Crimean growth: how soccer clubs from the new regions are preparing for the season

At the end of February, the first draw of the Winter Cup "Sodruzhestvo" will start in Crimea. It will be attended by Rubin Yalta, FC CF Chernomorets (Sevastopol), Dynamo (Lugansk), Zorya Lugansk, Fregat (Kherson region), Shakhtar (Donetsk), Sevastopol-2 and the national team of Zaporizhzhya region. More about the upcoming competition and the preparation of clubs from new regions for the upcoming season - in the material "Izvestia".

Preparatory stage

The tournament has the status of open and is held to prepare teams from the new territories and Crimea for the season 2025. The most status participant is Rubin Yalta, which is preparing for the third in its history season in the second league of the Russian championship.

Since the summer of 2023, he and FC Sevastopol play in the first group of Division B of the second league. During this time, the Yalta team twice became the silver medalist of the tournament. Passing training camp in Krymsk Sevastopol club in the Winter Cup "Commonwealth" will not participate, but there will play his youth team "Sevastopol-2".

In addition, the tournament will play participants of the United Championship "Commonwealth" - championship for teams of the Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, Lugansk People's Republic (LNR), Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and Kherson region. The first draw of such a competition was held from March 30 to October 18, 2024.

It was won by the soccer club of the Black Sea Fleet "Chernomorets" (Sevastopol). Now he will take part in the Winter Cup. The winners of last year's championship from Lugansk - "Dynamo" and "Zarya" will also play there. In addition, Shakhtar Donetsk and Fregat team from Kherson region will play in the Winter Cup from the United Championship. Also, a new team will take part in the tournament - the Zaporizhzhya regional team, made up of pupils of the region and strengthened by several players from Crimea.

- In January last year our club signed a cooperation agreement with the League "Sodruzhestvo" (the organization holding the United Championship "Sodruzhestvo". - Ed.), aimed at the development of soccer in our historical territories - told "Izvestia" president of FC "Rubin Yalta" Kirill Shaposhnikov. - As part of the agreement, we have played a number of friendly matches with teams representing the new regions, and we are very pleased that this year we will host the first pre-season tournament, which will help all participating teams prepare for the start of their competitions. Being a two-time silver medalist of the Second League and having passed a difficult path of integration into Russian soccer, we are ready to share our experience with the teams of our historical territories.

Yalta club stands out from the general background of the participants, as it already has a successful experience in Division B of the Second League of the Russian championship (FNL-2). But, in the opinion of its manager, the upcoming opponents for the Winter Cup are a serious force.

- We believe that the rivals for the Cup we have more than worthy, and such teams as "Zorya" (Lugansk) or "Chernomorets" (Sevastopol), would not get lost in the second division B of the Football National League, - said Shaposhnikov. - In addition, on February 12, we had a friendly meeting with the national team of Zaporizhzhya region, composed mainly of pupils of Zaporizhzhya soccer, and the opponent pleasantly surprised. The team is young and is at the stage of formation, but I am sure that in the upcoming Winter Cup they will give a fight to any club.

Other teams expect to test their strength before the start of the season in the Commonwealth League.

- The Winter Cup is an opportunity to watch our new players," FC Zarya President Araik Asatryan explained to Izvestia. - Although our squad has not changed much since last year - we have made point reinforcements plus a couple more newcomers in the near future. But in any case, we need to see how the team has improved compared to the previous season. In addition, our coaches can work out a new tactical scheme. But at the same time, as any self-respecting club, we set the task to win this Cup. Moreover, our opponents do not represent something supernatural, so that we could not fight with them for victory.

The head of the Luhansk club notes that it will be important for his team and other participants to test their strengths against the opponent, who has been performing well at the level of the Russian second league for two seasons in a row.

- Last year we played one of our first serious friendly matches against Rubin Yalta, - the president of Zarya told Izvestia. - We lost to them 0:2, but a month later we played again and won 1:0. So there is even a history of confrontations. And the team's progress was noticeable against a very good opponent, two years in a row ranked second in Division B of the second league of the Russian championship. It is always interesting to test your level against such a team. Just the upcoming Winter Cup is necessary for us and other teams to check themselves, to see who has improved in what, who has lost some positions.

League for new regions

Last year's Commonwealth United Championship was the first year-round tournament for teams from new regions of the Russian Federation. And participants note that the tournament has contributed to the significant progress of clubs that did not exist until recently.

- I believe that the Sodruzhestvo League is extremely important for our historical regions, - said Kirill Shaposhnikov. - Firstly, it gives young talented footballers an opportunity to show themselves and I am sure that in a few years they will be able to play at a higher level. Secondly, soccer is an approximation of peaceful life, which people need so much now. And thank you to the Russian Ministry of Sport for supporting and developing soccer in new territories.

There were 10 teams participating in the 2024 championship, which was played in two rounds. In addition, the Sodruzhestvo Cup, won by Luhansk Zorya, was held in December with the same composition of participants.

- I am very pleased with the way Zorya showed itself last season, because the club has only existed for a year, - said Araik Asatryan. - We started from scratch, so to take the third place in the championship, and then to win the "Commonwealth" Cup at the end of the year - it was worth a lot. After all, at the end of the season, the teams were already different. For example, "Fregat" started in 2024 not very well in terms of the composition and level of players, but for the Cup has already announced several professional players with valid contracts and prepared very well. Donetsk "Shakhtar" and Luhansk "Dynamo" have also strengthened qualitatively for the Cup, setting serious tasks there. And it became much more difficult to play with them. The championship in this sense was a little lower in terms of level, as all teams started from scratch. Except for Chernomorets, which existed as a club before. It already had a well-played team, due to which it became the champion. If the championship was longer - not in two rounds, but in four, then maybe we would have competed with Chernomorets. But then the teams were just gaining speed and confidence in their matches.

All competitions under the auspices of the League "Commonwealth" are held in the stadiums of the Crimean peninsula - mainly in Sevastopol and Evpatoria. Participants note the high organization, but complain about the absence of their fans.

- Good organization of the competitions - there are no questions here, everything is at the level," Asatryan stressed. - The only problem is that there are no fans. It is not very convenient for them, as we play all the games in Yevpatoria. I would like to play at home and away or at least as close to Lugansk as possible so that our fans come to the matches.

Most teams are completed with their own pupils, but sometimes they attract players from outside.

- When we started our way a year ago, we had both our own pupils and invited guys from outside, - said Asatryan. - Our soccer was not at the level we wanted, and we lacked qualified players. Now we have already managed to bring back five-six people from the second league, our pupils. They came to us and want to support FC "Zorya" and the city of Lugansk. Thus, about 70% of our squad are graduates of schools in our region.

At the same time, the head of the club is confident that he has all the conditions to play in his native Lugansk. And the local infrastructure will correspond to the second league of the Russian championship, when Zarya will be admitted to it.

- The club is based in Lugansk, there we hold the first training camp - we have favorable weather conditions for this, plus there is an artificial field, on which you can constantly train, - said the president of "Zarya". - There is also a training hall with a bath and simulators. In general, the city has all the conditions for training and generally for the maintenance of the team. Everything is also stable with finances. The main thing is that we have the support of the LNR leadership and personally its head Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik. Therefore, we are confident about the future. In terms of infrastructure, we have everything we need to represent our region at all-Russian competitions. Moreover, the security issues have not been so acute for a long time - we have no incoming flights, a quiet life is gradually getting better. I don't see anything wrong with not holding home matches in Lugansk. I hope that soon we will play at home.

Winter Cup "Commonwealth" will start on February 24. At the preliminary stage, the participants will be divided into two groups of four teams. The two best clubs will go to the semifinals, the winners of which will meet in the final on March 8. All games will be held in Evpatoria.