Football Club Infonet Levadia Tallinn, commonly known as FCI Levadia, or simply as Levadia, is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

that competes in the

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

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

Lilleküla Stadium The Lilleküla Stadium, known as A. Le Coq Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. It is the home ground of football clubs FC Flora, Flora and FCI Levadia Tallinn, Levadia, and the Estonia ...

. Founded in 1998 in

Maardu Maardu (, ) is a Populated places in Estonia, town and a Municipalities of Estonia, municipality in Harju County, Estonia. It is part of Tallinn metropolitan area, located about east of the capital city. The town covers an area of 22.76 ...

, the club moved to Tallinn in 2000 and officially affiliated themselves with the capital city in 2004. In 2017, Levadia's first team merged with FCI Tallinn, and became FCI Levadia. Levadia has played in the Meistriliiga since the 1999 season and have never been relegated from the Estonian top division. Levadia are the second most successful club in Estonian football with 31 domestic titles; including 11 Meistriliiga titles, a record 11

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup () 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 qualifying round. Finals ...

s and 9

Estonian Supercup The Estonian Supercup () 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 Estonian Cup, then the league ...

History

Early history

Levadia was founded on 22 October 1998, when Viktor Levada's Levadia Group OÜ became the official sponsor of

based

Esiliiga The Esiliiga is the second division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga is ranked below the Meistriliiga and above the Esiliiga B. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends ...

club Olümp, which subsequently changed its name to Levadia. The club won the 1998 Esiliiga and were promoted to the

. In January 1999, Sergei Ratnikov was appointed as manager. Levadia immediately made a mark during their first season in top flight football in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, becoming the first team to win the Meistriliiga, the

and the

in the same year. After the turn of the century, Levadia moved their home matches from Maardu to the

Kadriorg Stadium Kadriorg Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Opened in 1926, it is one of the oldest stadiums in Estonia. It is currently used mostly for track and field competitions, but also serves as a home ground for JK Tallinna Kalev. ...

and managed to repeat their success by winning another treble during the 2000 season. In the

2000–01 UEFA Champions League The 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was the 46th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the ninth since it was rebranded from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competiti ...

, Levadia defeated The New Saints 6–2 on aggregate in the first qualifying round, but lost to

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

2–9 on aggregate in the second qualifying round. Following the loss to Shakhtar Donetsk, Ratnikov was sacked. In 2001,

Valeri Bondarenko Valeri Bondarenko (born 22 April 1953) is an Estonian football coach and a former player. A midfielder, he played for Norma Tallinn from 1971 to 1979. From 1993 to 1994, he was the assistant coach of the Estonia national team. From 1998 to 19 ...

was appointed as a manager. Levadia failed to defend their title, finishing the 2001 season in third place and in November 2001, Bondarenko was replaced by

Pasi Rautiainen Pasi Pentti Rautiainen (born 18 July 1961) is a Finnish football manager and former player. He made 29 appearances for Finland national football team, scoring one goal. Rautiainen was named in the Finnish Football Hall of Fame in 2021. Playing ...

. Under Rautiainen, Levadia finished the 2002 Meistriliiga as runners-up, only two points behind champions

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 ...

. After the season, Rautiainen resigned and was replaced by Franco Pancheri in January 2003. Pancheri coached Levadia for just 9 Meistriliiga matches, before he was sacked in June 2003. He was replaced by

Tarmo Rüütli Tarmo Rüütli (born 11 August 1954) is an Estonian football manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonp ...

and Levadia finished the 2003 season in third place.

Relocation to Tallinn

In 2004, Levadia officially moved to

and the club was renamed from Levadia Maardu to Levadia Tallinn, although the team had already been playing at the

since 2000. The club's previously Tallinn-based reserve team changed its name to Levadia II. Under Rüütli, Levadia won the league in the 2004 season, but failed to defend the title in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, finishing as runners-up. In the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

qualifying rounds, Levadia defeated

Haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

and

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

, but lost to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

1–3 on aggregate in the first round. In the process, they became the first Estonian club to reach the first round of the UEFA Cup. Levadia won two more Meistriliiga titles in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. In March 2008, Rüütli was hired by the

Estonian Football Association The Estonian Football Association (EJL; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football, beach soccer and futsal in Estonia. Established on 14 December 1921, it organizes the football league, including the championship which is called Mei ...

to coach the Estonia national team and his assistant

Igor Prins Igor Prins (born 21 October 1966) is an Estonian football manager and former professional player. International career Prins made his international debut for the Estonia national team on 3 June 1992 in a historic 1–1 draw against Slovenia in ...

took over as manager. Under Prins, Levadia won two consecutive Meistriliiga titles in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and an Estonian Cup in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In August 2010, Prins was sacked due to disagreements with the board and replaced by Levadia II manager

Aleksandr Puštov Aleksandr Pushtov (born 9 March 1964) is a football coach and a retired footballer from Estonia, who holds Russian citizenship. He was the manager of FCI Tallinn from 2011 to 2017. Under his management FCI climbed to the Estonian top tier, won t ...

. Levadia finished the 2010 season as runners-up. In July 2011, Puštov was sacked after disappointing results in the Meistriliiga and the Champions League and replaced by Sergei Hohlov-Simson. Levadia finished the 2011 season in fourth place, their lowest ever league placing since the club was promoted to the Meistriliiga. In December 2011,

Marko Kristal Marko Kristal (born 2 June 1973) is an Estonian football manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofi ...

was appointed as manager. The club won the 2011–12 Estonian Cup and finished the 2012 season as runners-up. Levadia won the Meistriliiga title in the 2013 season. The team defended their title in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, but finished the 2015 season as runners-up. In November 2015, it was announced that Sergei Ratnikov will return to Levadia after 15 years and replace Kristal as manager. Ratnikov's second tenure as Levadia's manager lasted until July 2016, when he was sacked following a 0–1 loss to Pärnu Linnameeskond. He was replaced by another returning manager, Igor Prins. Levadia finished the 2016 season as runners-up.

Merger with FC Infonet

Following another second-place finish in the 2017 season, Levadia announced they will merge with FC Infonet Tallinn, the Estonian champions of 2016. The two clubs merged their first teams, becoming FCI Levadia, with FCI Tallinn's

Aleksandar Rogić Aleksandar Rogić (; born 3 August 1981) is a Serbian professional Association football, football coach who is an assistant Manager (association football), manager for Russian club PFC CSKA Moscow, CSKA Moscow. Rogić worked for Serbia national f ...

taking over as manager. FCI Levadia finished the 2018 season as runners-up, but won the

, beating rivals FC Flora 1–0 in the final. In 2019, Levadia moved to Estonia's largest football stadium A. Le Coq Arena. On 15 September 2019, Rogić was sacked after disappointing results, with assistant coach Vladimir Vassiljev taking over as caretaker manager. In November 2019, former Estonia head coach and record cap holder

Martin Reim Martin Reim (born 14 May 1971) is an Estonian football manager and former professional player. Reim played most of his professional career in Estonia as a central midfielder, including two separate stints for Flora with which he won seven Meistr ...

was appointed as manager. However, after a disappointing start to the season, Martin Reim decided to resign in July 2020 and Vladimir Vassiljev took over the role. In August 2020, Levadia's former assistant coach Marko Savić returned to the club and became joint managers with Vassiljev. In the following

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Levadia ended their 7-year Premium Liiga title drought, becoming Estonian champions in the last day of the season, after drawing 2–2 with rivals

FC Flora FC Flora, commonly known as Flora Tallinn, or simply as Flora, is an Estonian professional football club based in Tallinn that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium. Fo ...

in the title-deciding final match. FCI Levadia also lifted the Estonian Cup in 2021 and Estonian Supercup in February 2022, again beating Flora in both of the finals. In July 2022, Marko Savić and Vladimir Vassiljev announced they will be stepping down as head coaches of the club, with the main driver for the resignation being the disappointing 1–6 loss against

Víkingur Reykjavík Víkingur can refer to: * The Icelandic and Faroese word for Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pira ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

preliminary round. The remainder of the 2022 season was widely described by Estonian media outlets as turbulent, with Levadia changing head coaches multiple times in a short period of time and sporting director

Tarmo Kink Tarmo Kink (born 6 October 1985) is an Estonian former footballer who played as a winger. He works as a coach at Paide Linnameeskond. Club career Early career In 2001, Kink started his career with S.C. Real, scoring 46 goals in 15 games. In 2 ...

and CEO Sergei Hohlov-Simson also leaving the club. FCI Levadia finished the 2022 season as runners-up. Levadia Estonian Cup 2024

In November 2022, Levadia announced the appointment of former Spanish international

Curro Torres Cristóbal Emilio "Curro" Torres Ruiz (born 27 December 1976) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Estonian club FCI Levadia Tallinn. In his professional career, whose later years were blighted by se ...

as manager. The club finished the 2023 season as runners-up, before winning the double in 2024 by defeating

Paide Linnameeskond Paide Linnameeskond, or simply Paide, is an Estonian professional football club based in Paide that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Paide linnastaadion. Founded in 2004, the club has ...

4–2 in the 2023–24 Estonian Cup final and lifting their 11th Premium Liiga title at the end of the 2024 season. Levadia started the 2025 season by winning their 9th Estonian Supercup.

Stadiums

Lilleküla Stadium

The club's home ground is the 14,336-seat Lilleküla Stadium (commonly known as A. Le Coq Arena for sponsorship reasons). Opened in 2001 and expanded from 2016 to 2018, it is the largest football stadium in Estonia. The stadium is also home to Levadia's rival FC Flora and the Estonian national team. Lilleküla Stadium is located at Jalgpalli 21, Kesklinn, Tallinn. Levadia uses

Sportland Arena Sportland Arena is an association football stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Located next to Estonia's largest stadium A. Le Coq Arena, it is part of the Lilleküla Football Complex. The stadium is named after the sporting goods retail company ''Spor ...

artificial turf stadium for training and home matches during winter and early spring months. Levadia's training in summer and autumn takes place in their Maarjamäe training complex.

Kadriorg Stadium

From 2000 to 2018, Levadia played at the Kadriorg Stadium. Built from 1922 to 1926 and renovated from 2000 to 2001, it is one of the oldest football stadiums in Estonia and used to be the home ground of the Estonia national team until the completion of Lilleküla Stadium in 2001.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Rivalries

The Tallinn Derby

Levadia's deepest rivalry is with

and the fixture between the two clubs is known as the Tallinn Derby (). Levadia and Flora are the two biggest and most successful clubs in Estonian football. The rivalry began in

, when Levadia entered

and immediately challenged the reigning champions Flora for the title, winning the treble in their first year in top-flight football. In the early 2000s, language and nationality was also one of the separating factors between the two clubs, as Levadia was seen as the club of choice for the Russian speaking population of the city and Flora for the Estonian speaking. However, that image of Levadia has since then faded away. From 2019, the two clubs also share their home ground A. Le Coq Arena. The attendance record of 3,510 was set on 28 June 2023.

Players

First-team squad

Out on loan

Reserves and academy

Club officials

Current technical staff

Managerial history

Honours

League

** Winners (11):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

** Winners (1):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Cups

** Winners (11): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2020–21, 2023–24 *

** Winners (9): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2022, 2025

Seasons and statistics

Seasons

Europe

Notes

References

External links

*
FCI Levadia
at Estonian Football Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Levadia 1998 establishments in Estonia Association football clubs established in 1998 Football clubs in Tallinn Meistriliiga clubs