Our short-term situation is bleak but we will rebuild the city – I cannot imagine a life in Mariupol without football
Before 24 February, we had everything to look forward to at FC Mariupol. We were struggling in the Ukrainian Premier League but there was a bigger picture: our infrastructure was one of the country’s most developed, and we had ambitions to build a team that would reach the Europa League. In the last four years, we played in the qualifiers twice: we felt we were on the brink of something special.
We had one of the best playing surfaces around, with a new hybrid pitch; our stadium was well kept, with plans for a major redevelopment in 2025, and we had three full-sized training pitches at our base near the Sea of Azov. Young players at our academy could train on artificial turf and our facilities were expanding all the time. Now almost all of it is likely to be ruined.
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