Nõmme Kalju FC
Nikita Andreev | |||
League | Meistriliiga | ||
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2023 | Meistriliiga, 5th of 10 | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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Nõmme Kalju FC (Estonian pronunciation:
Founded in 1923 and re-established in 1997, the club has played in the Meistriliiga since the 2008 season and have never been relegated from the Estonian top division. Nõmme Kalju have won two Meistriliiga titles, one Estonian Cup and one Estonian Supercup.
History
Founding and re-establishment (1923–2007)
Nõmme Kalju football club was founded in 1923 as a division of the Kalju Sports Club by two professional wrestlers, Aleksander Šneider and Mart Liiv. From 1925 to 1927, Kalju took part in the Estonian Football Championship, finishing fourth in the 1925 season. The club's home ground was Hiiu Stadium in Nõmme and the club remained active until World War II.
The club was re-established in 1997 by the former
In 2002, Kuno Tehva acquired the club with a goal of establishing a professional football club. Nõmme Kalju were promoted to the third tier II liiga in 2004 and to the second tier Esiliiga in 2005. Nõmme Kalju finished their first season in the Esiliiga in fifth place. In 2007, Getúlio Fredo was appointed as manager. Nõmme Kalju finished the 2007 season in sixth place and faced Kuressaare in the promotion play-offs. The club lost their first match home 0–1 but won the second leg away 2–1 and advanced to the Meistriliiga on away goals.[2]
First league title (2008–2012)
In preparation for their Meistriliiga debut, Nõmme Kalju rebuilt the team by signing 16 new players. Nõmme Kalju finished their first season in the Meistriliiga in fourth place, only a point away from the third place, while Ingemar Teever won the top goalscorer's title with 23 goals. In 2009, the club also made its debut in Europe by playing in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, where they were defeated by Dinaburg 1–2 on aggregate in the first qualifying round. Nõmme Kalju finished the 2009 season in fifth place. In 2010, Igor Prins took over as manager and Nõmme Kalju finished the 2010 season in fourth place. The club strengthened their first-team squad significantly during the 2010–11 winter transfer window by signing Estonian internationals Alo Bärengrub, Tarmo Neemelo, Eino Puri and Kristen Viikmäe. Nõmme Kalju finished the 2011 season as runners-up, seven points behind champions Flora, while Tarmo Neemelo scored 22 goals. In the 2012 season, Nõmme Kalju won their first league title, amassing 92 points.[2]
Recent history (2013–present)
By winning the Meistriliiga, Nõmme Kalju also qualified to the
In November 2015, it was confirmed that
Crest and colours
The original club crest was most likely created in 1922, when the Kalju Sports Club was founded, although the author of crest remains unknown. The crest was remade by artist Martin Lazarev, who preserved all the historical elements, but gave the crest a finished shape and form.
Nõmme Kalju's uniforms have traditionally been black and white. In the 2000s, Nõmme Kalju also adopted the colour of pink, leading to the nickname Pink Panthers.[5]
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Earliest crest
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2014–2015
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2016
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2017–2022
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Ref |
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2008–2011 | Adidas | Unibet | [6] |
2012–2013 | help.ee | ||
2014–2016 | Optibet | ||
2017–2019 | help.ee | ||
2020 | Paf | ||
2021–2022 | Rämmar | ||
2023– | Marsbet |
Stadium
Hiiu Stadium
Hiiu Stadium has been the traditional home ground of Nõmme Kalju since its opening in 1936 until the club's dissolution in 1944 due to the Soviet occupation of Estonia, and again since the club's re-establishment in 1997. Located approximately 8 km southwest of the Tallinn city centre and in the district of Nõmme, it has an artificial turf surface and has undergone several renovation periods, most recently in 2023–2024.[7][8][1]
Kadriorg Stadium
From 2012 to 2014, and for home European matches, Nõmme Kalju played at the larger Kadriorg Stadium. Located in Kadriorg, the stadium was built from 1922 to 1926 and is one of the oldest football stadiums in Estonia. With a capacity of over 5,000, Kadriorg could seat 10 times as many spectators as the Hiiu Stadium.[9][10]
Rivalries
Kalju–Flora rivalry
Nõmme Kalju's deepest rivalry is with FC Flora and the fixture is known as raudteederbi (English: The Railway Derby). The name derives from the fact that the stadiums of the two clubs are connected via a railway. The rivalry emerged in the early 2010s, when Kalju started challenging Flora in terms of on-field success, as well as in fan popularity. Throughout the years, the rivalry has also intensified due to an enmity between Kalju's president Kuno Tehva and Flora's founder Aivar Pohlak. Flora's signing of Kalju's homegrown players Henrik Pürg and Vlasiy Sinyavskiy in 2018 caused a further strife in the relationship of the two clubs, as Nõmme Kalju claimed Flora had approached the players before the start of the allowed six month pre-contract agreement period.[11][12] Since then, no transfer deals have taken place between the two clubs. The fixture's attendance record of 3,521 was set in the 2013 Estonian Cup final.[13]
Players
First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For season transfers, see transfers summer 2022 and transfers winter 2022–23.
Reserves and academy
Club officials
Current technical staff
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Managerial history
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Honours
League
Cups
- Estonian Cup
- Winners (1): 2014–15
- Estonian Supercup
- Winners (1): 2019
Seasons and statistics
Seasons
Season | Division | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Top goalscorer | Cup | Supercup |
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1997–98 | III liiga (N) | 2 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 12 | +36 | 15 | Joel Lindpere (13) | ||
1998 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 15 | +25 | 23 | Karl Lepist (14) | |||
1999 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 53 | 24 | +29 | 38 | Lauri Kiviloo (21) | |||
2000 | 4 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 26 | Lauri Kiviloo (11) | |||
2001 | 5 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 24 | Lauri Kiviloo (15) | |||
2002 | 7 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 22 | Andreas Aniko (7) | |||
2003 | 4 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 37 | 20 | +17 | 33 | Toomas Krõm (7) | |||
2004 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 68 | 32 | +36 | 38 | Lauri Kiviloo (15) | |||
2005 | II liiga (N/E) | 1 | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 88 | 36 | +52 | 59 | Andrus Mitt (28) | ||
2006 | Esiliiga | 5 | 36 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 76 | 80 | −4 | 59 | Andrus Mitt (35) | First round | |
2007 | 6 | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 69 | 69 | 0 | 48 | Andrus Mitt (24) | Third round | ||
2008 | Meistriliiga | 4 | 36 | 16 | 7 | 13 | 65 | 64 | +1 | 55 | Ingemar Teever (23) | Third round | |
2009 | 5 | 36 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 54 | Felipe Nunes (20) | Runners-up | ||
2010 | 4 | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 59 | 42 | +17 | 62 | Jüri Jevdokimov (21) | Quarter-finals | ||
2011 | 2 | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 82 | 23 | +59 | 79 | Tarmo Neemelo (22) | Third round | ||
2012 | 1 | 36 | 29 | 5 | 2 | 106 | 17 | +89 | 92 | Tarmo Neemelo (22) | Second round | ||
2013 | 2 | 36 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 78 | 23 | +55 | 84 | Vladimir Voskoboinikov (23) | Runners-up | Runners-up | |
2014 | 4 | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 85 | 19 | +66 | 78 | Hidetoshi Wakui (21) | Third round | ||
2015 | 3 | 36 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 69 | 36 | +33 | 71 | Ats Purje (16) | Winners | ||
2016 | 3 | 36 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 70 | 28 | +42 | 75 | Ats Purje (14) | Quarter-finals | Runners-up | |
2017 | 3 | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 101 | 32 | +69 | 78 | Liliu (16) |
Quarter-finals | ||
2018 | 1 | 36 | 25 | 11 | 0 | 114 | 32 | +82 | 86 | Liliu (31) |
Quarter-finals | ||
2019 | 3 | 36 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 79 | 34 | +45 | 77 | (9) | Runners-up | Winners | |
2020 | 4 | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 52 | 31 | +21 | 49 | Vladyslav Khomutov Aleksandr Volkov (9) |
Quarter-finals | ||
2021 | 4 | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 57 | 44 | +13 | 45 | Pavel Marin (9) | Quarter-finals | ||
2022 | 4 | 36 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 59 | 30 | +29 | 65 | Alex Matthias Tamm (12) | Runners-up | ||
2023 | 5 | 36 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 49 | Alex Matthias Tamm Promise David (7) |
Fourth round |
Europe
References
- ^ a b "Hiiu kunstmurustaadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- ^ a b c "History". Nõmme Kalju FC. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- ^ "Nõmme Kalju peatreeneriks saab Sergei Frantsev" [Sergei Frantsev to be appointed head coach of Nõmme Kalju]. Postimees Sport (in Estonian). 4 November 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- ^ "Nõmme Kalju alistas Narva Transi ja tuli Eesti meistriks!" [Nõmme Kalju defeated Narva Trans to become Estonian champions!]. Estonian Football Association. 11 November 2018.
- ^ "Logo and colours". Nõmme Kalju FC. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- ^ "Nõmme Kalju Kit History". Football Kit Archive. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ "Hiiu Staadion". Eesti spordiregister (in Estonian). Spordikoolituse ja -teabe sihtasutus. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ "Hiiu Staadioni staadionihoone". Eesti spordiregister (in Estonian). 1 June 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ "Kadrioru staadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- ^ "Kadrioru Staadion". Eesti spordiregister (in Estonian).
- ^ "Suur jalgpallitüli! Kaks Eesti vutitalenti siirduvad Nõmme Kaljust FC Florasse". Postimees (in Estonian). 25 May 2018.
- ^ "FOTO | "Nuga selga!" Nõmme Kalju fännid tervitasid Flora särgis Hiiule naasnud kasvandikku hiiglasliku ja väga terava plakatiga". Delfi Sport (in Estonian). 2 September 2018.
- ^ "Eesti karikavõitjaks tuli Tallinna Flora". ERR (in Estonian). 18 May 2013.
- ^ "Nõmme Kalju FC" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Nõmme Kalju FC". Nõmme Kalju FC. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
External links
- Official website (in English and Estonian)
- Nõmme Kalju at Estonian Football Association