Football Club Hoverla Uzhhorod (Ukrainian: Футбольний Клуб "Говерла" Ужгород [ɦoˈwɛrlɐ ˈuʒɦorod]) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Uzhhorod. Following the end of the 2015–16 season it was expelled from the Ukrainian Premier League because of debts to (current and former) players, and eventually disbanded.
Contents
History
The club was inaugurated in 1946 as Spartak Uzhhorod. Some of its emblems point to a predecessor, SC Rus, founded in 1925, although direct links between the two franchises can barely be traced. In 1961, Spartak was renamed Verkhovyna, and in 1971 Hoverla. In 1982, it was renamed Zakarpattia, then Verkhovyna again in 1997 for two years.
During its inaugural season in the Ukrainian championship in 1946, Spartak won the tournament's gold medals. This success was repeated in 1950, when the club also won the Football Cup of the Ukrainian SSR, and 1953. In 1972 the team came second in the Championship of the Ukrainian SSR.
After Ukraine's independence, the team was privatized, coming into ownership of Nestor Shufrych. Zakarpattia started the 2001–02 season in the Ukrainian Premier League, but a last-place finish saw the club demoted to the Ukrainian First League. They returned in 2004–05 and 2007–08 but each time with the same result: relegation from the Premier League after a single season.
Before the start of the 2011–12 Ukrainian First League season the club renamed itself FC Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod.
The team renamed themselves Hoverla prior to the start of the 2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League season. Following the season the club was supposed to be relegated according to the season's regulations, yet conveniently both runners-up PFC Oleksandriya and FC Stal Alchevsk refused to get promoted, while the Football Federation of Ukraine refused other teams to get promoted.
On 8 June 2016, (after the end of the 2015–16 season) the club did not get a licence to continue to play in the league due to debts to (current and former) players and was thus de facto expelled from the Ukrainian Premier League. It then ceased to exist.
Name changes
1946 – Spartak
1961 – Verkhovyna
1971 – Hoverla
/ 1982 – Zakarpattia
1997 – Verkhovyna
1999 – Zakarpattia
2011 – Hoverla-Zakarpattia
2012 – Hoverla
Honors
Ukrainian First League
Winners (3): 2003–04, 2008–09, 2011–12
Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2006–07
Ukrainian Second League
Winners (1): 1998–99 (Group A)
In Soviet Union
Football Championship of the Ukrainian SSR
Winners (3): 1946, 1950, 1953
Runners-up (1): 1972
Cup of the Ukrainian SSR
Winners (1): 1950
League and cup history
In their last season the club was deducted nine points due to not complying with decisions of the FFU Control and Disciplinary Committee (CDC).
Reserve teams and academy
Zakarpattia-2 Uzhhorod
In the 2001–02 Ukrainian Second League season, Hoverla fielded their second squad, which was disbanded after the season.