FC Kuressaare

Kuressaare

Full name	FC Kuressaare
Nickname(s)	Kure[1]
Founded	1997[1]
Ground	Kuressaare Stadium, Kuressaare
Capacity	2,000 [2]
Chairman	Priit Penu[1]
Manager	Pelle Pohlak[1]
League	Esiliiga
2016	Esiliiga B, 1st (promoted)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Football Club Kuressaare is a football club, based in Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Estonia. The club's home ground is the Kuressaare Stadium.

History

Football Club Kuressaare was founded on 14 March 1997. Its predecessor was a youth club B.B. Sport, coached by Johannes Kaju. Kuressaare began playing in 1997, in the Western Conference of the III liiga. The club's first president and manager was Aivar Pohlak.

In 1998, Kuressaare was promoted to Esiliiga and finished the season 6th under the new manager Jan Važinski. Most of the team players were Saaremaa locals who were reinforced by players from the Flora system, to which Kuressaare itself also belonged to. Kuressaare won the 1999 Esiliiga and were promoted to Meistriliiga. Mark Švets was chosen player of the year.

Kuressaare finished 2000 Meistriliiga, its first season in the top-flight Estonian league, 7th. Goalkeeper Rain Vessenberg was chosen player of the year. In 2001, Kuressaare went through a rejuvenation period under the new manager Zaur Tšilingarašvili and as a result finished the league 10th with just 7 points and were relegated to Esiliiga.

In 2002, Sergei Zamogilnõi became the manager of Kuressaare and finished 2002 Esiliiga 2nd after Valga, qualifying to the promotion play-offs. Kuressaare won the play-offs against Lootus Kohtla-Järve and were promoted to Mesitriliiga.

Kuressaare stay in the top-flight league was cut short yet again as the club finished 2003 Meistriliiga season 8th and were relegated.

The team was restructured in 2004, using players from Sörve and were promoted back to the Meistriliiga despite finishing only 5th due to the expansion of the league.

2005 Meistriliiga season was the most successful in the club's history, winning 7 and drawing 6 games out of 36. The 8–1 victory over Dünamo Tallinn became the new club record. Nonetheless, the team finished 8th and were relegated after losing the relegation play-offs against Ajax Lasnamäe.

Kuressaare earned its way back to the Meistriliiga in 2006 Esiliiga but were once again relegated in the following Meistriliiga season. The team finished 2008 Esiliiga 2nd and were promoted to Meistriliiga. Kuressaare remained in the Meistriliiga for 5 seasons from 2009 to 2013 when the club was relegated to Esiliiga after finishing the season 10th.^[3] In the 2015 Esiliiga season Kuressaare relegated to Esiliiga B for the very first time.

History in Estonian football

Season	League	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Top Goalscorer	Cup
1997–98	III Liiga	1	6	5	1	0	18	3	+15	16
1998	Esiliiga	6	14	4	5	5	20	19	+1	17
1999	Esiliiga	1	28	21	4	3	92	25	+67	67
2000	Meistriliiga	7	28	5	4	19	25	68	–43	19
2001	Meistriliiga	8	28	2	1	25	18	114	–96	7
2002	Esiliiga	2	28	17	2	9	82	50	+32	53	Tiit Tikenberg (17 goals)
2003	Meistriliiga	8	28	1	2	25	11	121	–110	5
2004	Esiliiga	5	28	11	2	15	56	35	+21	35	Martti Pukk (13 goals)
2005	Meistriliiga	9	36	7	6	23	40	96	–56	27	Martti Pukk (11 goals)
2006	Esiliiga	2	36	22	5	9	64	44	+20	71	Rainer Veskimäe (12 goals)
2007	Meistriliiga	9	36	5	3	28	25	94	–69	18	Dmitri Kulikov Rainer Veskimäe (5 goals)
2008	Esiliiga	2	36	21	8	7	67	35	+32	71	Martti Pukk (14 goals)
2009	Meistriliiga	8	36	7	3	26	21	99	–78	24	Dmitri Skiperski (8 goals)	Fourth Round
2010	Meistriliiga	9	36	7	3	26	32	93	–61	24	Dmitri Skiperski (9 goals)	Fourth Round
2011	Meistriliiga	9	36	7	5	24	28	68	–40	26	Martti Pukk (8 goals)	Third Round
2012	Meistriliiga	8	36	5	11	20	31	80	–49	26	Andre Ilves (6 goals)	Fourth Round
2013	Meistriliiga	10	36	2	5	29	22	87	–65	11	Andre Ilves Karl Mööl Elari Valmas (4 goals)	Second Round
2014	Esiliiga	6	36	14	5	17	69	81	–12	47	Tõnis Koppel Sander Laht Maarek Suursaar (10 goals)	Quarter-Finals
2015	Esiliiga	10	36	10	7	19	48	95	–47	37	Sander Laht (14 goals)	Fourth Round

Players

Current squad

As of 9 November 2014.^[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 MF Karl Johan Kastein 3 MF Jaanis Kriska 5 DF Reio Alt 6 MF Kristo Salumaa 7 DF Mairo Miil 8 MF Mikk Rajaver 9 FW Martti Pukk 10 MF Rasmus Saar 11 FW Tõnis Koppel 12 GK Roland Kütt 13 FW Maarek Suursaar

No. Position Player 14 MF Ott Torn 15 DF Urmas Rajaver 16 DF Reivo Vinter 17 DF Mario Pruul 20 MF Margus Rajaver 23 MF Amor Luup 25 DF Sander Viira 29 MF Karmo Paju 39 DF Elari Valmas (captain) 44 GK Enri Nurmik

Reserve squad

See Sörve^[5]

Player records

As of 9 November 2014.^[6] Active players in bold.

Most club appearances Rank Player Games 1 Martti Pukk 276 2 Märt Kluge 253 3 Taavi Azarov 216 4 Sander Viira 199 5 Urmas Rajaver 194 6 Jaanis Kriska 162 7 Elari Valmas 155 8 Roland Kütt 151 Amor Luup 151 10 Andrus Koplimäe 143 Pelle Pohlak 143

Most club goals Rank Player Goals 1 Martti Pukk 68 2 Dmitri Kulikov 39 3 Svajūnas Raučkis 36 4 Aivar Pohlak 28 Dmitri Skiperski 28 6 Tiit Tikenberg 26 7 Tarmo Neemelo 24 8 Märt Kluge 22 Elari Valmas 22 10 Sander Laht 20

Managers

Position	Name
Manager	Pelle Pohlak
Assistant manager	Jan Važinski
Youth coach	Maikko Mölder
Physiotherapist	Martin Seeman

References

1. "Klubi". FC Kuressaare.
2. "Staadion". FC Kuressaare.
3. "Ajalugu" (in Estonian). FC Kuressaare. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
4. "FC Kuressaare". fckuressaare.ee. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
5. "Sörve JK". FC Kuressaare.
6. "FC Kuressaare mängijad läbi aegade" (in Estonian). FC Kuressaare. Retrieved 26 November 2014.

External links

• FC Kuressaare official website (Estonian)