Football Club Mariupol ( ) was a Ukrainian 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

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

, that competed in the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

. The club ceased to exist as a result of the

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...

, during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In 2023 the Brazilian club AA Batel, whose local community is more than 70% Ukrainian or of Ukrainian descent, adopted the name, colours, and badge of the Ukrainian club. From 2002 to 2017, the club was named Illichivets Mariupol under which it participated in European competitions. It was renamed as part of

decommunization in Ukraine Decommunization in Ukraine started during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and expanded afterwards. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity and beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government ap ...

History

Metalurh Zhdanov

Previously the city of Mariupol hosted a football team that competed consistently in Ukrainian republican competitions among teams of physical culture (amateur teams). The first mentioning of a Mariupol team could be traced to 1936 when it lost to Dynamo Kryvyi Rih 0:5 as part of the 1936 Soviet Cup. Next season, in 1937, it was seeded to play against another team from

Berdyansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Berdiansk Raion. The ...

as part of the Ukrainian championship, but did not appear for the game and was eliminated. After that there is no evidence a team that represented the city until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, Mariupol sometimes was represented by two teams, but usually the main was named Metalurh Zhdanov. At the end of 1958 it was renamed into Avanhard Zhdanov.

Azovstal and Azovets

Football Club Mariupol traces its history to 1960, when it was established as Azovstal based on a former two teams of physical culture (a type of Soviet amateur clubs)

FC Avanhard Zhdanov FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...

and FC Shakhtar Rutchenkove. The new team of masters Azovstal Zhdanov sponsored by the local Azovstal iron and steel works was admitted to Soviet competitions for teams of masters in Class B (at that time the second division). It was eliminated soon in 1964. After skipping one season the club again was admitted for the 1966 Soviet competitions for teams of masters in Class B, now as Azovets. During that time the club stayed in professional competitions a little bit longer and in 1971 changed its name to more recognizable Metalurh. However, soon after changing its name in 1973, the club again was relegated and now for a much longer period of time.

Lokomotyv and Novator

Missing the 1974 season, the club returned to republican competitions in 1975 as Lokomotyv, sponsored now by "Azovmash" which specializes in production of

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American English, American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and International Union of Railways, UIC), also called a tra ...

s as well as mining and metallurgical heavy equipment. Soon before the final

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, the club already playing as Novator was relegated in 1989 to Ukrainian amateur competitions. In 1991 Novator became a champion of the Ukrainian football championship among amateur clubs. Due to reformation of the Ukrainian football competitions, the new amateur champion was admitted to the newly formed

Ukrainian First League The Persha Liha ( ) or Ukrainian First League is a Ukrainian football league system, level of national football competitions (second tier) in Ukraine governed by the Professional Football League of Ukraine, Professional Football League at the disc ...

Ukrainian professional club in Mariupol

After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1992, the club changed its name to old one Azovets (part of the Azovmash's SC Novator). In summer of 1995 it merged with FC Dynamo Luhansk and during following spring changed its name again to Metalurh. FC Metalurh Mariupol changed its name to Illichivets during the winter break of the 2002–2003 season when the club was acquired by the Illich Steel and Iron Works. Illichivets were relegated to

in the 2006–07 season after finishing 15th (out of 16). However, they returned to the

the following season after finishing as champions in the

2007–08 Ukrainian First League The 2007–08 Ukrainian First League was the seventeenth since its establishment. There were 20 teams competing. Two teams were relegated from the Ukrainian Premier League 2006-07. Four teams were promoted from the Ukrainian Second League 2006-07. ...

. Due to the 2014

Russian military intervention in Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then supported Russian paramilitaries who began a war in the eastern Donbas re ...

, the club was forced to play its home games in

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

petrovsk during the 2014-15 season.

FC Mariupol

In 2017 as part of the ongoing decommunization process of Ukraine, the club changed its name of Illichivets to simply FC Mariupol, officially adopting on 14 June 2017 for the

2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League The 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 27th top level football club competitions since the fall of the Soviet Union and the tenth since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League. The tournament started on 16 July 2017 and ...

season. Its name came from the Illichivets steelworks, which were named after

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924, and of ...

Name change

* 1960–1966: Azovstal, 6 years * 1966–1971: Azovets, 5 years * 1971–1974: Metallurg, 3 years * 1974–1976: Lokomotiv, 2 years * 1977–1992: Novator, 15 years * 1992–1996: Azovets, 4 years (repeated, in overall 9 years) * 1996–2002: Metalurh, 6 years (repeated, in overall 9 years) * 2002–2017: Illichivets, 15 years * 2017–2022: FC Mariupol

Crest history

Honours

* Ukrainian Premier League U–21 ** Winners (1): 2013–14 *

**Winners (2): 2007–08, 2016–17 *

Ukrainian Second League The Ukrainian Second League (, ''Druha Liha'') is a professional football league in Ukraine which is part of the Professional Football League of Ukraine, a collective member of the Ukrainian Association of Football. As the third tier it was establ ...

**Winners (1): 1995–96 * Ukrainian amateur championship **Winners (2):

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Football kits and sponsors

Coaches and administration

League and Cup history

Soviet Union

Ukraine

* 1 tier: 22 (Soviet Union 0 / Ukraine 22) * 2 tier: 10 (Soviet Union 5 / Ukraine 5) * 3 tier: 12 (Soviet Union 8 / Ukraine 4) * 4 tier: 2 (Soviet Union 2 / Ukraine –)

European record

Mariupol first qualified for European competitions in 2004 when they played in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

through the

UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking The UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking was used by UEFA from 1995 to the 2015–16 season to grant three berths for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Since that time it has granted a monetary prize to winning associations. Qualific ...

award.

Managers

Mykola Pavlov Mykola Petrovych Pavlov () ( born 20 June 1954) is a Ukrainian former football defender and manager. He is Merited Master of Sports of the USSR (1983) and Merited Coach of Ukraine. Education * Dnipropetrovsk Institute of Physical Culture * ...

(1 July 1997 – 12 Nov 2004) * Ivan Balan (13 Nov 2004 – 22 April 2007) *

Semen Altman Semen Yosypovych Altman (, born 21 April 1946) is a Ukrainian football coach and former goalkeeper. He is of Jewish ancestry. Semen's son, Hennadiy Altman is also a goalkeeper and has followed his father to many of the teams Semen has coache ...

(1 July 2007 – 14 Dec 2007) * Oleksandr Ishchenko (2 Jan 2008 – 2 Sep 2008) *

Illya Blyznyuk Ilya Vladyslavovych Blyznyuk (; born 28 July 1973 is a Ukrainian football coach and former goalkeeper. Career Blyznyuk is a product of FC Metalurh Zaporizhia football academy (sports school).Oleksandr Volkov ''(interim)'' (1 Nov 2010 – 27 Nov 2010) * Valeriy Yaremchenko (27 Nov 2010 – 5 Oct 2011) * Ihor Leonov ''(interim)'' (6 Oct 2011 – 29 May 2012) *

(29 May 2012 – 30 May 2015) * Valeriy Kriventsov (22 June 2015 – 10 June 2016) * Oleksandr Sevidov (10 June 2016 – 22 Sep 2017) * Oleksandr Babych (22 Sep 2017 – 29 July 2020) * Ostap Markevych (3 Aug 2020 – 2022)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mariupol Defunct football clubs in Donetsk Oblast Football clubs in Mariupol Association football clubs established in 1960 Association football clubs disestablished in 2022 1960 establishments in Ukraine 2022 disestablishments in Ukraine Football clubs in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Metallurgy association football clubs in Ukraine