Full name | Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk |
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Nickname(s) | Hirnyky (The Miners), Kroty (The Moles) |
Founded | 24 May 1936 |
Ground |
Shakhtar Stadium, Donetsk (1936–2003) RSC Olimpiyskiy, Donetsk (2004–09) Donbass Arena, Donetsk (2009–14) Arena Lviv, Lviv (2014–16) Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv (since 2017) |
Capacity | 52,187 (Donbass Arena) |
Owner | Rinat Akhmetov |
Chairman | Rinat Akhmetov |
Manager | Paulo Fonseca |
League | Ukrainian Premier League |
2016–17 | 1st |
Website | Club home page |
Departments of Shakhtar Donetsk | ||
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Football | Volleyball | Handball |
Futsal |
Football Club Shakhtar (Ukrainian: Футбольний клуб «Шахта́р» [fudˈbɔlʲnɪj klub ʃɐxˈtɑr doˈnɛt͡sʲk]) is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. Starting in 2014 the club has played (first) out of Lviv before moving early 2017 to Kharkiv with its headquarters in Kiev.
Shakhtar has appeared in several European competitions and is often a participant of the UEFA Champions League. The club became the first club in independent Ukraine to win the UEFA Cup in 2009, the last year before the competition was revamped as the Europa League. FC Shakhtar Donetsk is one of two Ukrainian clubs, the other one is Dynamo Kyiv, who have won a major UEFA competition. The club formerly played its home matches at the Donbass Arena, however, due to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, the team relocated 600 miles to the west in Arena Lviv in the interim. Following the winter break of the 2016–17 season the club moved to the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv (150 miles to the north of Donetsk) early 2017.
Shakhtar Donetsk is Ukraine's most popular football club. The club is the sole favorite of football fans in the Donbas.
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), among others. 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 in 1961 and 1962.