Jalgpalliklubi Tallinna Kalev, also known asTallinna Kalev or simplyKalev, is anEstonian professionalfootball club based inTallinn that competes in theMeistriliiga, the top flight ofEstonian football. Founded in 1911, it is the oldest active football club in the country. The club's home ground is theKadriorg Stadium.

Kalev

Full name	Jalgpalliklubi Tallinna Kalev
Founded	1909; 116 years ago (1909) (asMeteor) 25 May 1911; 113 years ago (1911-05-25) (asKalev) Re-established on 1 September 2002; 22 years ago (2002-09-01)[1]
Ground	Kadriorg Stadium
Capacity	5,000[2]
President	Ragnar Klavan
Manager	Teemu Tainio
League	Meistriliiga
2024	Meistriliiga, 9th of 10
Website	https://jkkalev.ee
Home colours Away colours

Formed as Meteor in 1909, the club changed its name to Kalev in 1911 after joining theEstonian Sports Association Kalev. The club were founding members of the Estonian Football Championship in1921. Kalev have won two Estonian championship titles, in1923 and1930, and one Estonian SSR championship in1955. The club was re-established in 2002 and has played in the Meistriliiga in 2007–2009, 2012–2014, 2018–2020 and again since 2022.

Kalev's origins lie withMeteor. Jalgpalliselts Meteor (Football Association Meteor) was formed in 1909 by students Julius Reinans and Bernhard Abrams. The team was first coached by a Scottish flax merchant John Stormonth Urquhart who also ordered the team's first uniforms, consisting of blue shirts and white shorts. The team included several players who would become notable athletes, such as futureEstonia national team players Voldemar Luik andOtto Silber and Olympic runnerJohannes Villemson. On 6 June 1909, Meteor and Merkuur played the first official football match in Estonia. The match took place at the grounds behind the Lower Lighthouse inLasnamäe and was won by Meteor 4–2.^[3]

On 27 May 1911, Meteor joined theEstonian Sports Association Kalev and changed its name to Kalev. In 1913, the team moved to the newTiigiveski Ground.^[1]

In the 1920s, the newly formed Estonian Football Championship was dominated by Tallinn sides Kalev,Sport andTJK. The derby matches between the clubs drew thousands of spectators. Kalev won their first league title in1923. The team included Estonian internationals such asEduard Ellmann,Ernst Joll,Elmar Kaljot,August Lass andArnold Pihlak, who went on to represent Estonia at the1924 Summer Olympics. On 16 August 1925, the team suffered a serious setback when the board of the association expelled eight key players from the squad over their decision to play in the opening match ofTJK's new ground without the board's permission. The players subsequently joined TJK.^[4]

Tallinna Kalev won their second championship in the controversial1930 season. Although never proven officially, the victory was widely accepted as a result ofmatch fixing. To win the title, Kalev needed to win the final game of the season against the formidableNarva Võitleja by eight goals and went on to win the match 11–0. Võitleja's performance was so poor that allegations of match fixing began instantly, with Kalev board member Aleksander Mändvere being accused of bribing Võitleja players, particularly the team's goalkeeper Viruvere.^[4]

Kalev reached the1939 Estonian Cup final, but lost to TJK 1–4.^[1]

FollowingWorld War II and theSoviet occupation of Estonia, Kalev joined theSoviet Union football league system, competing in thesecond tier of Soviet football from 1947 to 1954, while Kalev's second team played in the local Estonian SSR championship. In1955, Kalev's first team returned to the local championship, winning their third league title.

In 1960, Kalev joinedClass A, the top flight of Soviet football. The team finished theirfirst season in Class A in 19th place out of 22 teams. The home match againstDynamo Moscow in Kalev'sKomsomol Stadium brought a record 20,000 people onto the stands, as a number of Dynamo's players along with the famedLev Yashin had beencrowned European champions less than a month before. In the1961 season, Kalev finished last and were relegated to Class B.^[1] Despite the relegation, Kalev showed several great performances during the season, drawing 2–2 with bronze medalistsSpartak Moscow and 0–0 with Dynamo Moscow.

Tallinna Kalev was re-established on 1 September 2002 and joined theEstonian football league system. The club won the Northern division of theIII liiga in 2003. In 2004,Aavo Sarap was appointed as manager and Tallinna Kalev won the East/North division of theII liiga. The club finished the2006 Esiliiga in third place and were promoted to theMeistriliiga, returning to the top flight of Estonian football. Tallinna Kalev finished the2007 season in sixth place. In August 2009, Sarap's contract was terminated and he was replaced by his assistant Daniel Meijel. The team finished the2009 season in last place and were relegated.

In January 2010,Sergei Ratnikov was appointed as manager. Tallinna Kalev won the2011 Esiliiga were promoted back to the Meistriliiga. The club finished the2012 season in ninth place, but avoided being relegated by defeatingTarvas 3–1 on aggregate in the relegation play-offs. In December 2012,Frank Bernhardt was appointed as manager. Tallinna Kalev finished the2013 season in eighth place. In January 2014, former Estonia national team managerTarmo Rüütli took over as manager. Rüütli subsequently left in March 2014 and Sergei Zamogilnõi took over as manager. Following a disappointing2014 season, where Tallinna Kalev finished in 10th place and were relegated to the Esiliiga once again, Zamogilnõi was replaced by Marko Pärnpuu.

In May 2016, it was announced thatRagnar Klavan would become the club's president. FormerNew York Red Bulls playerJoel Lindpere took over the sporting director role. Tallinna Kalev returned to the Meistriliiga after finishing the2017 Esiliiga season as runners-up. In November 2017, Pärnpuu was replaced byArgo Arbeiter. The team finished the2018 season in eighth place, after which Arbeiter left andAleksandr Dmitrijev took over as manager and also led Kalev to an eighth-place finish in the2019 season. Kalev was relegated from Meistriliiga in2020, after finishing the season in last place, but returned to top-flight football in 2022. Led by Daniel Meijel andAivar Anniste, the club finished the2022 season in eighth place.

2023 was a groundbreaking year for Kalev in many ways. The club constructed an indoor football dome inMustamäe and became the first football club in the country to open a specialised football academy.^[5] The summer transfer window saw club's presidentRagnar Klavan join the first team as a player. Kalev also acquired Finnish goalkeeperOskari Forsman, who was named in the Team of the Year after the season,^[6] and also named The Best Goalkeeper and The Best Transfer of the Season.^[7] Tallinna Kalev finished the2023 season in 3rd place, earning their first bronze medals since the1937–38 season and qualifying toUEFA Conference League, the first European campaign in the club's entire history. Kalev made their debut in Europe on 11 July 2024, losing 1–2 toUrartu in the home leg of the Conference League first qualifying round. In August 2024, Kalev appointedTeemu Tainio as head coach. The club finished the2024 season in ninth place, but avoided relegation by defeatingViimsi 2–1 on aggregate in the play-offs.

Kalev's original crest was created during theEstonian national awakening period and adopted the Estonian flag'sblue-black-white tricolour, which remains as the prominent part of the crest to this day. The first crest also featured 12 stars, of which eleven symbolised each of the elevencounties of Estonia, and the twelfth star was a symbol for the Estonians who were forced to spend their life abroad and away from their homeland.^[8] After the country was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, all symbols relating to Estonian nationalism were banned. The current crest was created in 1988 in the wake of theSinging Revolution and saw the stars of the original crest replaced by the letters "KALEV".^[9]

•  
  Former crest (1911–1940)
•  
  Crest in use since 2002

Kalev traditionally played in black shirts and white shorts during the first period of independence of Estonia. After the club was re-established in 2002, Kalev began playing in white shirts before adopting the Estonian tricolour as their home colours in 2019, after which they played in blue shirts, black shorts and white socks until 2022. In 2023, Kalev returned to their original black coloured home shirts.

Kalev first started playing its home matches at theTiigiveski Ground, before the club openedKalevi Aed in the Tallinn city centre in 1923. Kalevi Aed was destroyed after World War II, in the 1940s.

The club's traditional home ground is the 12,000-seat Kalevi Keskstaadion.^[11] Opened on 12 July 1955, themulti-purpose stadium was built near Kalev's old Tiigiveski Ground. Initially named Kalev Komsomol Stadium, the name was changed to Kalevi Keskstaadion in 1989. It used to be the largest football stadium in Estonia until the expansion ofA. Le Coq Arena in 2018.

From the2020 season the team moved toKadriorg Stadium, as Kalevi Keskstaadion underwent renovation due to its poor condition.^[12] Although the renovation works were completed in 2022, the football club has not returned to the 12,000-capacity stadium due to a dispute with the owner of the stadium complex, theEstonian Sports Association Kalev, which has evolved into a court case.^[13]

Tallinna Kalev uses the 1,198-seat artificial turf groundSportland Arena for home matches during winter and early spring months. In 2024, the club opened an indoor football facility named Raja Jalgpallihall that serves as the club's primary training base.

As of 19 January 2025.^[14][15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

• A klass/Liiduklass
  • Winners (2):1923,1930
• Esigrupp(Estonian SSR Championship)
  • Winners (1):1955
• Esiliiga
  • Winners (1):2011

• Estonian Cup
  • Runners-up (1):1939

• Official website(in English and Estonian)
• JK Tallinna Kalev at Estonian Football Association