FC Arsenal Kyiv

Football Club Arsenal Kyiv is a Ukrainian football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to compete in city competitions. The club claims to be a successor of Kyiv Arsenal factory team which traces its history back to 1925. The original factory team used to compete in the Soviet Class B (later reorganized as Soviet Second League), but was relegated in 1964 and officially dissolved (lost professional status). The football club of the Ukrainian post-Soviet period was created in 1993 and brought to Kyiv from Boryspil by a geological company Geoton which was one of main sponsors of the Football Federation of Ukraine and Ukraine national football team in the beginning. In 1995–2001 through a merger, the club was reconstituted by the Ministry of Defense as a separate government enterprise not part of the Central Sports Club of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During that period (1995–2001) it competed in the Ukrainian Top League under CSKA Kyiv brand as its senior (main) squad, while the original army squad continued to compete in lower leagues. In 1995 it was relocated to Kyiv playing at CSK ZSU Stadium and carried such names CSKA-Borysfen and CSKA, while the original FC CSKA Kyiv competing in lower leagues changed its name to CSKA-2 as its reserve squad. Due to difficulty of financing, the ownership of senior squad was transferred to the Kyiv city authorities during the winter break of 2001–02 as part of Oleksandr Omelchenko political project and the newly acquired squad was renamed as Arsenal in memory of the factory team. Between 2002 and 2008, Arsenal was a municipal club of Kyiv city and played its games at the Olympiyskiy National Sports Complex. Later when the club was sold to the Ukrainian politician Vadym Rabinovych who promised to build own stadium for the club within the Kyiv city limits, but instead came up with a campaign to revive the history of another Arsenal Kyiv, a factory team of Kyiv Arsenal, which was dissolved in 1960s and consider the current Arsenal Kyiv a phoenix club of its predecessor. In 2013 soon after Rabinovych sold the club to another Ukrainian politician it was abandoned and dissolved. Due to the efforts of Ukrainian racer Oleksiy Kikireshko, the club was revived in 2014 as Arsenal-Kyiv and based in Shchaslyve located right on eastern outskirts of Kyiv.