Game Day. "Polissya" - "Metalist 1925"
November 3, 2025. Zhytomyr, "Central City Stadium". 11th round of UPL. The match starts at 18:00
Referee - Oleksandr Shandor (Lviv)
Assistant referees - Dmytro Zaporozhenko (Zaporizhzhia) and Vasyl Ostapchuk (Lviv)
Fourth official - Sofia Prychyna (Lviv region)
VAR referee - Mykola Balakin (Kyiv region)
VAR assistant - Oleksandr Berkut (Sumy)
VAR observer - Yuri Mozharovsky (Lviv region)
UAF arbitration observer - Mykola Levko (Chernivtsi)
Denko R. Vegat UAF — Didenko R.V
Live broadcast of the match on the TV channel UPL.TV.
Preview: "Metalist 1925" returned to victories as Mladen Bartulovich's team played a Cup match against "Agrobusiness" last week, where they were stronger than the opponent - 4:3. Speaking of the championship, in the last round, Kharkiv residents narrowly lost to "LNZ" - 0:1. Before the match, "Metalist 1925" occupies the 6th place with 16 points (goal difference: 12-7), while all competitors, except "Polissya," have already played their matches in the 11th round.
"Polissya" started this season earlier as Zhytomyr represented the country in European competitions. "Polissya" was one step away from the main stage of the Conference League, defeating first "Santa Coloma" from Andorra in the qualifiers (5:3 on aggregate in two matches), and then Hungarian "Paks" (4:2 on aggregate in two matches). However, in the last round, "Polissya" faced Italian "Fiorentina" and couldn't overcome the experienced European fighter (2:6 on aggregate in two matches).
Speaking of the championship, things are going much better for Rotan's team, as they are on a 6-match unbeaten streak. The team last left the field without points in the match against "Dynamo" on August 31, and since then, they have had 5 wins and a goalless draw with "Shakhtar." This result allowed "Polissya" to rise to the 5th place (19 points, goal difference: 18-8). Interestingly, the top scorer of "Polissya" in UPL with 5 goals is Mykola Hayduchyk.
UPL, 11th round
Friday, October 31
18:00 "Kudrivka" - "Obolon" - 1:0
Saturday, November 1
13:00 "Kryvbas" - "Poltava" - 2:2
15:30 "Kolos" - "Oleksandriya" - 1:1
18:00 "Epicenter" - "Veres" - 2:3
Sunday, November 2
15:30 "Zorya" - "Rukh" - 1:0
18:00 "Shakhtar" - "Dynamo" - 3:1
Monday, November 3
15:30 "LNZ" - "Karpaty"
18:00 "Polissya" - "Metalist 1925"
"Polissya" (Zhytomyr). Profile
Year of foundation - 1959
Club colors - green, yellow, black
Home stadium - "Central" (Zhytomyr, 18 Feshchenka-Chopivskogo St., capacity: 5,928 spectators)
President - Hennadiy Butkevych
Head coach - Ruslan Rotan
Official website - https://polissyafc.com/
Historical background: The first time in Zhytomyr, FC "Polissya" was created based on the sports society "Avangard" in 1959. During the Soviet era, the Zhytomyr team won the championship of the Ukrainian SSR (Second League) once and became the winner of the Ukrainian SSR Cup twice.
In the first independent Ukrainian Championship, "Polissya" played in the First League but was relegated to the Second League. However, the "green-yellow" team did not stay there for long and returned to the First League the following season. In the second-tier national division, "Polissya" played for the next seven seasons, after which it was relegated for one year. At the end of the 2001/2002 season, the Zhytomyr team finished fourth in the First League, but lost the right to enter the elite of Ukrainian football in the promotion match against "Polihraftekhnika" from Oleksandriya.
After the first round of the 2004/2005 season, due to financial difficulties, "Polissya" withdrew from the competition and the club ceased to exist.
In the summer of 2016, MFC "Zhytomyr" was created in Zhytomyr, and after the season in the AAFU Championship, it obtained a professional status. That season, the paths of "Metalist 1925" and the team from Zhytomyr crossed twice. A draw 0:0 was recorded in Kharkiv, and in Zhytomyr, our team won with a score of 2:1.
At the beginning of 2017, the club was named "Polissya".
"Polissya" finished the first season in the Second League in eighth place in group "A". The team performed significantly better in the next two seasons, finishing third and second, respectively. The last success allowed the team to enter the First League for the first time in 15 years.
In the 2023-2024 season, FC "Polissya" became the winner of the first league. For the first time, the club from Zhytomyr earned the right to play in the elite division of Ukrainian football. In the very first season in the elite, the Zhytomyr team secured the right to play in European competitions.
Achievements: USSR Champion - 1967
Silver medalist of the USSR - 1972, 1990
Bronze medalist of the USSR - 1971
Zhytomyr Region Champion - 1958
Winner of the Zhytomyr Region Cup - 1958
First League Champion - 2022-2023
Second League Champion - 2000-2001
Geography: The fan base of FC "Polissya" primarily covers Zhytomyr and the Zhytomyr region. An active fan group has formed here, which supports the team at home matches and often organizes trips to matches in other cities. Fans from Zhytomyr are gradually joined by supporters from surrounding cities such as Berdychiv, Korosten, Novohrad-Volynskyi, Malyn, as well as individual fans from neighboring regions such as Kyiv Oblast, Rivne Oblast, and Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The club actively engages with local communities, schools, and children, helping to expand the fan base within the region. With "Polissya" entering the UPL, interest in the team has grown throughout Ukraine - more and more people associate the club with the modern symbol of the renewed Zhytomyr, and its support extends beyond the region.
Head Coach: The head coach of "Polissya" is 44-year-old Ruslan Rotan.
Playing Career: "Dnipro" (Dnipropetrovsk) (1999-2005), "Dynamo" (Kyiv) (2005-2008), "Dnipro" (Dnipropetrovsk) (2008 - 2017), "Slavia" (Prague) (2017 - 2018).
Coaching Career: "Olimpik" (Donetsk) (2018), Ukraine U21 national team (2019-2023), "Oleksandriya" (Oleksandriya) (2022 - 2025). Also, the coach with the Ukraine U23 national team went to the 2024 Olympic Games.
Transfermarkt: According to the portal, the total value of all players in the team is 29 million 600 thousand euros, making "Polissya" the third most valuable team in the UPL. The top three most expensive players are: goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan (5 million euros) and wingers Oleksiy Hutsulyak (3 million euros) and Oleksandr Nazarenko (2 million 500 thousand euros).
There is also a wide representation of foreign players in the team from Georgia, Brazil, Albania, Portugal, and Israel.
