FC Flora Tallinn, commonly known as Flora Tallinn, or simply as Flora, is a professional football club, based in Tallinn, Estonia.
Founded in 1990, Flora Tallinn was one of the founding members of the Meistriliiga, and is one of two clubs which have never been relegated from the Estonian top division, along with Narva Trans. Domestically, Flora Tallinn has won 9 Meistriliiga, 6 Estonian Cup and 8 Estonian Supercup trophies. In international club football, Flora Tallinn has won 1 Livonia Cup trophy.[3] Flora Tallinn is often regarded to be the flagship of Estonian football due to the club policy of promoting young Estonian players through the ranks and several managers having coached both Flora Tallinn and the Estonia national football team at the same time in the past.
Flora Tallinn was founded on 10 March 1990 by the current president Aivar Pohlak as an effort to revive Estonian football during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The team was mainly based on ethnic Estonian players from Tallinna Lõvid youth team. Flora Tallinn didn't have a successful start in the Estonian SSR Football Championship, finishing last in 1990 and being relegated. The situation changed after the restoration of independence and formation of the Meistriliiga in 1992. After 52 years of foreign occupation, Estonian clubs could once again play for the Estonian League Championship title. Flora Tallinn finished the first season in fourth place, while Norma Tallinn won the first league title.[4]
After the first season, the league was reformed to run from autumn to spring, as most of the European top-level football leagues do. Flora Tallinn finished the 1992–93 season as runner-ups with 34 points behind Norma Tallinn, who claimed their second league title with 42 points.
In 1993, Roman Ubakivi was hired as manager. One round before the end of the 1993–94 season, Tevalte Tallinn, who led the Meistriliiga table at the time, was controversially disqualified over match fixing allegations by a decision of the Estonian Football Association. The season ended with Flora Tallinn and Norma Tallinn both on equal 36 points. Flora Tallinn won the Championship Playoff match 5–2 and was awarded the league title. In 1994, the club competed in the UEFA Cup for the first time, losing 0–6 on aggregate to Odense in the preliminary round. Flora Tallinn managed to defend the title in the next season and won the 1994–95 Estonian Cup, beating Lantana-Marlekor Tallinn 2–0 in the final.[4]
In January 1996, Teitur Þórðarson replaced Ubakivi as a manager. Disappointing start in the 1995–96 Meistriliiga left the team in second place behind Lantana Tallinn. Lembit Rajala won the goal scoring title with 16 goals. Flora Tallinn finished the next season in second place behind Lantana Tallinn once again. Mart Poom broke the club record by keeping a clean sheet for 756 minutes. Flora Tallinn won their first league title under Þórðarson in the 1997–98 Meistriliiga season. After the season Meistriliiga format was reformed once again and the club managed win another title in the same calendar year. Flora Tallinn also competed in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 1998, narrowly losing to Steaua București 4–5 on aggregate in the first qualifying round.The club added another Estonian Cup trophy after defeating Lantana Tallinn 3–2 in Kuressaare. Flora Tallinn also met Italian Milan in a friendly match, ending in a 1–2 defeat. Since 1999, Meistriliiga adopted the current league format with the season running from spring to autumn within a single calendar year. In Andres Oper, the club's top goalscorer in three previous seasons, left the team in July. The 1999 Meistriliiga was unsuccessful; Flora Tallinn placed third, while Levadia Maardu won the title and Tulevik Viljandi came in second. In 2000, Tarmo Rüütli was hired as the new manager. Under Rüütli, Flora Tallinn finished the 2000 Meistriliiga season second, behind Levadia Tallinn, who won the title without a single loss during the season.[4]
New stadium and new era
In 2001, a new era began for Flora Tallinn as the club moved to the new A. Le Coq Arena. Rüütli returned to Viljandi Tulevik and was replaced as manager by Arno Pijpers. Under Pijpers, Flora Tallinn won three consecutive Meistriliiga titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 2003, Flora Tallinn won the league without losing a single match and from 2002–03, the team went unbeaten in the Meistriliiga for 37 matches. In 2003, Tor Henning Hamre also broke the club goal scoring record by 39 goals. Pijpers left Flora Tallinn in September 2004, before the end of the 2004 season and was replaced by Janno Kivisild. The team failed to defend the title for another season, finising in third place. Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko won the goal scoring title with 28 goals.[4]
The 2005 season was unsuccessful as Flora Tallinn placed fourth, 26 points behind the league champions TVMK Tallinn. This was the first time Flora Tallinn didn't win a Meistriliiga medal since 1992. After the disappointing season, Kivisild was replaced by Pasi Rautiainen. In the 2006–07 UEFA Cupqualifying rounds, Flora Tallinn defeated Lyn Oslo 1–1 on aggregate on away goals in the first qualifying round, before losing to Brøndby 0–4 on aggregate in the second qualifying round. The club finished the 2006 Meistriliiga season in third place and came second in 2007. In 2007, Flora Tallinn also suffered their biggest margin of defeat in the Meistriliiga thus far, losing 0–6 to TVMK Tallinn. Flora Tallinn finished the 2008 season second behind Levadia Tallinn once again, despite 91 points and 113 goals scored. In 2009, Tarmo Rüütli returned to Flora Tallinn, replacing Rautiainen as manager but failed to guide the club to winning the league, placing fourth. The club was more successful in the Estonian Cup, winning the trophy in 2008 and 2009.[4]
Recent history
In 2010, Rüütli was replaced as manager by the former Flora Tallinn player and Estonia national football team record cap holder Martin Reim. Under Reim, rejuvenated Flora Tallinn ended the reign of Levadia Tallinn who had won the four previous Meistriliiga titles by winning the 2010 season, while Sander Post won the goal scoring title with 24 goals. Flora Tallinn successfully defended their title in 2011 and won the 2010–11 Estonian Cup, defeating Narva Trans 2–0 in the final. Flora Tallinn finished the 2012 Meistriliiga season in third place, behind the winners Nõmme Kalju and Levadia Tallinn. Reim left the club and Marko Lelov was hired as the new manager. Lelov won the 2012–13 Estonian Cup in April but was sacked on 20 July after disappointing results in the Meistriliiga. He was replaced by Norbert Hurt, initially as a caretaker manager with position being made permanent later. Flora Tallinn finished the 2013 season in fourth place and placed third in 2014.[4]
The club's home ground is the 9,692-seat A. Le Coq Arena. It is the largest football stadium in Estonia. Besides the stadium there is a training base with two grass surface and two artificial turf training pitches. A. Le Coq Arena is also used by the Estonian Football Association to host Estonia national football team matches and has been used to host concerts.
The stadium is located in Lilleküla, at Asula street 4c, Tallinn.[5]
Flora Tallinn uses Sportland Arena artificial turf, situated across from A. Le Coq Arena, during winter and early spring months for training and home matches.