Shakhtar Donetsk

FC Shakhtar Donetsk logo
Full name	Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk
Nickname(s)	Hirnyky (Miners), Kroty (Moles)
Founded	May 24, 1936; 76 years ago  (1936-05-24)
Ground	Donbass Arena (Capacity: 52,518[1])
Chairman	Rinat Akhmetov
Manager	Mircea Lucescu
League	Ukrainian Premier League
2011–12	1st
Home colours Away colours
Current season

FC Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukrainian: ФК «Шахтар» Донецьк) is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. Shakhtar has appeared in several European competitions and currently is often a participant of the UEFA Champions League. The club became the first Ukrainian club to win the UEFA Cup in 2009, the last year before the competition was revamped as the Europa League. They are one of only two Ukrainian clubs, the other being Dynamo Kyiv to have won a major UEFA competition.

The club draws its history from the very start of the Soviet football league competitions and is one of the oldest clubs in Ukraine. The club was a member of the Soviet Voluntary Sports Society of Shakhtyor having connections with other Soviet teams from Karaganda (Kazakhstan), Soligorsk (Belarus) etc. The Donetsk-based club became culturally entwined with the heavily industrialized and Russified region of Ukraine, Donets Basin, better known as the Donbas hence the name of its stadium. In the late Soviet period Shakhtar was considered a tough mid-table club of the Soviet Top League and a cup competition specialist after winning the Soviet Cup two years in a row (1961 and 1962).

The team has played under the following names: Stakhanovets (1936–1946), Shakhtyor (Shakhtar) (1946–1992) and FC Shakhtar (since 1992).

History overview[link]

Football came to the Donetsk region in the time of the Russian Empire when the industrialization of the country began. Numerous foreigners, particularly British workers, were forming their own football teams. In September 1911 at the factory of Novorossiysk Association (currently Donetsk Steel Works Factory – DMZ) owned by John Hughes was created the Yuzovka Sports Association which contained a football club as well. The football team existed until 1919. In 1920s the club was reorganized into the Lenin's club. One of the most prominent players of that period was Viktor Shylovsky^[2] who became famous, however, playing for Dynamo Kyiv.

The club Shakhtar was originally formed in May 1936 and was initially named Stakhanovets meaning the participant of Stakhanovite movement which derived from Aleksei Stakhanov, a coal-miner in the Donets basin and propaganda celebrity in 1935. The first team was based upon two other local teams, the participants of the All-Ukrainian Spartakiads: Dynamo Horlivka and Stalino. The first game was unofficial against Dynamo Odessa and took place on May 12, 1936 at Balitsky Stadium. The team of Donbas lost it 2:3 after scoring the first. Its first official game with Dynamo Kazan was even more disappointing, which they lost 1:4. Nonetheless, the selective job conducted constructively by the clubs administration allowed the club to compete successfully at the top level by the end 1930s. During the war championship of 1941 which was interrupted unexpectedly the club defeated the Soviet champions FC Dynamo Moscow and after about ten games was placing the fifth. The last game of that championship they played on June 24 two days after the start of the Great Patriotic War,^[3] which they lost at home to Traktor Stalingrad.^[4]

The team in 1937.

The All-Union coal mining society of Stakhanovite had changed its name in July 1946 to Shakhtyor. The first success for the team was in 1951, under name of Shakhtyor when it took the third place in the USSR Championship.

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 European competition. In 1978, Shakhtar finished third in the USSR Championship. A year later, the team finished second 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 Donbas and in 1983, it won the USSR Super Cup over then-domestic league champions Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

In October of 1995, a bombing-assassination took place at the team's stadium, killing team president Akhat Bragin. In the year that followed Rinat Akhmetov took over as president and subsequently invested heavily in the club.^[5]

On 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Shakthar was eliminated with the big result of 2 - 5 from Vicenza Calcio, losing the 1st and 2nd legs.

In the newly independent Ukraine, Shakhtar along with Dynamo Kyiv became perennial first place competitors. In 1999, a Shakhtar Football academy was opened and now hosts football training for roughly 3000 children.

Shakhtar have, to date, appeared in all three editions of the First Channel Cup, winning the 2006 edition and finishing runners up in 2008.

For the last several seasons Shakhtar has the highest home attendance in a league, averaging at about 20,000 per game.

In 2009, they became only the second Ukrainian team to win a European competition (and the first since independence), and the first to win the UEFA Cup, beating Werder Bremen in the final, with goals from Brazilians Luiz Adriano and Jadson.^[6] This also made them the last UEFA Cup winners before the tournament was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League.

Stadium[link]

FC Shakhtar has been playing most of its games at the RSK Olimpiyskiy stadium. The construction of a new stadium, Donbass Arena has finished and was opened on 29 August 2009. The stadium has a capacity of 50,149 and has been awarded a UEFA five star rating.

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 Shakhtar Reserves. 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.

A mascot mole (moles is a nickname for the club) will entertain spectators during the home matches.

Training Centre[link]

Shakhtar Donetsk has its own training facilities for its first team, reserve team and youth academy all located at Kirsha Training Centre

Crests and colours[link]

The first logo of the club was designed in 1936, it featured a blue hexagon, with a red 'S' in the middle, crossed over by a jackhammer. In 1946, when the club was renamed, the logo was changed to black and white, with addition of club's name. Later in the middle of the 60s logo depicted two crossed hammers and a writing Shakhtar 'Donetsk' in the circle. About the same time the crest was added to the kit and remained there since, except for several seasons, in the beginning of 1990s. The clubs name was often depicted in the Russian language as the rest of participants of the Soviet football competitions. Therefore some sources have its name written often as Shakhter or rarely Shakhtyor.

In 1989, an artist, Viktor Savilov, on the event of the club restructuring offered a draft variant of a logo with elements of the ball and a pitch. Some time later the logo was remodelled into the present one. The emblem was added to the kit in 1997.^[7]

In 2008, during the presentation of club's new stadium Shakhtar's new logo was unveiled. For the first time in over 30 years, traditional symbols of the club "Crossed Hammers" were present on the crest.

Former kits[link]

Stakhanovets

Shakhtar '50s

Since 1961

Shakhtar '70s

Since 1983

Since 1986

Rivalry[link]

Shakhtar's biggest rival today is Dynamo. The match between them has grown into what is called the Ukrainian derby. The stadiums in Kiev and Donetsk are nearly full for matches between the two teams and are the main football events within the country. The other rivalry with Metalurh Donetsk is local and, although not as significant as games against the rivals from the capital, the games between the two Donetsk teams have been proclaimed the Donetsk Derby.

Among the extinguished rivalries are the games against FC Spartak Moscow and, particularly, the third place champions FC Dinamo Tbilisi that took place at times of the Soviet Top League. Another interesting rivalry, Donbas Derby, is with FC Zorya Luhansk, games with which gather a significant crowd in Luhansk. During the early Ukrainian championships another interesting rivalry has developed with FC Chornomorets Odessa, Miners vs. Sailors, which declined with the turn of the millennium due to inconsistent performance of the Odessa based club.

Club song[link]

Lyrics by: K.Arsenev; Music: I.Krutoiy

Glory to you, Shakhtar!

Heavens of football stars

Will always be on your side,

And the light of your best dreams

Is shining from above.

Refrain:

Beauty of green fields, that's for you, Shakhtar.

My fate is in your hands, you are the best, Shakhtar.

And for you, Shakhtar, the medal of my love

Will always shine on pitch where you are,

And forever will protect you from defeat

The brightest football star!

Honours[link]

UEFA Cup won by Shakhtar

Soviet Union[link]

• Soviet Top League
  • Runners-Up : (2) 1975, 1979
  • Third place : (2) 1951, 1978
• Soviet Cup
  • Winners : (4) 1961, 1962, 1980, 1983
  • Runners-Up : (4) 1963, 1978, 1985, 1986
• Soviet Super Cup
  • Winners : (1) 1983
  • Runners-Up : (2) 1980, 1985

Ukraine[link]

• Ukrainian Premier League
  • Winners : (7) 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
  • Runners-Up : (10) 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09
• Ukrainian Cup
  • Winners : (8) 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012
  • Runners-Up : (4) 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009
• Ukrainian Super Cup
  • Winners : (3) 2005, 2008, 2010
  • Runners-Up : (3) 2004, 2006, 2007

Europe[link]

• UEFA Cup
  • Winners : (1) 2009

• UEFA Super Cup
  • Runners-Up : (1) 2009

Unofficial[link]

• Channel One Cup
  • Winners : 2006

• La Manga Cup
  • Winners : 2007

• Uhrencup
  • Winners : 2009

• Copa del Sol
  • Winners : 2010 (Shared)

• Special award from the IFFHS for making the biggest progress of the decade, 2011.^[8]

Players[link]

Current squad[link]

Squad is as of May 25, 2012.^[9][10]

For recent transfers, see 2010–11 FC Shakhtar Donetsk season.

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

No. Position Player 3 MF Tomáš Hübschman 5 DF Oleksandr Kucher 7 MF Fernandinho (vice-captain) 8 MF Ilsinho 9 FW Luiz Adriano 10 MF Willian 11 FW Eduardo 13 DF Vyacheslav Shevchuk 14 MF Vasyl Kobin 15 MF Taras Stepanenko 16 GK Artem Tetenko 17 FW Yevhen Seleznyov 18 FW Marko Dević 19 MF Oleksiy Gai 20 MF Douglas Costa

No. Position Player 22 MF Henrikh Mkhitaryan 23 GK Bohdan Shust 25 GK Oleksandr Rybka 26 DF Răzvan Raţ 27 DF Dmytro Chygrynskiy (vice-captain) 29 MF Alex Teixeira 30 GK Andriy Pyatov 31 FW Dentinho 33 DF Darijo Srna (captain) 35 GK Yuriy Virt 36 DF Oleksandr Chyzhov 38 DF Sergiy Kryvtsov 44 DF Yaroslav Rakitskiy 70 MF Alan Patrick

Reserve squad[link]

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

No. Position Player 41 FW Serhiy Hryn 42 FW Valeriy Hryshyn 43 DF Ivan Ordets 44 DF Yevhen Yefremov 45 GK Maksym Ivanov 46 MF Oleksiy Chereda 47 DF Maksym Zhychykov 48 FW Artur Zahorulko 50 FW Vladyslav Kulach 51 MF Serhiy Steblovskyi 52 MF Oleksandr Noyok 54 DF Leonid Akulinin

No. Position Player 56 MF Vitaliy Koltsov 57 DF Mykhaylo Pysko 58 GK Yevhen Halchuk 60 DF Ihor Duts 61 MF Volodymyr Sadokha 62 GK Mykyta Kryukov 63 FW Vladyslav Nekhtiy 64 FW Ruslan Kisil 65 MF Maskym Malyshev (captain) 67 MF Vyacheslav Churko 74 FW Maksym Ilyuk 77 MF Vladlen Yurchenko

Out on loan[link]

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

No. Position Player GK Mykyta Shevchenko (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) DF Stanislav Mykytsey (on loan to ?) DF Mykola Ischenko (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) DF Bohdan Butko (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) DF Artem Fedetskiy (on loan to Karpaty Lviv) DF Ivan Lukanyuk (on loan to Prykarpattya) MF Oleksiy Polyanskiy (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF Ihor Chaykovskyi (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF Roman Yemelyanov (on loan to FC Rostov) MF Denys Kozhanov (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF Vitaliy Vitsenets (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol)

No. Position Player MF Konstantyn Yaroshenko (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF Dmytro Hrechyshkin (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF David Targamadze (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF Vitaliy Fedotov (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF Yaroslav Oliynyk (on loan to Zorya Luhansk) MF Tornike Okriashvili (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) MF Bruno (on loan to Zorya Luhansk) FW Ruslan Fomin (on loan to Illichivets Mariupol) FW Oleksandr Karavayev (on loan to FC Sevastopol)

Current coaching staff[link]

Notable former players[link]

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

Player records[link]

Top goalscorers[link]

As of 27 April 2012

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Other	Total
1	Vorobey, AndriyAndriy Vorobey[11]	1998–2007	080 !80	022 !22	012 !12	000 !0	114 !114
2	Starukhin, VitaliyVitaliy Starukhin[12]	1973–1981	084 !84	023 !23	003 !3	000 !0	110 !110
3	Sokolovsky, MykhayloMykhaylo Sokolovsky[13]	1974–1987	087 !87	011 !11	005 !5	002 !2	105 !105
4	, BrandãoBrandão [14]	2002–2008	065 !65	011 !11	015 !15	000 !0	091 !91
5	Petrov, IhorIhor Petrov[15]	1982–1991 1994–1996 1998	070 !70	013 !13	002 !2	000 !0	085 !85
6	Hrachov, ViktorViktor Hrachov[16]	1980–1981 1982–1990 1994–1995	065 !65	011 !11	005 !5	002 !2	083 !83
7	Atelkin, SerhiySerhiy Atelkin[17]	1989–1997 2000–2002	061 !61	009 !9	012 !12	000 !0	082 !82
8	Matveyev, OlehOleh Matveyev[18]	1992–1995 1996–2000	061 !61	017 !17	000 !0	000 !0	078 !78
9	Zubov, HennadiyHennadiy Zubov[19]	1994–2004	057 !57	010 !10	006 !6	000 !0	073 !73
10	, Luiz AdrianoLuiz Adriano	2007-	040 !40	007 !7	017 !17	002 !2	066 !66

• Other – National Super Cup & USSR Federation Cup

Most appearances[link]

As of 27 April 2012

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Other	Total
1	Sokolovsky, MykhayloMykhaylo Sokolovsky	1974–1987	400 !400	063 !63	018 !18	007 !7	488 !488
2	Sergey Yashenko [20]	1982–1995	384 !384	044 !44	008 !8	019 !19	455 !455
3	Dehteryov, YuriyYuriy Dehteryov[21]	1967–1983	321 !321	047 !47	010 !10	000 !0	378 !378
4	Petrov, IhorIhor Petrov	1982–1991 1994–1996 1998	282 !282	038 !38	010 !10	020 !20	350 !350
5	Shutkov, DmytroDmytro Shutkov[22]	1989–2008	267 !267	054 !54	021 !21	003 !3	345 !345
6	Valeriy Rudakov [23]	1972–1986	276 !276	044 !44	016 !16	006 !6	342 !342
6	Hrachov, ViktorViktor Hrachov	1980–1981 1982–1990 1994–1995	282 !282	039 !39	006 !6	015 !15	342 !342
6	Yaremchenko, ValeriyValeriy Yaremchenko[24]	1966–1979	299 !299	035 !35	008 !8	000 !0	342 !342
9	Srna, DarijoDarijo Srna	2003–present	211 !211	029 !29	087 !87	006 !6	334 !334
10	Tymoshchuk, AnatoliyAnatoliy Tymoshchuk[25]	1998–2006	227 !227	040 !40	057 !57	002 !2	326 !326

• Other – National Super Cup & USSR Federation Cup

Head coaches[link]

League and Cup history[link]

[edit] Soviet Union