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| Full name | Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Hirnyky (Miners) Kroty (Moles) | |||
| Founded | 24 May 1936 | |||
| Ground | Arena Lviv, Lviv Oblast (for 2024–25 season). Previously Donbass Arena, Donetsk (but not used since 2014 due to war in the Donbas region) Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen (European cups) | |||
| Capacity | 34,915 | |||
| Owner | Rinat Akhmetov | |||
| General Director | Serhiy Palkin | |||
| Head coach | Marino Pušić | |||
| League | Ukrainian Premier League | |||
| 2023–24 | Ukrainian Premier League, 1st of 16 (champions) | |||
| Website | shakhtar | |||
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Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk also known as FC Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukrainian: Футбольний клуб Шахтар Донецьк), is a Ukrainian professional football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lviv, and played matches in Lviv (2014–2016) and in Kharkiv (2017–2020) whilst having its office headquarters and training facilities in Kyiv.[1] In May 2020, Shakhtar started to play home matches at NSC Olimpiyskyi in Kyiv.[2] For the 2023–24 season, Shakhtar will now play home matches once again at Arena Lviv.
Shakhtar has appeared in several European competitions and is often a participant in the UEFA Champions League. The club became the first club in independent Ukraine to win the UEFA Cup in 2009, the last year before the competition was revamped as the Europa League. FC Shakhtar Donetsk is one of two Ukrainian clubs, the other being Dynamo Kyiv, who have won a major UEFA competition.
The club formerly played its home matches in Donetsk at the newly built Donbas Arena, however due to the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, the team were forced to relocate 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) to the west in Arena Lviv in the interim.[3] Following the winter break of the 2016–17 season the club then moved again to the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv (250 kilometres (160 mi) to the northwest of Donetsk) early in 2017.[1] In May–July 2020 Shakhtar played home matches at NSC Olimpiyskyi in Kyiv.[2]
Shakhtar Donetsk is one of Ukraine's most popular football clubs,[4] and is particularly favoured in the eastern Donbas region.[4]
The club draws its history from the very start of the Soviet football league competitions and is one of the oldest clubs in Ukraine. The club was a member of the Soviet Voluntary Sports Society of Shakhtyor, having connections with other Soviet teams from Karaganda (Kazakhstan), Soligorsk (Belarus), among others. In the late Soviet period, Shakhtar was considered a tough mid-table club of the Soviet Top League and a cup competition specialist after winning the Soviet Cup two years in a row in 1961 and 1962.
- ^ a b Still in exile, Shakhtar Donetsk picks new home, The Washington Post (30 January 2017)
- ^ a b Shakhtar will spend the rest of the season at the Olimpiyskiy
- ^ "Shakhtar Donetsk move training and games over Ukraine conflict". BBC Sport. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ^ a b Poll: 40% of Ukrainians consider themselves football supporters, most against idea of CIS league, Interfax-Ukraine (27 August 2013)