Fotbal Club Sheriff commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan football club based in Tiraspol Founded in 1997.
The club was originally established in 1996 and introduced in the Moldovan “B” Division as FC Tiras Tiraspol. On 4 April 1997, former policeman Victor Gușan, an employee of the security corporation Sheriff which remains a key sponsor, refounded it as FC Sheriff Tiraspol.
From 2001–02 to 2008–09, the club tried to reach the group stage in the UEFA Champions League every year, but failed in the second qualifying round every time. Its European fortunes improved after 2009. Sheriff has appeared in three UEFA Europa League group stages (2009–10, 2010–11, 2013–14) with decent results, although they didn’t manage to qualify to the knock-out stage. In 2017, they qualified to the group stage for the fourth time, after beating favorites Legia Warsaw on away goals in the play-off round.
In the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, Sheriff played in a group with Lokomotiv Moscow, Copenhagen, Fastav Zlín, in which they finished third once more
In the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, Sheriff became the first Moldovan team to qualify for the group stages of the competition after a 3–0 aggregate win over Dinamo Zagreb. They were drawn into Group D to face Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk. On 15 September, Sheriff won their opening group game, 2–0 against Shakhtar Donetsk, before following it up with an upset 2–1 away victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu on 28 September 2021, with Sébastien Thill scoring the winning goal in the 89th minute.
Sheriff Stadium is the home ground of Sheriff Tiraspol and is owned by the corporation Sheriff. Construction of the ground began on 1 August 2000 and was completed in May 2002, with the official opening in July 2002. It was renovated in 2011. The stadium has a seating capacity for 12,746 spectators and is eligible for FIFA/UEFA international events. Beside Sheriff, the stadium has also hosted matches for FC Tiraspol and the Moldova national team.
FC Sheriff Tiraspol have in honour 19 Moldovan National Division, 1 Moldavan ‘A’ Division, 10 Moldovan Cup, 7 Moldovan Super Cup and 2 CIS Cup.
Records and statistics
- Most appearances (443): Vazha Tarkhnishvili
- Most goals (71): Alexey Kuchuk
- Record victory (19 October 2005, Moldovan Cup): Sheriff–Viitorul Orhei, 16–0
- Record defeat (UEFA Champions League, 25 July 2001): Anderlecht–Sheriff, 4–0[2]
- Biggest win in UEFA competition (23 July 2013): Sheriff–Sutjeska, 5–0
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League: 13
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League: 7
- Player with most UEFA appearances: Vazha Tarkhnishvili (54)
- Top scorers in UEFA club competitions: Ziguy Badibanga (8)
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