FC Kuressaare

History

Football Club Kuressaare was founded on 14 March 1997. Its predecessor was a youth club B.B. Sport, coached by Johannes Kaju. Kuressaare began playing in 1997, in the Western Conference of the III liiga. The club's first president and manager was Aivar Pohlak.

In 1998, Kuressaare was promoted to Esiliiga and finished the season 6th under the new manager Jan Važinski. Most of the team players were Saaremaa locals who were reinforced by players from the Flora system, to which Kuressaare itself also belonged to. Kuressaare won the 1999 Esiliiga and were promoted to Meistriliiga. Mark Švets was chosen player of the year.

Kuressaare finished 2000 Meistriliiga, its first season in the top-flight Estonian league, 7th. Goalkeeper Rain Vessenberg was chosen player of the year. In 2001, Kuressaare went through a rejuvenation period under the new manager Zaur Tšilingarašvili and as a result finished the league 10th with just 7 points and were relegated to Esiliiga.

In 2002, Sergei Zamogilnõi became the manager of Kuressaare and finished 2002 Esiliiga 2nd after Valga, qualifying to the promotion play-offs. Kuressaare won the play-offs against Lootus Kohtla-Järve and were promoted to Mesitriliiga.

Kuressaare stay in the top-flight league was cut short yet again as the club finished 2003 Meistriliiga season 8th and were relegated.

The team was restructured in 2004, using players from Sörve and were promoted back to the Meistriliiga despite finishing only 5th due to the expansion of the league.

2005 Meistriliiga season was the most successful in the club's history, winning 7 and drawing 6 games out of 36. The 8–1 victory over Dünamo Tallinn became the new club record. Nonetheless, the team finished 8th and were relegated after losing the relegation play-offs against Ajax Lasnamäe.

Kuressaare earned its way back to the Meistriliiga in 2006 Esiliiga but were once again relegated in the following Meistriliiga season. The team finished 2008 Esiliiga 2nd and were promoted to Meistriliiga. Kuressaare remained in the Meistriliiga for 5 seasons from 2009 to 2013 when the club was relegated to Esiliiga after finishing the season 10th. In the 2015 Esiliiga season Kuressaare relegated to Esiliiga B for the very first time.

Current squad

As of 9 November 2014. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Reserve squad

Player records

As of 9 November 2014. Active players in bold.