# FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi

FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi (Ukrainian: ФК "Зірка Кропивницький") is a Ukrainian amateur football club from Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblast, with its team currently playing in the Ukrainian Amateur League.
The club traces its history of a football team that existed at the British factory of Elvorti (Elworthy) since 1911. After the Bolshevik Revolution, the factory was nationalized and converted into Soviet factory "Chervona Zirka", and likewise, the former team was dissolved, and the Soviet football team Chervona Zirka was formed in 1922. The club's professional football history started in 1958 when it was admitted to the Class B competitions.

## History

The club traces its history back to the former Russian sports club Elvorti Yelizavetgrad that was founded in 1911 at the Elvorti Factory. The factory was later nationalized with establishment of the Soviet power and changed its name to "Chervona Zirka" (Red Star). After start of World War I and the Ukrainian-Soviet War, most sports events in the region were suspended and in 1917 the club dissolved. Sports competitions were resumed in Lyzavetghrad in 1921 that saw participation of a team.
In 1922, based on the former sports club Elvorti Yelizavetgrad were created two Soviet clubs Chervona Zirka and Chervony Profintern that participated in Soviet competition. Some of Zirka's club shields contain 1922 as the club's year of establishment. In 1928 Chervona Zirka changed its name to Metallist Zinovyevsk (Metalist Zinovyivsk) and in 1934 – Selmash Kirovo (Silmash Kirove). During the World War II the team was dissolved once again.
It was not revived until 1948 when by being a member of the former Volunteer Sports Society Selmash, it was reorganised as Traktor Kirovograd (Traktor Kirovohrad) and after 1953 – Torpedo.
In first post-War years 1946–47 Kirovograd (Kirovohrad) was represented in football competitions by a law enforcement team "Dynamo".
In 1958, the club was renamed into Zvezda Kirovograd (Zirka Kirovohrad) when it advanced to the professional level of Soviet competitions, the B Class. As Zirka the club existed until 2006 when it went bankrupt. In 1962 the club temporarily did not participate in Soviet competitions and Kirovohrad was once again represented by Dynamo. From 1993 to 1997 the club carried a name of its title sponsor NIBAS as Zirka-NIBAS. In 2007 the club was revived in amateur regional competitions. On July 15, 2008 the Professional Football League of Ukraine approved exchange names between Zirka and another club from Kirovohrad, FC Olimpik Kirovohrad, that competed at professional level to yield its place in the Ukrainian Second League.
Previously, Zirka debuted at a top level for the 1994–95 season, where they finished 6th. In the 1999–2000 season they finished in last place and were relegated to the Ukrainian First League. They were promoted immediately as champions once again for the 2003–04 season, but finished in last place and were demoted again.
In July 2016, the name of Zirka's hometown was renamed to Kropyvnytskyi. The next day the club announced it had changed its name to FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi and its logo accordingly.

## Team names and crest

    Year Name Meaning 1922–27 Chervona Zirka Red Star 1928–35 Metalist Steeler 1935–40 Silmash portmanteau for Mechanised agriculture 1941–45 club was dissolved due to the World War II 1946–52 Traktor Tractor 1953–57 Torpedo 1958–61 Zirka Star 1962 Dynamo 1963–93 Zirka Star 1993–97 Zirka NIBAS Star [NIBAS] 1998–present Zirka Star

### Crest

Current club's crest (logo) was adopted in 2012. In 2016 as part of decommunisation process, the club changed its city's name and year of establishment claiming its heritage of the previously existing team of British factory "Elvorti".
In 2008-2011 the club's crest contained the Red Star (the club's former name and the name of factory which owned the club) and most of elements of coat of arms of the city of Kropyvnytskyi.

## Owners (sponsors)

* 1911–1993: Elvorti factory (Chervona Zirka), Kirovohrad
* 1993–1998: Agrarian company Nibas, Petropavlivka (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast)
* 1998–2011: City authorities, Kirovohrad
* 2011–present: Creative Industrial Group, Kropyvnytskyi

## Current squad

    As of 1 February 2019
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 4 | DF | UKR | Kyrylo Lysenko |
| 7 | MF | UKR | Maksym Averyanov |
| 9 | FW | UKR | Danylo Kondrakov |
| 10 | MF | UKR | Ivan Rudnytskyi |
| 14 | FW | UKR | Mykhaylo Bozdahanyan |
| 15 | MF | UKR | Andriy Savitskyi |
| 17 | MF | UKR | Artem Syomka |
| 23 | DF | UKR | Oleksandr Matkobozhyk |
| 24 | MF | UKR | Kyrylo Pavlyuk |
| 29 | FW | UKR | Maksym Pryadun |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 37 | MF | UKR | Dmytro Nerubenko |
| 41 | GK | UKR | Roman Lyopka |
| 74 | GK | UKR | Mark Medvedyev |
| 77 | MF | UKR | Dmytro Kasimov |
| 81 | FW | UKR | Oleksandr Tarasyuk |
| 85 | MF | UKR | Mykyta Khodorchenko |
| 90 | MF | UKR | Ihor Lopushenko |
| 93 | MF | UKR | Stanislav Pysaryev |
| 96 | GK | UKR | Mykyta Zelenskyi |
| 97 | DF | UKR | Maksym Konovalenko |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |

## Coaches and administration

| Administration | Coaching (senior team) | Coaching (youth teams) |
| President: Maksym Berezkin Executive director: Andriy Perevoznyk | Head coach: Samir Hasanov | Coach (U-17): Dmytro Donchenko Coach (U-16): Mykola Lapa Coach (U-15): Vadym Darenko |

## Honors

* Cup of the Ukrainian SSR
** Winner (3): 1953, 1973, 1975
* Ukrainian First League
** Winner (3): 1995, 2003, 2016
* Ukrainian Second League
** Winner (1): 2009

### Football kits and sponsors

| Years | Football kit | Shirt sponsor |
| 2003–2009 | lotto/nike | – |
| 2009–2013 | nike/joma | – |
| 2013–present | joma | – |

## League and cup history

Soviet competitions The republican football competitions in Ukraine during the Soviet period is poorly documented, so there is little information available about the Zirka's competition record before 1958.
Ukrainian competitions

### Soviet Union

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes 1971 6 (26) 50 21 17 12 52 33 59 1972 14 (24) 46 13 18 15 40 51 44 1/16 final Cup of Ukrainian SSR 1973 12 (23) 44 16 10 18 63 57 36 Winner Cup of Ukrainian SSR 1974 17 (20) 38 11 9 18 34 46 31 1/16 final Cup of Ukrainian SSR 1975 5 (17) 32 13 10 9 37 22 36 Winner Cup of Ukrainian SSR 1976 7 (20) 38 18 6 14 42 34 42 1/4 final Cup of Ukrainian SSR 1977 5 (23) 44 21 15 8 52 27 57 1978 7 (23) 44 17 15 12 42 33 49 1979 9 (24) 46 20 10 16 44 40 50 1980 6 (23) 44 20 13 11 52 44 53 1981 17 (23) 44 10 19 15 36 36 39 1982 15 (24) 46 17 5 24 43 63 39 1983 3rd (Vtoraya Liga) 17 (26) 50 15 14 21 48 56 44 1984 8 (13) 24 8 7 9 31 29 23 18 (26) 14 5 4 5 23 20 14 1985 2 (14) 26 12 7 7 35 27 31 10 (28) 14 5 1 8 21 33 11 1986 10 (14) 26 9 4 13 28 51 22 21 (28) 14 7 1 6 20 28 15 1987 23 (27) 52 13 13 26 44 77 39 1988 23 (26) 50 13 15 22 39 60 41 1989 14 (27) 52 16 17 19 44 52 49 1990 4th (Vtoraya Nizshaya Liga) 19 (19) 36 7 7 22 32 61 21 1/8 final Cup of Ukrainian SSR Relegated 1991 25 (26) 50 12 13 25 55 90 37 1/4 final Cup of Ukrainian SSR admitted to Ukrainian Second League

### Ukraine (1992–2007)

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes 1992 3rd (Druha Liha) 4 16 8 3 5 35 24 19 Did not qualify 1992–93 4 34 16 9 9 50 33 41 1⁄32 finals 1993–94 3 42 25 7 10 60 41 57 1⁄32 finals Promoted 1994–95 2nd (Persha Liha) 1 42 27 10 5 68 26 91 1⁄32 finals Promoted 1995–96 1st (Vyshcha Liha) 6 34 14 8 12 37 33 50 1⁄16 finals 1996–97 10 30 11 3 16 31 55 36 1⁄8 finals 1997–98 11 30 9 6 15 27 48 33 1⁄16 finals 1998–99 11 30 9 7 14 31 40 34 Semi finals 1999-00 16 30 0 9 21 16 66 9 Semi finals Relegated 2000–01 2nd (Persha Liha) 15 34 10 10 14 27 34 40 1⁄16 finals 2001–02 9 34 11 13 10 29 28 46 4th round 2002–03 1 34 22 5 7 45 22 71 1⁄16 finals Promoted 2003–04 1st (Vyshcha Liha) 16 30 3 8 19 16 43 14 1⁄32 finals Bankrupt 2004–05 3rd "B" (Druha Liha) 12 26 7 6 13 29 38 27 1⁄32 finals 2005–06 9 28 11 4 13 23 37 37 1⁄32 finals Bankrupt 2007 4th (Amatory) 2 8 4 1 3 12 12 13

### After 2008

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes 2007–08 3rd "B" (Druha Liha) as FC Olimpik Kirovohrad 2008–09 1 34 23 3 8 56 26 72 1⁄16 finals Promoted 2009–10 2nd (Persha Liha) 12 34 11 13 10 38 40 43 1⁄32 finals –3 2010–11 12 34 12 7 15 43 44 43 1⁄32 finals 2011–12 11 34 13 5 16 53 49 44 1⁄16 finals 2012–13 8 34 14 10 10 46 37 52 1⁄32 finals 2013–14 6 30 12 8 10 36 34 44 1⁄16 finals 2014–15 4 30 14 7 9 42 27 49 1⁄16 finals 2015–16 1 30 20 5 5 49 22 65 1⁄8 finals Promoted 2016–17 1st (Premier League) 9 32 9 7 16 29 43 34 1⁄16 finals 2017–18 10 32 7 10 15 22 40 31 1⁄16 finals Relegated 2018–19 2nd 15 17 1 1 15 10 49 4 1⁄16 finals Withdrawn 2019–20 4th (Amateur) 6 18 9 3 6 30 19 30 Did not qualify 2020–21 12 22 0 0 22 9 86 0 Did not qualify 2021–22 8th Did not qualify