FC Karpaty Lviv

Football club infobox
clubname = FC Karpaty Lviv


fullname = FC Karpaty Lviv
nickname = "Zeleno-Bili" ("Green-Whites"),
"Zeleni Levy" ("Green Lions")
founded = 1963
ground = Ukraina Stadium
capacity = 29,004
chairman =
mgrtitle = Head Coach
manager =
league = Ukrainian Premier League
season = 2007–08
position = 10th
pattern_la1 = _whiteshoulders
pattern_b1 = _geist green6
pattern_ra1 = _whiteshoulders
leftarm1 = 00A650
body1 = 00A650
rightarm1 = 00A650
shorts1 = ffffff
socks1 = 00A650
pattern_la2 = _shouldersonwhite
pattern_b2 = _adidas_geist_onwhite
pattern_ra2 = _shouldersonwhite
leftarm2 = 00A650
body2 = 00A650
rightarm2 = 00A650
shorts2 = 00A650
socks2 = ffffff

FC Karpaty Lviv ( _ua. ФК «Карпати» Львів) is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Lviv. Named after the Carpathian Mountains, they are one of perennial mid-table clubs in Ukraine.

History

Early years (1963-1968)

FC Karpaty was founded in 1963, the main initiators of the club's foundation were Lviv football veterans from a team named Silmash. Karpaty debuted in Soviet Second League B that year and had remained there for four seasons, until in 1968 they were promoted to Soviet First League.

Winning the USSR Cup

On August 17, 1969, Karpaty became the first (and the only) club in the USSR football history which won the USSR Cup while playing in the Soviet First League. In the cup match, Karpaty played FC SKA Rostov-on-Don, one of the best Soviet clubs in the mid-1960s. Karpaty were trailing 0:1 after the first half, but were able to run away with the Cup with the final score of 2:1.

In the following season, Karpaty's first opponent in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was Romanian Steaua Bucharest, but Steaua advanced on 4:3 aggregate.

Soviet Top League (1970-1977)

In 1970-1977 and 1980, Karpaty played in the Soviet Top League. Karpaty's best achievement was 4th place in 1976. Karpaty placed 4th twice that year since the season was split into 2 separate championships (spring and fall). Karpaty were primed to take silver that season, but an unexpected loss in the last home game to Zenit Leningrad pushed Karpaty back into 4th place.

While playing in the Soviet First League in 1979, Karpaty were close to repeating their 1969 achievement, when they met Dinamo Moscow in the USSR Cup semi-final. The match which was played in Moscow, went into overtime with a 1:1 score. Dinamo however prevailed, scoring on a penalty kick in extra time.

SKA Karpaty (1981-1989)

In 1981, Karpaty were merged with another Lviv team, "SKA Lviv". The new team, "SKA Karpaty", continued playing in the Soviet First League, almost achieving promotion in 1986 when CSKA Moscow was promoted ahead of "Karpaty" on goal differences. In 1989 the original name of the club was restored.

Ukrainian League (1991-present)

Since Ukraine gained its independence, "Karpaty" have primarily participated in Ukrainian Premier League competitions. They have taken 3rd place once and were Ukrainian Cup runners-up twice, losing both times to Dynamo Kyiv in the final.

The thirteen’s season in Ukrainian Premier League became an unfortunate one for Karpaty and in 2003-04 season the team was relegated to Persha Liha. However Karpaty remained there only for two seasons and in the 2005-06 season, the club was successful in taking second place in the Persha Liha, which allowed them to participate in the Vyscha Liha the following year.

Stadium

"Main articles: Ukraina Stadium"

"FC Karpaty" play their home games at the Ukraina Stadium. The stadium was originally opened in 1992 and renovated on several occasions since, the latest taking place in 2001. Currently the arena has a capacity of 29,004 spectators.

The stadium was also the venue hosting the final match of the first Ukrainian Premier League season in 1992, in which Tavriya Simferopol defeated Dynamo Kyiv.

It has also been one of the venues for Ukraine national football team matches, the most recent being a 2-0 Ukraine win over Georgia on October 13, 2004 for 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Ukraina Stadium may be one of the venues for Euro 2012 co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland. If so, the stadium will host group stage matches and will be expanded to 36,000.

Logo history

Since the club has been named after the Carpathian Mountains, the image of the forest and mountains has been present on team's logo for many years. However the logo has since been updated, inspired by Lviv's Coat of Arms with a segment of a fortress and lion shown on the new crest. The club's nickname 'The Green Lions' was also derived from their new logo.

The club also has a ceremonial logo, however, it is very rarely used, mostly during TV broadcasts or video packages.

Colours

Football kit box | align = right | pattern_la= | pattern_b = | pattern_ra = | leftarm = d00000 | body = d00000 | rightarm = d00000 | shorts = 000000 | socks = 000000 | title =
Karpaty's current third kit

Traditionally the club colours are white and green. Throughout the club's history kit has always been designed of green and white tones; other colours are almost never used and are highly criticized by fans.

Green is considered to be the dominant of the two as clubs nicknames are "Green-Lions" and "Green-Whites". For some time black was also used and was even displayed on one of the club's former logos.

Rivalries

Club's main rivals are considered to be the neighbouring clubs, Dynamo Kyiv, FC Lviv, Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk, Nyva Ternopil and Zakarpattia Uzhhorod.

Honours

*USSR Cup: 1:: 1969

Runner-Up

*Ukrainian Cup: 2:: 1993, 1999

*Ukrainian First League: 1:: 2004/05

Current squad

Squad is given according to the club's official website [http://www.fckarpaty.lviv.ua/cat/karpaty/] , as of July 17, 2008.

"For recent transfers, see List of Ukrainian football transfers summer 2008."

Famous players

*/flagicon|Hungary Gábor Vajda
* Stepan Yurchishin
* Lev Brovarsky
* Andriy Bal
* Bohdan Strontsits'kyi
* Oleh Luzhny
* Andriy Husin
* Bohdan Shust
* Volodymyr Yezerskiy
* Tony Alegbe

Former coaches

League and Cup history

:

See also

*Pogoń Lwów, the original big club in the city during the Polish years
*FC Karpaty-2 Lviv
*FC Karpaty-3 Lviv
*FC Karpaty Lviv Reserves and Youth Team

External links

* [http://www.fckarpaty.lviv.ua/ Official website] en icon uk icon
* [http://www.uasocceronline.com Ukraine Soccer]
* [http://www.fckarpatylviv.com/ Fan site] uk icon
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5175969008776052880&q=lviv FC Karpaty Video]