FC Metalurh Zaporizhya


MFC Metalurh Zaporizhya is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Zaporizhya. The club also holds several historical records of the Soviet football, particularly while participating in the Soviet second tier. The club has the highest number of seasons spent in the Soviet second tier as well as the highest number of tournament points it earned. The club also is a three-times champion of Ukrainian republican competitions.
Following dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and until 2015 the club was a member of the Ukrainian top tier and on couple of occasions competed at European club competitions representing Ukraine.
In 2015, the original club went bankrupt and in 2016 the Ukrainian Premier League finally removed it from its competitions. In 2016, it was announced that another amateur club from Zaporizhia has officially changed its name to FC Metalurh Zaporizhia and intends to start participation at the Ukrainian Amateur Football League the same year.
In 2018, the Rosso-Nero's Metalurh was denied license for professional league competitions, while the city-sponsored club was admitted to the Second League.
With Metalurh–Rosso Nero already competing, in May of 2017 the mayor of Zaporizhia decided to form a separate city club which was formed based on the existing Metalurh sports school of Olympic Reserve. On 31 May 2017 the Zaporizhia city council approved the mayor's initiative and created the city's club Metalurh Zaporizhia. On proposition of the Rosso-Nero's Metalurh to merge, the newly created club refused.

History

Early years (1935–1946)

The history of Metalurg began in 1935 when a steel production company, Zaporizhstal, formed the football club 'Stal'. By the end of the year a local sports union gave Stal the status of a main club in the region. Throughout the 1930s, the team appeared regularly in domestic competitions and often played against clubs from the Soviet Top League, the most notable of which was Spartak Moscow. In 1939 and 1940 under the name of Lokomotiv won the Ukrainian championships. The tough times of World War II soon followed, however, bringing decline to both Zaporizhstal and its team. Nonetheless, in 1946 the club was revived and in 1949, Stal won the cup in Zaporizhia Oblast.

USSR era (1946–1990)

In October 1949, the team was renamed to 'Metalurg'. In 1950 Metalurg debuts in the USSR Cup and in the round of 64 they defeated Lokomotiv Petrozavodsk with the score of 5–0, but go out in the next stage, losing 2–3 to Torpedo Stalingrad. However, the very next year club went to eighth-finals, notably defeating Dinamo Minsk 1–0 and Lokomotiv Moscow 4–0 on the way. In 1953, the club debuted in the USSR Championship after becoming the champion of Ukrainian SSR in 1952. From 1953 to 1962, Metalurg played in USSR Championship division 'B'.
In 1963 Metalurg won a place in USSR Championship division 'A' and had some moderate success. They stayed there until 1971, when in the 1970 season club secured a position in division 'A' and a place in the USSR First League. In their first season they came in fourth place, which became the club's highest achievement in the USSR Championships.

Ukrainian leagues (1991–2015)

In 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became independent and Ukrainian Premier League was formed. Metalurh was among the founders of the League. The club has remained in the Vyshcha Liga for all 16 seasons with their highest achievement in the 1995–96 season, taking 5th place. The club's best performance in a domestic cup came in 2006, when Metalurh reached the final, there they met with Dynamo Kyiv and were beaten 2 goals to none, however this performance allowed them to enter the UEFA Cup next season. Zaporizhstal still remains as a largest club sponsor and actively finances most of club's expenses.
The club had always been in the top league, since the first season in 1992 until the 2010–11 season when they finished last position and were relegated to the Ukrainian First League. After one season in the Ukrainian First League the club was promoted back to the Ukrainian Premier League. During the 2015–16 season on 2 March 2016, Metalurh was recognized as bankrupt on decision of the commercial court of Zaporizhia Oblast and a liquidation procedure was initiated.
;European history
Throughout its history in Ukrainian Premier League, Metalurh has entered the UEFA Cup on two occasions; the first in 2002–03 UEFA Cup after finishing fourth in the league the previous season. In the qualifying round they beat Maltese side Birkirkara 3–0 on aggregate, before losing 2–1 to English side Leeds United in the first round.
The second time club had to wait 4 years to qualify again. After finishing as runners-up in the Ukrainian Cup in 2006, Metalurh secured a place in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup. The club entered the competition in the second qualifying round, Metalurh defeated Moldavian side Zimbru Chișinău 3–0 over two legs. However, Metalurh went out in the first stage, losing to Greek club Panathinaikos.

FC Metallurh based on FC Rosso Nero (2016–2018)

FC Rosso Nero was created in 2009 by Andriy Bohatchenko who owns a pizzeria with the same name in Zaporizhia. The first two seasons the club played in futsal. In 2011, the club won the Zaporizhia city Cup and the beach football city league. In 2012, Rosso Nero were runners-up at 8x8 football. In 2014, the club became a city champions by beating the defending city champions Motor Zaporizhia. The victory inspired Rosso Nero to apply for the Second League of national competitions. In fall of 2015, when Metalurh Zaporizhia started the process for liquidation, Rosso Nero offered to pass the legendary club to them, however no agreement was reached.
On 26 March 2016, in Zaporizhia held a meeting of non-governmental organization "Metalurh forever", at which it was decided to rename the "FC Rosso Nero" into "FC Metalurh". At the same meeting, the group adopted symbols and colors of the original club "Metalurh".
The club was denied in receiving certificate for the next season and was dissolved in June 2018. The Metalurh—Rosso Nero performance was terrible. It played 65 games at professional level winning 9, tying 3 and losing 53 games. Its goal tallies was 49 goals scored while allowing 237. The Metalurh—Rosso Nero also took part in Ukrainian Cup where it was eliminated at its earliest rounds on both occasions.

MFC Metalurh Zaporizhia (since 2017)

On 6 August 2017, a new municipal football club MFC Metalurh Zaporizhya started its participation in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Football Amateur League with an away game against Yarud at Azovets Stadium in Mariupol. In 2016, the new club was established by the Zaporizhia city authorities based on a communal company "Tsentralnyi Stadion" which owns Slavutych Arena.

Stadium

Throughout their history, the club has played in various stadiums around Zaporizhia, but in 2001 the Football Federation of Ukraine forbade Metalurh from playing in their home stadium, Tsentarlnyi Metalurh Stadium, due to security concern and the club was forced to play at the Avto ZAZ Stadium. Soon after, the club's board approved plans to construct a brand new stadium for the team in place of the old one. Construction commenced in late 2004 and on 29 July 2006, Slavutych Arena was opened, in their first game on a new stadium Metalurh faced Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv. The stadium is situated in a central part of the city, on a street that has been recently renamed after legendary Ukrainian player and coach Valery Lobanovsky.
The stadium is purposed for football only use and has a total capacity of 12,000 seats. It consists out of four separate stands, north, south, east and west, two of which are covered by a roof, stadium is equipped with a single, multi-colour screen with dimensions of 6x10m and a lighting system of 1400 lux. The pitch dimensions are 105х68 м. Lately it has often been used as a venue for the Ukrainian Premier League FC Zorya Luhansk, while Metalurh is forced to play at its own training base. Metalurh Training Base is also known as Velykyi Luh.

Sponsors

The history of FC Metalurh dates back to a factory team 'Stal' that has been sponsored by one of the largest steel production companies in Ukraine, Zaporizhstal. The company has remained a sponsor of the club for over 70 years and now is a general sponsor of the club. The main partner of the club is OAO Zaporizhstalbud-1.
The official kit manufacturer for the club is company Nike and the official beer sponsor of the club is Slavutych.

Football kits and sponsors

Honours

Current squad

Coaching staff

Soviet Union


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FC Metalurh (Rosso-Nero)


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MFC Metalurh


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Soviet Union

Ukraine

FC Metallurh based on FC Rosso Nero

MFC Metalurh Zaporizhia

European record

FC Metalurh Zaporizhya participates in European competitions on few occasions since 2002 after playing its first game against Birkirkara F.C..
SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAggregate
2002–03UEFA CupQR Birkirkara F.C.3–00–03–0
2002–03UEFA Cup1R Leeds United1–10–11–2
2006–07UEFA Cup2Q Zimbru Chișinău3–00–03–0
2006–07UEFA Cup1R Panathinaikos F.C.0–11–11–2

Managers

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;FC Metallurh based on FC Rosso Nero
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;MFC Metalurh Zaporizhia