Pärnu Jalgpalliklubi Vaprus, commonly known as Pärnu Vaprus or simply Vaprus, is an Estonian professional football club based in Pärnu that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Pärnu Rannastaadion.
Founded in 1922, Pärnu Vaprus was dissolved after a merger in 1937 and re-established in 1999. The club has played in the Meistriliiga in 2006–2008, 2017–2018 and again since 2021.
History Vaprus was formed in May 1922, as Spordiselts Vaprus (). The club was active in various sports and credited for organising the first intercity running competitions from Pärnu to Tallinn and from Pärnu to Riga. In football, Vaprus competed in the local Pärnu football championships, winning in 1927 and 1934. However, the club failed to reach the heights of their rivals Pärnu Tervis and in 1937, Vaprus merged with several other local sporting clubs to form Pärnu Kalev.
The club was re-established in 1999 as an amateur team playing in the lower leagues. In 2003, several local clubs merged with Vaprus, including former top league club Pärnu Levadia, forming a working football club. Vaprus won the 2005 Esiliiga season and was, for the first time in the club's history, promoted to Estonia's top-flight football league Meistriliiga. The club finished their first Meistriliiga season in 7th place. Vaprus finished the 2008 Meistriliiga season in 10th place, but managed to avoid direct relegation due to disbandment of TVMK. However, the club was still relegated after losing the relegation play-offs against Paide Linnameeskond.
In 2010, Vaprus formed a united team Pärnu Linnameeskond with PJK and Pärnu Kalev. Vaprus itself continued to only operate in youth football until 2014, when they entered their senior team to Estonian lower leagues. Pärnu Linnameeskond reached Estonian top flight in 2015, but broke up after two seasons with Pärnu Vaprus inheriting their league spot for 2017.
After an eight-year absence, Vaprus returned to top-flight football and moved to the newly renovated 1,501-seat Pärnu Rannastaadion. The club finished the season in last place, but managed to avoid relegation due to Sillamäe Kalev's bankruptcy. However, the club again placed last and was relegated in the following 2018 season. Vaprus lifted the second division title in 2020 and returned to Meistriliiga, where they finished bottom of the table in both 2021 and 2022, but avoided relegation on each occasion due to Viljandi Tulevik and TJK Legion withdrawing from the top flight for financial reasons.
Pärnu Vaprus appointed Igor Prins as their manager for the following 2023 season and recorded their most successful season in the club's history, surprisingly occupying 3rd place until matchday 27 and finishing the season in 6th place with 48 points, despite being considered as clear relegation candidates at the start of the year. Vaprus finished the following year in 7th place, before repeating their highest 6th place finish in 2025, accumulating a club record 49 points. During the season, the club's 16-year-old forward Marten-Chris Paalberg was called up to the Estonian national team.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors +PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsorRef2017–NikeCoolbet
Stadium
The club's home ground is the 1,501-seat Pärnu Rannastaadion. First opened in 1929, it was the home of Vaprus until its dissolution in 1937 and again since the early 2000s after the club's re-establishment. The stadium was completely reconstructed in 2015–2016.
Vaprus plays their home matches during winter and early spring months at the Pärnu Rehepapi artificial turf ground and uses the adjacent indoor football facility Pärnu Jalgpallihall, which opened in 2023 and cost over €4.7 million, as training centre during the snowy winter period.
Players
First-team squad
Personnel
Current technical staff PositionNameManager Igor PrinsAssistant coach Taavi ViikGoalkeeping coach Priit PikkerPhysiotherapist Valdo JärvekülgManagementSporting Director Karl PalatuBoard member Jaak RoossonChief Executive Officer Karin Lipstuhl
Managerial history DatesName1995–1996 Ants Kommussaar2004–2008 Kalev Pajula2008 Ants Kommussaar2009 Gert Olesk2014 Rain Põldme2015–2016 Taavi Midenbritt2017 Marko Lelov2017–2018 Indrek Zelinski2019 Kalev Pajula2019–2021 Taavi Midenbritt2022 Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs2023– Igor Prins
Honours Esiliiga Winners (2): 2005, 2020 II Liiga Winners (1): 2004 III Liiga Winners (1): 2000
Seasons and statistics SeasonDivisionTop goalscorerCup1999III liiga3209565442 +1232 Raino Lapp (17)200012014246022 +3844 Raino Lapp (12)2001II liiga22013436325 +3843 Mihkel Vorman (11)200252072112539−14232003Esiliiga72857164271 −2922 Marek Markson (10)2004II liiga128244015721 +13676 Indrek Joost (28)2005Esiliiga13626649239 +5384 Verner Uibo (19)2006Meistriliiga736104224986 −3734 Ranet Lepik (9)200783681273596 −6125 Mihhail Kazak (7)Quarter-finals2008936522941125 −8417 Martin Partsioja (7)Third round2009Esiliiga736116196477−1339 Taavi Laurits (9)Third round2010736107195778−2137 Taavi Laurits (13) 2014 IV liiga 9 16 1 2 13 1346 −33 5 Henri Hansson (3) Kaspar Mitt (3)2015 2 18 12 3 3 5521 +34 39 Jaak-Peeter Oja (15)2016 III liiga 2 22 19 0 3 6922 +47 57 Robyn Hallmere (12)2017 Meistriliiga 1036223229146−1178 Kristen Saarts (8)2018 1036272725123−9813 Tõnis Vihmoja (8)Second round2019 Esiliiga 336214117348+2567 Kristen Saarts (19)Third round2020 13219857230+4265 Ronaldo Tiismaa (14)Second round2021 Meistriliiga 103053222488−6418 Enrico Veensalu Anton Krutogolov (5)Third round2022 103632313296−6411 Ronaldo Tiismaa (7)First round2023 6361212124043−348 Kevin Kauber (8)Second round2024 73698193557−2235 Kevin Kauber (7)Third round2025 636147155451+349 Marten-Chris Paalberg (15)Quarter-finals
References
External links
Official website Team (2020–) at Estonian Football Association Team (2001–2019) at Estonian Football Association