FC Sheriff Tiraspol

Sheriff Tiraspol

Full name	Fotbal Club Sheriff
Founded	4 April 1997
Ground	Sheriff Stadium, Tiraspol, Moldova
Capacity	12,746[1]
Owner	Sheriff (company)
President	Victor Gușan
Head Coach	Roberto Bordin
League	Divizia Naţională
2015–16	1st
Home colours Away colours

FC Sheriff Tiraspol (Russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), known simply as Sheriff, is an association football club located in Tiraspol, Moldova. The club has dominated Moldovan football since 2001, winning fourteen championship titles in the Moldovan National Division out of sixteen in this time frame.

History

The club was founded in 1997 by former policeman Viktor Guşan, and employee of the Sheriff in Moldova. The club entered the second tier of Moldovan football, the "A" Division later that year and won its championship by 14 points to gain promotion to National Division.^[2] The club won its first major silver with the 1999 Moldovan Cup. In the final at the Republican Stadium, Sheriff scored an injury-time equaliser before winning the match against Constructorul Chisinau 2–1 after extra time.^[3] Sheriff's first National Division title came in the 2000–01 season, which also included their second Moldovan Cup triumph as they beat Nistru Otaci on penalties after a goalless match.^[4] The league triumph was the first of a run of ten consecutively up to 2010, also including league-cup doubles in 2002, 2006 and 2008–10. Sheriff won each Moldovan Super Cup from 2004 to 2010, but did not have to play a match on four occasions due to winning it on default through a double.^[5] Sheriff were denied an eleventh successive title by Dacia Chişinău in 2010–11, but reclaimed the title the following season. In 2014–15, they lost the title again, to FC Milsami Orhei in spite of having a superior goal difference, due to their head-to-head record.

The team won the Commonwealth of Independent States Cup in 2003 and 2009, becoming the first team from Moldova to win an international title. Sheriff were the first club in Moldova to sign contract players from Brazil and Africa.^[6]

Overview

FC Sheriff Tiraspol is based in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway state of Transnistria, generally recognized as part of Moldova. The club plays in the Divizia Naţională, the top division in Moldovan football. The club was founded by the Sheriff security company on 4 April 1997,^[7] which remains a key sponsor.^[8]

The club was officially refounded under the leadership of Victor Guşan, the company's president. The first Sheriff coach, Ahmad Alaskarov, was charged with leading the team to the Moldovan top division.^[7]

Sheriff's first football trophy was the 1998–99 Moldovan Cup. The club won promotion to the top flight in 1998, after its first-ever season, and dominated the Moldovan National Division with ten consecutive titles from 2001 to 2010, winning an eleventh in 2012. The side also have eight Moldovan Cup titles, including six double-winning seasons. However, the club has never reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

Sheriff Stadium

Sheriff Stadium during UEFA Europa League match

Sheriff Stadium is the home ground of Sheriff Tiraspol and is owned by the Sheriff corporation. It was constructed by the company in 2002. It has a seating capacity for 12,746 spectators and is eligible for international events, such as the matches of the Moldova national football team.

Sheriff in European cups

From 2001–02 to 2008–09, the club tried to reach the group stage in the UEFA Champions League every year, but failed in the second qualifying round every time.

2009–10 UEFA Europa League

In the 2009–10 season Sheriff finally reached the third qualifying round when they defeated Inter Turku.

In the next round, Sheriff defeated Slavia Prague with an aggregate score of 1–1 over two legs, progressing via the away goal rule due to José Nadson Ferreira's 94th-minute strike in the 2nd leg.

They were then eliminated from the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League by Greek club Olympiacos in a Play-off for the Group Stage . They lost 2–0 in the first leg at home, and 1–0 in the second leg away.

Sheriff then progressed to the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage, and were faced with tough opponents. On 17 September 2009, in their first game in the Europa League, Sheriff managed to snatch a 0–0 away draw from FC Steaua Bucureşti.^[9]

On 1 October 2009, in the first home game Sheriff lost 1–0 to Fenerbahçe S.K.^[9]

On 22 October, Sheriff produced a stunning 2–0 victory over the famous Dutch club FC Twente in Tiraspol, ending Twente's 17-match unbeaten run.^[9]

2 December 2009, Sheriff drew 1–1 at home with FC Steaua Bucureşti.^[9]

2010–11 UEFA Champions League

In the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League season,^[10] on 14–20 July 2010, Sheriff defeated Dinamo Tirana in the second qualifying round (3:1, 0–1).

Then, on 4 August 2010 it overcame Dinamo Zagreb on penalties (1:1, 1:1, 6:5) to reach the play-off round, the final stage before the Champions League Group stage.^[10]

On 18–24 August 2010, in the play-off round against FC Basel, Sheriff lost 1–0 the first match in Switzerland before succumbing to a 3–0 defeat at home.^[10]

2010–11 UEFA Europa League

In the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League season,^[11] on 30 September 2010, Sheriff recorded a 2–0 victory over FC Dinamo Kiev in Tiraspol.

On 2 December 2010 Sheriff drew 1–1 with Dutch club AZ in Tiraspol.^[11]

On 15 December 2010 Sheriff drew 0–0 against FC Dinamo Kiev in Kiev.^[11]

European record

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Europa League	24	4	10	10	18	23	-5
UEFA Champions League	56	21	12	25	54	59	-5

UEFA Champions League

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
2001–02	1	Araks Ararat	1–0	2–0	3–0
	2	Anderlecht	1–2	0–4	1–6
2002–03	1	Astana	2–1	2–3	4–4
	2	Grazer AK	0–2	1–4	1–6
2003–04	1	Flora Tallinn	1–0	1–1	2–1
	2	Shakhtar Donetsk	0–0	0–2	0–2
2004–05	1	Jeunesse Esch	2–0	0–1	2–1
	2	Rosenborg	0–2	1–2	1–4
2005–06	1	Sliema Wanderers	2–0	4–1	6–1
	2	Partizan Belgrade	0–1	0–1	0–2
2006–07	1	Pyunik Yerevan	2–0	0–0	2–0
	2	Spartak Moscow	1–1	0–0	1–1
2007–08	1	Ranger's	2–0	3–0	5–0
	2	Besiktas	0–1	0–3	0–4
2008–09	1	Aktobe	4–0	0–1	4–1
	2	Sparta Prague	0–1	0–2	0–3
2009–10	2	Inter Turku	1–0	1–0	2–0
	3	Slavia Prague	0–0	1–1	1–1
	Play-off	Olympiacos	0–2	0–1	0–3
2010–11	2	Dinamo Tirana	3–1	0–1	3–2
	3	Dinamo Zagreb	1–1	1–1 (a.e.t.)	2–2 (6–5 p)
	Play-off	FC Basel	0–1	0–3	0–4
2012–13	2	Ulisses F.C.	1–0	1–0	2–0
	3	Dinamo Zagreb	0–1	0–4	0–5
2013–14	2	Sutjeska Nikšić	1–1	5–0	6–1
	3	Dinamo Zagreb	0–3	0–1	0–4
2014–15	2	Sutjeska Nikšić	2–0	3–0	5–0
	3	Slovan Bratislava	0–0	1–2	1–2
2016–17	2	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	0–0	2–3	2–3

UEFA Cup

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
1999–00	1	Sigma Olomouc	1–1	0–0	1–1
2000–01	1	Olimpjia Ljubljana	0–0	0–3	0–3

UEFA Europa League

Season	Round	Opponents	Home	Away	Aggregate
2009–10	Group H	Steaua Bucureşti	1–1	0–0	3rd place
		Fenerbahçe	0–1	0–1
		Twente	2–0	1–2
2010–11	Group E	AZ Alkmaar	1–1	1–2	4th place
		Dynamo Kyiv	2–0	0–0
		BATE Borisov	0–1	1–3
2011–12	Q2	Željezničar	0–0	0–1	0–1
2012–13	Play-off	Olympique de Marseille	1–2	0–0	1–2
2013–14	Play-off	Vojvodina	2–1	1–1	3–2
	Group K	Tottenham Hotspur	0–2	1–2	3rd place
		Anzhi Makhachkala	0–0	1–1
		Tromsø	2–0	1–1
2014–15	Play-off	Rijeka	0–3	0–1	0–4
2015–16	Q1	Odds BK	0–3	0–0	0–3

UEFA rankings

UEFA team ranking 2016

Rank	Country	Team	Points
157		St. Gallen	10.755
158		Jablonec	10.585
159		Sheriff Tiraspol	10.575
160		Karpaty Lviv	10.476
161		Apollon	10.435

As of 28 May 2016. Source

Current squad

As of 5 November 2016^[12]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Bozhidar Mitrev 25 GK Sergiu Juric 28 GK Alexei Koșelev 6 DF Victor Oliveira 14 DF Benjamin Balima 15 DF Marcel Metoua 19 DF Serghei Svinarenco 21 DF Maxim Potîrniche 26 DF Dino Škvorc 37 DF Vitalie Bordian 55 DF Mateo Sušić (captain) 90 DF Vujadin Savić 4 MF Khalifa Jabbie

No. Position Player 7 MF Joálisson 8 MF Radu Gînsari 17 MF Vladislav Ivanov 20 MF Cyrille Bayala 24 MF Seidu Yahaya 30 MF Josip Brezovec 34 MF Ivan Urvanțev 88 MF Zoran Kvržić 9 FW Josip Ivančić 11 FW Ricardinho 29 FW Eugeniu Rebenja 31 FW Danijel Subotić 93 FW Maxim Iurcu

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 5 November 2016^{[upper-alpha 1]}

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

No. Position Player 12 GK Maxim Bardîș 32 MF Evgheni Oancea 91 DF Igor Bondarenco

No. Position Player — GK Denis Macogonenco — MF Dmitri Semirov — FW Andrei Cobeț

Honours

• Divizia Națională (14): 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16
• Moldovan "A" Division (1): 1997–98
• Moldovan Cup (8): 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015
• Moldovan Super Cup (7): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2016
• CIS Cup (2): 2003, 2009

Club records

Most appearances (443): Vazha Tarkhnishvili

Most goals (71): Alexey Kuchuk

Record victory (19 October 2005, Moldovan Cup): Sheriff-FC Viitorul Orhei 16:0

Record defeat (UEFA Champions League, 25 July 2001): RSC Anderlecht-Sheriff 4:0^[7]

Biggest win in UEFA competition (23 July 2013): Sheriff-FK Sutjeska 5:0

Appearances in UEFA Champions League: 13

Appearances in UEFA Europa League: 7

Player with most UEFA appearances: Vazha Tarkhnishvili (54)

Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: Ismail Isa (5)^[13]

Club officials

Coaching staff As of 7 October 2016[14] Position Name Head coach Roberto Bordin Assistant coach Andrea Vezzu Assistant coach Victor Mihailov Goalkeeping coach Taras Grebeniuk Physical fitness coach Michel Huff

Board of directors As of 7 October 2016 Position Name President Victor Gușan General director Vazha Tarkhnishvili

Managers

Ahmad Alasgarov (1997–98) Sergei Borovski (Jan 2, 1998 – Jan 1, 1999) Ivan Daniliants (1999–00) Oleksandr Holokolosov (2001–02) Mihai Stoichiță (Jan 1, 2002 – June 30, 2002) Gavril Balint (July 1, 2002 – June 30, 2003) Ihor Nakonechny (July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004) Leonid Kuchuk (Jan 1, 2004 – Dec 31, 2009) Andrei Sosnitskiy (Jan 1, 2010 – April 30, 2011) Vitali Rashkevich (April 30, 2011 – May 29, 2012) Milan Milanović (July 1, 2012 – Aug 10, 2012)

Vitali Rashkevich (interim) (Aug 11, 2012 – Aug 15, 2012) Mihai Stoichiță (Aug 15, 2012 – April 2, 2013) Vitali Rashkevich (interim) (April 3, 2013 – July 8, 2013) Veaceslav Rusnac (July 12, 2013 – Aug 15, 2014) Zoran Zekić (Aug 15, 2014 – May 26, 2015) Lilian Popescu (May 27, 2015 – 5 Oct 2015) Zoran Vulić (7 Oct 2015 – July 2016) Bruno Irles (22 July 2016 – 23 Sep 2016) Roberto Bordin (4 Oct 2016 – )

Footnotes

1. Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.

References

1. "Stadium capacity".sheriff-sport.com
2. Moldova 1997/98
3. Miron Goihman. Moldova Cup 1998–99, 20 October 1999
4. Moldova Cup 2000–01
5. Moldova – List of Super Cup Finals
6. More Brazilian players signed to FC Sheriff
7. FC Sheriff. UEFA Profile
8. Montague, James (20 August 2012). "In Sliver of Old U.S.S.R., Hot Soccer Team Is Virtual State Secret". New York Times. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
9. FC Sheriff. 2010. UEFA Europa League
10. FC Sheriff. 2011. UEFA Champions League
11. FC Sheriff. 2011. UEFA Europa League
12. Squad
13. FC SHERIFF CLUB RECORD IN UEFA COMPETITIONS
14. Coaching staff

External links

• Official website
• The Europa League: There's a New Sheriff in Town