FC Ufa

FC Ufa (Russian: ФК «Уфа», Bashkir: Өфө, romanized: Öfö) is a Russian football club based in Ufa that currently plays in the Russian Premier League.

Ufa
Full nameFootball Club Ufa
Founded2009[1][2]
GroundNeftyanik Stadium, Ufa
Capacity15,234
General directorMarat Magadeyev
Head coachRashid Rakhimov
LeagueRussian Premier League
2019–20Russian Premier League, 9th of 16
WebsiteClub website

History

During the summer of 2010, Rustem Khamitov, the second President of the Republic of Bashkortostan, began considering the establishment of a football club with the intention to represent the city of Ufa and also the Republic in the Russian Premier League.

On 23 December 2010, FC Ufa was formed on the base of FC Bashinformsvyaz-Dynamo Ufa, which then plied their trade in the Russian Professional Football League, the third tier of the Russian football league system. The head coaching position of the team was first assigned to Andrei Kanchelskis, who was tasked with leading the club to the Russian First Division.

First season

The first official match of the club was against FC Syzran-2003 in the second round of the Russian Cup, which after extra time Ufa lost on penalties.

Ufa made their debut in the Russian league system on 24 April 2011 with a home match against FC Tyumen. Ufa ran out winners, 3–1, with Konstantin Ionov scoring a hat-trick for the hosts.

Ufa continued to build on their initial success to the extent that, coming to the end of the season, they were equal with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk at the top of the table with 86 points. However, Ufa's loss away to Nefthekhimik following the draw at Dynamo Stadium meant that Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk had a better head-to-head record; Ufa had to postpone promotion to the Russian First Division for another year.

However, Dynamo Bryansk's failure to meet the licensing requirements for the 2012–13 Russian First Division opened up a slot in the said division, which Ufa took, enabling their promotion from the Second Division into the First Division.

Life in the First Division

In their first season in the First Division Ufa finished in sixth, four points off the last promotion playoff spot.

The following season showed improvement by Ufa, as the club had built on the previous year's showing and managed to end up in fourth, thus enabling them to contest the promotion playoff against Tom Tomsk, who finished their campaign in the Russian Premier League in 13th.

On 18 May 2014, Ufa welcomed Tom Tomsk in Dynamo for the first leg of the playoff and Ufa managed to overpower Tom 5–1, with club captain Dmitri Golubov scoring four goals. The return leg was played four days later in Tomsk, and despite going down early in the match, Ufa managed to hold on to their aggregate lead; a 3–1 loss to Tom was moot. Ufa therefore claimed a historic promotion to the top-flight Russian Premier League after just three seasons playing in the Russian league system.

At the end of the 2017–18 season, they secured 6th spot in the Russian Premier League, which qualified them for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League due to FC Tosno, the Russian Cup winner, not applying for the UEFA license in time.

Ufa played their first ever European game at home against Slovenian side NK Domzale. The game finished in a goalless draw. Domzale dominated the return leg in Slovenia but Ufa didn't give up and a late goal saw them draw 1-1 and progress on away goals. Next was Progres Niederkorn for the Russian side, and another late goal in the return leg in Luxembourg send Ufa through 4-3 on aggregate and set them up against Scottish side Rangers in the play-off round. They lost 1-0 at Ibrox, and drew 1-1 at their stadium, which caused them to be eliminated from the play-off rounds of the Europa League. For the 2020-21 season, the club changed its colour scheme from red to purple and mint green.

Domestic history

European history

Ufa made their UEFA competition debut in July 2018, entering the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2018–19 UEFA Europa League 2Q Domžale 0–0 1–1 1–1 (a)
3Q Progrès Niederkorn 2–1 2–2 4–3
PO Rangers 1–1 0−1 1–2

Current squad
As of 5 February 2021[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  RUS Aleksei Chernov
2 DF  RUS Grigori Morozov (on loan from Dynamo Moscow)
3 DF  RUS Pavel Alikin
4 DF  RUS Aleksei Nikitin
5 DF  SVN Bojan Jokić
7 MF  RUS Dmitri Sysuyev
9 MF  RUS Kirill Folmer
15 DF  RUS Konstantin Pliyev (on loan from Rostov)
16 GK  RUS Yury Shafinsky
18 FW  SRB Komnen Andrić (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb)
19 MF  RUS Oleg Ivanov
21 FW  RUS Magomedemin Rabadanov
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF  RUS Artyom Golubev
24 MF  CRO Filip Mrzljak
29 MF  RUS Vladislav Kamilov
31 GK  RUS Aleksandr Belenov
33 DF  RUS Aleksandr Sukhov
44 DF  RUS Sergei Borodin (on loan from Krasnodar)
55 DF  GEO Jemal Tabidze
57 FW  RUS Vyacheslav Krotov
75 FW  RUS Timur Zhamaletdinov
99 MF  UKR Akhmed Alibekov (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv)
— DF  AUT Moritz Bauer (on loan from Stoke City)

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
— MF  RUS Igor Bezdenezhnykh (at Chayka Peschanokopskoye)
— MF  RUS Nikolai Giorgobiani (at Alania Vladikavkaz)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  RUS Danila Yemelyanov (at Volgar Astrakhan)
— FW  RUS Gamid Agalarov (at Volgar Astrakhan)

Reserve team
Further information: FC Ufa-2

Coaching staff

Other clubs

WFC Ufa, a female football club, plays in the Russian First Division, the second tier of the Women Russian football system.

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Ufa.

References
  1. http://tass.ru/sport/1206859
  2. https://us.soccerway.com/teams/russia/bashinformsvyaz-dinamo-ufa/13204/
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2016-11-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.