Football Club Jonava, previously (1996–2016) known asFootball Club Lietava, is a Lithuanian professionalfootball club based inJonava. The club gained promotion to theA lyga as champions of theI Lyga in2015, but were relegated fromA Lyga in 2018.
The club was founded in 1991 asAzotas (after the name of the localAzotas fertilizer factory), the nameLietava was adopted in 1996.
For a number of years the club played in the second tier of the Lithuanian football championship. After successful 2015 season,Lietava won theI Lyga in 2015 and were promoted to theA lyga.
The 2016 debut season in theA LygaLietava finished in 5th position.[1]
From the beginning of the 2017 season,Lietava changed its name toFK Jonava.[2] On 13 February 2017Lithuanian Football Federation approved the name change.[3][4]The 2017 season was the best season for the club on record. The team took 6th place in the regularA Lyga season, and finished in the 4th position after the championship round.
For 2018 season club management had ambitious plans. On 11 January 2018, Felipe Ribeiro from Portugal started in a position of the new head coach.[5] But the club ran into problems and on 15 May 2018, the coach was let go.[6][7] Soon the head coach changed again. The third coach in one season could not save the team from relegation.[8] After the regular season the team took 8th position and ended its spell in theA lyga.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
