Those Pesky Insurance Men Are Really At It!



Joining Illychivets in the Super new Premier League are FK Lviv and as I wrote in the article below they have exactly the same kits as Knyazha (or Kniazha as it is usually written in English letters, but just doesn't look right to me). It would appear that the similarities don't end there.


Both clubs are owned by Kniazha Vienna Insurance group and the rise of both clubs share some startling resemblances. Both clubs were formed roughly 3 years ago with Knyazha ultimately taking the place of Borisfen as a Kyiv oblast team. They are still called Knyazha Shaslive, but now play at Borisfen's old stadium. FK Lviv, on the other hand took the place of Lviv Oblast team FK Hazovyk - Skala Stryi. There was a club previously called FK Lviv, but they went bankrupt in 2002 and are not related.


Knyazha were probably earmarked to play at a new stadium in Shaslive, which has now been given to local kids before the stadium in Boryspil had become available. Lviv, play in a specially made stadium, Kniazha Arena in Dobromyl.


Both teams have had extremly successful seasons with Lviv getting promotion to the Premier, against the odds, and Knyazha winning division 2a at a canter.


The stadium that Lviv play in looks a little small on TV, so they may be forced into a groundshare with Karpaty, which is bound to lead to trouble.


I just wonder what the story behind Vienna Insurance is and why they seem to want to build 2 dominant forces in Ukrainian football. I mean it isn't like Austrian football is any big player on the International scene. I just hope that they will stick with it and not be a flash in the pan

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