Arsenal-Kiev

Performance in the USSR

See also Pace (football club, Kiev)

The history of the Kiev Arsenal began on July 14, 1925 . On this day, a grand opening of a sports field with a football field took place at the Arsenal plant, at which the “gunsmiths” held their first match in history. The game was watched by 1500 fans.

In 1936, the first in the history of the Cup was held in the USSR. Kiev "Arsenal" was a participant in these competitions. The first campaign for the cup for the factory workers ended in the first round ( 1/64 finals ). Kievans were stopped by the Red Flag team (Yegoryevsk) - 0: 3 - the result of the replay (the main match ended in a draw 3: 3).

In the years 1951-59 in the championship and the Cup of Ukraine among physical education teams, the sports society Arsenal was represented by the Mashinostroitel football team. In 1954 and 1958 she became the champion of the Ukrainian SSR . In 1954 and 1955 , the factory footballers became the owners of the Cup of the Ukrainian SSR . This success allowed Mashinostroiteley twice in a row to play in the USSR Cup .

In 1959, in connection with the expansion of the class "B", Arsenal gets a place in the main championship of the country. By the debut in the tournament, “factory workers” approached seriously. The team was reinforced by Viktor Fomin , Petr Zayats and Vitaly Sobolev from Dynamo Kyiv , Vladimir Bogdanovich from Odessa Chernomorets and Alexander Matyukhin from Kyiv North Caucasian Military District .

In the debut season, Arsenal was able to climb up to fifth place in 2 zones of class “B”. Next season, the Gunners are even higher - third place in the zone. In the USSR Cup, Arsenal became the winner of the zonal tournament, and in the main tournament climbed into the 1/16 final . This season of 1960 was the most successful in the history of the factory team. Among all the Ukrainian teams of the USSR championship, Arsenal divided Labor Reserves in eighth to ninth places with Lugansk.

During the 1964 season, Arsenal was renamed FC Temp. At the end of the season, the leadership of Ukraine decided to direct all forces, finances and talented players to the development of Dynamo Kyiv. Funding for the Arsenal football club was recognized as irrational and eventually ended. At the end of the season the club was disbanded. The amateur club of the city enterprise “Plant Arsenal” continued performances in the championships of Kiev .

Arsenal's first renaissance

See also CSKA (football club, Kiev) # Arsenal

After 37 years, the "gunners" experienced their rebirth. Rumors about the creation of a municipal football club began to spread in the summer of 2001. Kiev mayor even visited several home matches of CSKA . It is believed that the football team needed the mayor of Kiev to improve its image, following the example of the Surkis brothers and Rinat Akhmetov . Since the creation of a completely new team required a lot of time and money (at least two years to get into the major league of the Championship of Ukraine ), the only way out was to reorganize the state enterprise of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine FC CSKA Kiev. At the end of the first round of the Ukrainian Football Championship 2001/2002 , which CSKA finished on the 9th line, the Kiev City Council, at the suggestion of the mayor Alexander Omelchenko, decided on December 18, 2001 to establish FC Arsenal Kiev LLC. In the authorized fund, the contribution of the territorial community of the city of Kiev was 80%. The remaining 20% ​​belonged to small owners, whose shares were occupied by the Kiev Donbass company. However, as a legal entity, it was CSKA that remained a member of the highest league . Only after a personal meeting between Omelchenko and CSKA President Alexander Danilchuk in February 2002 , an agreement was reached on the performance of Arsenal in the Premier League as a successor to the army team ^[3] .

Arsenal (Kiev) played its first away match on March 16, 2002 in Zaporozhye against the local Metallurgist . The first home game took place at the NSC Olimpiysky on March 25, 2002 against the Simferopol Tavria . In his first season - 2001/2002 , which Arsenal-Kiev started only from the second round - the gunners showed mediocre results. The team, formed mainly from CSKA players, struggled for survival throughout the second half of the season, and only in the last round, rose from the relegation zone, taking 12th place in the championship. Despite the low results, the team gathered a lot of fans - up to 18,000 spectators. The basic principles for them were love for the club and a negative attitude towards manifestations of racism.

In July 2002, the team was headed by Vyacheslav Grozny , and under his leadership in the 2002/03 season she showed unexpectedly high results. Having defeated several rivals with a big score and tied with Shakhtar , Arsenal completed the first round in 3rd place. However, in the second round, the team began to play less smoothly, and after defeats in the last two rounds of Dynamo and Shakhtar, the gunners could not win the right to play in the UEFA Cup , taking the 5th place.

The next two seasons, the team was no longer a real contender for a ticket to the European Cup. Arsenal remained an uncomfortable contender for the championship leaders, constantly taking away their points. In particular, in the 2004/05 season, under the leadership of Alexander Baranov, the club twice played in a draw with Dynamo, which led to the appearance of the real Kiev derby . The team was a strong middle peasant of the championship, both times ending the season in 9th position. Arsenal had good funding, the annual budget was at the level of 55 million hryvnia (the club was the 4th by this indicator in Ukraine) ^[4] . In the 2005/06 season , the club balanced on the verge of the relegation zone. Alexander Baranov was dismissed, replaced by Igor Babinchuk , instead of which in the winter of 2006 the team was headed by Alexander Zavarov . Frequent change of coaches only worsened the team morale, ^[5] and only at the end of the season thanks to a series of three victories in a row, the team secured a place in the elite, and thanks to the performance in the last rounds, Alexander Gladkyy caught up in the dispute of the top scorers in the championship.

On March 26, 2006, instead of Oleksandr Omelchenko, Leonid Chernovetsky was elected the Kiev mayor. One of the first steps of the new mayor and the new city council was to cut funding for municipal sports clubs. 80% of Arsenal shares were put up for sale ^[4] . Despite its uncertain status, the team showed high results, defeating Shakhtar, in particular, in Donetsk , in particular. For the winter break, the team finished in 4th place and again claimed to enter the European Cups. From the new year 2007, Arsenal was practically not funded. The gunners could not fully train, extremely limited financial capabilities did not allow for a deliberate transfer policy, the players and coaches worked mainly on enthusiasm. The club could not pay for hosting matches at the NSC Olimpiyskiy, so the matches were held at the smaller Dinamo Stadium named after Valery Lobanovsky , and once had to play even in Borispol at the Kolos Stadium. Throughout the spring, the search continued for those wishing to purchase Arsenal, but the lack of a developed club infrastructure (the club did not have its own stadium or training base) and the high price scared off potential investors ^[6] . All these circumstances caused the team to desperately fight for survival in the spring part of the championship, scoring only two victories and dropping from 4th place to 14th. It was even about the possible termination of the existence of the club ^[6] .

Only in May 2007, managed to find a buyer. Vadim Rabinovich , a Ukrainian businessman, president of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, has become the new president of Arsenal ^[7] . He began a large-scale program of reforming the club. His main goal, he considered raising public interest and increasing the popularity of the club. During the winter break, a series of PR actions were held, among which the greatest excitement was caused by a photo session of the team players along with models from Playboy magazine. ^{[8] [9]} In the second half of the 2007/08 season, Arsenal from the stadium named after Valery Lobanovsky moved to the Olympic NSC. On the very first match of the spring part of the championship on February 29 against Zorya, the entrance to the stadium was made free, organized a free lottery and held a karaoke show during the break. Thanks to this, 40,500 fans attended the match, which was the second indicator of attendance at a Ukrainian championship match in the entire history of the competition. entrance to the stadium remained free during the entire second round, attendance at matches increased significantly, and Arsenal itself rose to sixth place, finishing 5 points from the Intertoto zone.

In January 2009, the ex-mayor of Kiev, Leonid Chernovetsky, acquired Arsenal from Kiev for 1 hryvnia from Rabinovich. The new president of the club was formally considered the son of the mayor Stepan Chernovetsky. However, in July of the same year, Rabinovich returned the club to his property.

In June 2011, Leonid Kuchuk became the head coach of Arsenal Kiev. For the first time in history, the club won the right to participate in European competitions in the 2011/12 season, where in the first match of the Europa League 2012/13 qualification, the Slovenian club “ Mura-05 ” defeated with a score of 5: 0, however A technical defeat was counted to the “gunners” Matuku , in the return match away Kiev won - 2: 0, but this was not enough for the overall victory, and Arsenal stopped its performances in European cups. Until the end of 2012, Arsenal lost two sponsors, it was decided to reduce the club budget.

On January 1, 2013, Arsenal and Kuchuk broke the contract "by mutual consent." In January 2013, Arsenal left the team 14 players of the main composition, the remaining players had to agree to a three-fold salary reduction. In February 2013, the club changed management - the rights were acquired by the Ukrainian philanthropist and politician Alexander Onishchenko. The plans of the new owner included in the 2013/14 season to bring the team into the European competition zone, build their own stadium and training base, develop the CYSS and attract as many fans as possible to the stands. But after 9 months, Onishchenko refused to finance the club, citing debts that remained from his predecessor. In October of the same year, Arsenal for the first time did not leave for the match of the 14th round of the Ukrainian championship against the Simferopol Tavria . The situation in the team was complicated by the fact that Arsenal head coach Yuri Bakalov resigned. Repeated appeals of football players and fans of the club to the public to save Arsenal did not lead to anything. On October 9, the general director of the club, Viktor Golovko, officially announced that the “Gunners” would not go to the match of the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup against the Ternopil Niva . A day later, Golovko made a new statement that the Kiev Arsenal is being removed from all competitions and is beginning the bankruptcy procedure. ^{[11] [12]}

Second Arsenal Revival

In December 2013, loyal fans, footballers and specialists working for FC Arsenal Kiev decided to revive Kiev Arsenal. And in January 2014, the initiative group began searching for investors for Arsenal. On January 7, 2014, the former press attache of the club, and now an activist of the fan movement of Arsenal Kiev, said that in the future the club would have a slightly different name, Arsenal 1925, and would replace the emblem. On January 16, 2014, the Arsenal initiative group stated that if they still succeed in reviving the club, then the Ukrainians will be able to see for the first time the matches of the Ukrainian Football Championship among the teams of the second league clubs on TV .

On April 27, 2014, the revived Arsenal, within the framework of the Kiev Championship, held its first match ^{[13] [14]} . Before the match, a presentation of the new team. The press event was attended by the president of FC Arsenal Alexey Kikireshko , club vice president Pavel Cherepin , head coach Andrey Annenkov , director Alexander Moskalenko.

In the 2015/16 season, he played in the Second League of Ukraine , called Arsenal-Kiev. According to the results of the first year of performances in the Second Division, the club took the 6th place, but nevertheless rose in class before the start of the 2016/17 season due to an increase in the number of teams participating in the First Ukrainian League to 18 teams.

In February 2018, the former Arsenal player Croatian Ivica Pirić became president and co-owner of the club ^[15] .

In the season 2017/2018, the club won first place in the First League and won the right to play in the UPL .

The first time after the revival of the club in the elite of Ukrainian football "gunners" began under the guidance of an Italian specialist, formerly a famous player of Juventus Turin , Fabrizio Ravanelli , who had a rather modest and unsuccessful coaching experience at the moment of starting work in Kiev: from June to November 2013 he headed the Corsican "Ajaccio" , speaking at that time in the second French League . After a radical renewal of the lineup before the start of the season and a series of failures at the start of the championship (in nine games: seven losses, one draw and one victory), the Kiev club and the Italian coach terminated the contract by mutual consent ^[16] . On October 1, 2018, the club was headed for the third time by the Ukrainian specialist Vyacheslav Grozny ^[17] , and on January 9, 2019 he left his post ^[18] .

The second (youth) team of the club

In the 2003/2004 season in the second league (in group “B”) , the Arsenal-2 team ^[19] took the last place, withdrawing from the competition for 4 rounds before the end of the tournament. From the next season she took part in the youth championship (doubles tournament) (seasons 2004/05 - 2013/14 ).

• Champion of the competition of workers' clubs of Ukraine (1) - 1952;
• Winner of the USSR Cup (2) - 1954, 1955;
• Winner of the Ukrainian SSR Championship (2) - 1954, 1958;
• Silver medalist of the Championship of the USSR (1) - 1956;
• Bronze medalist of the Championship of the USSR (2) - 1951, 1957;
• Bronze medalist class "B" - 1 zone of the USSR Championship of the USSR (1) - 1960;
• Participant of 1/16 of the USSR Cup - 1959/1960;
• The biggest victory in the USSR Championship - 6: 0 over the “Banner of Labor” Orekhovo-Zuyevo 21/07/1959;
• Semifinalist Cup of Ukraine (1) - 2010/2011;
• The highest achievement in the Championship of Ukraine - 5th place 2002/2003, 2011/2012;
• 196th place in the UEFA ranking (December 2013);
• Participant of the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League - 2012/2013;
• The biggest victory in the Championship of Ukraine - 8: 1 “Volyn” Lutsk 17/07/2002;
• The biggest victory in the Cup of Ukraine - 6: 0 PFC "Alexandria" 13/08/2005;
• The top scorer - Emmanuel Okoduva - 32 goals (2002–2006), Vladimir Bogdanovich - 18 goals (1959—1960);
• Season's top scorer - Yevgeny Seleznev - 17 goals in the 2007/2008 season;
• The best coach of the championship of Ukraine - Vyacheslav Grozny 2002, Leonid Kuchuk 2012 (according to the version of the Internet portal Football.ua);
• The largest number of spectators at home matches - 40500 Arsenal Kiev - Zarya Lugansk 29/02/2008
• Winner of the First League of Ukraine - 2017/2018

2002—2003

The first emblem of the club to a certain extent recalls the logo of CSKA. The shield was taken as a basis, traditional for European football symbols and NHL teams, in which a stylized image of a five-pointed star is inserted (borrowed from the emblem of CSKA). At the same time, the star appeared as the image of the letter “A” - the first letter of the word “Arsenal”. Under the star was placed chestnut leaf - one of the traditional symbols of Kiev. However, this emblem lasted only a year.

2003—2013

In 2003, Tmexpert prepared a comprehensive advertising project for Arsenal Kyiv, so it was decided to develop a new logo. Новая эмблема также получила вид щита синего цвета, который пересекает голубая полоса. Символизирует Днепр, который разделяет Киев на две части. Знак «Арсенал- Киев» (буква «А» с крылом) — символизирует мост, соединяющий правый и левый берег города. Крылья в букве «А» — символизируют Архангела Михаила, давнего покровителя Киева. Также крыло можно рассматривать как часть буквы «К» (Киев). Надписи золотыми буквами на щите и его обод символизируют золотые купола киевских храмов.

Фанаты «Арсенала» имеют левые взгляды, чем отличаются от большинства украинских футбольных фанатов с правыми и националистическими идеями ^[20] .

В связи с такой изоляцией фанаты «Арсенала» не имеют дружеских отношений ни с одним украинским фан-движением, но дружат с фанатами « Партизана » из Минска, « Санкт-Паули » из Гамбурга, « Теннис-Боруссии » из Берлина и другими антифашистскими движениями.

Самыми принципиальными соперниками «Арсенала» в украинском футболе являются фанаты « Динамо », « Карпат », « Оболони », « Днепра ».

Полный список игроков ФК «Арсенал-Киев» о которых есть статьи в Википедии, см. тут .

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