Tallinna JK Legion

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TJK Legion
Logo
Full nameTallinna Jalgpalli Klubi Legion
Founded5 May 1921; 102 years ago (1921-05-05) as Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi
4 January 2008 as TJK Legion
GroundSportland Arena
Capacity1,198
ManagerDenis Belov
LeagueEsiliiga B
2023Esiliiga, 9th of 10 (relegated)
WebsiteClub website

Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi Legion, or simply TJK Legion, is an Estonian football club based in Tallinn. On 4 January 2008, Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi and Tallinna SK Legion merged into this club. The club competes in Esiliiga B, the third-highest division in the Estonian football.

TJK Legion's predecessor is the two-time Estonian champion Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi.

History[edit]

Predecessor Tallinna JK[edit]

Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi, or TJK in short, was founded on 5 May 1921 and were one of the founding members of the Estonian Football Championship in 1921. In many ways, TJK were the pioneers in Estonian football. They became the first football club in Estonia to appoint a foreign coach and constructed the first modern football stadium in Estonia, the TJK Stadium.

The club became Estonian champions twice, winning the championship in 1926 and 1928, also later winning the Estonian Cup in 1939. TJK was the home club for a number of Estonian internationals, with Eduard Ellmann-Eelma, Richard Kuremaa and Arnold Pihlak being the most well-known.

Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi was disbanded in 1941 due to World War II and re-established in 1992, after which the club was renowned for its successful youth system and was the starting point for famous Estonian internationals Konstantin Vassiljev, Tarmo Kink and Dmitri Kruglov.

Merger into Tallinna JK Legion[edit]

In 2008, Tallinna JK and SK Legion merged and the club was named Tallinna JK Legion. Legion continued to focus on youth football. In 2017, TJK Legion set their sights on improving their senior football team's situation, which at the time played in II Liiga, the fourth tier of Estonian football. In consecutive years, TJK Legion won II Liiga, Esiliiga B and Esiliiga and were promoted to Meistriliiga for the 2020 season.

In their first season in Meistriliiga, the club finished 7th. In the following 2021 season, Legion finished in 5th place and accumulated 40 points in 32 matches. However, due to serious problems in the licensing process, the Estonian FA announced that Legion will start the 2022 season with −4 points and imposed a restriction on signing and registering new players.[1] Despite the 4 point deduction and unexperienced young squad, Legion finished the season in 9th place and avoided direct relegation. However, on 23 December 2022 it was announced that TJK Legion will not continue in the Premium Liiga due to financial difficulties and will play the following season in the second division Esiliiga.[2]

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

As of 25 September 2023.[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Estonia EST Sergei Bolgov
2 MF Estonia EST Martin Eensalu (on loan from Levadia Tallinn)
4 DF Lithuania LTU Daniel Gasinski (on loan from Levadia Tallinn)
11 MF Estonia EST Kirill Belenikin
12 DF Estonia EST Nikita Salamatov
13 MF Estonia EST Arseni Terletski
14 FW Estonia EST Andre Balta
15 DF Estonia EST Danil Pankov
17 MF Ukraine UKR Vladyslav Panov
21 MF Estonia EST Daniel Fedotov
25 MF Estonia EST Leonid Arhipov
27 FW Ukraine UKR Dmytro Ivanov
30 DF Estonia EST Aleksandr Volodin
31 FW Estonia EST Ivan Timofejev
No. Pos. Nation Player
33 MF Ukraine UKR Dmytro Samborskyi
34 DF Ukraine UKR Mark Havier
35 GK Ukraine UKR Martin Zukov
38 DF Estonia EST Lev Visman
39 FW Estonia EST Vladimir Ištšenko
47 MF Estonia EST Kirill Vinogradov
51 FW Estonia EST Denis Ruus
59 MF Estonia EST Andrei Borissov
66 FW Estonia EST Vsevolod Pochekutov
75 DF Estonia EST Steven Mäearu
77 MF Estonia EST Andrei Bestpomostsnov
88 FW Estonia EST Nikolai Kulikov
92 DF Estonia EST Mihhail Tosjatov

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2021–22 and transfers summer 2022.

Out on loan[edit]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Estonia EST Nikita Ivanov (at Nõmme Kalju)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW Estonia EST Nikita Kondratski (at Levadia U21)

Personnel[edit]

Honours[edit]

League[edit]

Youth (International)[edit]

Statistics[edit]

League and Cup[edit]

Season Division Pos Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Top Goalscorer Estonian Cup
2008 II Liiga E/N 2 26 20 4 2 68 24 +44 64 Estonia Sergei Dõmov (10)  –
2009 Esiliiga 6 36 13 5 18 63 76 −13 44 Estonia Maksim Kisseljov (17)  –
2010 6 36 11 6 19 57 81 −24 39 Estonia Maksim Kisseljov (14) First round
2011 9 36 7 6 23 44 104 −60 27 Estonia Maksim Kisseljov
Estonia Roman Sirotkin (10)
Second round
2012 II Liiga E/N 4 26 14 7 5 63 38 +25 49 Estonia Maksim Gussev (15) Second round
2013 Esiliiga B 7 36 13 5 18 55 77 −22 44 Estonia Rauf-Roman Mikailov (8) First round
2014 10 36 7 6 23 53 111 −58 27 Estonia Rauf-Roman Mikailov (10) Third round
2015 II Liiga E/N 14 36 5 2 19 40 84 −48 17 Estonia Maksim Kisseljov (6)  –
2016 8 36 11 1 14 55 61 -6 34 Estonia Stefan Tšendei (14) Second round
2017 1 36 19 3 4 119 39 +80 60 Estonia Rejal Alijev (33) Second round
2018 Esiliiga B 1 36 32 2 2 125 31 +94 98 Estonia Rejal Alijev (20) Fourth round
2019 Esiliiga 1 36 28 5 3 127 35 +92 89 Estonia Rejal Alijev (38) Second round
2020 Meistriliiga 7 30 8 7 15 26 44 -18 31 Russia Nikita Andreev (10) Second round
2021 5 32 11 7 14 49 48 +1 40 Estonia Aleksandr Šapovalov (11) Fourth round
2022 9 36 6 8 22 34 82 -48 22 Estonia Nikita Ivanov (11) Quarter-finals
2023 Esiliiga 9 36 5 6 25 37 97 -60 21 Estonia Denis Ruus (10) Third round

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ilves, Kris (2022-02-26). "Legion alustab Premium liiga hooaega nelja miinuspunktiga (+ uute mängijate registreerimise piirang!)". Soccernet.ee - Jalgpall luubi all!. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  2. ^ "Legion esitas avalduse Esiliigas osalemiseks". jalgpall.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  3. ^ "TJK Legion (2022)". jalgpall.ee. Retrieved 10 March 2022.

External links[edit]