FC Flora

FC Flora (also known as FC Flora Tallinn) is a professional Estonian football club that has competed in Premium liiga since the inaugural season (1992). Flora is the most successful club in Estonia, 15-time Champions and eight-time Estonian Cup winners. They are the the first club from Estonia to play in the UEFA Conference League group stage (2021/22 season), where they managed a win and two draws whilst in a group with Gent, Partizan, and Anorthosis.

FC Flora was founded on the 10th of March in 1990 by Aivar Pohlak (current president of the Estonian Football Association) in an effort to revive football following the restoration of Estonian independence. Flora was a base team of the Estonian National Team in the 1990s, which led to disagreements with other football clubs (similar to the situation in Latvia with Skonto FC).

The first title for Pohlak and Flora was in their third Premium liiga season (1993/94), when they won the league in a play-off match against Norma 5-2. This game, however, was not without controversy. Before the end of the last matchday, league leaders FC Tevalte were disqualified due to accusations of corruption. Flora and FC Norma, who finished at the top of the table on equal points then had to play an extra game, where FC Norma fielded their youngsters in protest against Tevalte’s removal.

Flora are known for their nationalistic approach to club development and to transfer policy, they only sign Estonian players, and, their explicit goal has been, from inception, to develop Estonian football. At this, they were successful, with names such as Andres Oper, Mart Poom and ex-Liverpool man Ragnar Klavan coming out of the Flora system. This philosophy is also the source of the famous Tallinn Derby between them and FCI Levadia, who were historically perceived as more of a club of the Russian-speaking population.

In 2016 Aivar Pohlak formally handed FC Flora over to his son Pelle Pohlak, publicly affirming that they practice a family-club model. Flora won five league titles since this handover. As of the summer of 2024, the club is managed by Konstantin Vassiljev, a Flora and national team legend, with 158 caps for Estonia.