3–4
2008–09	UEFA Cup	First round	Beşiktaş J.K.	4–1	0–1	4–2
		Group B	Hertha BSC	0–0	—	1st
			Galatasaray	—	1–0
			Olympiacos	1–0	—
			Benfica	—	1–0
		Round of 32	Sampdoria	2–0	1–0	3–0
		Round of 16	Dynamo Kyiv	3–2	0–1	3–3 (a)
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Rijeka	2–0	2–1	4–1
		Play-off round	Sturm Graz	0–1	1–1	1–2
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Omonia	2–2	1–0	3–2
		Group I	PSV Eindhoven	0–2	0–0	2nd
			Sampdoria	2–1	0–0
			Debrecen	2–1	5–0
		Round of 32	Bayer Leverkusen	0–4	0–2	0–6
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Sochaux	0–0	4–0	4–0
		Group G	AZ	1–1	1–1	1st
			Austria Wien	4–1	2–1
			Malmö FF	3–1	4–1
		Round of 32	Red Bull Salzburg	4–0	4–1	8–1
		Round of 16	Olympiacos	0–1	2–1	2–2 (a)
		Quarter-finals	Sporting CP	1–1	1–2	2–3
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Dinamo București	2–1	2–0	4–1
		Group K	Bayer Leverkusen	2–0	0–0	1st
			Rosenorg	3–1	2–1
			Rapid Wien	2–0	0–1
		Round of 32	Newcastle United	0–1	0–0	0–1
2013–14	UEFA Champions League	Third qualifying round	PAOK	1–1	2–0	3–1
		Play-off round	Schalke 04	Disqualified due to match-fixing[19]
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Ruch Chorzów	0–0	1–0	1–0
		Group L	Legia Warsaw	0–1	1–2	4th
			Trabzonspor	1–2	1–3
			Lokeren	0–1	0–1

Managers

Oleksandr Ponomarov (1960–61) Viktor Zhylin (1962–63) Yevgeni Yeliseyev (1965–66) Viktor Kanevskyi (1968–71) Viktor Terentiev (1972) Yuriy Voynov (1972–73) Oleg Oshenkov (1975–76) Yevhen Lemeshko (1977–88) Leonid Tkachenko (1984–??) Oleksandr Dovbiy (1990–91)

Viktor Aristov (1993) Oleksandr Dovbiy (1994) Mykhaylo Fomenko (July 1996–June 00) Oleksandr Dovbiy (1999–00) Mykhaylo Fomenko (July 2001–Nov 02) Hennadiy Lytovchenko (July 2003–Dec 04) Oleksandr Zavarov (Jan 2005–June 05) Myron Markevych (July 2005–Feb 24, 2014) Ihor Rakhayev (Feb 24, 2014 – June 4, 2015) Oleksandr Sevidov (June 4, 2015– )

See also

• FC Metalist Kharkiv Reserves and Youth Team

Notes

1. On 14 August 2013 UEFA announced that Metalist was banned from the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League due to an ongoing match fixing investigation related to match fixing arising from a game played against FC Karpaty Lviv in April 2008.^[6] The club appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but it rejected Metalist's request, disqualifying the club from European 2013–14 competitions on 16 August 2013.^[6] The club was on the verge of competing in the qualifying phase of the tournament at the time of the decision.^[7] The CAS announced its final decision on Metalist's complaint on 28 August 2013 (thus one day after the clubs final match in the qualifying phase of the tournament would have taken place); it upheld UEFA's decision to disqualify Metalist from European competitions.^[5][7]

References

1. "Metalist" celebrates anniversary, SQ (12 December 2015) (Russian)
2. "Ukraine 2001/02". RSSSF. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
3. New owner of FC Metalist intends to win Ukrainian Cup, ready to buy city's share in stadium, Kyiv Post (25 December 2012)
   Kernes:Yaroslavsky sold Metalist in anticipation of court's decision on fixed matches, Kyiv Post (25 December 2012)
   Akhmetov shocked to learn of Metalist sale, Kyiv Post (27 December 2012)
4. EU imposes assets freeze on Yanukovich and ‘family’, Financial Times (March 6, 2014)
   Russia's Rosneft might buy Ukraine's Odessa refinery: newspaper, Reuters (March 3, 2014)
5. Lausanne court upholds UEFA decision to disqualify FC Metalist from European competitions, says club’s vice president, Interfax-Ukraine (28 August 2013)
   UEFA happy with CAS decision on Metalist complaint, Interfax-Ukraine (28 August 2013)
6. Lausanne court rejects Metalist’s request to suspend UEFA decision barring club from European competition, Interfax-Ukraine (16 August 2013)
7. Lausanne court dismisses Metalist repeat request to suspend its disqualification, Interfax-Ukraine (20 August 2013)
   CAS to announce final decision on Metalist’s complaint on August 28, Interfax-Ukraine (20 August 2013)
   UEFA welcomes CAS’s decision to reject Metalist’s request to suspend its disqualification from Europe, Interfax-Ukraine (20 August 2013)
   FC METALIST KHARKIV V. UEFA – Second request for urgent provisional measures rejected, Court of Arbitration for Sport (20 August 2013)
8. Jerseys of Ukrainian clubs
9. Technocom website
10. Avec website
11. DCH website
12. VETEK website
13. Mayor of Ukraine’s 2nd-biggest city shot in the back, New York Post (28 April 2014)
14. First team squad – FC Metalist Kharkiv website
15. Team squad – Ukrainian Premier League website
16. http://metalist-kh-stat.net.ua/gvardiya/rekkordsmeny-all-time2.html
17. http://metalist-kh-stat.net.ua/gvardiya/rekkordsmeny-all-time.html
18. Forfeited its quarterfinal game with FC Lokomotiv Moscow on March 25 and along with the two other Ukrainian clubs quit the competition
19. Note: Metalist was disqualified by UEFA due to match fixing in the 2007–08 season.
    "Metalist disqualified from UEFA competitions". UEFA. 14 August 2013.
20. The Round 26 match between Chornomorets Odesa and Metalist Kharkiv was not played as per recommendation of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
    Матч "Чорноморець" – "Металіст" не відбудеться [Match between Chornomorets Odesa – Metalist Kharkiv will not take place] (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Premier League. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

External links

• Official website
• Vadim Shevyakin. Первый «Металлист» Маркевича (The first Metalist of Markevych). "mediaport". 7 September 2013.