Game Day. "Polissya" - "Kharkiv"
On Monday, August 10, Polissya and Kharkiv will meet in Zhytomyr as part of the second round match of the Ukrainian Premier League. The game starts at 15:30.
Live broadcast of the match on the TV channel UPL.TV.
Pre-match: "Kharkiv" prepared for the game in a regular weekly cycle mode. After defeating "Veres" (note: 1:0), the team had a day off and then resumed work. It is worth noting that after an injury, Nicolas Arevalo returned to training with the team.
"Polissya" finished last season in 3rd place, winning historic bronze medals in the UPL. Also, the team from Zhytomyr made it to European competitions for the third time in its history. That's why the season for Zhytomyr started earlier this year, but their European journey was short-lived. In the second qualifying round of the Conference League qualification, Ruslan Rotan's team faced Danish "Copenhagen" and was eliminated after two matches - 4:5 (3:3 and 1:2). Immediately after exiting European competitions, the Zhytomyr team played the 1st round match of the UPL, where they defeated Odesa's "Chornomorets" 2:1, with Veleten and Krasnopyr scoring goals.
UPL, Round 2
Saturday, August 8
15:30 "Livyi Bereh" - "Kudrivka" - 0:0
18:00 "Bukovyna" - "Obolon" - 0:0
Sunday, August 9
13:00 "Zorya" - "Kryvbas" - 1:3
15:30 "Epicenter" - "Shakhtar" - 0:2
18:00 "Veres" - "Dynamo" - 1:2
Monday, August 10
15:30 "Polissya" - "Kharkiv
18:00 "Karpaty" - "LNZ"
"Polissya" (Zhytomyr). Profile
Year of foundation - 1959
Club colors - green, yellow, black
Home stadium - "Central" (Zhytomyr, Feshchenka-Chopivskoho St., 18, capacity 5,928 spectators).
President - Hennadii Butkevych
Head coach - Ruslan Rotan
Official website - https://polissyafc.com/
Historical background: The FC "Polissya" was first established in Zhytomyr based on the sports society "Avangard" in 1959. During the Soviet era, the Zhytomyr team once won the championship of the Ukrainian SSR (Second League) and twice won the Ukrainian Cup.
In the first season of independent Ukraine, "Polissya" played in the First League but was relegated to the Second League. However, they did not stay there long and were back in the First League the following season. In the second-tier national division, "Polissya" played for the next seven seasons, after which they were relegated for one year. At the end of the 2001/2002 season, Zhytomyr took fourth place in the First League, but lost the right to enter the elite of Ukrainian football in the promotion match against Oleksandriya's "Polihraftekhnika."
After the first half 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 received 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."
The first season in the Second League, "Polissya" finished in eighth place in group "A." The team performed significantly better in the next two seasons, finishing third and second, respectively. This 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 their first season in the elite, Zhytomyr secured the right to play in European competitions.
- Achievements: Ukrainian SSR Champion - 1967
- Ukrainian SSR Silver Medalist - 1972, 1990
- Ukrainian SSR Bronze Medalist - 1971
- Zhytomyr Region Champion - 1958
- Holder 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 works 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), Ukrainian U21 national team (2019-2023), "Oleksandriya" (Oleksandriya) (2022 - 2025). Also, the coach with the Ukrainian U23 national team went to the 2024 Olympic Games.
Transfermarkt: According to the assessment of a well-known portal, the total value of the team's players is 34 million 500 thousand euros, which is the third highest among UPL teams. The most expensive player in the team is the newcomer from Cape Verde Leandro Andrade - 3 million 500 thousand euros. In addition to the midfielder, whom the team acquired from "Karabakh," Andrusv Araujo from "Kryvbas" joined the Zhytomyr team in the summer transfer window. However, a group of players left "Polissya" as free agents, including: Oleksiy Hutsuliak, Bohdan Liadniev, Tomer Yosefi, Emil Mustafaiev, and Lucas Taylor.
Referee - Viktor Kopiyevskyi (Kropyvnytskyi).
Assistant referees - Semen Shlonchak (Cherkasy) and Viktor Nyzhnyk (Vinnytsia)
Fourth official - Maksym Kozyriatskyi (Zaporizhzhia).
VAA Referee - Viktor Novokhatniy (Cherkasy).
VAA Assistant - Volodymyr Vysotskyi (Zaporizhzhia).
VAA Observer - Andriy Shandor (Lviv).
UAF Arbitration Observer - Oleg Zubarev (Slovyansk).
