Formed: 1925
Nickname: Zhovto-syni (Yellow-Blues)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• none

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• USSR Cup: 1 (1988)

History
• Founded as the works side of a local train factory, KhPZ (Kharkovski Parovozostroitelni Zavod – Kharkiv Train Factory) featured in the inaugural USSR Cup in 1938 before starting life in the third tier of the Soviet league under the name FC Traktor in 1946.

• Renamed FC Dzerzhvnets in honour of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Soviet secret police, they played in the second division from 1947-49; as FC Avangard they advanced to the Soviet top division for the 1960 season, finishing sixth under coach Olexandr Ponomariov in 1961 before being relegated two years later.

• They returned to the top tier in 1981 as Metalist – the name means 'metalworker' – under Yevgen Lemeshko, and while they lost to FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the 1983 USSR Cup final, they won their only major honour by beating FC Torpedo Moskva in the 1988 edition.

• Founder members of the Ukrainian league in spring 1992, their fortunes declined with relegation in 1993/94, and they were out of the top tier for four years before returning for the 1998/99 campaign, with new investors steadying the ship.

• Myron Markevich's side have finished third in Ukraine for six successive seasons since 2006/07 and emulated their 1988/89 feat by reaching the last 16 of the 2008/09 UEFA Cup and the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League.

Club records
Most appearances: Oleksandr Goryainov (439)
Most goals: Yuriy Tarasov (85)
Record victory: Metalist 6-0 FC Zorya Luhansk (Premier League, 30 August 1992)
Record defeat: FC Shakhtar Donetsk 8-0 Metalist (Ukraine Premier league, 17/08/2000)

* Last updated 14 May 2012