Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi Legion or simply TJK Legion is an

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, based in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

. On 4 January 2007,

Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi Tallinna JK or simply TJK is a defunct Estonian football club, based in Tallinn. Founded in 1921, TJK were one of the founding members of the Estonian Football Championship in 1921. On 4 January 2008 ''Tallinna JK'' and ''SK Legion Tallinn'' merge ...

and Tallinna SK Legion merged into this club. Legion also has a reserve team. Its name is Tallinna JK Legion II.

History

Predecessor Tallinna JK

Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi, or TJK in short, was founded on 5 May 1921 and were one of the founding members of the Estonian Football Championship in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

. TJK became the first football club in Estonia to have a foreign coach, appointing Hungarian Franz Woggenhuber as coach in 1922. The club became Estonian champions twice, winning the championship in

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

, also later winning the Estonian Cup in

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

. TJK was the home club for a number of Estonian internationals, with

Eduard Ellmann-Eelma Eduard Eelma (7 April 1902 – 16 November 1941) until 1937 Eduard-Vilhelm Ellmann, was an Estonian footballer — one of the most famous before World War II. He played 59 times for Estonia national football team scoring 21 goals. He debuted on 2 ...

being the most well-known. Tallinna Jalgpalli Klubi was disbanded in 1941 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and re-established in 2001, after which the club was renowned for its successful youth system and was the starting point for famous Estonian internationals

Konstantin Vassiljev Konstantin Vassiljev (born 16 August 1984) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Meistriliiga club Flora and captains the Estonia national team. Vassiljev has been named Estonian Footballer of the Year ...

Tarmo Kink Tarmo Kink (born 6 October 1985) is an Estonian former footballer who played as a winger. He last worked as a sporting director at Levadia. Club career Early career In 2001, Kink started his career with S.C. Real, scoring 46 goals in 15 game ...

and

Dmitri Kruglov Dmitri Kruglov (born 24 May 1984) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a left-back and a winger. He made 115 appearances for the Estonia national team scoring 4 goals. He is known for his powerful shooting and often takes free k ...

Merger into Tallinna JK Legion

In 2007, Tallinna JK and SK Legion merged and the club was named Tallinna JK Legion. Legion continued to focus on youth football. In 2017, TJK Legion set their sights on improving their senior football team's situation, which at the time played in II Liiga, the fourth tier of Estonian football. In consecutive years, TJK Legion won II Liiga,

Esiliiga B The Esiliiga B is the third division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga B is ranked below the Esiliiga and above the II liiga. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends in Nov ...

and

Esiliiga The Esiliiga is the second division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga is ranked below the Meistriliiga and above the Esiliiga B. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends i ...

and were promoted to

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 ...

for the 2020 season. In their first season in Meistriliiga, the club finished 7th. In the following 2021 season, Legion finished in 5th place and accumulated 40 points in 32 matches. However, due to serious problems in the licensing process, the Estonian FA announced that Legion will start the 2022 season with −4 points and imposed a restriction on signing and registering new players. Despite the 4 point deduction and unexperienced young squad, Legion finished the season in 9th place and avoided direct relegation. However, on 23 December 2022 it was announced that TJK Legion will not continue in the Premium Liiga due to financial difficulties and will play the following season in the second division Esiliiga.

Players

Current squad

''As of 28 July 2022. ''For season transfers, see transfers winter 2021–22 and transfers summer 2022.''

Out on loan

Personnel

Current technical staff

Managerial history

Statistics

League and Cup

Honours

2014 – Gothia Cup (Boys 2003)

References

External links

Official website
Football clubs in Tallinn Association football clubs established in 2007 2007 establishments in Estonia {{Estonia-footyclub-stub