FK Žalgiris
| Full name | Vilniaus miesto futbolo draugija "Žalgiris"[1] | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Žaliai Balti (The Green Whites) | ||
| Founded | 1947 | ||
| Ground | LFF Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 5,400 | ||
| Coordinates | 54°40′07″N 25°17′39″E / 54.66861°N 25.29417°ECoordinates: 54°40′07″N 25°17′39″E / 54.66861°N 25.29417°E | ||
| Chairman | Vilma Venslovaitienė | ||
| Head Coach | Valdas Dambrauskas | ||
| League | A Lyga | ||
| 2015 | A Lyga, 1st | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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FK Žalgiris is a professional football club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The club competes in A lyga, the top flight of Lithuanian football. The club was founded as Dinamo in 1947. They won the Lithuanian Championship (6 times), Lithuanian Football Cup (9 times) and Lithuanian Supercup (5 times).
The team's colours are green and white. The club plays at LFF stadium in Vilnius (capacity 5,400).
Name history
The club went through various name changes during its history:
- 1947 – Dinamo
- 1948 – Spartakas
- 1962 – Žalgiris
- 1993 – Žalgiris-EBSW
- 1993 – FK Žalgiris
- 2009 – VMFD Žalgiris
- 2015 – FK Žalgiris
History
Foundation and Soviet period
The first incarnation of the club played in 1946 as a national team of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic when it competed in USSR Group III Zone 4 championship and it was the only club among others which represented one of Soviet republics. The club consisted of Spartakas Kaunas and Dinamo Kaunas players. Their first match was against Stroitel Moscow which ended 1–1 and they were managed by French coach Emil Pastor. That year they won fourth place in RSFSR Western Zone championship.[2]
The foundation of the club is considered in 1947 when it was moved from Kaunas to Vilnius and its name was changed to Dinamo Vilnius.[3] The next year club changed its name to Spartakas Vilnius and used this name until the end of 1961 season. For 1962 they changed their name to Žalgiris.
Žalgiris competed in Soviet Union football league system from 1947 to 1989. Club's most successful season was in 1987 when they finished the season in third place in Soviet Top League and qualified for 1988–89 UEFA Cup where they played against FK Austria Wien. The club represented the Soviet Union at 1987 Summer Universiade which they won by defeating the South Korean team. The following season they finished fifth and again qualified for UEFA Cup where they faced IFK Göteborg in the first round and Red Star Belgrade in the second. In 1989 the club finished in fourth place and for third year in a row qualified for UEFA Cup. They managed to play one game in 1990 at the start of the season before withdrawing due to re-establishment of Lithuania's independence and joined the Baltic League which consisted of clubs' from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Therefore, they lost their place in UEFA Cup, which was taken by Chornomorets Odesa.[4]
1990–2007
After restoring Lithuania's independence, the club started competing in the newly founded A Lyga. During this period the club enjoyed further success by winning the Lithuanian championship three times (1991, 1991–92, 1998–99) along with various second and third-place finishes.
2008–present
The club ceased its operations after the 2008 season due to financial problems. Team players, coaches and fans of the club (Pietų IV) who were seeking to save the name of Žalgiris detached from FK Žalgiris and on February 23, 2009, established VMFD Žalgiris [5] The new side was allowed in to the Lithuanian 1 Lyga (second-tier league), and then returned to the top division next season.
Žalgiris won bronze medals in 2010 season. It could have an opportunity to victory silver but played as draw 0–0 with direct opponents Sūduva Marijampolė in the last game of season Artūras Jeršovas became the most resultive player of Žalgiris. He scored 11 goals in Lithuanian championship. Žalgiris became the most correct team in A League 2010.
2011 season Žalgiris had new head coach Vitalijus Stankevičius. The team loaned GKS Belchatow its leader Pavel Komolov, refused some veterans and legionnaires. Žalgiris saved the core of the team and signed contracts with 10 newcomers. The team had theoretical ability to compete with Ekranas Panevėžys to Lithuanian champion title 3 tours before end of season but lost Sūduva Marijampolė and finished in the second place. The most resultive Žalgiris and all A League player became Deivydas Matulevičius. He scored 19 goals.[6]
2012 season Žalgiris began with new head coach - Croatian Damir Petravič. The team refused some veterans and legionnaires. The most resultive last season player Deivydas Matulevičius was loaned Cracovia Kraków 10 new players joined Žalgiris including former Heart of Midlothian forward Calum Elliot. After half year in Kraków D. Matulevičius returned to Vilnius. Cracovia relegated from Polish Ekstraklasa League and lost right to sign contract with 23 years forward from Lithuania. Lithuanian Football Cup in LFF Cup final Žalgiris after penalties won against champion Ekranas Panevėžys and after 9 years got that trophy. After 90 minutes and extra time result was 0–0. After lost match in UEFA Europe League qualification round against FC Admira Wacker Mödling from Austria Žalgiris changed head coach. Specialist from Poland Marek Zub began to train the team. Žalgiris two years in a row was second in Lithuanian A League. The fight to champion title continued till the last match in the season. Ekranas Panevėžys 1 point overtook Žalgiris and got gold medals.
In the beginning of 2013 season Žalgiris defeated Ekranas Panevėžys and won Lithuanian Supercup. Two years in a row the team won Lithuanian Cup. Žalgiris after penalties defeated FK Šiauliai. The team played successfully in UEFA Europa League qualification round. It eliminated St Patrick's Athletic from Ireland, Pyunik from Armenia and Lech Poznań from Poland. Žalgiris was defeated by Red Bull Salzburg in the play-off round. The team after 14 years became Lithuanian champion. It 2 points overtook Atlantas Klaipėda.
Success followed the next three seasons as they won A Lyga three years in a row (2013, 2014, 2015) along Lithuanian Football Cup (2014, 2015).
Stadium
For most of the time Žalgiris played in Žalgiris Stadium. This stadium is the biggest in Lithuania and holds 15,029 viewers.
Since 2011 Žalgiris plays in LFF Stadium (Lithuanian Football Federation stadium). This arena, formerly known as Vėtra Stadium, was built in 2004 and holds up 5,500 people.
After the bankrupt of FK Vėtra football club, LFF took control of the stadium.
Currently it is under construction to meet level 3 UEFA stadium status. The capacity will be extended to 8,000.
It is situated 400 metres up the Aušros vartų and Liepkalnio streets from the Gate of Dawn (Lithuanian: Aušros vartai)
The address of the stadium: Liepkalnio 13/2, Vilnius.
Kit
From the establishment of the club, Žalgiris colours are green and white, therefore the kit is green and white striped jersey and green/white variation of shorts and socks. In the past there has also been checkered green-white jersey designs. Away kits are usually plain white or green.
Kit manufacturers
| Period | Kit manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 2009–2012 | Hummel |
| 2013–2015 | Kappa |
| 2016– | Nike |
Supporters
The official club of Žalgiris' fans is named Pietų IV. The members of Pietų IV support the team during every game in Lithuania and in Europe and never leave the team alone. This community is united by their love and loyalty to Žalgiris. Pietų IV is the leader of organised supporting in Baltic states.
The establishment date of Pietų IV is considered October, 1985. Since that time fans have been supporting the team while singing, waving flags and creating impressive choreography. Fans helped Žalgiris to survive the financial crisis. During hard periods they organized various events and collected enough money to remain. Pietų IV and the managers of the club together are the founders of Žalgiris Vilnius.
Achievements
- 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- 2003, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
- 1982
Participation in European cups
Participation in Lithuanian championships
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Staff
As of January 5, 2016.[7]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman |  Vilma Venslovaitienė |
| Director of sport | Mindaugas Nikoličius |
| Commercial-technical director | Andriejus Ovčinikovas |
| Head coach | Valdas Dambrauskas |
| Assistant coach | Rolandas Džiaukštas |
| Assistant coach | Andrius Skerla |
| Club doctor | Tomas Jonaitis |
Current squad
As of 28 Feb 2016 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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International players
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Youth squad
Žalgiris-B
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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VFM-Žalgiris U-19
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Player of the Year
Lists of the winners of Žalgiris Vilnius. Player of the Year Award instituted from 2004 as voted by the official members of Žalgiris' supporters club - Pietų IV:
- 2004: Mindaugas Malinauskas
- 2005: Virmantas Lemežis
- 2006: Igoris Morinas
- 2007: Igoris Morinas
- 2008: Igoris Morinas
- 2009: Edgaras Mastianica
- 2010:
Pavel Komolov - 2011: Marius Rapalis
- 2012:
Kamil Bilinski - 2013: Mantas Kuklys
- 2014: Deividas Šemberas
- 2015:
Andro Švrljuga
Famous players
- Šenderis Giršovičius (1974)
- Igoris Pankratjevas (1983–89)
- Arminas Narbekovas (1983–90)
- Valdas Ivanauskas (1984), (1986–89)
- Virginijus Baltušnikas (1985–90), (1991–92), (1994–95), (1997–98)
- Andrėjus Tereškinas (1990–96), (2005)
- Ričardas Zdančius (1991–94)
- Edgaras Jankauskas (1991–96)
- Aurelijus Skarbalius (1992–94)
- Andrius Skerla (1995–96)
- Deividas Šemberas (1996–98), (2013–15)
- Žydrūnas Karčemarskas (1998), (2001)
- Robertas Poškus (1999)
- Mindaugas Kalonas (2001)
Notable players
- Mario Grgurović
- Algis Jankauskas
- Aurelijus Skarbalius
- Igoris Morinas
- Deivydas Matulevičius
- Raimondas Vilėniškis
- Kamil Biliński
- Jakub Wilk
- Pavel Komolov
- Andrey Nagumanov
Calum Elliot- Andrius Skerla
- Deividas Šemberas
- Darvydas Šernas
Coaches
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References
- ↑ "Administracija". Fkzalgiris.lt. Vilniaus miesto futbolo draugija "Žalgiris". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ↑ Vytautas Saulis ir Gediminas Kalinauskas. „Lietuvos futbolas, 1922-1997 m.: istorinė apybraiža“ // Vilnius, „Diemedis“, 1997. 55 p.
- ↑ Vytautas Saulis ir Gediminas Kalinauskas. „Lietuvos futbolas, 1922-1997 m.: istorinė apybraiža“ // Vilnius, „Diemedis“, 1997. 53 p.
- ↑ "1981 - 1990". Lithuanian Football Federation. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
- ↑ "ISTORIJA". FK Žalgiris. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ↑ "LFF - Lygiosios Vilniuje "Sūduvai" užtikrino sidabro medalius (foto)". LFF. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ↑ "Apie klubą". Retrieved 17 June 2015.
External links
- Official website (Lithuanian) (English)
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