FC Flora
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| Full name | Football Club Flora Tallinn | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 | ||
| Ground | A.Le Coq Arena, Tallinn | ||
| Capacity | 9,300 | ||
| Chairman |  Aivar Pohlak | ||
| Manager |  Pasi Rautiainen | ||
| League | Meistriliiga | ||
| 2007 | Meistriliiga, 2nd | ||
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FC Flora is an Estonian football club that was founded in 1990. FC Flora are a multiple winner of the Meistriliiga title and the Estonian Cup. They have for years been raising the most number of players for the national team, and have also grown players from their successful youth system that have had a good career abroad. These players include for example Mart Poom, Andres Oper, Raio Piiroja, Ragnar Klavan. FC Flora have also developed many players that have gone on and brought success to other Estonian clubs.
History
The club was founded in 1990. Flora played their first season in the second division of Estonian SSR championship. The club was mostly packed with former Tallinna Lõvid players.
In 1994, Flora won their first Meistriliiga title under rather controversial circumstances, when the Estonian FA decided to disqualify the leaders Tevalte Tallinn on match-fixing allegations that were never proven. The title was then decided in a champioship playoff, since Norma and Flora finished level on points. But, as a protest against the disqualification of Tevalte, Norma Tallinn decided to field their youth squad and lost the game 2-5. Flora went on to secure the title the following season.
In the summer of 1998, Flora, the newly-crowned Meistriliiga champions, played AC Milan in a friendly in Sicilia. Flora shocked Milan, who fielded most of their star players, on the 16th minute when they took an unlikely lead through Urmas Kirs' header after Marko Kristal's corner. Milan equalized on 36 minutes, through George Weah's close-range header. The Italian giants scored their second of the night six minutes later to take a 2-1 lead, when Zvonimir Boban sent the ball past Toomas Tohver. Oliver Bierhoff came close to adding a third for Milan in the second half, but saw his one-on-one effort denied by the Estonian goalkeeper. The score remained unchanged for the rest of the game.[1]
Stadium
FC Flora's main rivals are FC Levadia and FC TVMK, all three teams come from the Estonian capital city of Tallinn. Flora's home stadium is a recently built A. Le Coq Arena which holds a capacity of 9,300 and has an under-soil heating system. The stadium complex also holds many training pitches with natural but also with artificial turf. There are short-term plans to add a full-sized indoor training pitch.
Achievements
- Meistriliiga: (7)
1993-94, 1994-95, 1997-98, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003.
- Estonian Cup: (2)
1994-95, 1998.
- Estonian SuperCup: (4)
1998, 2002, 2003, 2004.
FC Flora in Estonian Football
| Year | League | Position | Goals +/- | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FC Flora in Europe
- 1Q = 1st Qualifying Round
- 2Q = 2nd Qualifying Round
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994/95 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | 
|
Odense BK | 0-3, 0-3 |
| 1995/96 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | 
|
Lillestrøm SK | 0-4, 1-0 |
| 1996/97 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |
|
FC Haka | 2-2, 0-1 |
| 1997/98 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | 
|
Hapoel Petah Tikva | 0-1, 1-2 |
| 1998/99 | Champions League | 1Q | 
|
Steaua Bucharest | 1-4, 3-1 |
| 1999/00 | Champions League | 1Q | 
|
Partizan Belgrade | 0-6, 1-4 |
| 2000/01 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | 
|
Club Brugge | 1-4, 0-2 |
| 2001/02 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | 
|
Dinamo Zagreb | 0-1, 0-1 |
| 2002/03 | Champions League | 1Q | 
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APOEL Nicosia | 0-0, 0-1 |
| 2003/04 | Champions League | 1Q | 
|
Sheriff Tiraspol | 0-1, 1-1 |
| 2004/05 | Champions League | 1Q | 
|
ND Gorica | 2-4, 1-3 |
| 2005/06 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |
|
Esbjerg fB | 2-1, 0-6 |
| 2006/07 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |
|
FC Lyn Oslo | 1-1, 0-0 |
| 2Q |
|
Brøndby IF | 0-0, 0-4 | ||
| 2007/08 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |
|
Vålerenga I.F. | 0-1, 0-1 |
Players
Current 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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Transfers winter 2008
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserves
Notable Former Players
|
Estonia |
Finland Lithuania Netherlands Norway |
See also: Category:FC Flora Tallinn players
- A complete list of all the Club's former players can be found here
Coaches
| Season | Country | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1990-91 |
|
Aivar Pohlak |
| 1992 | 
|
Raimondas Kotovas |
| 1993-95 |
|
Roman Ubakivi |
| 1996-99 | 
|
Teitur Thordarson |
| 2000 |
|
Tarmo Rüütli |
| 2001-04 | 
|
Arno Pijpers |
| 2004-05 |
|
Janno Kivisild |
| 2006-present |
|
Pasi Rautiainen |
References
- ^ FC Flora väärikas esitus - SL Õhtuleht
- ^ "FC Flora Squad 2008". Flora.ee. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
External links
Template:Baltic League 2008 Template:UEFA Cup 2007-08
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