Tammeka

Tartu JK Tammeka, commonly known as Tartu Tammeka or simply Tammeka, is a football club, based in Tartu, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football.

Founded in 1989, the club has played in the Meistriliiga since the 2005 season and have never been relegated from the Estonian top division. The club's home ground is Tartu Tamme Stadium.

History

Tammeka was founded on 13 June 1989 as a youth academy by Hillar Otto, Avo Jakovits and Heino Ligi. In 2000, the club joined the Estonian football league system and began competing in the Southern division of the III liiga. Tammeka's debut season was a success as the team finished first with 46 points out of the possible 60. Tammeka was promoted to the II liiga, and in 2001, to the Esiliiga. The club established itself in the Esiliiga by placing sixth in the 2002 season and seventh in the 2003 season. Tammeka won the Esiliiga in the 2004 season and was promoted to the Meistriliiga. The team defeated Dunamo 9–0 in their first Meistriliiga match and finished their first season in the Estonian top flight in seventh place. In December 2005, Sergei Ratnikov was appointed as manager. Tammeka finished the 2006 season in sixth place.

In 2007, Tammeka merged with Maag and became Maag Tammeka. Despite pooled resources, the team lost several key players and finished the 2007 season in fifth place. Ratnikov resigned in November 2007 and his assistant Sergei Zamogilnoi took over as manager. Maag Tammeka reached the 2007–08 Estonian Cup final, but lost to Flora 1–3. The team finished the 2008 season in seventh place, after which the sponsorship deal with Maag ended and Tammeka continued to operate as an independent club.

The following season, Tammeka had to operate with a smaller budget and lost several players. Reserve team coach Norbert Hurt was appointed as manager and several reserve team players were promoted to the first-team squad. Despite a slow start, Tammeka managed to finish the 2009 season in seventh place.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Таммека (russian)