FC Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukrainian: Шахтар Донецьк) is a Ukrainian professional football club, playing in the city of Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk region.
History overview
The team has played under the following names: Stakhanovets (1936-1946), Shakhtyor (1946-1992) and FC Shakhtar (since 1992).
The club was originally formed in May 1936 and was initially named Stakhanovets after Oleksiy Stakhanov, a legendary coal-miner in the Donbass distinguished for his prominently hard work. The first success for the team was in 1951, when then-renamed Shakhar took third-place in the USSR Championship.
The 'Miners’ country' team has always been famous for its willing disposition, team identity, and never-say-die attitude. Beginning in the 1960s, Shakhtar under Oleg Oshenkov’s coaching were three-time USSR Cup finalists, winning it twice in 1961 and 1962. The club was nicknamed “The Cup Team” due to Shakhtar’s success in vying for the trophy every year, however the Miners’ more notable achievements occurred later from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.
In 1975, Shakhtar took 2nd in the USSR Championship and received the right to represent the Soviet Union in EuroCups. In 1978, Shakhtar finished third in the USSR Championship. A year later, the team once again took the honorable second place and its captain – striker Vitaliy Starukhin – was named the best player and the best forward in the USSR Championship (26 goals scored).
Shakhtar twice, in 1980 and 1983, brought home the crystal USSR Cup to Donbass and in 1983, it won the USSR Super Cup over then-domestic league champions FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
In the newly independent Ukraine, FC Shakhtar along with Dynamo Kyiv became perennial first place competitors. In part to the generosity of Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov who has run FC Shakhtar since 1996, the club has steadily improved its play and infrastructure, as promised by the club president himself (who has vowed to bring European glory to FC Shakhtar and its fans).
In 1999, an FC Shakhtar Football academy was opened and nowadays hosts football training for roughly 3000 children. The same year, a Sports Training Complex "Kirsha", considered to be one of the best in Europe,[citations needed] was opened for the senior squad's use.
[edit] Stadium
FC Shakhtar has been playing most of its games at the recently renovated RSK Olimpiyskiy stadium. The team has started construction on a new stadium, Shakhtar Stadium which will have a capacity of 50,000 and will be a UEFA five star venue.
FC Shakhtar's old home, the central Shakhtar Stadium which was built in 1936, and was reconstructed four times, is currently being used by FC Metalurg Donetsk. The stadium received some major renovations, including the installation of bench seats in 2000, when FC Shakhtar made it to the Champions League Group Stage.
Goalkeepers
1Bohdan Shust (Ukr)GK21-18983-2006Karpaty Lviv (Ukr)£600k
12Dmytro Shutkov (Ukr)GK35Donetsk18773-1991--
-Andriy Pyatov (Ukr)GK23-19078-2006Vorskla Poltava (Ukr)£672.1k
Defenders
11Ilsinho (Bra)RB21São Bernardo do Campo1788106/20112007Sao Paulo (Bra)£6.74m
55Vladimir Yezerskyi (Ukr)RB30Lviv1837706/20102007Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukr)£740.2k
13Vyacheslav Schevchuk (Ukr)LB28Lutsk1848206/20102005Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukr)£345.5k
26Razvan Rat (Rom)LB26Slatina17872-2003--
3Tomas Hubschman (Cze)CD26Prague18074-2004Sparta Praha (Cze)£?
18Mariusz Lewandowski (Pol)DF28Legnica18584-2001--
27Dmytro Chigrynskyi (Ukr)DF20-19081-2003--
Midfielders
4Igor Duljaj (Srb)DM27Topola17572-2004Partizan Belgrade (Srb)£?
10Zvonimir Vukic (Srb)MF28Zrenjanin18272-2003--
19Olexiy Gai (Ukr)MF24Zaporizhzhya------
28Oleksiy Polyanskiy (Ukr)MF21-1828212/20112006Metalurg Donetsk (Ukr)£268.8k
7Fernandinho (Bra)AM22Londrina17667-2005--
33Dario Srna (Cro)RW25Metkovic1827812/20112003--
9Neri Alberto Castillo (Mex)LW23San Luis Potosi1706006/20122007Olympiacos (Gre)£10.12m
Forwards
8Jadson (Bra)FW23Londrina [PR]1686706/20102005Atletico PR (Bra)£3.47m
17Luiz Adriano (Bra)ST20Porto Alegre [RS]--12/20112007Internacional (Bra)£2.03m
20Oleksiy Belik (Ukr)ST26-18476-1999YouthFree
25Brandao (Bra)ST27Sao Paulo---2002--
99Cristiano Lucarelli (Ita)ST31Livorno1888506/20102007Livorno (Ita)£5.42m
Sponsored Links
Come and discuss the latest football action at the England Football Forum!
Advertisement