Nõmme Kalju FC

Nõmme Kalju

Full name	Nõmme Kalju FC
Nickname(s)	Roosad Pantrid (Pink Panthers)
Founded	1923; 101 years ago (1923) Re-established in 1997; 27 years ago (1997)
Ground	Hiiu Stadium
Capacity	650[1]
President	Kuno Tehva
Manager	Nikita Andreev
League	Meistriliiga
2023	Meistriliiga, 5th of 10
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Nõmme Kalju FC (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈnɤmːe ˈkɑlju]), commonly known as Nõmme Kalju, or simply as Kalju (Estonian: "rock" or "cliff"), is an Estonian professional football club based in Nõmme, Tallinn, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Hiiu Stadium.

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 Estonia national team manager Uno Piir, Anton Siht and Värner Lootsmann. Nõmme Kalju joined the Estonian football league system and began competing in the Northern division of the III liiga. The club finished their first season in second place, while Joel Lindpere was the top goalscorer with 13 goals. Nõmme Kalju played in the III liiga for eight consecutive seasons.

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 2013–14 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase. Nõmme Kalju defeated HJK in the second qualifying round 2–1 on aggregate, but subsequently lost to Viktoria Plzeň 2–10 on aggregate in the third qualifying round. The team failed to defend their Meistriliiga title in the 2013 season, finishing as runners-up, despite Vladimir Voskoboinikov winning the goalscoring title with 23 goals. Nõmme Kalju finished the 2014 season with a disappointing fourth place, following which Igor Prins was sacked and replaced by former player Sergei Terehhov. Under Terehhov, the team had a successful start, winning first nine league games and winning their first Estonian Cup trophy, defeating Paide Linnameeskond 2–0 in the finals.^[2] In September 2015, Terehhov resigned after poor results in the Meistriliiga, with Getúlio Fredo taking over as caretaker manager. Nõmme Kalju finished the 2015 season in third place.

In November 2015, it was confirmed that Sergei Frantsev would be hired as manager after the season.^[3] Under Frantsev, the team finished third in 2016 and 2017, before winning the Meistriliiga for the second time in 2018 without losing a single match, amassing 86 points in 36 matches.^[4] In March 2019, Kalju lifted their first Estonian Supercup by defeating Levadia 3–2. Less than two months later, on 25 April 2019, Frantsev was sacked after a poor start to the 2019 league season, with Roman Kozhukhovskyi taking over as caretaker manager, before being hired permanently on 14 June. In December 2019, Marko Kristal was appointed as manager. For the 2021 season, Sergei Frantsev returned to helm of the team, but was dismissed at the end of the year and replaced with Portuguese coach Eddie Cardoso. For the third consecutive year, Kalju finished the 2022 season in fourth place.

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]

• 
  Earliest crest
• 
  2014–2015
• 
  2016
• 
  2017–2022

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor	Ref
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

As of 8 March, 2024.^[14][15]

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  EST Henri Perk 4 DF  EST Alex Boronilstsikov 5 DF  FRA Yohan Mannone (captain) 7 FW  EST Daniil Tarassenkov 8 MF  JPN Koki Hayashi 9 FW  CAN Promise David 10 MF  EST Nikita Ivanov 11 FW  EST Mihhail Orlov 14 MF  EST Nikita Komissarov 17 MF  EST Kaspar Paur 18 DF  EST Alfred Jüriöö 21 DF  EST Artur Sarnin 22 DF  EST Aleksandr Nikolajev

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 FW  EST Alex Matthias Tamm 26 MF  EST Rommi Siht 46 DF  CRO Roko Vukušić 50 DF  EST Maksim Podholjuzin 69 GK  RUS Maksim Pavlov 70 MF  FRA Réginald Mbu Alidor 77 FW  EST Marlon Liivaru 78 DF  UKR Danyl Mashchenko 79 MF  EST Pavel Marin 88 FW  EST Stanislav Agaptsev 96 GK  EST Nikita Kanev

For season transfers, see transfers summer 2022 and transfers winter 2022–23.

Reserves and academy

Club officials

Honours

League

• Meistriliiga
  • Winners (2): 2012, 2018

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
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	Max Mata Liliu Igor Subbotin (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

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Dinaburg	0–0	1–2	1–2
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Honka	0–2	0–0	0–2
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Khazar Lankaran	0–2	2–2	2–4
2013–14	UEFA Champions League	Second qualifying round	HJK	2–1	0–0	2–1
		Third qualifying round	Viktoria Plzeň	0–4	2–6	2–10
	UEFA Europa League	Play-off round	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	1–3	0–2	1–5
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Fram	2–2	1–0	3–2
		Second qualifying round	Lech Poznań	1–0	0–3	1–3
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Aktobe	0–0	1–0	1–0
		Second qualifying round	Vaduz	0–2	1–3	1–5
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Trakai	4–1	1–2	5–3
		Second qualifying round	Maccabi Haifa	1–1 (a.e.t.)	1–1	2–2 (5–3 p)
		Third qualifying round	Osmanlıspor	0–2	0–1	0–3
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	B36 Tórshavn	2–1	2–1	4–2
		Second qualifying round	Videoton	0–3	1–1	1–4
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Stjarnan	1–0	0–3	1–3
2019–20	UEFA Champions League	First qualifying round	Shkëndija	0–1	2–1	2–2 (a)
		Second qualifying round	Celtic	0–2	0–5	0–7
	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	F91 Dudelange	0–1	1–3	1–4
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Mura	0–4	—	—

References

External links

Meistriliiga seasons2024 teamsFormer teamsTop division seasons
(before Meistriliiga)