FC Lantana Tallinn is a defunct

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club. Lantana won the Estonian

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football (soccer), football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-p ...

in 1996 and 1997. The club was dissolved after the 1999 season.

History

Lantana Tallinn entered Estonian footballing parlance when the Belov family bought out the pre-existing Nikol Tallinn in late 1994. Their original colours were black and white striped shirts, with black shorts and socks, although they changed these to sky blue and royal blue following the 1998 season. The new side enjoyed near instant success, finishing second in their first season and winning the

title in 1995–96. That season also saw them enter European competition for the first time, however a 2–1

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

victory over

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

ns DAG-Liepāja was changed to a 3–0 defeat after Lantana fielded an ineligible player, and they exited in the preliminary round. Lantana won the Meistriliiga again in 1996–97, however defeat by Sadam Tallinn in the

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

final denied them a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. This was their first season playing at the suburban Viimsi Staadion, having previously played at Tallinn's main

Kadriorg Stadium The Kadriorg Stadium ( et, Kadrioru staadion) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Tallinna JK Legion and JK Tallinna Kalev . The stadium holds 5,000 and was ...

. Viimsi has a capacity of 2000 and a pitch 105 by 70 meters. The side enjoyed its first European success that year, knocking out

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic side ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar in their UEFA Cup Preliminary Round tie before losing 4–2 on aggregate to

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss football club based in Aarau. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local ...

. Despite their table-topping league form, Lantana did not supply any players to the Estonian national side. This was due to the perception that the club was representative of the ethnically-

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n minority in Estonia, and indeed many of the squad were Russian and ineligible under FIFA rules to represent Estonia. League form was more erratic in 1997–98 while Lantana were again beaten Cup finalists, losing to

Flora Tallinn FC Flora, commonly known as Flora Tallinn, or simply as Flora, is a professional Football team, football club based in Tallinn, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football league system, Estonian football. The ...

. Lantana also lost in their only European tie, 3–0 on aggregate to

Jazz Pori FC Jazz is a football club from Pori, Finland. It plays in the Finnish third tier Kakkonen. It was invented in 1934. FC Jazz has won two Finnish championships ( 1993 & 1996 ). History PPT 1934–1991 FC Jazz was established in 1934 as ...

. After further mixed form in 1998 and 1999, the side was wound up.

Achievements

(2): 1995–96, 1996–97 *

Estonian SuperCup The Estonian Supercup ( et, Eesti Superkarikas) is Estonian football's annual super cup, contested between the champions of the previous Meistriliiga season and the holders of the Estonian Cup. If the Meistriliiga champions also won the Estoni ...

(1): 1997–98

Lantana Tallinn in Estonian Football Championship

Lantana Tallinn in Europe

* 1Q = First Qualifying Round * 2Q = Second Qualifying Round

Notable former players

External links

1999 Cup Winners' Cup Lantana Tallinn 0–1 Hearts (photos)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lantana Tallinn Lantana Tallinn Meistriliiga clubs Football clubs in Tallinn 1994 establishments in Estonia 1999 disestablishments in Estonia Association football clubs established in 1994