FK Dainava Alytus

FK Dainava Alytus

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Full name	Futbolo klubas Dainava Alytus
Founded	2000 (Vidzgiris) 2003 (Alytis) 2010 (merger)
Ground	Miesto stadionas (Capacity: 3,790)
League	A Lyga
2010	1 Lyga, 2nd (Alytis) and 3rd (Vidzgiris)
Home colours Away colours

FK Dainava Alytus is a Lithuanian football club from Alytus. The club was established in 2003 as FK Alytis, before being renamed FK Dainava after a merger with FK Vidzgiris Alytus in December 2010.^[1]

History

The roots of Dainava can be traced back to two predecessor clubs, FK Alytis and FK Vidzgiris.

FK Alytis Alytus were founded in 2003, apparently as the heir of a former club from Alytus also called "Alytis" which existed between 1965 and 2002.^[1] Alytis began play at the Lithuanian third level, from which they were immediately promoted in their very first season. The side soon established itself as one of the best teams of the 1 Lyga, winning the second-level championship in 2005 and 2007 and finishing as runners-up in 2006 and from 2008–2010. The club also participated in the UEFA Regions' Cup in 2007 and 2009.

FK Vidzgiris Alytus were founded in 2000.^[2] They were initially not as successful as their city rivals, beginning play in the lower Lithuanian leagues before being promoted to the third-level 2 Lyga for the 2005 season.^[3] After spending a couple of seasons near the top of the 2 Lyga, Vidzgiris were eventually granted a 1 Lyga licence for the 2010 season, in which the team finished in third place.

Both teams merged to form FK Dainava Alytus in December 2010 with the goal of successfully applying for a 2011 A Lyga licence. The licence was eventually granted in March 2011.^[4]

The current team is not the first team to play as "Dainava Alytus", as there were several other but unrelated teams who chose this name, with the earliest dating back as far as 1935.^[1] However, of these teams, only the 1996–2003 incarnation managed to play at any top-level league, being members of the A Lyga between the 1998–99 and 2001 seasons.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Giedrius Butkus 3 MF Ričardas Padegimas 4 FW Saulius Laibinis 5 MF Modestas Atmanavičius 7 DF Einius Sušinas 9 FW Paulius Sakalis 11 MF Marius Judickas 13 MF Virginijus Miknevičius 14 DF Nerijus Kavaliauskas 16 MF Darius Cibulskas 17 MF Martynas Biržinis

No. Position Player 18 FW Meirūnas Stankevičius 19 DF Kęstutis Miglinas 20 MF Marius Šarkelis 23 DF Aurimas Miniauskas 24 DF Vaidotas Rutkauskas 28 MF Malvydas Mockevičius 29 DF Laurynas Silius 29 MF Almantas Mikštriūnas 30 FW Tomas Jaskys 35 MF Šarūnas Neciunskas 99 GK Giedrius Štreimikis

External links

• Official Website

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "FK Dainava Alytus". Weltfussballarchiv. http://www.weltfussballarchiv.com/Vereinsprofilnew.php?ID=2503. Retrieved 11 March 2011. 
2. ^ "FK Vidzgiris Alytus". Weltfussballarchiv. http://www.weltfussballarchiv.com/Vereinsprofilnew.php?ID=13024. Retrieved 11 March 2011. 
3. ^ "Futbolinis - FK Vidzgiris Alytus (2005-2010) man team (view)". Futbolinis. http://www.futbolinis.lt/content/team/1777/en. Retrieved 11 March 2011. 
4. ^ "2011 metų LFF A lygoje žais 12 komandų, paskelbtas tvarkaraštis" (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian Football Federation. http://www.lff.lt/lt/article/2011_metu_lff_a_lygoje_zais_12_komandu. Retrieved 9 March 2011.