FC Lviv (Ukrainian: ФК «Львів») is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Lviv.

Lviv
Full nameFootball Club Lviv
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
Dissolved2023; 1 year ago (2023)
GroundArena Lviv, Lviv
Capacity28,051
PresidentBohdan Kopytko
Leaguenone
2022–23Ukrainian Premier League, 16th of 16 (relegated)
Current season
Yuriy Kindzerskyi (previous president)

The history of the club is very controversial and was interrupted on numerous occasions. The first club under such name entered professional competitions back in 1992. In 2001 that club was merged with Karpaty Lviv. The second club appeared in 2006 replacing insolvent Hazovyk-Skala out of Stryi (not far from Lviv) in the second tier. In such manner the new club skipped few tiers of the national football pyramid. That club became bankrupt in 2012. Few years later in 2016 the club was revived based on its football academy. In 2017 the administration of NK Veres Rivne and FC Lviv reached an agreement which led to "castling" swap of their teams in the national football pyramid. In 2023 FC Lviv was relegated, but it suspended its operations due to hardship with an option to renew its professional next season.

While the first president of FC Lviv Oleksandr Didenko insisted that FC Lviv of 1992 has nothing to do with the later clubs, another football functionary Rostyslav Zaremba argued that it is not that simple.[1]

History

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FC Lviv (2006–2012)

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The club was founded in May 2006. It entered the Persha Liha as a replacement for the bankrupt club FC Hazovyk-Skala Stryi, which also represented Lviv Oblast. The new entity was registered on 22 May 2006[2] as a company with limited liability (Ukrainian: Товариство з обмеженою відповідальністю) "Football Club "Lviv". Later in May 2006 the PFL Bureau session adopted a decision to recognize the club as a lawful successor (Ukrainian: правонаступник) of FC Hazovyk-Skala Stryi that played in Persha Liha. This fact was also confirmed at a press-conference given at the Football Federation of Lviv Oblast on 26 May 2006.[3] The new president of the new club Yuriy Kindzerskyi informed that his club was not created as a municipal club.[3]

In its debut season FC Lviv reached 11th place and scored 45 goals. At the start of the next season, in the beginning of September 2007, the club moved to the newly built stadium Kniazha Arena in Dobromyl, west of Sambir. This arena was constructed by and named after Ukrainian insurance company Knyazha, who is the club's main sponsor. The previous home ground of the club was SKA Stadium in Lviv, which fell out of favor with the FFU, PFL.

In 2007–08 season FC Lviv finished 2nd in the Persha Liha and were promoted to the Premier Liha for the first time in their history, making the club one of the founders of the newly formed Premier League. In 2008–09 FC Lviv, despite a sensational opening 2–0 win against Shakhtar, were relegated to the Persha Liha. The decisive match for them happened in the last round against another Lviv team Karpaty in the Lviv derby when they lost 2–1. The club's first, and only, season in the Premier League was spent at The Ukraina Stadium together with Karpaty under a lease contract.

In 2009, the city of Lviv lent the former land property of LORTA Plant for rent to FC Lviv. Out of 3.0542 ha FC Lviv receives 2.9 ha in rent until the spring of 2019 and the rest for only five years.[4]

On 12 July 2012 the sports director of FC Lviv Rostyslav Zaremba confirmed that the club has been withdrawn from competitions due to financial issues.[5]

FC Lviv (since 2016)

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In 2016 the professional team of FC Lviv was renewed and its future participation in Druha Liha was announced.[6]

In May 2018, the club was promoted to the Ukrainian Premier League on pretence of merging with NK Veres Rivne and play in the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League.

At its official website, the club tells that all efforts of NK Veres Rivne are actually efforts of FC Lviv instead.[7] The club states that it was FC Lviv that placed 6th in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League,[7] while the same claim for this achievement is laid by Veres Rivne.[8] Records however clearly show that at that time FC Lviv played in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Second League and recovered their professional status only in 2017. This claim is particularly bold as in 2017 NK Veres Rivne, as a "people's club", had a big scandal with its promotion ahead of FC Desna Chernihiv.

At the end of March 2024, the internet website "Ukrainskyi Futbol" interviewed a director of FC Lviv sports school (DYuSSh) due to recent rumors of his intentions to revive a professional team.[9] The website also inquired about details of the professional PFC Lviv that suspended its participation in competitions. Earlier in July 2023, the head of the Association of footballers of Ukraine stated that actions of the PFC Lviv leadership fall under an article about swindle.[10]

Players

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As of 10 August 2023[11][12]

Team squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   UKR Valeriy Yurchuk (on loan from Dnipro-1)
7 MF   BRA Murilo Souza
8 MF   CRO Ivijan Svržnjak
14 MF   BRA Léo Antônio
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF   UKR Serhiy Davydov
26 DF   UKR Roman Nykytyuk
30 DF   BRA Guilherme
95 DF   BFA Oula Abass Traoré

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   BRA Alvaro (at   São Luiz until 30 June 2023)

Coaches and administration

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List of presidents

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  • 2006–2009: Yuriy Kindzerskyi
  • 2009–2012: Football Federation of Lviv Oblast (led by Yaroslav Hrysyo)
  • 2016–2018: Roman Mykhayliv[13]
  • Since 2018: Bohdan Kopytko

Administrative and coaching staff

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Administration Coaching[14] (senior team) Coaching[15][16] (U-21/U-19 team)

Football kits and sponsors

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Since 2006 till 2012, the main sponsor was Knyazha (insurance company), other sponsors were Dobromyl, Persha Pryvatna Brovarnia (brewery), and the technical sponsor was Lotto.

Years[18] Football kit Shirt sponsor
2008–2009 Lotto Knyazha
Vienna Insurance Group

Honours

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Runners-up (1): 2007–08

League and Cup history

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Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Other Notes
Previous Refer to FC Hazovyk-Skala Stryi
2005–06 2nd
(Persha Liha)
6/18 34 14 10 10 35 33 52 18 finals as Hazovyk Skala-Stryi
2006–07 11/19 36 13 8 15 45 45 47 18 finals [19]
2007–08 2/20 38 23 5 10 58 29 74 18 finals Promoted
2008–09 1st
(Premier Liha)
15/16 30 6 8 16 24 39 26 18 finals Relegated
2009–10 2nd
(Persha Liha)
4/18 34 19 6 9 49 22 63 132 finals
2010–11 5/18 34 17 8 9 52 28 59 132 finals
2011–12 18/18 34 6 3 25 21 79 18 132 finals Folded
The club was idle between 2012 and 2016
2016–17 Amateurs 10/12 20 3 4 13 19 31 13 UAC 14 finals Admitted to professionals
2017–18 3rd
(Druha Liha)
5/10 27 10 6 11 28 29 36 14 finals Swapped with Veres
Merged with NK Veres Rivne (team swap)
2018–19 1st
(Premier Liha)
6/12 32 8 10 14 25 40 34 14 finals
2019–20 11/12 32 5 9 18 25 57 24 18 finals
2020–21 8/14 26 8 5 13 25 51 29 116 finals
2021–22 12/16 18 4 5 9 14 30 17 18 finals
(Canceled)
All football competitions were suspended or abandoned on April 26 due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
2022–23 16/16 30 3 4 23 18 52 13 None Relegated

FC Lviv-2

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Football Club Lviv-2 (Ukrainian: Футбольний Клуб Львів-2) was a reserve team of FC Lviv that played in the Ukrainian Second League competition.[20]

The team was created based on a reserve (dublery) team that played in reserve competitions of the Vyshcha Liha in 2008–09 season. FC Lviv-2 played in the 2009-10 PFL League Cup.

League and cup history

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Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Other Notes
2009–10 3rd "A" 8 20 4 7 9 13 25 19 PFL LG QF

Coaches

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ We are getting ready to the 20th anniversary!!! (Готуємось до 20-ти річчя !!!) Archived 30 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine. FC Lviv sports school. 14 February 2012.
  2. ^ Druzdyev, O. "Lviv" beginning of new history ("Львів" початок нової історії). Fan site of FC Lviv.
  3. ^ a b FC "Lviv" does not belong to the city (ФК "Львів" не належить місту). Shchodennyi Lviv. 26 May 2006
  4. ^ PFL web-site Archived 15 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ ФК "Львів" припинив своє існування Archived 16 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine. football24.ua. 12 July 2012
  6. ^ "Олег Лужний може очолити ФК Львів". champion.com.ua. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  7. ^ a b The club's introduction card. FC Lviv.
  8. ^ History of NK Veres. NK Veres Rivne
  9. ^ «Копитко? Я не збираюсь у когось запитувати»: Михайлів відреагував на інформацію про відродження ФК Львів. ukrfootball.ua. 29 March 2024
  10. ^ Глава Ассоциации футболистов Украины Печорный: Действия руководства Львова попадают под статью о мошенничестве. sportarena.com. 25 July 2023
  11. ^ "Склад команди – ФК Львів". Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Lviv". Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  13. ^ Artur Valerko. Mykhailiv: FC Lviv will play at Arena Lviv. Stadion Ukraina is as a reserve (Михайлів: ФК Львів гратиме на Арені Львів. Стадіон Україна – в резерві) Archived 2 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Sport Arena. 14 July 2018
  14. ^ "Головний тренер Анатолій Безсмертний (Head coach Anatoly Bezsmertnyi)" (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Тренерський штаб – Офіційний сайт клубу ПФК Львів". Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Тренерський штаб – Офіційний сайт клубу ПФК Львів". Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Coaching staff". pfclviv.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  18. ^ Jerseys of Ukrainian clubs Archived 25 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ The club took over operations of FC Hazovyk-Skala Stryi, which was under financial duress and moved to Lviv
  20. ^ "Визначено склад груп учасників змагань з футболу серед команд другої ліги (Confirmed group team entrants to compete in the Druha Liha))" (in Ukrainian). PFL. 14 July 2009. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
  21. ^ FC Lviv Unveils New Coaching Team Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine 15 October 2008
  22. ^ PFL website[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ Роман Марич: "Фінансування "Львова" буде покращуватися й команда прогресуватиме" [Roman Marych: Financing FC Lviv will improve and the team will progress]. ua.football.com (in Ukrainian). PFL Official Site. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
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