Full name FC Hirnyk Rovenky | Founded 1946 | |
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FC Hirnyk Rovenky (Ukrainian: Футбольний клуб «Гірник») is a Ukrainian football club from Rovenky, Luhansk Oblast. In past it was named FC Avanhard Rovenky.
History
Some trace its history back to 1924 when there was created the first football club in the city. However, Avanhard is better known since 1946 when the team started to compete under the flag of Voluntary Sports Society (VSS) Shakhter. In 1957 Several such societies in Ukraine were merged as the VSS Avanhard. In Soviet Union Avanhard Rovenky mostly competed in regional competitions or competitions among the society's members. In 1968 the club was included in competitions of masters category which is today referred to professionals.
The club once again appeared in the Ukrainian professional competitions after the fall of Soviet Union where it competed for some 10 years. At the end of 2003 Avahard Rovenky went through some financial difficulties and merged with another amateur club FC Inter Luhansk into FC Avanhard-Inter Luhansk, but soon it merged again with FC Molnia Sieverodonetsk. Since then FC Avanhard-Inter Luhansk was playing in Sieverodonetsk, while most of its squad were players of Molnia. After the 2003–2004 season, Molnia recovered its name replacing FC Avanhard-Inter Luhansk in the league.