FC Stal Alchevsk was a Ukrainian professional football team of the Ukrainian First League that is based in Alchevsk. In the 2012–13 season the club won promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League,[1] but the club refused this promotion "for the sake of the fans".[2] In 2015, Stal withdrew from all Ukrainian competitions due to the escalating conflict in Eastern Ukraine.[3]

Stal Alchevsk
Club crest
Full nameFC Stal Alchevsk
Founded1983
Dissolved2015
GroundStal Alchevsk Stadium
Capacity9,200
ChairmanUkraine Volodymyr Polubatko
LeagueUkrainian First League
2013–143rd

After adopting its name Stal, the club became a phoenix club of previously existed Stal (Voroshylovsk and Komunarsk, both names of Alchevsk during the Soviet period). It is commonly being confused with another football club from Alchevsk – Kommunarets which was dissolved in 1989, six years after establishing of Stroitel Kommunarsk.

History

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  • First club
    • Stal Voroshylovsk
    • Metalurh Komunarsk
    • Komunarets Komunarsk
  • Second club
    • Budivelnyk Komunarsk
    • Stal Alchevsk

Previous club

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The club is named after the former city's sports society Stal that was established in Alchevsk (at that time Voroshylovsk) in 1935.

Second club

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The contemporary club traces its history to 1983 when in Komunarsk (name of Alchevsk in 1961–1991) was founded new amateur football club Budivelnyk (Stroitel) along with already existing professional club Komunarets. The club started out in the championship of Luhansk Oblast. During that time the city top club was Kommunarets which was in synchronization with the former name of Alchevsk – Kommunarsk in the honor of the Paris Commune. Its communist revolutionary spirit can be noticed on the contemporary club's logo. With the fall of the Soviet Union Kommunarets was relegated from the Soviet championship in 1988 and disappeared, while Budivelnyk led by Anatoliy Volobuyev became sponsored by the city's metallurgic factory and were introduced to the Ukrainian SSR championship among physical culture clubs (KFK) for the 1989 season. In 1990 the club placed second in the final tournament and was promoted to the Soviet competitions (1991 Soviet Second League B).

Stal joined the Ukrainian Premier League in 2000–2001 for its tenth season. They finished in the next-to-last place and were relegated back to the Persha Liha where they remained until the 2005–2006 season, for which they and FC Kharkiv achieved promotion back to the Ukrainian Premier League. In 2006–2007 season Stal were relegated back to the Persha Liha, where they played till the end of the 2012–13 season in which they won promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League.[1] But the club refused this promotion because of its Stal Stadium did not meet the requirements of the highest Ukrainian division and the club did not want to play in another stadium because it did see "no point in holding matches in another stadium as most fans of Stal won’t see them".[2]

In 2015, Stal withdrew from all competitions due to the escalating conflict in Eastern Ukraine, with ongoing battles and artillery fired near the playing fields, the club decided it was impossible to continue operating in such conditions.[3]

Club name

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"Stal" is a popular name in the Soviet culture and stands for "steel" (in English). The name was chosen as the pride for the heavily industrialized region of the country. A derivative of it "Stalin" was carried by the Soviet dictator Joseph Dzhugashvili.

Football kits and sponsors

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Years[4] Football kit Shirt sponsor
2005–2007 umbro  –

Head coaches

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Honors

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Notable players

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League and cup history

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Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe Notes
1992 2nd "A" 9 26 9 8 9 28 22 26 1/16 finals
1992–93 2nd 10 42 16 10 16 40 37 42 1/64 finals
1993–94 2nd 4 38 22 7 9 56 40 51 1/16 finals
1994–95 2nd 9 42 19 5 18 69 50 62 1/8 finals
1995–96 2nd 3 42 26 5 11 73 40 69 1/16 finals
1996–97 2nd 6 46 23 9 14 76 43 78 1/32 finals 2nd stage
1997–98 2nd 4 42 24 5 13 69 53 77 1/16 finals
1998–99 2nd 9 38 16 7 15 55 52 55 1/16 finals
1999–00 2nd 2 34 21 7 6 69 36 70 1/16 finals Promoted
2000–01 1st 13 26 3 6 17 19 49 15 1/16 finals Relegated
2001–02 2nd 6 34 14 8 12 42 34 50 1/8 finals
2002–03 2nd 6 34 14 10 10 36 33 52 1/8 finals
2003–04 2nd 5 34 17 7 10 69 27 58 1/4 finals
2004–05 2nd 1 34 22 11 1 69 24 77 1/8 finals Promoted
2005–06 1st 11 30 9 9 12 26 39 36 1/8 finals
2006–07 1st 16 30 5 6 19 22 38 21 1/8 finals Relegated
2007–08 2nd 7 38 15 13 10 52 44 69 1/8 finals
2008–09 2nd 10 32 11 10 11 33 39 43 1/4 finals
2009–10 2nd 3 34 19 8 7 55 35 69 1/8 finals
2010–11 2nd 3 34 18 8 8 55 33 62 1/4 finals
2011–12 2nd 7 34 14 8 12 51 50 50 1/32 finals
2012–13 2nd 2 34 20 6 8 58 35 69 1/16 finals Refused promoted[2]
2013–14 2nd 3 30 16 3 11 41 33 51 1/32 finals
2014–15 2nd Withdrew[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Алчевская "Сталь" возвращается в Премьер-лигу [Stal Alchevsk returns to the Premier League]. ua-football.com (in Russian). 19 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c FC Stal refuses to participate in Ukrainian Premier League, Interfax-Ukraine (13 June 2013)
  3. ^ a b "Stal Alchevsk withdrawal puts future of Ukrainian football in doubt". 10 February 2015.
  4. ^ Jerseys of Ukrainian clubs Archived 25 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ The club withdrew at the 1/16 stage of the competition due to the war conditions in Donbass.
    Відбулось жеребкування 1/16 фіналу Кубка України [Draw for the 1/16 finals of the Ukrainian Cup was held] (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Premier League. 13 August 2014. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
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