FCI Levadia

Tallinn FCI Levadia is a professional Estonian football club which was founded on 22nd October 1998, when Ukrainian businessman Viktor Levada’s company became the official sponsor of Mardu-based Esiliiga (second tier) club Olump, which subsequently changed its name to Maardu FC Levadia.

After earning a promotion to Premium liiga in their first year under the new regime, the club made history a season later by becoming the first Estonian team to win the domestic treble (Premium liiga, Estonian Cup and Supercup), which they managed to repeat the following season.

In 2004, Levadia officially relocated to the Estonian capital, Tallinn. The club was renamed from Maardu FC Levadia to Levadia Tallinn. This period also marked the best spell for the team under Tarmo Rüütli, the Estonian manager who was with Levadia from 2003 to 2008 leading them to three league and three cup titles. After departing Levadia, Tarmo led Estonian NT to their highest ever FIFA rank (47th/2012) and almost qualified for Euro 2012, only losing to Ireland in the qualifying play-off round.

On November 4th, 2017, a merger of FC Levadia and FCI Tallinn (better known as FC Infonet Tallinn), who were the Estonian Champions in 2016, was announced. Another name change followed a month later, with FC Levadia becoming Tallinn FCI Levadia. In 2019, the club moved in to their biggest rival’s (FC Flora) stadium, A.Le Coq Arena.

Competition between the two teams, the Tallinn derby, is the biggest derby in Estonia. Between the two of them, they both are the most successful clubs in Estonia but there is more to this derby than trophies. In the early 2000s, language and nationality were also one of the separating factors between the two clubs, as Levadia was seen as the club of choice for the Russian-speaking population of the city and Flora for the Estonian-speaking. However, this view of Levadia fans has changed over time.