FC Metalurh Donetsk

Football Club Metalurh Donetsk was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015.

History

Club predecessor

Football came to the Donetsk region in the time of the Russian Empire when the industrialization of the country began. Numerous foreigners, particularly British workers, were forming their own football teams. In September 1911, at the factory of Novorossiysk Association owned by John Hughes has created the Yuzovka Sports Society which contained a football club as well. The football club became one of the founders of the Donbas football league based out of Kramatorsk in 1913. The football team existed until 1919 and was liquidated due to the Russian Civil War. In the 1920s, the factory revived the club as part of its own Lenin Sports Club which later carried the name of FC Metalists Stalino. One of the most prominent players of that period was Viktor Shylovsky who later became famous, however, playing for Dynamo Kyiv.
In 1929 based on the team in Stalino was created FC Dynamo Stalino. In 1936 based on FC Dynamo Stalino and FC Dynamo Horlivka there was created a united team of Donbas Vuhilnyky Stalino that participated in a spring football championship of 1936 in Group V. During the season the club moved to Stalino and changed its name to FC Stakhanovets Stalino.

Shakhtar Shakhtarsk

Metalurh takes its roots from the Football Club Prometei Shakhtarsk that was allowed to participate on the non-amateur level once Ukraine attained its independence. After a disappointing first season in the Second League, in the 1993 season Promotei placed fifth in the Third League and was promoted back to the Second League when the third place Antratsyt withdrew from competitions. Due to being sponsored by a Medita health clinic of Oleksandr Opryshchenko, in 1993 the club was renamed as Medita Shakhtarsk. However, in 1995 the club's owner was killed and Promotei returned under ownership of the state coal-mining company "Shakhtarantratsyt" under the name of Shakhtar Shakhtarsk.

Metalurh Donetsk

In 1996 a team of the Donetsk Metallurgical Factory replaced the insolvent FC Shakhtar Shakhtarsk during the 1995–96 season under the name of Shakhtar. In summer of 1996 the Donetsk Regional Football Federation agreed to handover the Shakhtar's past season achievements to the newly formed and already widely accepted, Football Club Metalurh Donetsk. After placing second in the Druha Liha Group C, the club gained the promotion to the Persha Liha. In the next season, 1996–97, Metalurh won the Persha Liha championship and were promoted to the Vyscha Liha.
The club successfully started in the Top League and also improved significantly at the domestic Cup competition. Metalurh has managed to obtain few bronze medals in the League and since 1998 made through to at least the quarter-finals of the Ukrainian Cup. The club financially struggled between 1999 and 2001 being kept afloat by individual efforts of Mykhailo Lyashko and Vladyslav Helzin who both in 2001 decided to create their own club.
In 2001 Metalurh was purchased by ISD, Ukrainian industrial corporation owned by Serhiy Taruta, one of the most wealthy businessmen in Ukraine and Europe. Throughout majority of the first decade of the new millennium, Metalurh's owners developed a close working relationship with well-known Ukrainian agent Dmytro Sylyuk, who soon became club's acting chairman and has gained a lot of bad publicity for bringing numerous foreign players into the club. Also, while working with Metalurh, Selyuk has lived in Barcelona and was a rare visitor to Ukraine. For several seasons, the foreigners, Selyuk's clients, have outnumbered domestic players. Many of the signed players were brought in without manager's consent, and a lot have been given an overly generous pay; among those were Yaya Touré, Andrés Mendoza, and Jordi Cruyff. After Sylyuk's questionable tactics, he was dismissed from his position and majority of the players brought in by him also left. As it appeared later, many of them have had contracts with Sylyuk, and not directly with the club.
After the era of Sylyuk ended, Metalurh's performance declined and a hunt for medals turned into a struggle for survival. However, in 2008, Bulgarian specialist Nikolay Kostov was brought in to rebuild the team. In his first season with the club, Kostov turned Metalurh's performance around and the club came fourth in the league, which granted them a spot in newly formed UEFA Europa League.

Bankruptcy and merger

Because of the war situation in the East Ukraine, on 17 June 2015, the Industrial Union of Donbas decided to merge both its clubs FC Metalurh Donetsk and FC Stal Kamianske. The new club was to be primarily based on the Kamianske team and was planned to continue its participation under the name of FC Stal Kamianske. However, on 11 July 2015 Metalurh declared bankruptcy, citing the economic difficulties caused by the fighting. FC Stal Kamianske did take its place in the Ukrainian Premier League. Number of players and the club's staff moved to Stal as well.

Stadium

Metalurh has its own small stadium named after the club, Metalurh Stadium. For most domestic matches the club plays at this stadium, which has a capacity barely in excess of 5,000. For games expected to draw a significantly larger crowd, Metalurh plays at Shakhtar Stadium, owned by Shakhtar Donetsk. The Shakhtar Stadium is mostly used for the European competitions. A new stadium for Metalurh with a capacity of 17,500 was planned to be built in Makiivka, near Donetsk.
In 2014–15 season, the club played their home games at Obolon Arena in Kiev due to the War in Donbass.

Rivalry

Metalurh's top rivals are the neighbor club and one of Ukraine's most successful teams, Shakhtar Donetsk. The two clubs have not only had a close history since formation of Metalurh, but the club has also played at Shakhtar's former venue, Shakhtar Stadium. The games between the two clubs have been dubbed by the fans and the media as Donbass Derby, although Shakhtar has been dominant in the rivalry for a decade from 1996 and up until 2006, winning all 18 games between them, matches between the two have always been of a major significance to fans.

Honours

Ukrainian First League
National Cup
Super Cup
Football kits and sponsors

League and Cup history

Information since Ukrainian independence