Nõmme Kalju
Full nameNõmme Kalju FC
Nickname(s)Roosad Pantrid (Pink Panthers)
Founded1923 (1923)
Re-established in 1997 (1997)
GroundHiiu Stadium
Capacity650[1]
PresidentKuno Tehva
ManagerNikita Andreev
LeagueMeistriliiga
2023Meistriliiga, 5th of 10
WebsiteClub website

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 footballers in 1924

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)

Hidetoshi Wakui is Kalju's all-time most capped foreign player, with 213 apps (2011–2016)

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]

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 is the home ground of Nõmme Kalju
Kadriorg 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 22 August 2023.[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
2 DF Estonia EST Artur Šarnin
4 DF Estonia EST Vladimir Avilov
5 DF France FRA Yohan Mannone (captain)
6 MF Estonia EST German Šlein
8 MF Trinidad and Tobago TRI Andre Fortune II
9 FW Canada CAN Promise David
10 MF Estonia EST Artjom Dmitrijev
11 MF United States USA Zyen Jones
13 GK Russia RUS Maksim Pavlov
14 MF Estonia EST Nikita Komissarov
15 MF Estonia EST Igor Subbotin
17 MF Estonia EST Kaspar Paur
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF Estonia EST Nikita Ivanov (on loan from Legion)
21 MF Estonia EST Maksim Gussev
24 FW Estonia EST Alex Matthias Tamm
26 MF Estonia EST Rommi Siht
33 MF Belgium BEL Olivier Rommens
37 DF Greece GRE Giannis Tsivelekidis
44 DF Belarus BLR Mikhail Babichev
47 DF Estonia EST Casper Nicolas Lugtmeijer (on loan from FCI Levadia)
50 DF Estonia EST Maksim Podholjuzin
79 MF Estonia EST Pavel Marin
96 GK Estonia EST Henri Perk

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

Reserves and academy

Club officials

Honours

League

Cups

Seasons and statistics

Seasons

Europe

References

  1. 1 2 "Hiiu kunstmurustaadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "History". Nõmme Kalju FC. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Nõmme Kalju peatreeneriks saab Sergei Frantsev" [Sergei Frantsev to be appointed head coach of Nõmme Kalju]. Postimees Sport (in Estonian). 4 November 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  4. ↑ "Nõmme Kalju alistas Narva Transi ja tuli Eesti meistriks!" [Nõmme Kalju defeated Narva Trans to become Estonian champions!]. Estonian Football Association. 11 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Logo and colours". Nõmme Kalju FC. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Nõmme Kalju Kit History". Football Kit Archive. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "Hiiu Staadion". Eesti spordiregister (in Estonian). Spordikoolituse ja -teabe sihtasutus. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Hiiu Staadioni staadionihoone". Eesti spordiregister (in Estonian). 1 June 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Kadrioru staadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Kadrioru Staadion". Eesti spordiregister (in Estonian).
  11. ↑ "Suur jalgpallitüli! Kaks Eesti vutitalenti siirduvad Nõmme Kaljust FC Florasse". Postimees (in Estonian). 25 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "FOTO | "Nuga selga!" Nõmme Kalju fännid tervitasid Flora särgis Hiiule naasnud kasvandikku hiiglasliku ja väga terava plakatiga". Delfi Sport (in Estonian). 2 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Eesti karikavõitjaks tuli Tallinna Flora". ERR (in Estonian). 18 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "Nõmme Kalju FC" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  15. ↑ "Nõmme Kalju FC". Nõmme Kalju FC. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
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