# FC Arsenal Kharkiv

FC Arsenal Kharkiv is a football club based in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Arsenal Kharkiv currently plays in the regional competitions of Kharkiv city. In 2005 on the base of the club was formed another club FC Kharkiv. FC Arsenal has a well established infrastructure with series of stadiums and sport schools.
Arsenal Kharkiv withdrew from the Professional Football League of Ukraine after the 2008–09 season, while its youth teams continue to compete in national youth competitions.

## Overview

The club was formed on 30 January 1998 at the Kharkiv Aviation Institute sports court. Its initial home stadium was "Spartak" and the first head coach – Valentyn Kryachko. The club's first game at professional level took place on 2 August 1999 in Kremenchuk against the local FC Kremin Kremenchuk, which Arsenal won 1:0. The club's first goal was scored by Viktor Hryhorov.
In 2005 the club was reorganized after a successful season in the 2004–05 Ukrainian First League. After obtaining promotion to the Ukrainian Top League, the club yielded the opportunity to a newly established club FC Kharkiv which was led by the former coach of Arsenal Hennadiy Lytovchenko. Several Arsenal's leading footballers also joined the new club.
In 2005 FC Arsenal Kharkiv started out again from the Ukrainian Second League.

## Stadiums

The club has a possession of two stadiums Arsenal-Spartak Stadium (former Spartak) and Arsenal-Bavaria Stadium (former stadium of local rope factory). Also the club has a complex of four fields with a synthetic surface called Arsenal-OPEN. Arsenal-Spartak has capacity of 1500 people, but it's planned to enlarge it to 8000 by 2010; Arsenal-Bavaria has a capacity to accommodate 2300 spectators. In July 2010 Arsenal-Bavaria was given away to FC Helios Kharkiv and was renamed into Helios Arena.

## Coaches
### Original club

* 1998–2001 Valentyn Kryachko
* 2001–2002 Ivan Panchyshyn
* 2002–2005 Ihor Rakhayev
* 2005 Hennadiy Lytovchenko

### After reorganization

* 2005 Ihor Rakhayev
* 2005–2007 Viktor Kamarzayev
* 2007 Serhiy Kandaurov
* 2007–2008 Adel bin Ahmed Sassi
* 2008 Serhiy Kandaurov
* 2008–2009 Vladyslav Kysel
* 2009 Mykola Trubachov

## Notable players

* Anderson Ribeiro, first foreign footballer, first Brazilian footballer in Kharkiv
* Serhiy Rybalka, Ukrainian international player
* Gegham Kadymyan, Armenian international player who started out in Arsenal
* Oleksandr Kucher, Ukrainian international player, participant of the UEFA Euro 2012

## League and cup history
### Arsenal Kharkiv (1999–2005)

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes 1998–99 4th 1 18 15 1 2 19 6 46 Amateur Cup 4 3 0 1 2 0 5 1 1999–00 3rd "C" 4 26 15 4 7 24 13 49 1/4 Finals 2nd League Cup 2000–01 3rd "C" 4 30 15 7 8 55 27 52 1/4 Finals 2nd League Cup 2001–02 3rd "C" 2 34 22 6 6 52 23 72 2nd round Promoted 2002–03 2nd 9 34 13 7 14 38 42 46 1/8 finals 2003–04 2nd 7 34 15 7 12 41 40 52 1/32 finals 2004–05 2nd 2 34 23 4 7 47 24 73 1/32 finals Promoted 2005–06 refer to FC Kharkiv

### Arsenal Kharkiv (2005–2009)

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes 2005–06 3rd "B" 10 24 9 3 12 35 44 30 1/64 finals 2006–07 3rd "B" 9 28 10 4 14 35 42 35 1/32 finals 2007–08 3rd "B" 3 34 21 8 5 62 20 71 1/32 finals 2008–09 3rd "B" 12 34 11 10 13 36 47 40 1/64 finals –3 – Withdraw 2009–11 participation in regional competitions of Kharkiv Oblast as Arsenal-Politekhnik 2012 4th 3 6 2 0 4 5 12 6