JK Narva Trans
| Logo | |||
| Full name | Football Club Narva Trans | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 | ||
| Ground | Kreenholmi Staadion, Narva | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 | ||
| Chairman |  Nikolai Burdakov | ||
| Manager |  Valeri Bondarenko | ||
| League | Meistriliiga | ||
| 2009 | Meistriliiga, 3rd | ||
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FC Narva Trans is an Estonian football club based in Narva. The club was founded in 1979. They play in the Meistriliiga, the highest level Estonian football league. Narva Kreenholmi Staadion is their home stadium.
The club won the Estonian Cup once in 2001 and the Estonian SuperCup twice in 2007 and 2008.
History
JK Narva Trans has been playing in the Estonian Premier League (official name Meistriliiga) ever since the league’s reformation in 1992, and currently still remains one of only two teams (the other is FC Flora Tallinn) to play under the same name ever since entering the league and never to be relegated to the lower divisions.
JK Narva Trans, was founded in 1979 when its current president and former head coach Nikolai Burdakov was still a player in the team. Back in time it was known under the name of FC Avtomobilist as it was formed as a team to the local bus company. Throughout all these years the whole club has been kept alive thanks to the fanatical devotion and the hard work of Nikolai Burdakov who always managed to get a good team on feet even in the hardest of times for the club.
In 1984 FC Avtomobilist made its debut in the Estonian SSR Premier Division but did not manage to stay up and was immediately relegated in the end of the season. The same misfortunes also repeated in 1987 and 1989. In 1989 the club changed its name to Autobaas and was known as such until 1992 when the name of JK Narva Trans which is still used until the present day was finally adopted. After the successful season of 1991 the club was promoted to the Estonian top league and in 1992 made its debut in the independent Estonian Premier League (Meistriliiga). The biggest success for the club so far came in 2001, when JK Trans beat FC Flora from the capital city of Tallinn in the Estonian Cup final. Devoted JK Narva Trans fans still remember former captain Oleg Kurochkin’s (pictured) outstanding free-kick from 50 meters in the extra-time of the game. Excellent finish by Oleg Kurochkin left surprised FC Flora goalkeeper with nothing much to do but to take the ball out from the back of the net. This memorable win secured the first ever ticket to the UEFA Cup for JK Narva Trans.
The UEFA Cup adventures began bizarrely for JK Trans when they were unexpectedly awarded a 3-0 technical victory over a solid Swedish side IF Elfsborg following the Swedes fielding an unregistered player. Unfortunately, JK Trans could not make out the most of the situation and the campaign ended with a disastrous 5-0 loss for Trans in the second leg game in Elfsborg’s hometown of Boras. The mishaps of JK Trans in Europe did not stop there, however, and the season of 2003 is especially remarkable for the club. Drawn against Serbian OFK Beograd, JK Trans travelled to the city of Belgrade for their first leg away game. The match was interrupted by a gas missile thrown onto the pitch at OFK’s stadium in the first half and as a result of gas poisoning left JK Trans without a couple of crucial players. After the play has been restored it ended with a 6-1 victory for the Serbian side. Dismayed by what happened in Belgrade seeking justice JK Trans turned to UEFA and according to their decision a 3-0 victory was again awarded to Trans. Although after appeals from the Serbian side the whole leg was annulled by UEFA and the winner was to be decided over only one game in Estonia. Coming closer than ever to proceeding into the next round of the cup JK Trans, nevertheless, lost 5-3 in a thrilling encounter at A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn. Failing to qualify anyway, it later became known that this time around it was JK Trans who fielded an ineligible player for the game and the much more attractive 5-3 result was turned into a 3-0 technical loss.
As for the home league, JK Trans steadily holds its position among country’s best four teams always coming close to securing one of the top 3 spots. The best Meistriliiga result so far is the runner-up position under the head coach Valeri Bondarenko in 2006 as well as the bronze medals of seasons 1995, 2005, 2008 and 2010. Although the 2008 third place has another curious story behind it, as in reality currently no longer existent FC TVMK from Tallinn finished third that season, however, it was later disqualified by the Estonian FA due to some licensing problems and as a result dropped to the bottom of the Meistriliiga table.
Nonetheless, the bronze medals were still awarded to the TVMK players and even though Trans was placed third in the final standing, technically, its players did not get the medals for the season of 2008.
JK Narva Trans is also a double winner of Estonian Supercup in 2007 and 2008 as well as the former home team to two Estonian internationals Sergei Zamorski (4 caps, 1 goal) and Jevgeni Novikov (13 caps, 2 goals). Apart from the world class player Valeri Karpin who used to play for the team in the very early days of his football career, the biggest star of the team and one of the most successful players in Estonian football Maksim Gruznov, labeled by the journalists the goal machine, who hit the remarkable 37 goals in the season 2001 for JK Trans. Season of 2007 is especially notable for the club as even two of its players, Maksim Gruznov and Dmitri Lipartov were in the same race as Didier Drogba, Francesco Totti and Cristiano Ronaldo for the European Golden Boot. However, the goal value system, when every goal scored in the leagues of such countries as England or Spain is worth almost double compared to the goals scored in Estonian League, did not let them to come close to reaching the title.
Achievements
- Estonian Meistriliiga runner-up: 2006
- Estonian Meistriliiga bronze medallist: 1995, 2005, 2008 and 2010
- Estonian Cup holder: 2001
- Estonian Cup Finalist: 1994, 2007
- Estonian Supercup holder: 2007, 2008
JK Narva Trans in Europe:
- Intertoto Cup: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
- UEFA Cup: 2001, 2007
- Europa League: 2009
Narva Trans in Estonian Football
UEFA club competition results
- As of June 22, 2009:
| Competition | Matches | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UEFA Cup Europa League |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| Intertoto Cup | 18 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 13 | 56 |
| Total | 22 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 16 | 70 |
- 1Q = First Qualifying Round
- 1R = First Round
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Intertoto Cup | 1R | 
|
FC Groningen | 1–4 |
| 1R | 
|
Vasas SC | 1–4 | ||
| 1R | 
|
SK Lierse | 0–3 | ||
| 1R | 
|
Gaziantepspor | 0–0 | ||
| 1999 | Intertoto Cup | 1R | 
|
FC Jokerit | 0–3, 1–4 |
| 2000 | Intertoto Cup | 1R | 
|
FC Ceahlăul | 2–5, 2–4 |
| 2001–02 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | 
|
IF Elfsborg | 3–0, 0–5 |
| 2003 | Intertoto Cup | 1R | 
|
OFK Belgrade | 1–6, 3–5 |
| 2004 | Intertoto Cup | 1R | 
|
FK Vėtra | 0–3, 0–1 |
| 2005 | Intertoto Cup | 1R |
|
KSC Lokeren OV | 0–2, 1–0 |
| 2006 | Intertoto Cup | 1R |
|
Kalmar FF | 1–6, 0–2 |
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |
|
Helsingborgs IF | 0–6, 0–3 |
| 2008 | Intertoto Cup | 1R |
|
FK Ekranas | 0–1, 0–3 |
| 2009–10 | Europa League | 1Q | 
|
Rudar Velenje | 0–3, 1–3 |
| 2010–11 | Europa League | 1Q |
|
MYPA | 0–2, v |
Players
Current squad
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 the list of Estonian football transfers winter 2009–10.
Reserves
Notable former players
Vitoldas Čepauskas
Aleksandr Dubõkin- Maksim Gruznov
Vladislav Ivanov- Martin Kaalma
- Tarmo Kink
- Aleksandr Kulik
- Dmitry Lipartov
- Jevgeni Novikov
See also: Category:FC Narva Trans players
Notable former coaches
References
External links
Template:Baltic League 2009–10
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