Football Club Mariupol ( ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Mariupol, that competed in the Ukrainian Premier League. The club dropped from competitions as a result of the Siege of Mariupol, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result of the Russian invasion, all of the team's sporting infrastructure was destroyed, but in May 2022 its formal membership in the Premier League was reconfirmed. In October 2025 the club was officially disqualified from the Ukrainian League.
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.
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 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. 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 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 cars as well as mining and metallurgical heavy equipment. Soon before the final collapse of the Soviet Union, 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.
Ukrainian professional club in Mariupol After the dissolution of the Soviet Union 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 Ukrainian First League in the 2006–07 season after finishing 15th (out of 16). However, they returned to the Ukrainian Premier League the following season after finishing as champions in the 2007–08 Ukrainian First League.
Due to the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the club was forced to play its home games in Dnipropetrovsk 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 2017Illichivets announced about renaming into Mariupol and proposed three choices of its new emblem (Іллічівець оголосив про перейменування в Маріуполь і запропонував три варіанти нової емблеми) . Champion (Ukrayinska Pravda). 14 June 2017 for the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League season.Starting with next season Illichivets will be renamed into FC Mariupol (Ильичевец со следующего сезона будет переименован в ФК Мариуполь) . UA-Football. 2 June 2017 Its name came from the Illichivets steelworks, which were named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
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 Ukrainian First League Winners (2): 2007–08, 2016–17 Ukrainian Second League Winners (1): 1995–96 Ukrainian amateur championship Winners (2): 1974, 1991
Football kits and sponsors YearsJerseys of Ukrainian clubs Football kitShirt sponsor1998–1999Adidas –1999–2000Nike2000–2001Adidas2001–2002NikeSKAB2002–2003Nike/lotto –2003–2007Lotto2008–2010Adidas2010–2011Adidas/Nike2011–2014Nike2014–2022NikeAIG
Coaches and administration Administration Coaching (senior team) Coaching (U-21 team)President – Tariq Mehmood Chaudhry Vice-president – Hamza Shafeeq Rahman Executive director – Anwar Arif Abbasi Sports director – Farooq Ali Hussein Head coach – Ostap Markevych Assistant coach – Oleksandr Ivanov Goalies coach – Ihor Shukhovtsev Coach – Serhiy Atlasyuk Physio coach – Serhiy Yankovyi Analytics coach – Ilya Kononov Head coach – Hennadiy Orbu Assistant coach – Serhiy Hrybanov Goalies coach – Volodymyr Makarenko
League and Cup history
Soviet Union Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA PDomestic CupEuropeNotesAvanhard Zhdanov1958Rep6/145271925121959Rep2/14101324921admitted to Class BAzovstal Zhdanov19602nd936111213304234Ukraine, Zone 219612nd11361112133637341/64 finalsUkraine, Zone 2X2020002Play-off19622nd52411583940271/128 finalsUkraine, Zone 3610352141311Play-off19633rd238191185437491/1024 finalsUkraine, Zone 2X2110103Play-off19643rd1530512131933221/256 finalsUkraine, Zone 3481257154Play-off1965idleAzovets Zhdanov19663rd163811918436331Ukraine, Zone 2X2011141Play-off19673rd1240167175042391/2048 finalsUkraine, Zone 219682nd1140111712303039Subgroup 119692nd16421212184052361/128 finalsSubgroup 319703rd642151894434481/64 finalsZone 1Metallurg / Metalurh Zhdanov19713rd1150181517625551Zone 119723rd946201313564553Zone 119733rd2344104/426418424Zone 1In 1974 - 1989 idleNovator Mariupol19904th528156755253619914th1302010065195015410939
Ukraine Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA PDomestic CupEuropeNotesNovator19922nd "B"1126104123639241/16 finalsRelegatedAzovets1992–933rd1334911143447291/64 finals1993–943rd1242167194358391/32 finals1994–953rd1242176193755571/64 finals1995–963rd "B"13830447024941/32 finalsPromotedMetalurh1996–972nd346296119256931/16 finalsPromoted1997–981st123089132748331/8 finals1998–991st530146103527481/8 finals1999–001st830133144945421/16 finals2000–011st42613493526431/2 finals2001–021st102668122942261/8 finalsIllichivets2002–031st1030810123438341/32 finals2003–041st8301010103436401/4 finals2004–051st530128103834441/8 finalsUC2nd qual round2005–061st430127113034431/2 finals2006–071st153067172339251/4 finalsRelegated2007–082nd13826756526851/4 finalsPromoted2008–091st143075183154261/16 finals2009–101st123078153156291/8 finals 2010–111st143078154567291/16 finals2011–121st113088142842321/16 finals2012–131st930 10 8 12 30 31 381/8 finals2013–141st1028104142733341/16 finals2014–151st142635182555141/8 finalsRelegated2015–162nd430 14 11 5 34 23 531/16 finals2016–172nd134 25 6 3 61 21 811/4 finalsPromotedFC Mariupol2017–181st53210913384139 finals2018–191st432127133647431/8 finalsEL3rd qual round2019–201st83212911404645 finalsEL3rd qual round2020–211st112668122741262021–221st1618221421448Season canceled; membership suspended
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 through the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking award.
Season Competition Round Opponents Home Away Aggregate 2004–05 UEFA Cup 1Q Banants 2–0 2–0 4–0 2Q Austria Wien 0–0 0–3 0–3 2018–19 UEFA Europa League 2Q Djurgårdens IF 2–1 1–1 3–2 3Q Bordeaux 1–3 1–2 2–5 2019–20 UEFA Europa League 3Q AZ 0–0 0–4 0–4
Managers Mykola Pavlov (1 July 1997 – 12 Nov 2004) Ivan Balan (13 Nov 2004 – 22 April 2007) Semen Altman (1 July 2007 – 14 Dec 2007) Oleksandr Ishchenko (2 Jan 2008 – 2 Sep 2008) Illya Blyznyuk (2 Sep 2008 – 1 Nov 2010) 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) Mykola Pavlov (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)
See also FC Illichivets-2 Mariupol MBK Mariupol, basketball team of the former SC Novator
Notes
References
External links