Full name | Sports Club Tavriya |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Krymchyany (Crimeans) |
Founded | 1958 |
Ground | RSC Lokomotiv |
Capacity | 19,978 |
Chairman | Serhiy Kunitsyn |
Manager | Sergei Shevchenko |
2015–16 | suspended. |
Website | Club home page |
Sports Club Tavriya (Ukrainian: Спортивний клуб "Таврія") is a Ukrainian football club from Simferopol. Tavriya was a member of the Ukrainian Premier League since its founding, and won the very first Ukrainian Premier League, making them one of three teams that have ever held this title.
After the 2014 Crimean Conflict, the club was forced to cease its existence as Ukrainian club. Some of its staff and players decided to join the Russian Football Union under the new name FC TSK Simferopol.
In June 2015 the Football Federation of Ukraine announced it would re-establish the club and its new home would be Kherson. On 29 August 2016 club was added to group 2 of Ukrainian Football Amateur League. The revamped club is based in Beryslav, Kherson oblast.
The club was founded in 1958, under the name Avanhard Simferopol and was based on the former Crimean champion 'Burevestnik Simferopo'. Sometime in 1963 Avanhard changed its name to Tavriya. Tavriya played their first game in the USSR Championship against the Yaroslav based club Khimik. Overall, Tavriya played 132 clubs from 113 cities. They played their last match of the Soviet competition against FC Uralmash Yekaterinburg.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Premier League was formed. Tavria was one of its founders and eventually became the very first Ukrainian champion in 1992, under the Simferopol born manager Anatoliy Zayaev, defeating FC Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine's most successful club in the final, held in Lviv. Yuriy Hudymenko became the league's top scorer. More players from that era were Oleksandr Holovko, a defender who also played many years for Ukraine national team, and captain Serhiy Yakovych Shevchenko, who scored the championship goal against Dynamo Kyiv. Having earned the right to participate in 1992–93 UEFA Champions League, Tavryia were knocked out in the first round by Swiss club FC Sion. The Russian Sport-Express posted an article (№3 (43), 25 January 2000, page 9) stating that the Ukrainian champions Tavria were threatened by the Football Federation of Ukraine to compete at the CIS Cup in 1993.