# FC Kuressaare

FC Kuressaare, commonly known as Kuressaare, is an Estonian professional football club based in Kuressaare, Saaremaa island. The club's home ground is Kuressaare linnastaadion.
Founded on 14 March 1997, the club competes in the Meistriliiga, the top tier of Estonian football. Kuressaare debuted in the Estonian top division in 2000 and were known as a yo-yo club throughout the first decade of the 21st century, as they were promoted and relegated for eight consecutive seasons. Since then, the club has played in the Meistriliiga in 2009–2013 and again since 2018.

## History
### Early history

Kuressaare was founded on 14 March 1997. Its predecessor was a youth club B.B. Sport, coached by Johannes Kaju. Kuressaare joined the Estonian football league system and began competing in the Western division of the III liiga. The club's first president and manager was Aivar Pohlak.
Kuressaare was promoted to the Esiliiga for the 1998 season and finished in 6th place under the new manager Jan Važinski. Most of the team were Saaremaa locals who were reinforced by players from Kuressaare's parent club Flora. Kuressaare won the Esiliiga in the 1999 season and was promoted to the Meistriliiga.
Kuressaare finished the 2000 season, its maiden season in the Estonian top-flight, in 7th place. The club finished the 2001 season in 10th place under new manager Zaur Tšilingarašvili and was relegated to the Esiliiga. In 2002, Sergei Zamogilnõi was hired as manager. Kuressaare finished the 2002 season as runners-up, qualifying to the promotion play-offs. Kuressaare won the play-offs against Lootus and returned to the Meistriliiga. Kuressaare's stay in the top-flight was cut short again as the club finished the 2003 season in 8th place and was relegated. The team was restructured in 2004, using players from reserve team Sörve and was promoted back to the Meistriliiga despite finishing in 5th place due to the expansion of the league.
The 2005 season was the most successful in the club's earlier history, winning 7 and drawing 6 matches out of 36. The 8–1 victory over Dünamo became the new club record. Despite that, the team finished 9th and was relegated after losing the relegation play-offs against Ajax. Kuressaare earned its way back to the Meistriliiga in the 2006 season, but was once again relegated in the following Meistriliiga season. The team finished the 2008 season as runners-up and was promoted to the Meistriliiga. Kuressaare remained in the Meistriliiga for the next five seasons from 2009 to 2013, when the club was relegated to Esiliiga after finishing the season in 10th place. After the 2015 season, Kuressaare were relegated to Esiliiga B, which they won the following season.

### Return to top-flight football

After finishing 5th in the Estonian second tier Esiliiga during the 2017 season, FC Kuressaare were unexpectedly offered the chance to return to Meistriliiga, due to FC Infonet and Sillamäe Kalev leaving top-flight football and Maardu Linnameeskond and Rakvere Tarvas, who both finished in front of Kuressaare in the 2017 Esiliiga season, opting to not fill the vacant Meistriliiga spots. Jan Važinski returned to the manager role and Kuressaare finished the 2018 Meistriliiga season in ninth place, beating FC Elva in the relegation play-offs to maintain their spot in Estonian top-flight football. The following 2019 season concluded in a similar way, with Kuressaare finishing in ninth place and this time beating Pärnu Vaprus in the play-offs.
With the introduction of solidarity mechanisms in 2020, Marco Lukka became the first ever fully professional football player of the club. Kuressaare also appointed Roman Kozhukhovskyi as the manager. Again, Kuressaare finished the season in 9th place and won the relegation play-offs against Maardu. The 2021 season proved to be successful for the club, as they finished in seventh place. Otto-Robert Lipp's goal against FC Flora in their 2–2 draw also won the Meistriliiga's 'goal of the season' award.
The 2022 season was the most successful in FC Kuressaare's history, as the club finished 5th and accumulated 50 points in 36 matches.

## Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| 2013–2018 | Joma | Saaremaa Lihatööstus |
| 2019 | Nike | Euronics |
| 2020–2023 | Nike | – |
| 2023– | Nike | Visit Saaremaa |

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 1 September 2024.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | EST | Magnus Karofeld |
| 2 | DF | EST | Mathias Palts (on loan from Flora) |
| 3 | DF | EST | Marko Lipp |
| 4 | DF | EST | Sander Alex Liit |
| 5 | DF | EST | Moorits Veering |
| 6 | MF | EST | Oliver Rass |
| 7 | MF | EST | Artjom Jermatsenko |
| 8 | MF | EST | Joonas Soomre |
| 11 | MF | EST | Aleksander Iljin |
| 14 | DF | EST | Joosep Kobin |
| 15 | DF | EST | Märten Pajunurm |
| 16 | MF | EST | Karl Rudolf Õigus |
| 17 | FW | EST | Gleb Pevtsov |
| 19 | MF | EST | Kristofer Robin Grün (on loan from Flora) |
| 20 | MF | EST | Pavel Dõmov |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | EST | Sten Penzev |
| 22 | MF | EST | Anton Volossatov |
| 23 | DF | EST | Andri Roomus |
| 27 | FW | EST | Mattias Männilaan (on loan from Flora) |
| 30 | DF | EST | Siim Aer (on loan from Paide) |
| 33 | MF | EST | Sten-Egert Paap |
| 46 | FW | EST | Otto-Robert Lipp |
| 48 | DF | EST | Ralf-Sander Suvinõmm |
| 66 | GK | EST | Rihard Meesit |
| 70 | DF | EST | Joonas Vahermägi |
| 73 | DF | EST | Karl Orren |
| 87 | DF | EST | Rasmus Saar |
| 88 | MF | EST | Andero Kivi |
| 99 | GK | EST | Kaur Kivila (on loan from Flora) |
For season transfers, see transfers summer 2024.

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | EST | Oscar Pihela (at Flora until 31 December 2024) |

### Reserves and academy
## Honours
### League

* Esiliiga
** Winners (1): 1999
* Esiliiga B
** Winners (1): 2016

## Seasons and statistics

| Season | Division | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Top goalscorer | Cup |
| 1997–98 | III liiga (W) | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3 | +15 | 16 | Toivo Alt (8) | First round |
| 1998 | Esiliiga | 6 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 17 | Svajūnas Rauckis (8) | |
| 1999 | Esiliiga | 1 | 28 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 92 | 25 | +67 | 67 | Svajūnas Rauckis (27) | Fourth round |
| 2000 | Meistriliiga | 7 | 28 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 25 | 68 | −43 | 19 | Risto Kallaste Tarmo Saks (5) | Third round |
| 2001 | Meistriliiga | 8 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 18 | 114 | −96 | 7 | Tiit Tikenberg (5) | Quarter-finals |
| 2002 | Esiliiga | 2 | 28 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 82 | 50 | +32 | 53 | Tarmo Neemelo (21) | Second round |
| 2003 | Meistriliiga | 8 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 11 | 121 | –110 | 5 | Tiit Tikenberg (3) | Second round |
| 2004 | Esiliiga | 5 | 28 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 56 | 70 | −14 | 35 | Martti Pukk (13) | Quarter-finals |
| 2005 | Meistriliiga | 9 | 36 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 40 | 96 | −56 | 27 | Martti Pukk (11) | Second round |
| 2006 | Esiliiga | 2 | 36 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 64 | 44 | +20 | 71 | Rainer Veskimäe (12) | Quarter-finals |
| 2007 | Meistriliiga | 9 | 36 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 25 | 94 | −69 | 18 | Dmitri Kulikov (5) | Third round |
| 2008 | Esiliiga | 2 | 36 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 67 | 35 | +32 | 69 | Martti Pukk (14) | Third round |
| 2009 | Meistriliiga | 8 | 36 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 21 | 99 | −78 | 24 | Dmitri Skiperski (8) | Fourth round |
| 2010 | Meistriliiga | 9 | 36 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 32 | 93 | −61 | 24 | Dmitri Skiperski (9) | Fourth round |
| 2011 | Meistriliiga | 9 | 36 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 28 | 68 | −40 | 26 | Martti Pukk (8) | Third round |
| 2012 | Meistriliiga | 8 | 36 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 80 | −49 | 26 | Andre Ilves (6) | Fourth round |
| 2013 | Meistriliiga | 10 | 36 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 22 | 87 | −65 | 11 | Andre Ilves Karl Mööl Elari Valmas (4) | Second round |
| 2014 | Esiliiga | 6 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 17 | 69 | 81 | −12 | 47 | Tõnis Koppel Sander Laht Maarek Suursaar (10) | Quarter-finals |
| 2015 | Esiliiga | 10 | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 48 | 95 | −47 | 37 | Sander Laht (14) | Third round |
| 2016 | Esiliiga B | 1 | 36 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 117 | 48 | +69 | 76 | Maarek Suursaar (33) | Third round |
| 2017 | Esiliiga | 5 | 36 | 17 | 4 | 15 | 70 | 63 | +7 | 55 | Sander Laht (17) | Quarter-finals |
| 2018 | Meistriliiga | 9 | 36 | 6 | 3 | 27 | 34 | 115 | −81 | 21 | Sander Laht (15) | Quarter-finals |
| 2019 | Meistriliiga | 9 | 36 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 24 | 87 | −63 | 23 | Märten Pajunurm (7) | Third round |
| 2020 | Meistriliiga | 9 | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 63 | −35 | 24 | Sander Laht (6) | Third round |
| 2021 | Meistriliiga | 7 | 30 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 34 | Mattias Männilaan (11) | Fourth round |
| 2022 | Meistriliiga | 5 | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 49 | 51 | −2 | 50 | Sten Reinkort (15) | Third round |
| 2023 | Meistriliiga | 7 | 36 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 36 | 60 | −24 | 43 | Mattias Männilaan (8) | Quarter-finals |
| 2024 | Meistriliiga | 8 | 36 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 46 | 67 | −21 | 34 | Mattias Männilaan (10) | Quarter-finals |