Chornomorets Odesa (Ukrainian: Футбо́льний Клуб Чорномо́рець Оде́са[t͡ʃornoˈmɔrɛt͡sʲ oˈdɛsɐ]) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Odesa. The club's home ground is the 34,164 capacity Chornomorets Stadium opened in 1935 and rebuilt in 2011. The club was officially formed in 1936 as Dynamo,[1] but after a number of name and management changes, it emerged under its current name in 1958 sponsored by the Black Sea Shipping Company.[2]
The club was among top 20 Soviet clubs, yet it has very limited number of Soviet trophies.
At the beginning of the 20th century, in Odessa, within limits of Shevchenko Park, a construction started of what was supposed to become a lake. However, after the trench for the lake was dug out, the funding stopped and so did the construction. Soon the hole began to serve as a field for one of city's non-league teams. As the hole resembled a shape of the Black Sea, that was the nickname given to the field, and the team was named Chornomorets, which means "Black Sea man". And although that team is unrelated to the today's club, it was the first team in Odessa to play under that name.
The official date of foundation of Chornomorets Odessa is considered to be March 26, 1936 as Dynamo Odessa. Dynamo Odessa, however, participated before that in the city championship since 1923 (the year of establishment of the Ukrainian football competitions) winning it in 1933. Initially the club was named as Sparta Odessa. In 1940 after relegating from the Top level the club was merged with Pishchevyk (Kharchovyk) Odessa that participated in the republican competitions (Championship of Ukrainian SSR). In 1941 the club was included into the War Championship (Top division) under the name of Spartak Odessa.
After the WWII the club was reestablished as Pishchevik (Kharchovyk) Odessa in the lower Soviet division. In 1950 the club lost its place in the play-offs to Spartak Uzhhorod (Zakarpattia Uzhhorod) and relegating to the republican-level competitions. In 1953 upon the enlargement of the "Class B" competitions (Second division), Metalurh Odessa appeared in the league. Later Metalurh was renamed into the better-known Pishchevik (Kharchovyk) Odessa for a short period of time. Since 1958 the club participate under its current name.
The club was a founding member of the Ukrainian Premier League, winning the Ukrainian Cup and finishing 5th in the inaugural 1992 season. Chornomorets finished 3rd the next two seasons and 2nd during the following two seasons. They also won another domestic Cup in 1994. The club’s most successful spell was achieved under the guidance of Viktor Prokopenko, and later under Leonid Buryak. At the end of the 1997–98 season, following big financial troubles and the sale of a number of leading players, the club was relegated to the First League. They won promotion the following 1998–99 season, but finished in the second last place next year and were relegated again. Chornomorets came back up again for the 2002–03 season and enjoyed several decent seasons in the Premier League. They finished third in the 2005–06 season and took part in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup tournament.
Chornomorets were deducted 6 points by FIFA on November 6, 2008. It was confirmed by Ukrainian Premier League on March 2, 2009.[3] The club managed to finish the 2008–09 season in 10th place despite the deduction. The 2009–10 season started badly with a 5–0 loss to Dynamo Kyiv and a poor run of form that saw the team finish the first half of the season in 13th place, just two spots away from the relegation zone. The club was relegated to the First League at the end of the season. It took, however, just a year for Chornomorets to return to the Ukrainian top flight for the 2011–12 season.
FC Chernomorets emblem on the front of stadium «Chernomorets» in Odessa.
UEFA Europa League logo on the field in Odessa on October 3, 2013 before the match Chernomorets-PSV.
1975: First participation in the UEFA Cup (1975–76)
1992: Took part in the Ukrainian Premier League after the break-up of the Soviet Union and officially registered as the non-amateur club Chornomorets Odesa
Note: In Soviet competitions league calendar mostly stretched from spring through fall, while main rounds of the cup tournament sometimes would follow the fall-spring format.