FC Levadia Tallinn
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| Full name | Mittetulundusühing Spordiklubi Football Club Levadia Tallinn |
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| Founded | October 22, 1998[1] | ||
| Ground | Kadriorg Stadium Tallinn (Capacity: 5,000[2]) |
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| Chairman |  Viktor Levada |
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| Manager |  Marko Kristal |
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| League | Meistriliiga | ||
| 2011 | Meistriliiga, 4th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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MTÜ SK FC Levadia Tallinn is an Estonian football club based in Tallinn. The club was founded in 1998, under the name FC Levadia Maardu. FC Levadia currently play in the Meistriliiga, the highest level of Estonian football. Levadia's home is the 4,750-person capacity Kadrioru Stadium multi-use stadium in Kadriorg, Tallinn, where they have played since 2000.[2]
FC Levadia have won seven league titles, five Estonian Cups, four Estonian SuperCups, and have reached the UEFA Cup first round in 2006.[3]
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[edit] History
SK FC Levadia was founded in 1998, when metal manufacturer OÜ Levadia accepted to support Estonian Esiliiga club, FK Olümp Maardu. For the honor of new sponsor, FK Olümp Maardu changed its name to FC Levadia. Successful cooperation followed helping the club win the Esiliiga and promotion to the Meistriliiga.
[edit] Merge with Tallinna Sadam
In preparing for the next season in the Meistriliiga, the team needed replenishments. At the same time, Tallinna Sadam was ending its time as a football club and both teams' chairmen Viktor Levada (Levadia) and Vladimir Volohhonski (Tallinna Sadam) decided to merge. F.C. Levadia Tallinn was formed
[edit] Debut Season
FC Levadia's debut season was very successful with the team winning 4 trophies; the League Cup, the Meistriliiga,the Estonian Cup and the Estonian SuperCup earning rave reviews in the Estonian media.
[edit] 2000–2006
The 2000 season was also a successful one for F.C. Levadia Tallinn. The team won the 2000, the Estonian Cup and the Estonian SuperCup. During the whole season, Levadia didn't lose any of its games, except both UEFA Champions League second qualifying round games against Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk. After two loss' to Shakhtar Donetsk, Levadia fired manager Sergei Ratnikov and hired Russian Valeri Bondarenko for the following season. By F.C. Levadia Tallinn standards, the first season with the new manager didn't go very well. The team finished third in the league and only reached the semi-final of the Estonian Cup although they won the Estonian SuperCup. On November 20th, 2001, Levadia hired well known Finnish manager, Pasi Rautiainen. The season turned out to be very exciting as the title was open until the last round. At Kadrioru Stadium, Levadia and Flora played each other for the title. The game finished 0–0 in front of an attendance of 3,200. Flora kept its Meistriliiga title, winning by two points. In the Intertoto Cup, Levadia reached the second round. At the end of the season Pasi Rautiainen left the club and returned to Finland for personal reasons. A New head coach was appointed in Italian Franco Pancheri. In the middle of the season Levadia fired Franco Pancheri, because he was unable to maintain the level that was achieved with Pasi Rautiainen. Levadia appointed a new manager, Tarmo Rüütli, who was Levadia's second coach. Under the guidance of the former Estonia national team coach, the team rose from a position of crisis and finished in third place. In 2004, the team moved from Maardu to Tallinn, the capital and largest city in Estonia. Under the leadership of Tarmo Rüütli, the team won Meistriliiga and the Estonian Cup. In the UEFA Cup, Levadia reached the second qualifying round. In the 2005 season, Levadia only won the Estonian Cup. The 2006 season was also unsuccessful as Levadia only won the Meistriliiga.
[edit] Uefa Cup 2006
In the UEFA Cup, their first opponent was Finnish club FC Haka. They were equal matched for two legs however Levadia narrowly scraped through to the next round where FC Twente were a much tougher opponent. Levadia caused a huge upset and beat the Dutch club 2–1 on aggregate and with that was the first Estonian club to advance to the third round of a European competition. After a 1–1 away draw, Konstantin Nahk scored a magnificent free-kick at the A. Le Coq Arena which Levadia used from then on in Europe to give the Estonian club a shock 1–0 victory. They were drawn against Newcastle United in the first round proper and the English club had real trouble breaking down a stubborn Levadia defence. After going down 0–1 at home through an Antoine Sibierski goal in Tallinn, Levadia lost 1–2 at St. James' Park with ex-international Indrek Zelinski the goalscorer.
[edit] 2007 Season Trouble
In season 2007, Levadia won Meistriliiga and the Estonian Cup. In the UEFA Champions League they reached the second qualifying round, losing to Red Star Belgrade by the away goals rule. The darkest point in the season was Levadia's contract extensions. Levadia moved many of its first-team players to the reserve team, because they didn't sign the contract extension that Levadia was offering. In 2008 Levadia appointed a new manager Igor Prins because Tarmo Rüütli left the club.
[edit] 2009/10 European campaign
Levadia made a big surprise after knocking out Polish champion Wisła Kraków in the Champions League second round with 2–1 on aggregate. After losing to Hungarian side Debreceni VSC in the third qualifying round, they were drawn against another big club Galatasaray in the UEFA Europa League. The team lost the first leg in Istanbul 0–5 and drew 1–1 in home.
[edit] 2010 Season in Meistriliiga
Levadia started the season strongly, staying in competition for the Meistriliiga title throughout the whole season, although they started to drift away from the title after a 2–0 loss to FC Flora Tallinn at A. Le Coq Arena and eventually finished second behind FC Flora Tallinn.
[edit] Stadium
FC Levadia's home stadium has been the Kadrioru Stadium since 2000. The stadium has a capacity of 4,750 and is the oldest football stadium in Estonia. The stadium was opened on June 13, 1926. Before the A. Le Coq Arena was built, Kadrioru Stadium was the home ground for the Estonia national team.[2][4]
[edit] Achievements
- Meistriliiga: (7) (Includes titles as FC Levadia Maardu)
1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
- Estonian Cup: (6)
1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010
- Estonian SuperCup: (4)
1999, 2000, 2001, 2010
[edit] FC Levadia in Estonian Football
| Season | League | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Top Goalscorer | Cup | SC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 7 | 22 | 32 | – | – | |
| 1999 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 77 | 12 | 65 | 73 | Toomas Krõm (19) |
W | W |
| 2000 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 88 | 20 | 68 | 74 | Toomas Krõm (24) |
W | W |
| 2001 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 72 | 35 | 37 | 55 | Toomas Krõm (20) |
SF | W |
| 2002 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 79 | 25 | 54 | 62 | Vitali Leitan (14) |
F | F |
| 2003 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 54 | 30 | 24 | 49 | Argo Arbeiter (14) |
SF | – |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 82 | 14 | 68 | 69 | Konstantin Nahk (12) |
W | F |
| 2005 | 1 | 2 | 36 | 28 | 5 | 3 | 97 | 25 | 72 | 89 | Indrek Zelinski (18) |
W | F |
| 2006 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 114 | 29 | 85 | 94 | Indrek Zelinski (21) |
1/8 | – |
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 126 | 20 | 106 | 91 | Indrek Zelinski (24) |
W | F |
| 2008 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 29 | 6 | 1 | 105 | 22 | 83 | 93 |  Nikita Andreev (22) |
SF | F |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 121 | 23 | 98 | 97 | Vitali Gussev (26) |
QF | |
| 2010 | 1 | 2 | 36 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 100 | 16 | 84 | 86 | Tarmo Neemelo (20) |
W | F |
| 2011 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 76 | 25 | 51 | 73 | Vitali Leitan (20) |
2R | F |
[edit] UEFA club competition results
| Season | Cup | Round | Opponent | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–00 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Steaua Bucureşti |
0–3 | 1–4 |
| 2000–01 | Champions League | 1Q |  Total Network Solutions |
2–2 | 4–0 |
| 2Q | Shakhtar Donetsk |
1–4 | 1–5 | ||
| 2001–02 | Champions League | 1Q |  Bohemians |
0–3 | 0–0 |
| 2002 | Intertoto Cup | 1R |  União de Leiria |
3–0* | 1–2 |
| 2R |  Zürich |
0–1 | 0–0 | ||
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Varteks |
1–3 | 2–3 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | Bohemians |
0–0 | 3–1 |
| 2Q |  Bodø/Glimt |
1–2 | 2–1 | ||
| 2005–06 | Champions League | 1Q |  Dinamo Tbilisi |
1–0 | 0–2 |
| 2006–07 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Haka |
2–0 | 0–1 |
| 2Q |  Twente |
1–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 1R |  Newcastle United |
0–1 | 1–2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Champions League | 1Q |  Pobeda |
1–0 | 0–0 |
| 2Q |  Red Star |
0–1 | 2–1 | ||
| 2008–09 | Champions League | 1Q | Drogheda United |
1–2 | 0–1 |
| 2009–10 | Champions League | 2Q |  Wisła Kraków |
1–1 | 1–0 |
| 3Q |  Debrecen |
0–1 | 0–1 | ||
| 2009–10 | Europa League | PO |  Galatasaray |
0–5 | 1–1 |
| 2010–11 | Champions League | 2Q | Debrecen |
1–1 | 2–3 |
| 2011–12 | Europa League | 2Q |  Differdange |
0–0 | 0–1 |
* Victory awarded to Levadia due to a use of an ineligible player by Leiria.
1Q – 1st Qualifying Round; 2Q – 2nd Qualifying Round; 3Q – 3rd Qualifying Round; PO – Play-off Round; 1R – 1st Round; 2R – 2nd Round
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
As of 15 December 2011.[5] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] Reserves
As of 21 August 2011.[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] Notable former players
| The Dream Team chosen by Pavel Kazakov in 2008.[7] |
See also: Category:FC Levadia Tallinn players
- A complete list of all the Club's former players can be found here
[edit] Coaches
| Season[8] | Name |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | Sergei Ratnikov |
| 2000 | Ants Kommussaar |
| 2000 | Eduard Võrk |
| 2001 | Valeri Bondarenko |
| 2002 | Pasi Rautiainen |
| 2003 |  Franco Pancheri |
| 2003–2008 | Tarmo Rüütli |
| 2008–2010 | Igor Prins |
| 2010–2011 | Aleksandr Puštov |
| 2011 | Sergei Hohlov-Simson |
| 2011– | Marko Kristal |
See also: Category:FC Levadia Tallinn managers
[edit] References
- ^ "FC Levadia Tallinn". fclevadia.ee. http://www.fclevadia.ee/dyna/site/fclevadia.html. Retrieved June 17 2008.
- ^ a b c "Kadrioru staadion". fclevadia.ee. http://www.fclevadia.ee/dyna/site/66est.html. Retrieved June 16 2008.
- ^ "Martins kukutas Levadia". SL Õhtuleht. http://sloleht.ee/index.aspx?id=206814&q=Levadia. Retrieved June 16 2008.
- ^ "Ajalugu". kadriorustaadion.ee. http://www.kadriorustaadion.ee/?id=1437. Retrieved July 10 2008.
- ^ "Esindusmeeskond" (in Estonian). fclevadia.ee. http://fclevadia.ee/article/14. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ "Eesti Jalgpalli Liit — TALLINNA FC LEVADIA II (2011)" (in Estonian). jalgpall.ee. http://www.jalgpall.ee/team.php?team=221&year=2011&b=I. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ^ "FC Levadia ajaloo silmapaistvaimad mängijad". fclevadia.ee. http://www.fclevadia.ee/dyna/site/2629est.html. Retrieved November 8 2008.
- ^ "FC Levadia" (in Estonian). FC Levadia Tallinn. http://fclevadia.ee/article/1. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
[edit] External links
- FC Levadia official website (English) (Estonian) (Russian)
- FC Levadia's page at uefa.com
- uefa.com: Levadia clear historic hurdle
- White Green Supporters – FC Levadia supporters(Estonian) (Russian)
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