Paide Linnameeskond is a professional football club based in

Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the capital of Järva County, one of the 15 counties of Estonia. Etymology Paide's German name ''Weißenstein'' (originally ''Wittenstein'' or ''Wittensten'' in Low German) means "white stone". This name was de ...

, Estonia that competes in the

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football (soccer), football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-p ...

, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is

Paide linnastaadion Paide linnastaadion ( en, Paide City Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Paide, Estonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Meistriliiga team Paide Linnameeskond. The stadium has a seating capacity Seat ...

. Founded in 2004, the club has played in the Meistriliiga since 2009 and has never been relegated. Paide Linnameeskond have won the

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

once, in 2021–22.

History

Paide Linnameeskond was founded in 2004 as a satellite club of

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

. The team entered the Western division of the IV liiga and saw four consecutive promotions from 2005 to 2008, when they were promoted to the

. Paide Linnameeskond finished their first season in the Estonian top flight in ninth place, but escaped relegation by defeating

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have ...

2–1 on aggregate in the play-offs. In July 2010, former Paide Linnameeskond player Meelis Rooba was appointed as manager. The club reached the

2014–15 Estonian Cup The 2014–15 Estonian Cup was the 25th season of the Estonia's most prestigious football knockout tournament. The defending champions Levadia were eliminated after a walkover loss against 4 tier club in the third round as they fielded an unreg ...

final, but lost to

Nõmme Kalju Nõmme (Estonian for ''"Heath"'') is one of the 8 administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 39,422 () and covers an area of , population density is . The district is largely a middle-cl ...

0–2. Rooba resigned as manager after the 2016 season and was replaced by another former player,

Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko (born 29 December 1981) is an Estonian football coach and former player who currently manages Gambian side Real de Banjul. Zahovaiko played for several professional clubs and was also a member of the Estonian national tea ...

. Under Zahovaiko Paide Linnameeskond established itself as one of the top teams in the top flight, finishing 5th in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, 4th in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, and 2nd in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

, earning their first ever European place finish. Zahovaiko left Paide after leading the club to third in the 2021 season, being replaced by former player and Estonian national team coach

Karel Voolaid Karel Voolaid (born 4 July 1977) is an Estonian football manager and former player. Managerial career Estonia youth teams Voolaid has managed Estonia's under-15s, under-16s, under-19s, under-21s and under-23s. Estonia On 3 July 2019, the ...

. In June 2021, Paide Linnameeskond announced its formal affiliation with the Gambian football club

Real de Banjul Real de Banjul Football Club is a Gambian professional association football club based in Banjul. The team compete in the GFA League First Division, the top flight of Gambian football league system. Real de Banjul is the most successful club in ...

. Throughout the cooperation between Paide Linnameeskond and Real de Banjul, multiple Gambian footballers have used Paide as a stepping stone, including Alassana Jatta and Muhammed Sanneh. The 2022-23 season saw Paide win their first European ties against

FC Dinamo Tbilisi FC Dinamo Tbilisi ( ka, დინამო თბილისი, ) is a Georgian professional football club based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top flight of Georgian football. Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the mo ...

and

FC Ararat-Armenia FC Ararat-Armenia ( hy, Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Արարատ-Արմենիա), is an Armenian football club based in Yerevan, founded in 2017. History It was founded in 2017 as FC Avan Academy by Ruben Hayrapetyan, on the basis of ...

in the

Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

first and second qualifying rounds, both on penalties. Paide hosted European matches at both rounds at the 1,500-capacity

Pärnu Rannastaadion Pärnu Rannastaadion ( en, Pärnu Beach Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Pärnu, Estonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Pärnu JK Vaprus and PJK. The stadium was opened after reconstruction in ...

due to their own 500-capacity

not meeting UEFA Category 2 Stadium requirements. Their third qualifying round home debut, a 2-0 defeat to

R.S.C. Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Division A and is the most successful B ...

of Belgium, was played at the 14,336-capacity

Lilleküla Stadium The Lilleküla Stadium (known as A. Le Coq Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. It is the home ground of football club Flora and the Estonia national football team. With a capacity of 14,336, it is the larges ...

Players

Current squad

''For season transfers, see transfers summer 2022 and transfers winter 2022–23.''

Out on loan

Reserves and academy

Club officials

Coaching staff

Managerial history

Honours

** Winners (1): 2021–22 ** Runners-up (1): 2014–15 *

Estonian Supercup The Estonian Supercup ( et, Eesti Superkarikas) is Estonian football's annual super cup, contested between the champions of the previous Meistriliiga season and the holders of the Estonian Cup. If the Meistriliiga champions also won the Estoni ...

** Runners-up (1): 2021

Seasons and statistics

Seasons

Europe

References

External links

*
Paide Linnameeskond
at Estonian Football Association {{use dmy dates, date=February 2022 2004 establishments in Estonia Association football clubs established in 2004 Football clubs in Estonia Meistriliiga clubs Sport in Paide