FC Polissya Zhytomyr

Polissya Zhytomyr is a Ukrainian football club based in Zhytomyr, Polissya. As of the 2023–24 season, it will play in the Ukrainian Premier League, the top tier of Ukrainian football, following promotion from the 2022–23 Ukrainian First League.

Polissya Zhytomyr

Full name	Football Club Polissya Zhytomyr
Founded	1959; 64 years ago (1959)
Ground	Tsentralnyi Stadion, Zhytomyr
Capacity	5,928
Owner	Hennadiy Butkevych
General Director	Volodymyr Zahurskyi
Manager	Yuriy Kalitvintsev
League	Ukrainian Premier League
2022–23	Ukrainian First League, 1st of 16 (champions)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

History

The club traces its history back to 1959 when there was created the first "team of masters" (Soviet terminology of professional team). However, the team functioned before 1959 at republican level which was considered to be amateur. In 1958 Avanhard Zhytomyr became a champion of Zhytomyr Oblast.

In Soviet times the club carried the name Avtomobilist (car maker), then it changed to Polissya (the name for the local region (Polesie), which means (roughly) the wooded area). In the Ukrainian soccer competitions the club was called Khimik (chemist) for a few seasons, then again changed back to Polissya. Note that during the Soviet times sometime in the 1970s in Zhytomyr there was another club FC Khimik Zhytomyr that was sponsored by the local chemical factory, the latter fate of which is not known. The same factory has supported Polissya already in times of the independent Ukraine for few seasons giving the club the name of its own former football representative, which already was mentioned before.

After the disastrous season of 2005, it became defunct. However soon after the reorganization two clubs were created and were admitted to the Second League for the 2005/06 season – MFK Zhytomyr and FC Zhytychi Zhytomyr. In March 2006, the municipal administration stopped funding of MFK Zhytomyr, and the team was dissolved on 30 April 2006. FC Zhytychi Zhytomyr finished 8th in the Second League'06, but next year they failed to submit their license and stopped their participation on the professional level.

The highest position the club achieved was fourth place in the Persha Liha, twice. Because of this, in 2002 it was awarded to play a play-off match with PFC Olexandria in Kyiv to receive the promotion to the Vyscha Liha. Polissya lost it 0:1. Subsequent seasons have brought progressively worse results with every year.

In 2005 an attempt to create the municipal club took place on initiative of Hennadiy Zabrodsky soon after the dissolution of FC Polissya Zhytomyr. At that time facing a danger of losing professional football team, Zhytomyr paradoxically witnessed creation of two teams in the place of one. The new club was created in place of the existing amateur FC Arsenal Zhytomyr. The creation of the city club was supported by the city's government as part of local elections, which, however, after the city mayor lost, the club, after playing first half of the season, was dissolved. Some players moved to the regional club OFC Zhytychi Zhytomyr.

Current rendition (since 2016)

In November 2015 FC Polissia Zhytomyr applied for the 2016–17 Ukrainian Second League.^[1] On 23 March 2016 the deputy mayor of Zhytomyr Matviy Khrenovu announced in his Facebook that new director of MFC Zhytomyr became a head of Zhytomyr Rayon Football Federation Ruslan Pavlyuk.^[2]

In March 2017, the club was renamed into FC Polissya Zhytomyr.^[3] The club also adopted a new logo with 1959 year of establishment thus claiming heritage of the original FC Polissya Zhytomyr.^[4]

Since mid of 2021, the club began to be financed by the BGV Group which controls a network of ATB-Market retail stores.^[5]

Stadium

 

The Tsentralnyi Stadion is the main football arena of Zhytomyr Oblast.

MFC Zhytomyr started to play at Tsentralnyi Stadion (Central Stadium), however soon at the stadium started renovations and the club moved to smaller Kolos Stadion.^[6]

In 2017, the club temporarily moved to Korosten to play at the local Spartak Stadion which was approved by the Football Federation of Ukraine and Professional Football League.

In March 2021, Polissya returned to Tsentralnyi Stadion after 16 years of reconstruction.^[7]

Players

First team squad

As of 17 October 2023^[8][9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   UKR Oleh Kudryk 2 DF   GAM Moses Jarju 4 DF   UKR Andriy Hitchenko 5 DF   UKR Mykyta Kravchenko (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv) 6 MF   UKR Vyacheslav Tankovskyi 7 FW   UKR Oleksandr Nazarenko 8 MF   UKR Vladyslav Ohirya (captain) 9 MF   UKR Yevheniy Morozko 10 FW   UKR Denis Yanakov 11 DF   UKR Vladyslav Shapoval 12 GK   NGA Chijioke Aniagboso 13 DF   BRA Lucas Taylor 18 FW   CGO Béni Makouana 20 MF   UKR Yevheniy Mykytyuk

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF   UKR Vasyl Hrytsuk 23 FW   UKR Dmytro Shastal 28 FW   UKR Pylyp Budkivskyi 29 DF   UKR Artem Smolyakov 30 DF   UKR Artem Shabanov 33 GK   UKR Artem Pospyelov 44 DF   UKR Serhiy Chobotenko 55 DF   UKR Borys Krushynskyi 59 MF   UKR Artem Kozak 71 GK   UKR Denys Boyko 77 DF   UKR Bohdan Kushnirenko 95 MF   AZE Emil Mustafayev 99 FW   BRA Arielson (on loan from Cruzeiro)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   UKR Nikita Petruk (at Zviahel until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW   UKR Vladyslav Vakula (at Chornomorets Odesa until 30 June 2024)

Managers

•   Andriy Biba (1980)
•   Andriy Biba (1995 – 1996)
•   Anatoliy Zayayev (2000)
•   Ihor Levytskyi (July 2016 – 12 Aug 2017)
•   Eduard Khavrov (28 August 2017 – 20 November 2017)
•   Volodymyr Mazyar (22 November 2017 – 15 December 2017)
•   Oleksandr Pryzetko (27 December 2017 – 21 August 2018)
•   Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi (21 August 2018 – 4 July 2020)
•   Serhiy Shyshchenko (6 July 2020 – 15 June 2021)
•   Yuriy Kalitvintsev (15 June 2021 – present)

Chairmen

• Ruslan Pavlyuk, 2016–2017
• Vitaliy Lyaskovskyi, 2017–present

League and cup history

Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR)

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Domestic Cup	Europe		Notes
Avanhard Zhytomyr
1958	Rep "2"	6/8	13	3	5	5	18	22	11	1⁄16 finals			Admitted to Class B
1959	2nd "2"	9/15	28	9	9	10	41	34	27		SU	Conference Final
Polissia Zhytomyr
1960	2nd "1"	7/17	32	16	6	10	58	38	38
		won relegation playoff over Shakhtar Korostyshiv
1961	2nd "1"	6/18	34	13	8	13	47	41	34		SU	Conference 1⁄2 finals	to 11th place playoff
		lost two-leg playoff to Shakhtar Horlivka											placed 12th
		won relegation playoff over Chervona Zirka Malyn
1962	2nd "1"	2/13	24	14	3	7	33	24	31		SU	Conference 1⁄8 finals	to 1st place group
		5/6	10	3	2	5	10	15	8				placed 5th / Relegated
1963	3rd "1"	4/20	38	21	7	10	58	36	49		SU	Conference 1⁄2 finals	to 7th place playoff
		won two-leg playoff over Burevisnyk Melitopol											placed 7th
1964	3rd "1"	1/16	30	18	8	4	32	11	44		SU	Conference 1⁄4 finals	to 1st place group
		3/6	10	4	3	3	9	7	11				placed 3rd
1965	3rd "2"	8/16	30	12	5	13	34	33	29		SU	Conference 1⁄8 finals	to 19th place group
		4/6	10	3	4	3	6	8	10				placed 22nd
1966	3rd "1"	10/20	38	14	11	13	33	27	39				to 19th place playoff
		lost two-leg playoff to Bukovyna Chernivtsi											placed 20th
Avtomobilist Zhytomyr
1967	3rd "1"	1/21	40	23	13	4	45	12	59		SU	1⁄32 finals	to Final group
		1/6	5	4	1	0	7	2	9				Champions / Promoted
1968	2nd "1"	4/21	40	17	16	7	38	19	50		SU	1⁄32 finals
1969	2nd "3"	4/22	42	21	9	12	57	31	51		SU	1⁄8 finals	Relegated
1970	3rd	3/22	42	20	15	7	61	27	55		SU	1⁄16 finals
1971	3rd	3/26	50	25	15	10	58	30	65
1972	3rd	8/24	46	19	15	12	44	31	53	Winner
1973	3rd	2/23	44	25	3/(2)	14	62	36	53	1⁄4 finals
1974	3rd	8/20	38	15	11	12	50	39	41	Finalist
1975	3rd	2/17	32	13	14	5	41	21	40	1⁄16 finals
1976	3rd	6/20	38	14	14	10	44	31	42	1⁄2 finals
Spartak Zhytomyr
1977	3rd	8/23	44	18	14	12	51	34	50
1978	3rd	10/23	44	19	7	18	50	40	45
1979	3rd	6/24	46	22	12	12	57	41	56
1980	3rd	7/23	44	17	17	10	55	43	51
1981	3rd	11/23	44	15	13	16	38	47	43
1982	3rd	7/24	46	23	8	15	68	46	54
1983	3rd	7/26	50	21	14	15	66	50	56
1984	3rd	9/13	24	10	6	8	32	29	26				First stage Group 1
		4/14	38	14	11	13	50	48	39				Consolation tournament
1985	3rd	14/14	26	4	5	17	17	40	13				First stage Group 1
		12/14	40	9	13	18	31	50	31				Consolation tournament
1986	3rd	9/14	26	8	8	10	27	29	24				First stage Group 2
		6/14	40	14	10	16	46	48	38				Consolation tournament
1987	3rd	12/27	52	22	12	18	72	59	56
1988	3rd	13/26	50	18	15	17	55	58	51
Polissya Zhytomyr
1989	3rd	15/27	52	16	16	20	59	62	48				Relegated
1990	4th Zone 1	4/19	50	28	13	9	67	38	69	Winner
1991	4th Zone 1	10/26	50	22	7	21	64	66	51	1⁄8 finals			fall of the Soviet Union

Ukraine

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Domestic Cup	Europe		Notes
Polissia Zhytomyr
1992	2nd Gr. "A"	10/14	26	10	5	11	30	31	25				Relegated
Khimik Zhytomyr
1992–93	3rd	2/18	34	20	9	5	53	29	49				Promoted
1993–94	2nd	10/20	38	14	8	16	39	47	36
1994–95	2nd	4/22	42	20	15	7	61	37	75
1995–96	2nd	14/22	42	16	10	16	55	57	58
1996–97	2nd	18/24	46	15	10	21	44	61	55
Polissya Zhytomyr
1997–98	2nd	6/22	42	21	5	16	58	64	68
1998–99	2nd	12/20	38	15	7	16	40	55	52
1999–00	2nd	15/18	34	11	7	16	36	51	40				Relegated
2000–01	3rd	1/16	30	22	4	4	61	17	70				Promoted
2001–02	2nd	4/18	34	17	10	7	43	33	58				Lost promotion play-offs
2002–03	2nd	11/18	34	12	7	15	30	38	43
2003–04	2nd	18/18	34	3	7	24	22	67	16				Avoided relegation
2004–05	2nd	18/18	34	0	2	32	5	39	2				withdrew Relegated

Zhytychi Zhytomyr (2005–2006)

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Domestic Cup	Europe		Notes
2005–06	3rd	8/16	28	10	11	7	38	34	41				withdrew

Polissya Zhytomyr (revived)

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Domestic Cup	Other		Notes
MFC Zhytomyr
2016	4th (Amateur Championship)	3/4	6	3	1	2	6	5	10				Group 1
2016–17		6/12	20	7	5	8	13	18	26		UAC	1⁄16 finals	Group 2
													Admitted to SL
Polissia Zhytomyr
2017–18	3rd "A"	8/10	27	9	3	15	31	44	30	1⁄32 finals
2018–19		3/10	27	13	6	8	23	21	45	1⁄64 finals
2019–20		2/11	20	11	6	3	28	11	39	1⁄64 finals			Promoted
2020–21	2nd	11/16	30	9	8	13	32	37	35	1⁄16 finals
2021–22	2nd	9/16	18	7	4	7	21	17	25	1⁄32 finals
2022–23	2nd "A"	1/8	14	13	1	0	34	6	40	Not played			to Promotion group
		1/8	14	10	2	2	25	9	32				Promoted
2023–24	1st	/16

Awards

• Ukrainian First League
  • Winners (1): 2022–23
• Championship of the Ukrainian SSR
  • Winners (1): 1967
  • Runners up (2): 1973, 1975
• Cup of the Ukrainian SSR (2)
  • Winners (2): 1972, 1990
  • Runners up (1): 1974
• Zhytomyr Oblast
  • Winners (1): 1958

Leader

Footballer with the most games played for the club

Place	Footballer	Games	Years in club
1.	Volodymyr Shyshkov	469	1974, 1978, 1981—1993
2.	Stefan Baran	458	1981—1992
3.	Yuriy Strykharchuk	391	1982—1985, 1987—1992
4.	Serhiy Yermakov	361	1977—1987
5.	Mykola Batyuta	348	1969, 1971, 1973—1981
6.	Ihor Talko	340	1977, 1980—1983, 1989—1992, 1993
7.	Andriy Zheltonosov	326	1981—1983, 1985—1991
8.	Vitaliy Horbach	305	1969—1976
9.	Ihor Rutkovskyi	299	1981—1983, 1986—1995
10.	Yuriy Leonov	294	1982—1983, 1986—1991, 1992—1994, 1997—1998

Footballers with the most goals scored for the club

Place	Footballer	Goals	Years in club
1.	Volodymyr Shyshkov	192	1974, 1978, 1981—1993
2.	Pavlo Parshyn	82	1998—2004
3.	Yuriy Leonov	68	1982—1983, 1986—1991, 1992—1994, 1997—1998
4.	Yevhen Naumov	66	1974—1981
5.	Stefan Baran	59	1981—1992
6.	Valeriy Sofilkanych	58	1993—2002
7.	Ihor Talko	54	1977, 1980—1983, 1989—1992, 1993
8.	Yuriy Nesmiyan	49	1970—1972
9.	Anatoliy Lukashenko	49	1985, 1988—1995, 1999
10.	Mykola Vasyutin	48	1969—1976

Polissya-2 Zhytomyr

It is a team of the Specialized sports school of Olympic Reserve Polissya.

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Domestic Cup	Europe		Notes
2008	4th	2	8	5	0	3	11	9	15

References

1. ФСК«Львів» та ФК «Рух» планують виступати у другій лізі України. zaxid.net. 11 November 2015
2. Руслан Павлюк очолив КП «Муніципальний футбольний клуб «Житомир». 1.zt.ua. 23 March 2016
3. . FC Polissya Zhytomyr. 28 February 2017
4. Polissya conducted a small rebranding of its logo (Полісся провело невеличкий ребрендинг емблеми). UA-Football. 6 February 2018
5. Власник АТБ почав фінансувати футбольний клуб на Житомирщині, де у нього родовище берилію (додано). nashigroshi.org.
6. . MFC Zhytomyr. 4 August 2016
7. After 16 years Polissya returns to home stadium (Здійснилося. Полісся через 16 років повертається на рідний стадіон). UA-Football. 22 March 2021
8. "Player Profiles - FC Polissya Zhytomyr. Official club website". polissyafc.com.
9. "Polissya". pfl.ua.

External links

• Ukrainian Records
• Soviet Records
• . Zhytomyr City Journal. 10 July 2009
• Official website
• Buha, Bohdan. How the Cup was stripped away from the Cup's Masters (ЯК ЗАБРАЛИ КУБОК У «КУБКОВОГО БІЙЦЯ»). uaf.ua. 11 January 2012
• Reshnyuk, M. "Our instance is the mayor's initiative". Prof-football is returning to Zhytomyr ("Наш случай – это инициатива мэра". В Житомир возвращается проффутбол). UA-Football. 8 July 2017
• Maksim Maksimov. The chronological row of current events or Who will return the Big Football to Zhytomir? (Хроника текущих событий, или Кто вернет в Житомир Большой футбол?). UA-Football. 4 April 2012.