Spartak Vilnius
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| Full name | Vilniaus futbolo klubas "Žalgiris" |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Žaliai Balti (The Green Whites) |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Ground | LFF Stadium |
| Capacity | 5,067 |
| Coordinates | 54°40′07″N 25°17′39″E / 54.66861°N 25.29417°ECoordinates: 54°40′07″N 25°17′39″E / 54.66861°N 25.29417°E |
| Chairman | |
| Head coach | Valdas Dambrauskas |
| League | A Lyga |
| 2016 | A Lyga, 1st |
| Website | Club website |
Futbolo Klubas Žalgiris, commonly known as Žalgiris Vilnius or simply Žalgiris is a Lithuanian professional football club based in Vilnius. The club competes in the A lyga, the top flight of Lithuanian football. The club was founded as Dinamo in 1947. They won the Lithuanian Championship 7 times, Lithuanian Football Cup 11 times and Lithuanian Supercup 6 times and is the most successful club in Lithuania.
The team's colours are green and white. The club plays at LFF stadium in Vilnius which has a capacity of 5,067.
The first incarnation of the club played in 1946 as a national team of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic when it competed in USSR Group III Zone 4 championship and it was one of the clubs which represented one of the Soviet republics. The club consisted of Spartakas Kaunas and Dinamo Kaunas players. Their first match was against Stroitel Moscow which ended 1–1 and they were managed by French coach Emil Pastor. That year they finished in fourth place in RSFSR Western Zone championship.
The club is thought to have been founded in 1947 when it was moved from Kaunas to Vilnius and its name was changed to Dinamo Vilnius. First official match of the formed club was played on 16 May 1947 against Lokomotiv Moscow, who managed to defeat local team 1–2. Steponas Petraitis scored the first official goal for the club that day, beating goalkeeper from a penalty spot in 44th minute. The next year club changed its name to Spartakas Vilnius and used this name until the end of 1961 season. In 1962, they changed their name to Žalgiris.
Žalgiris competed in Soviet Union football league system from 1947 to 1989. Team achieved its first promotion to the top tier in 1952, but came last next season. The club's most successful season was in 1987 when they finished third in the Soviet Top League and qualified for 1988–89 UEFA Cup where they played against Austria Wien, while also for the first time in club's history reaching semi–finals of the 1987/88 Soviet Cup (after being eliminated in quarter-finals of the 1955, 1959/60, 1964 campaigns) and 1987 USSR Federation Cup. The club represented the Soviet Union at 1987 Summer Universiade which they won by defeating the South Korean team. In the following season they finished fifth and again qualified for UEFA Cup where they faced IFK Göteborg in the first round and Red Star Belgrade in the second. In 1989 the club finished in fourth place and for third year in a row qualified for UEFA Cup. They managed to play one game in 1990 at the start of the season before withdrawing due to re-establishment of Lithuania's independence and joined the Baltic League which consisted of clubs from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Therefore, they lost their place in UEFA Cup, which was taken by Chornomorets Odesa.
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