FC Karpaty Lviv
| File:Karpaty-Lviv.png | ||||
| Full name | FC Karpaty Lviv | |||
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| Nickname(s) | "Zeleno-Bili" ("Green-Whites"), "Zeleni Levy" ("Green Lions") | |||
| Founded | 1963 | |||
| Ground | Ukraina Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 28,051 | |||
| Chairman |  Petro Dyminsky | |||
| Head Coach |  Oleh Kononov | |||
| League | Ukrainian Premier League | |||
| 2007-08 | 10th | |||
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FC Karpaty Lviv (Ukrainian: ФК «Карпати» Львів) is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Lviv. Named after the Carpathian Mountains, they are one of perennial mid-table clubs in Ukraine.
History
Early years (1963-1968)
FC Karpaty was founded in 1963, the main initiators of the club's foundation were Lviv football veterans from a team named Lvivsilmash. Karpaty debuted in Soviet Second League B that year and had remained there for four seasons, until in 1968 they were promoted to Soviet First League.
Winning the USSR Cup
On August 17, 1969, Karpaty became the first (and the only) club in the USSR football history which won the USSR Cup while playing in the Soviet First League. In the cup match, Karpaty played FC SKA Rostov-on-Don, one of the best Soviet clubs in the mid-1960s. Karpaty were trailing 0:1 after the first half, but were able to run away with the Cup with the final score of 2:1.
In the following season, Karpaty's first opponent in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was Romanian Steaua Bucharest, but Steaua advanced on 4:3 aggregate.
Soviet Top League (1970-1977)
In 1970-1977 and 1980, Karpaty played in the Soviet Top League. Karpaty's best achievement was 4th place in 1976. Karpaty placed 4th twice that year since the season was split into 2 separate championships (spring and fall). Karpaty were primed to take silver that season, but an unexpected loss in the last home game to Zenit Leningrad pushed Karpaty back into 4th place.
While playing in the Soviet First League in 1979, Karpaty were close to repeating their 1969 achievement, when they met Dinamo Moscow in the USSR Cup semi-final. The match which was played in Moscow, went into overtime with a 1:1 score. Dinamo however prevailed, scoring on a penalty kick in extra time.
SKA Karpaty (1981-1989)
In 1981, Karpaty were merged with another Lviv team, SKA Lviv. The new team, SKA Karpaty, continued playing in the Soviet First League, almost achieving promotion in 1986 when CSKA Moscow was promoted ahead of Karpaty on goal differences. In 1989 the original name of the club was restored.
Ukrainian League (1991-present)
Since Ukraine gained its independence, Karpaty have primarily participated in Ukrainian Premier League competitions. They have taken 3rd place once and were Ukrainian Cup runners-up twice, losing both times to Dynamo Kyiv in the final.
The thirteen’s season in Ukrainian Premier League became an unfortunate one for Karpaty and in 2003-04 season the team was relegated to Persha Liha. However Karpaty remained there only for two seasons and in the 2005-06 season, the club was successful in taking second place in the Persha Liha, which allowed them to participate in the Vyscha Liha the following year.
Stadium
Main articles: Ukraina Stadium
FC Karpaty play their home games at the Ukraina Stadium. The stadium was originally opened in 1992 and renovated on several occasions since, the latest taking place in 2001. Currently the arena has a capacity of 29,004 spectators.
The stadium was also the venue hosting the final match of the first Ukrainian Premier League season in 1992, in which Tavriya Simferopol defeated Dynamo Kyiv.
It has also been one of the venues for Ukraine national football team matches, the most recent being a 2-0 Ukraine win over Georgia on October 13, 2004 for 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying.
Ukraina Stadium may be one of the venues for Euro 2012 co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland. If so, the stadium will host group stage matches and will be expanded to 36,000.
Sponsors and Partners
Partners: Karpaty MEGAzon, Karpaty-mania, Karpaty (weekly), MEGAklas
Official Sponsors: Lvivskyi Standart, Halytska Korona, Perlova, other - Halytska Zdoba, MAC-Media, Radio Luks 104.7, 24 news, and others.
Logo history
Since the club has been named after the Carpathian Mountains, the image of the forest and mountains has been present on team's logo for many years. However the logo has since been updated, inspired by Lviv's Coat of Arms with a segment of a fortress and lion shown on the new crest. The club's nickname 'The Green Lions' was also derived from their new logo.
The club also has a ceremonial logo, however, it is very rarely used, mostly during TV broadcasts or video packages.
Colours
Traditionally the club colours are white and green. Throughout the club's history kit has always been designed of green and white tones; other colours are almost never used and are highly criticized by fans.
Green is considered to be the dominant of the two as clubs nicknames are "Green-Lions" and "Green-Whites". For some time black was also used and was even displayed on one of the club's former logos.
Rivalries
Club's main rivals are considered to be the neighbouring clubs, Dynamo Kyiv, FC Lviv, Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk, Nyva Ternopil and Zakarpattia Uzhhorod. Not so long ago the rivalries with the Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk and Nyva Ternopil were the most heated when the clubs were playing each other in the same division. Since then those rivalries cooled off. It seems that the new rivalry is emerging as the new Lvivian club has entered the Premier League.
Honours
- USSR Cup: 1
- 1969
Runner-Up
- 1993, 1999
- 2004/05
Current squad
Squad is given according to the club's official website [1], as of July 17, 2008. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For recent transfers, see List of Ukrainian football transfers summer 2009 and List of Ukrainian football transfers Winter 2008-09.
Famous players
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Gábor Vajda- Stepan Yurchishin
- Lev Brovarsky
- Andriy Bal
- Bohdan Strontsits'kyi
- Oleh Luzhny
- Andriy Husin
- Bohdan Shust
- Volodymyr Yezerskiy
- Andriy Pokladok
- Serhiy Kovalets
- Ivan Hetsko
- Vasyl Kardash
Former coaches
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League and Cup history
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes 1989 3rd "V" 3 42 24 10 8 63 34 58 1990 3rd West 3 42 23 9 10 61 36 55 1991 3rd West 1 42 24 11 7 47 27 59
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes 1992 1st 13 18 5 6 7 15 18 16 1/8 finals 1992-93 1st 6 30 10 10 10 37 38 30 Runner-up 1993-94 1st 5 34 16 8 10 37 30 40 1/2 finals CWC Qual round 1994-95 1st 8 34 12 9 13 32 36 45 1/8 finals 1995-96 1st 8 34 12 10 12 39 39 46 1/8 finals 1996-97 1st 5 30 15 7 8 36 23 52 1/4 finals 1997-98 1st 3 30 16 9 5 36 20 57 1/8 finals 1998-99 1st 4 30 15 10 5 54 34 55 Runner-up 1999-00 1st 9 30 12 4 14 39 38 40 1/4 finals UC 1st round 2000-01 1st 10 26 9 3 14 33 42 30 1/16 finals 2001-02 1st 8 26 7 8 11 19 31 29 1/4 finals 2002-03 1st 7 30 9 9 12 29 37 36 1/16 finals 2003-04 1st 15 30 6 8 16 22 39 26 1/32 finals Relegated 2004-05 2nd 6 34 15 7 12 39 35 52 1/8 finals 2005-06 2nd 2 34 25 5 3 53 14 80 1/2 finals Promoted 2006-07 1st 8 30 9 10 11 26 32 37 1/16 finals 2007-08 1st 10 30 9 6 15 29 41 33 1/32 finals 2008-09 1st 9 30 8 10 12 33 39 34 1/16 finals 2009-10 1st 1/16 finals
See also
- Pogoń Lwów, the original big club in the city during the Polish years
- FC Karpaty-2 Lviv
- FC Karpaty-3 Lviv
- FC Karpaty Lviv Reserves and Youth Team