About

FC Avanhard Kramatorsk is a professional Ukrainian football club from the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast. The club takes its history from a factory team of the Old Kramatorsk Machine-building Plant (SKMZ). The club Avangard was reformed in 1955. Prior to World War II there existed a club that was associated with the machine industry in the city. In 1937, the club participated in the national championship as the champion of Ukraine. In 1939 the team won the Cup of Soviet Ukraine. The team in 1936 won 1st place in Ukraine among working teams and in 1937, 1938 and 1961 reached the 1/16 finals of the Soviet National Cup, and 1/8 finals of the Soviet National Cup in 1939. The club regularly participated in the Soviet National championship (1946, 1948, 1949, 1960–1970) and the USSR Cup (1937–1939,1949,1961-1966/1967). In the 1998–1999 season the team started the Ukrainian Second League and was called VPS Kramatorsk. However, the club was penalized 6 points for failure to pay the licence fees to the PFL and was removed from the competition after the first round. The team's revival brought back success as they became Donetsk oblast champions in 2010. In 2011 the club appointed head coach Serhiy Shevchenko in preparation for returning to the Second League. The club submitted a license to the Professional Football League of Ukraine and was accepted into the Ukrainian Second League for the 2011–12 season. During the 2014–15 season the club was suspended from the Professional Football League of Ukraine due to the political crisis and violence in south-eastern Ukraine. On 7 October 2014 a former press-attache claimed that supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic killed 16-year-old goalkeeper Stepan Chubenko. Chubenko was killed on 25 July 2014 in Horbachevo-Mykhailivka, two days after he was kidnapped at the Donetsk Railway Station.