FK Sūduva Marijampolė
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| Full name | Football Club Sūduva |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Suvalkiečiai (Sudovians) |
| Founded | 1921 |
| Ground | ARVI Football Arena |
| Capacity | 6,250 |
| Chairman |
 Vidmantas Murauskas |
| Manager |
 Vladimir Cheburin |
| League | A Lyga |
| 2016 | 3rd |
| Website | fksuduva |
| Match line-up against Lietava in 2016 LFF |
| Match line-up against FK Ventspils in Baltic league final 2010-07-04 |
FK Sūduva is a professional football club based in the city of Marijampolė, Lithuania. Founded in 1921, they currently play in the Lithuanian top division, the A lyga.
The club has played in the A lyga since 2002 and have never been relegated from the Lithuanian top division. In 2006 the team won the Lithuanian Cup, a feat they repeated in 2009 with a 1–0 victory over Tauras in the final.
The team's colours are white and red. The club plays at ARVI Football Arena in Marijampolė (capacity 6,250).
Sūduva is one of the oldest and still functioning clubs in Lithuania. It is not so easy to trace its history, as in Soviet times it often changed names with every new factory that supported it. It is more or less agreed that officially this club has existed under the name of Sūduva since 1968.
During Soviet times it drifted between different local leagues, producing few footballers for the above mentioned Žalgiris and slowly building a local football community. Football was also actively played in a few smaller towns around Marijampolė, thus making the community of football lovers even stronger. Actually it was stronger than the club itself, and those who follow the team today are adding to the old tradition.
The biggest achievement of the club during Soviet times came in 1975 when Sūduva reached 3rd place at the local top division. The next year it played and lost the National Cup Final. That was more or less it.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union Sūduva got few chances to go up. It played the only Baltic championship in 1990 with teams from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Next year it tried the Lithuanian top division. Both efforts were terrible – Sūduva finished both championships as the last team collecting 7 points at the Baltic championship and only 2 at the Lithuanian league.
Later the team navigated between the 2nd and the 3rd divisions for some 10 years without decent funds or a truly professional attitude. The worst was the season of 1998 / 1999. The team started well at the 2nd division but left it after half a season because it had no funds. It was not the end. The football traditions were too strong.
The team recovered next season at the 3rd division, won it the following year, went up and won again. This rise continues up to this day.
The season of 2002 shaped the future. The team reached the top division. It also reached the finals of the National Cup and gained the chance to take part in the UEFA Cup. But the most important thing was that it also got new owners who were determined to create a normally functioning and financially predictable club. The European campaign of that year added some good emotions to the general hype.
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Wikipedia