FC Amkar Perm

FC Amkar Perm (Russian: Футбо́льный клуб "Амка́р" Пермь [fʊdˈbolʲnɨj ˈklup ɐmˈkar ˈpʲermʲ]) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and in the Russian Premier League from 2004 to 2018, after which it was dissolved. Amkar's home stadium was the Zvezda Stadium.

In August 2020, it was re-established by the Government of the Perm Krai as an amateur club, and became professional the following year.

The Amkar football club was created to represent the Perm Inorganic Fertilizer Company. The club's "birthday" is 8 May 1993, although it was only registered officially on 6 December 1994. The name "Amkar" derives from a combination of parts of the Russian words "AMmiak" (ammonia) and "KARbamid (carbamide, urea) – these two substances being the main products of the plant. The team owes the choice of club colours (red and black) to its Italian trade partners from the city of Milan, who responded to a request for help by offering equipment from A.C. Milan. And so the club colours became red and black. The basis of the new team was made up of company employees. In 1994, Amkar, strengthened by amateur players from other city teams and a few former professionals, became champion of the city of Perm and the Perm region and also won the regional Cup. The club was officially registered on 6 December 1994 and applied to participate in the Russian football league. Amkar was included in the third league of the Russian Championship.

In 1995, the team, reinforced by former players of Zvezda Perm, was second in the sixth group of the third league and qualified for the second league. In 1996, Amkar finished in third place in the central group of the second league and in 1997, the club was second in the tournament.

On 12 September 1998, Spartak Moscow paid a visit to Amkar for a Russian Cup tie. Spartak's previous visit to the Western Urals was in 1977 as a first division side, when they were close to a return to the top tier of domestic football. The match attracted enormous interest and the 25,000-capacity stadium was filled to capacity for the first time in its 30-year history. The match finished 1–0 in favour of Amkar. In the league, "Permyaki" accumulated 93% of the possible number of points and scored 100 goals. Amkar took first place and earned the right to play in the First Division.

From 1999 to 2003, the team performed reasonably well in the First Division, finishing each year in the top six. In the 2001–02 season, the club reached the semi-final of the Russian Cup but lost to CSKA Moscow 0–1. In 2003, with two matches left to play, Amkar was in fourth position, one point behind Kuban Krasnodar and losing out to Tom Tomsk and Terek Grozny on the total number of wins. According to the pundits, Amkar and Terek would be losers in this four-horse race but a sensational draw between Tom and Baltika Kaliningrad made the red and blacks favourites. In the final match, Kuban and Terek played each other. To move up into the Premier League, Amkar needed a win against Fakel Voronezh, which was duly achieved.

In the Premier League, Amkar finished 11th, 12th and 13th in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. Before the first season in the Premier League, Amkar was strengthened by Ivan Levenets, Oleksandr Shutov, Vladimir Leonchenko, Zahari Sirakov, Andrei Lavrik, Ghenadie Olexici, Noureddine Ziyati and Erik Lincar. In the 2004–05 season, Amkar repeated its success in the Russian Cup, once more reaching the semi-finals, but losing on aggregate 0–2 to Khimki. There were many memorable matches in the 2005 season, including a 1–0 home win over Zenit Saint Petersburg, a large 4–1 win over Dynamo Moscow and a 3–4 defeat to Lokomotiv Moscow, despite Amkar leading 3–0 at half-time. In the middle of the 2006 season, head coach Sergei Oborin resigned and was replaced by Rashid Rakhimov. Amkar began to play very good football, and in the part of the championship between the 19th and 30th rounds, Amkar was in fourth-place in the league. In the same season, Amkar had the longest series of matches in the Premier League without conceding a goal, with 15.

In 2007, the club made two key acquisitions: Georgi Peev arrived from Dynamo Kyiv and Nikola Drinčić from Turkish club Gaziantepspor. These players became leaders of the team and during the season the team was no longer forced to struggle for survival and could play more confidently, but several factors prevented it from rising higher than eighth place. However, in the 2007–08 Russian Cup, Amkar achieved its best result in its history. On 16 April 2008, the club beat Ural Yekaterinburg 1–0 and reached the final, losing to CSKA Moscow in a penalty shootout.