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FC Vorskla Poltava (Ukrainian: ФК «Во́рскла» Полта́ва [ˈwɔrsklɐ polˈtɑwɐ]) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Poltava that competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, the top flight of Ukrainian football.
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| Full name | Футбольний клуб «Во́рскла» Полта́ва Football Club Vorskla Poltava | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Zeleno-Bili (Green-Whites) | |||
| Founded | 1955 | |||
| Ground | Butovsky Vorskla Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 24,795[1] | |||
| Owner | Ferrexpo (Eduard Shalayev)[2] | |||
| Chairman | Roman Cherniak (president) Oleh Lysak (vice-president)[2] Hennadiy Muzyka (vice-president) | |||
| Manager | Serhiy Dolhanskyi (interim) | |||
| League | Ukrainian Premier League | |||
| 2023–24 | Ukrainian Premier League, 9th of 16 | |||
| Website | http://www.vorskla.com.ua/ | |||
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Kolos Poltava
The club draws its history from 1955 when on the initiative of the first secretary of the regional party cell Mikhail Stakhursky[3] in the city of Poltava was established a football club Kolhospnyk within the republican trade union sports society Kolhospnyk. The same year it entered the Football Championship of the Ukrainian SSR where already played one of the older clubs from Poltava, Lokomotyv Poltava. Beside Kolhospnyk and Lokomotyv, at republican level Poltava was represented with some other sports societies before 1950s.
Rumors about appearance of the new club in Poltava based at the VSS "Kolhospnyk" started to circulate in the fall of 1954.[4] Beside Mikhail Stakhursky one of the others who initiated the creation of the club was a chairman of the regional committee of physical culture and sport Oleksandr Kobushko who until 1953 played for various Poltava teams including Dynamo and Spartak.[4] On 21 December 1954 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR published a resolution, according to which, in each region there must be created regional councils of the VSS "Kolhospnyk".[4] Thus, the Kolhospnyk football team was created in the regional center.[4] According to the decision of the party bodies, the future team was supposed to have already famous football players in its ranks. For this purpose, Kobushko traveled almost the entire USSR in search of players.[4] In late autumn 1954, the newly formed team began training.[4] The selection policy of the Kolhospnyk management was aimed at inviting football players from Moscow and Transcarpathia. The first coach was Konstantin Skrypchenko, well known to Poltava residents. It was with his name that the successes of Poltava Lokomotyv, which he then headed, were associated.[4] The "nachalnik" of the team became Oleksandr Kobushko.[4] When naming all those who contributed to the creation of the team, one cannot help but recall Petro Beznosenko, by that time deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Council of the Kolhospnyk VSS. Thanks to him, at the beginning of 1955, Anatoliy Zubrytsky came to Poltava, who, together with Skrypchenko, continued to “sculpt” the arriving players into the team. It’s not for nothing that Beznosenko is called the “godfather” of “Kolhospnyk”.[4]
In the early days of 1955, the regional council of the Kolhospnyk VSS was finally officially formed. On January 5, by order No. 4, the executive committee of the Poltava Regional Council of Workers' Deputies formed the regional council of the voluntary rural sports society "Kolhospnyk". This document was signed by Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee Snihurenko. This order, in essence, is the birthday of “Kolhospnyk”.[4]
In March, the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports included “Kolhospnyk” among the participants in the Football Championship of the Ukrainian SSR. Poltavians ended up in the Group 1, where along with them participated such famous teams as Mashynobudivnyk Kyiv - one of the most titled teams in the republic (Ukrainian SSR) - champion and winner of the Ukrainian Cup in 1951.[4] The 1955 season in the amateur league began quite late, on May 2. Therefore, the Poltava team had to play friendly matches throughout the spring and take part in one-day blitz tournaments. And so, May 2, 1955 - the first official match. On this day, at the Poltava stadium "Urozhai" (today - Vorskla) "Kolhospnyk" hosted the team Shakhtar Odesa.[4] And as they say, "the first pancake turned out to be lumpy". Either a great desire to play as best as possible got in the way, or it was a lack of experience, but be that as it may, the Poltava team lost the first game with a score of 0:2, conceding a goal in each half. However, the audience who gathered on this festive evening liked the new team.[4]
On May 25, Kolhospnyk won its first trophy - the Poltava City Cup, beating its main competitors - Lokomotyv in the final with a score of 2:1, and the victory came only in extra time.[4] At the beginning of June, "Kolhospnyk", as the winner of the Poltava City Cup, took part in the Ukrainian Cup. Having overcome two rounds, the Poltava team stumbled in the quarterfinals. They lost to the Torpedo team from Sumy - 0:2.[4] The Poltava team also completed the first half of the championship quite well, beating the group stage leader Mashynobudivnyk Kyiv at home in the last match - 3:1 (by the way, the Kyiv team lost only once in the group stage, and that was to the Poltava team).[4] Continuing to collect victories, the Poltava team became the best team of the Kolhospnyk society. At the final competition, which, by the way, took place in Poltava in July, the hosts did not lose a single match, having drawn one game. Thus, this victory, automatically, despite the performances in the zonal championship of Ukraine, brought “Kolhospnyk” to the finals.[4] The final of the Football Championship of the Ukrainian SSR took place in Kyiv from October 16 to 29. All the strongest teams got there. For Kolhospnyk fans, the final tournament brought only disappointment. Having received only two draws with Mashynobudivnyk Kyiv and Torpedo Kirovohrad, the team eventually took the last 8th place.[4]
Already in 1957, the club obtained its professional status (team of masters) and was included in the competitions of the Soviet third division (then "Class B"). However, in 1982 the club went into bankruptcy and was dissolved. In 1983 many players moved to play for an amateur football team Kooperator from Poltava that represented the Poltava Institute of Cooperation. During its history for a short period of time from 1968 to 1972, Kolos was also carrying names Silbud and Budivelnyk.
Vorskla Poltava
In 1984, the club was reanimated based on the Kolos academy (sports school) as Vorskla after the river Vorskla, which flows through Poltava. In 1986, Vorskla entered the Soviet professional ranks of the third division where it participated until the collapse of the Soviet system.
Upon establishing of the Ukrainian football competitions in 1992 the club was admitted to the Ukrainian First League (the second tier of Ukrainian football) which it won in 1996. At that time Vorskla was sponsored by "Poltavagasprom".[5] The team debuted in the Ukrainian Premier League in the 1996–97 season, taking that season the 3rd place. Vorskla have remained in the Premier League since, and participated twice in the UEFA Cup. In 2009, Vorskla met Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2009 Ukrainian Cup Final. Mykola Pavlov's men won the match 1–0 after Vasyl Sachko's goal in the 49th minute.
In 2003–2005, the club was named Vorskla-Naftogaz due to sponsorship reasons.
As a Domestic Cup winner, Vorskla participated in the annual opening game of the season Ukrainian Super Cup meeting the champions Dynamo Kyiv. After a 0–0 draw at full-time, Vorskla lost the cup to Dynamo on penalties.
The first team plays its home matches at Butovsky Memorial Vorskla Stadium which is named after one of the founders of the modern Olympic games and the International Olympic Committee in 1894.
One of the biggest successes of Vorskla in European competition was their qualification to the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League group phase.
On 26 July 2014, the club's president Oleh Babayev was shot dead, while police has opened a criminal cases under Article “premeditated murder".[6][7]
In the 2017–18 season, the club finished third in the top division for the first time since the 1996–97 season.
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Stadiums and training facilities
Vorskla plays its games at Oleksiy Butovskyi Vorskla Stadium (Ukrainian: Стадіон «Ворскла» імені Олексія Бутовського). Vorskla has been playing there since 1955. The stadium underwent significant reconstruction between 1968 and 1975 and 1995 and 2000.
In 2021 on the northern outskirts of Poltava there was built smaller stadium with an artificial turf "Molodizhnyi". It was built in place of a smaller sports field belonging to the local bankrupted factory. Vorskla uses the stadium for its reserve teams.
Reserve teams and farm-clubs
Vorskla has several reserve teams among which are Vorskla U-19 and Vorskla U-21 that are playing in the Ukrainian Premier Reserve League.
There also was FC Vorskla-2 Poltava.
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Fans and supporters
Due to censorship in the Soviet Union, development of fan movement in Poltava could be traced as far as 1985. Then on the stadium began to appear first green-white scarves and fan chants. In the 1990s, fans began to actively go abroad. In particular Vorskla fans were present at the legendary match between Ukraine and Russia October 9, 1999 in Moscow. European competition games with FC Daugava from Latvia and Anderlecht[8] from Brussels in 1997 allowed fans try their hand on the European stage.
The largest fan club is known as the Crew of Golden Eagle.[9]
Vorskla maintains friendly relations with Shakhtar Donetsk[10] and Chornomorets Odesa fans. Strained relations with: Metalist Kharkiv,[11] Karpaty Lviv, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Zorya Luhansk and Obolon Kyiv. Now all fans have declared a truce because of the war in Eastern Ukraine.
Rivalries
The club participates in regional rivalry with the main Kremenchuk city club Kremin at least since the Soviet period in the third tier (Second League).
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- Ukrainian Premier League
- Ukrainian Cup
- Ukrainian Persha Liha
- Winner (1): 1995–96
- Football championship of the Ukrainian SSR (part of the Soviet Second League)
- Runners-up (1): 1988
- Football Cup of the Ukrainian SSR
- Winner (1): 1956
- Ukrainian KFK competitions (amateur competitions)
- Winners (1): 1986
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Administration[15] | Coaching[16] (main team) | Coaching[16] (U-19 team) |
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| Tier | Years | Last | Promotions | Relegations |
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| First League (tier 2) | 8 | 1969 | never |  2 (1969) |
| Second League (tier 3) | 23 | 1991 |  2 (1991) | never |
| 31 years of professional football in Soviet Union since 1957 | ||||
| Tier | Years | Last | Promotions | Relegations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League (tier 1) | 28 | 2023–24 | 10 times to Europe | never |
| First League (tier 2) | 5 | 1995–96 | 1 (1995–96) | never |
| 33 years of professional national football in Ukraine since 1992 | ||||
European record
Its first European competition participation occurred in 1997–98 season in UEFA Cup. Vorskla played its first game at this level away at Daugava Stadium in Riga on July 23, 1997, against the Latvian club Daugava Rīga.
Vorskla did not achieve any noticeable feats yet managed to qualify on couple of occasions to the Europe League group stage. Reaching the group stage of the UEFA Europe League in 2011, it has been the highest achievement in European competitions to this date.
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