Ukrainian teams behind Russian lines
From
Real Mardin@24:150/2 to
rec.sport.soccer on Fri Mar 4 16:20:54 2022
In the first of a new series, I take a look at teams from cities which have fallen under Russian control in the special military operation. As Kherson was reported to have fallen yesterday, the first entry in the series is FC Krystal Kherson.
The club was formed at the Kherson semiconductor factory in 1961 and was originally named Mayak (lighthouse). The club has undergone numerous name changes rCo changing to Stroitel in 1963, Lokomotyv in 1976, Tavriya in 1992, Vodnyk in 1995, back to Krystal in 1996, SC Kherson in 2000 before finally settling back on Krystal in 2003 (although it should be noted a further formal name change to Municipal Football Club Krystal Kherson occurred in 2017).
Available records start in 1982 and state that Krystal spent the period 1982 to 1991 in the third tier of Soviet football, their highest placed finish being 5th in 1990. After Ukraine became independent, they started 1992 in the second tier of Ukrainian football, but were relegated in the first season and spent 1992/93 to 2005/06 in the third tier. Their best place finish was winning the Second League B (Druha Liga, third tier) in 1997/98. That season they won 28 matches, drew two and lost two, ending up with 88 points, scoring 74 goals and conceding 20. From what I can gather it seems they lost a promotion playoff to get to the top tier, but records are silent as to who they lost to, although FC Podillya Khmelnytskyi and FC Shakhtar-2 Donetsk were the other third tier winning sides that year so it stands to reason it would have been one of them. Krystal also finished second in 1995/96, 1998/99 and 2004/05.
In 2006 the club unfortunately went into administration and spent the period 2006-2010 in the regional Kherson Oblast Championship. The club was re-admitted to the Ukrainian professional leagues in 2011/12 and remained in the third tier until 2016/17, when it was forced for reasons unclear to withdraw from the league and reform as Municipal Football Club Krystal Kherson. It started 2017/18 in the fourth tier, but won promotion back to the third tier at the first time of asking, finishing third. A 4th placed finish in 2018/19 was followed up by a second placed finish in 2019/20 and promotion to the second tier, arguably KrystalrCOs finest moment yet. Unfortunately their return to the second tier in 2020/21 saw Krystal finish 16th and last place, winning only three games, drawing four and losing 23, scoring 21 and conceding 61. Their prompt return to the third tier hasnrCOt been much better and at the time Ukrainian football was suspended Krystal found themselves second bottom, having only won two matches out of 20, a mere four points above last placed Sumy, although Sumy do have a game in hand. In this league it is the last placed team who get relegated.
KrystalrCOs colours are green shirts, blue shorts and green socks. They play at the 3400 capacity Krystal Stadium, which is a multi purpose stadium with a running track around it.
We can only speculate as to what long term effect the special military operation will have on football in Ukraine, but for the time being I wish the players and supporters of Krystal, and indeed all the citizens of Kherson, peace, safety and good health.
RM
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
* Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)
From
Real Mardin@24:150/2 to
rec.sport.soccer on Wed Mar 30 14:47:27 2022
The second installment in this series is FC Mariupol.
Now strictly speaking, the city of Mariupol hasnrCOt yet fallen under Russian control. That said, the city has been cut off behind Russian lines for some time now. If football somehow re-started in Ukraine tomorrow, due to the logistics it would sadly not be re-starting in Mariupol. Hence the only thing left to do is pay my respects to the cityrCOs football team.
Now it should be acknowledged that awful things have happened and continue to happen in Mariupol. Whilst those events are beyond the scope of this thread, I can understand some people thinking football must be the very last thing on the minds of the people of the battered city of Mariupol. This thread is not intended to trivialise what people who live in cities caught up in the Special Military Operation are going through. However, when life one day returns to Mariupol, football will return with it. This is my way of paying my respects to one aspect of life which for the time being, has been put on hold.
The club were founded in 1960 as Azovstal, but like many East European teams have undergone numerous name changes: Azovets in 1966, Metallurg in 1971, Lokomotiv in 1974, Novator in 1977, back to Azovets in 1992, Metalurh in 1996, Illichivets in 2002 before they became FC Mariupol in 2017. At least two of those names, Azovets and Illichivets, came from sponsorship or ownership from the Steel and Iron Works.
The club started in the second tier of Soviet football but by the early 70rCOs were a third tier side and by the time the Soviet Union dissolved were a fourth tier side, although they do have the honour of being crowned Soviet fourth tier champions during the final year of Soviet football in 1991.
They started Ukrainian football in the second tier in 1992 but suffered relegation to the third tier in the first season. Back to back promotions as of 1995/96 saw the team reach the top tier of Ukrainian football. They managed a fourth placed finish in 2000/01 and fifth place in 2004/05. In that season the club made their first foray into European competition, courtesy of the UEFA Respect Fair Play Ranking Award, which granted them a place in the UEFA Cup (as the Europa League was then called) qualifying rounds. In the first qualifying round Banants of Armenia were dispatched 4-0 on aggregate, before their European vacation game to an end in the next round following a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Austria Wien.
For the most part of its modern history the club has remained in the top tier, relegations in 2006/07 and 2014/15 were swiftly reversed with the club winning the Ukrainian second tier in 2007/08 and 2016/17. A fifth placed league finish in 2017/18 brought the clubrCOs second experience of European football courtesy of the now rebranded Europa League. In the second qualifying round Mariupol got past Swedish side Djurg|Nrdens IF after winning the second home leg 2-1 after extra time (3-2 on aggregate) but were eliminated in the next round 5-2 on aggregate by Bordeaux. A fourth placed finish in 2018/19 brought another experience of the Europa League third qualifying round, but they were beaten 4-0 on aggregate by Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
FC MariupolrCOs colours are orange shirts with navy trim. They play their games at the 12680 capacity Volodymyr Boyko Stadium.
MariupolrCOs fate under the Russian Special Military Operation is yet to be decided, but my sincere hope is that one day the people of Mariupol get to watch their football team in their city once again.
RM
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
* Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)