FC Kuressaare, commonly known as Kuressaare, is an Estonian professional football club based in Kuressaare, on the island of Saaremaa. The club's home ground is Kuressaare linnastaadion.
Founded on 14 March 1997, the club competes in the Meistriliiga, the top tier of Estonian football. Kuressaare debuted in the Estonian top division in 2000 and were known as a yo-yo club throughout the first decade of the 21st century, as they were promoted and relegated for eight consecutive seasons. Since then, the club has played in the Meistriliiga in 2009–2013 and again since 2018.
History
Early history FC Kuressaare was founded on 14 March 1997. Its predecessor was a youth club B.B. Sport, coached by Johannes Kaju. Kuressaare joined the Estonian football league system and began competing in the Western division of the III liiga. The club's first president and manager was Aivar Pohlak. Kuressaare was promoted to the Esiliiga for the 1998 season and finished in 6th place under the new manager Jan Važinski. Most of the team were Saaremaa locals who were reinforced by players from Kuressaare's parent club Flora. Kuressaare won the Esiliiga in the 1999 season and was promoted to the Meistriliiga.
Kuressaare finished the 2000 season, its maiden season in the Estonian top-flight, in 7th place out of 8 teams. The club finished the 2001 season in last place under head coach Zaur Tšilingarašvili and was relegated to the Esiliiga. In 2002, Sergei Zamogilnõi was hired as manager and Kuressaare finished the 2002 season as runners-up, qualifying to the promotion play-offs. Kuressaare won the play-offs against Lootus and returned to the Meistriliiga, where their stay was cut short again as the club finished the 2003 season at the bottom of the table and was relegated. The team was restructured in 2004 using players from reserve team Sörve and was promoted back to the Meistriliiga despite finishing in 5th place due to the expansion of the league.
The 2005 season was the most successful in the club's earlier history, winning 7 and drawing 6 matches out of 36. The 8–1 victory over Dünamo became the new club record. Despite that, the team finished 9th and was relegated after losing the relegation play-offs against Ajax. Kuressaare earned its way back to the Meistriliiga in the 2006 season, but was once again relegated in the following Meistriliiga season. The team finished the 2008 season as runners-up and was promoted to the Meistriliiga. Kuressaare remained in the Meistriliiga for the next five seasons from 2009 to 2013, when the club was relegated to Esiliiga after finishing the season in 10th place. After the 2015 season, Kuressaare were relegated to Esiliiga B, which they won the following season.
Return to top-flight football After finishing 5th in the Estonian second tier Esiliiga during the 2017 season, FC Kuressaare were unexpectedly offered the chance to return to Meistriliiga, due to FC Infonet and Sillamäe Kalev leaving top-flight football and Maardu Linnameeskond and Rakvere Tarvas, who both finished in front of Kuressaare in the 2017 Esiliiga season, opting to not fill the vacant Meistriliiga spots. Jan Važinski returned to the manager role and Kuressaare finished the 2018 Meistriliiga season in ninth place, beating FC Elva in the relegation play-offs to maintain their spot in Estonian top-flight football. The following 2019 season concluded in a similar way, with Kuressaare finishing in ninth place and this time beating Pärnu Vaprus in the play-offs.
With the introduction of solidarity mechanisms in 2020, Marco Lukka became the first ever fully professional football player of the club. Kuressaare also appointed Roman Kozhukhovskyi as the manager and moved their first team trainings to Tallinn, having previously operated with two separate training groups (one in Tallinn, one in Kuressaare). Again, FC Kuressaare finished the season in 9th place and won the relegation play-offs against Maardu. The 2021 season proved to be successful for the club, as they finished in seventh place. Otto-Robert Lipp's goal against FC Flora in their 2–2 draw also won the Meistriliiga's 'goal of the season' award.
The 2022 season was the most successful in FC Kuressaare's history, as the club finished 5th and accumulated 50 points in 36 matches.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors +PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsorRef2013–2018JomaSaaremaa Lihatööstus2019NikeEuronics2020–2023–2023–Visit Saaremaa
Stadium
The club's home ground is the 2000-capacity Kuressaare linnastaadion. The stadium was first opened in 1958 and last renovated in 2014. During winter and early spring months, the club plays its home matches at the 200-seat Kuressaare kunstmurustaadion artificial turf ground. An indoor football facility named Saaremaa Nooruse Hall, fitted with a FIFA Quality Pro artificial turf ground, was opened in 2024 and cost €5.3 million to construct.
Since 2020, FC Kuressaare's first team has been training in Tallinn, and only travels to the Saaremaa island for home matches. Until 2019, the first team operated with two separate training groups, with half of the team training in Tallinn and the other half in Kuressaare.
Players
First-team squad
Under-21s and Academy
Personnel
Current technical staff PositionNameHead coach Sander PostAssistant coach Oskar Mihkel KalpusGoalkeeping coach Magnus KarofeldPhysiotherapist Laura Lorette TakelManagementPresident Priit PenuChief Executive Officer Martin Tammel
Managerial history DatesName1997 Aivar Pohlak1998–2000 Jan Važinski2001 Zaur Tšilingarašvili2002 Sergei Zamogilnõi2003–2009 Jan Važinski2009–2013 Sergei Zamogilnõi2014–2015 Pelle Pohlak2016–2017 Sander Viira2018–2019 Jan Važinski2019 Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs2020–2024 Roman Kozhukhovskyi2025– Sander Post
Honours League Esiliiga Winners (1): 1999 Esiliiga B Winners (1): 2016
Seasons and statistics SeasonDivisionTop goalscorerCup1997–98III liiga (W)16510183 +1516 Toivo Alt (8)First round1998Esiliiga6144552019 +117 Svajūnas Rauckis (8)199912821439225 +6767 Svajūnas Rauckis (27)Fourth round2000Meistriliiga72854192568−4319 Risto Kallaste Tarmo Saks (5)Third round2001828212518114−967 Tiit Tikenberg (5)2002Esiliiga22817298250 +3253 Tarmo Neemelo (21)Second round2003Meistriliiga8281225111215 Tiit Tikenberg (3)Second round2004Esiliiga528112155670 −1435 Martti Pukk (13)Quarter-finals2005Meistriliiga93676234096−5627 Martti Pukk (11)Second round2006Esiliiga23622596444 +2071 Rainer Veskimäe (12)Quarter-finals2007Meistriliiga93653282594−6918 Dmitri Kulikov (5)Third round2008Esiliiga23620976735 +3269 Martti Pukk (14)Third round2009Meistriliiga83673262199−7824 Dmitri Skiperski (8)Fourth round201093673263293−6124 Dmitri Skiperski (9)Fourth round201193675242868−4026 Martti Pukk (8)Third round2012836511203180−4926 Andre Ilves (6)Fourth round2013103625292287−6511 Andre Ilves Karl Mööl Elari Valmas (4)Second round2014Esiliiga636145176981−1247 Tõnis Koppel Sander Laht Maarek Suursaar (10)Quarter-finals20151036107194895−4737 Sander Laht (14)Third round2016Esiliiga B136237611748 +6976 Maarek Suursaar (33)Third round2017Esiliiga536174157063 +755 Sander Laht (17)Quarter-finals2018Meistriliiga936632734115 −8121 Sander Laht (15)Quarter-finals201993665252487 −6323 Märten Pajunurm (7)Third round202093059162863 −3524 Sander Laht (6)Third round2021730104163947 −834 Mattias Männilaan (11)Fourth round20225361311124951 −250 Sten Reinkort (15)Third round2023736127173660 −2443 Mattias Männilaan (8)Quarter-finals2024836810184667 −2134 Mattias Männilaan (10)Quarter-finals202593684243267 −3528 Märten Pajunurm Andero Kivi (7)Fourth round
References
External links
FC Kuressaare at Estonian Football Association