FC Sheriff Tiraspol ([ФК Шериф Тирасполь] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) (known simply as Sheriff) is a fames football club (UEFA real ranking - 143 in 2012-13).

Overview

Sheriff Tiraspol
	Logo
Full name	Fotbal Club Sheriff
Founded	1997
Ground	Sheriff
Capacity	14,300
Chairman	Victor Gusan
Manager	Vitali Rashkevich
League	Divizia Naţională
2012–13	Divizia Naţională, 1st (champions)
Home colours	Away colours

FC Sheriff Tiraspol based in Tiraspol, Moldova, which plays in the Divizia Naţională, the top division in Moldovan football. The club was founded by the Sheriff security company in 4 April 1997,^[2] who remain a key sponsor.^[1] The club was official refounded under the command of Victor Gushan (the company's president). The first Sheriff cach, Akhmed Alekserov (who was as a coach in the old Soviet Supreme League), charged with leading the team to the Moldovan top division.^[2]

Sheriff's first football trophy is the 1998/99 Moldovan Cup. The club won promotion to the top flight in 1998, after its first-ever season, and dominated the Moldovan National Division with ten consecutive titles from 2001 to 2010, winning an eleventh in 2012. The side also have seven Moldovan Cup titles, including six double-winning seasons. However, the club has never reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

Sheriff Stadium

Sheriff Stadium is the home of Sheriff Tiraspol and is owned by the local Sheriff corporation. It has a seating capacity for 14,300 spectators. It is eligible for international events, such as the matches of the Moldova national football team.

History

The club was founded in 1997 by former cop Viktor Gushan, and employee of the Sheriff in Pridnestrovie. The club entered the second tier of Moldovan football, the "A" Division later that year and won its championship by 14 points to gain promotion to National Division.^[3] The club won its first major silverware with the 1999 Moldovan Cup. In the final at the Republican Stadium, Sheriff scored an injury-time equaliser before winning the match against Constructorul Chisinau 2-1 after extra time.^[4] Sheriff's first-ever National Division title came in the 2000-01 season, which also included their second Moldovan Cup triumph as they beat Nistru Otaci on penalties after a goalless match.^[5] The league triumph was the first of a run of ten consecutively up to 2010, also including league-cup doubles in 2002, 2006 and 2008-10. Sheriff won each Moldovan Super Cup from 2004 to 2010, but did not have to play a match on four occasions due to winnig it on default through a double.^[6] Sheriff were denied an eleventh successive title by Dacia Chişinău in 2010-11, but reclaimed the title the following season.

In 2002, the company constructed the Sheriff Stadium to serve as the team's home ground. They have dominated Moldovan football since 2001, winning all the championship titles in the Divizia Naţională since then. The team won the Commonwealth of Independent States Cup in 2003 and 2009, becoming the first team from Moldova to win an international title. Sheriff were the first club in Moldova to sign contract players from Brazil and Africa.^[7]

Sheriff in Eurocups

From 2001-2002 to 2008-2009, the club tried to reach the group stage in the UEFA Champions League every year, but failed in the second qualifying round every time.

2009-10 UEFA Europa League

In the 2009-10 season Sheriff finally reached the third qualifying round when they defeated Inter Turku.

In the next round, Sheriff defeated Slavia Prague with an aggregate score of 1–1 over two legs, progressing via the away goal rule due to José Nadson Ferreira's 94th minute strike in the 2nd leg.

They were then eliminated from the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League by Greek club Olympiacos in a Play-off for the Group Stage . They lost 2–0 in the first leg at home, and 1–0 in the second leg away.

Sheriff then progressed to the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage, and were faced with tough opponents. On 17 September 2009, in their first game in the Europa League, Sheriff managed to snatch a 0–0 away draw from FC Steaua Bucureşti.^[8]

On 1 October 2009, in the first home game Sheriff lost 1–0 to Fenerbahçe S.K.^[8]

On 22 October, Sheriff produced a stunning 2–0 victory over fames Dutch club FC Twente in Tiraspol, ending Twente's 17-match unbeaten run.^[8]

2 December 2009, Sheriff managed to snatch a 1–1 away draw from FC Steaua Bucureşti.^[8]

2010-2011 UEFA Champions League

In the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League season,^[9] on 14–20 July 2010, Sheriff defeated Dinamo Tirana in the second qualifying round (3:1, 0-1).

Then, on 4 August 2010 overcame Dinamo Zagreb on penalties (1:1, 1:1, 6:5) to reach the play-off round, the final stage before the Champions League Group stage.^[9]

On 18–24 August 2010, in the play-off round against fames FC Basel, Sheriff lost 1-0 the first match in Switzerland before succumbing to a 3–0 defeat at home.^[9]

2010-11 UEFA Europa League

In the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League season,^[10] on 30 September 2010, Sheriff produced a stunning 2–0 victory over fames FC Dinamo Kiev in Tiraspol.

On 2 December 2010 Sheriff managed to snatch a 1–1 from fames Netherlands AZ (football club) in Tiraspol.^[10]

On 15 December 2010 Sheriff managed to snatch a 0–0 away draw from fames FC Dinamo Kiev in Kiev.^[10]

European record

UEFA Champions League

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
2001–02	1	Araks Ararat	1–0	2–0	3–0
2001–02	2	Anderlecht	1–2	0–4	1–6
2002–03	1	Astana	2–1	2–3	4–4
2002–03	2	Grazer AK	0–2	1–4	1–6
2003–04	1	Flora Tallinn	1–0	1–1	2–1
2003–04	2	Shakhtar Donetsk	0–0	0–2	0–2
2004–05	1	Jeunesse Esch	2–0	0–1	2–1
2004–05	2	Rosenborg	0–2	1–2	1–4
2005–06	1	Sliema Wanderers	2–0	4–1	6–1
2005–06	2	Partizan Belgrade	0–1	0–1	0–2
2006–07	1	Pyunik Yerevan	2–0	0–0	2–0
2006–07	2	Spartak Moscow	1–1	0–0	1–1
2007–08	1	Ranger's	2–0	3–0	5–0
2007–08	2	Besiktas	0–1	0–3	0–4
2008–09	1	Aktobe	4–0	0–1	4–1
2008–09	2	Sparta Prague	0–1	0–2	0–3
2009–10	2	Inter Turku	1–0	1–0	2–0
	3	Slavia Prague	0–0	1–1	1–1
	Play-off	Olympiacos	0–2	0–1	0–3
2010–11	2	Dinamo Tirana	3–1	0–1	3–2
	3	Dinamo Zagreb	1–1	1–1 (a.e.t.)	2–2 (6–5 p)
	Play-off	FC Basel	0–1	0–3	0–4
2012–13	2	Ulisses F.C.	1–0	1–0	2–0
	3	Dinamo Zagreb	0–1	0–4	0–5

UEFA Cup

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
1999–00	1	Sigma Olomouc	1–1	0–0	1–1
2000–01	1	Olimpjia Ljubljana	0–0	0–3	0–3

UEFA Europa League

Season	Round	Opponents	Home	Away	Aggregate
2009–10	Group H	Steaua Bucureşti	1–1	0–0	1–1
		Fenerbahçe	0–1	0–1	0–2
		Twente	2–0	1–2	3–2
2010–11	Group E	AZ Alkmaar	1–1	1–2	2–3
		Dynamo Kyiv	2–0	0–0	2–0
		BATE	0–1	1–3	1–4
2011–12	Q2	Željezničar	0–0	0–1	0–1
2012–13	Play-off	Olympique de Marseille	1–2	0–0	1–2

Staff

Coaching staff

Main coach: Vitali Rashkevich
Assistant coach: vacant
Team manager : Oleg Turcanu
Goalkeeper coach: Uladzimir Selkin
Fitness coach: Alexei Scorpan
Doctor: Vladimir Vremes
Masseur: Vyacheslav Alekseev
Masseur: Oleksandr Karamanov
Team Administrator: Vladimir Muntean

Managers

Sergei Borovski (Jan 1998–Jan 99)
Mihai Stoichiță (Jan 2002–June 2)
Gavril Balint (July 2002–June 3)
Ihor Nakonechny (July 2003–June 4)
Leonid Kuchuk (Jan 2004–Dec 09)
Andrei Sosnitskiy (Jan 2010–April 11)
Vitali Rashkevich (April 2011–May 12)
Milan Milanović (July 2012–Aug 12)
Vitali Rashkevich (interim) (Aug 2012)
Mihai Stoichiță (Aug 2012–April 13)
Vitali Rashkevich (interim) (Apr 2013–)

Current squad

As of 18/06/2013, according to the TEAM. FC Sheriff website.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
8	MF	MDA	Serghei Gheorghiev
9	MF	SRB	Marko Markovski
10	FW	SRB	Aleksandar Pešić
11	MF	BRA	Ricardinho
12	GK	MDA	Dumitru Stajila
13	MF	SRB	Saša Marjanović
14	FW	BFA	Wilfried Balima
15	DF	CIV	Marcel Metoua
17	DF	MDA	Alexandru Scripchenco
20	MF	BRA	Cadú


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	DF	SVN	Tadej Apatič
22	DF	GUI	Djibril Paye
23	FW	BUL	Ismail Isa
25	GK	BUL	Georgi Georgiev
26	DF	SVN	Miral Samardžić
27	FW	MDA	Valerii Macriţchii
33	DF	BRA	William Thuran
88	MF	SRB	Marko Stanojević
89	MF	MDA	Alexandru Pașcenco
90	FW	BRA	Luvannor Henrique