In the early hours of February 24, the players of FC Mariupol made their way to the airport. A difficult first half of the season had rooted them to the foot of the Ukrainian Premier League table – 14 of 18 matches had ended in defeat. After heading to a mid-season training camp in Turkey to regroup, they were ready to return home. In three days’ time, they were due to resume their league campaign with an away match at Chornomorets Odesa. However, when they arrived at Antalya airport, they received the devastating news. Their plane would not be taking off. Ukraine had been invaded.
In the six months since then, the city of Mariupol has become known the world over, for reasons synonymous with suffering and destruction. Before the war, around 430,000 people called it home. Situated on the shores of the Sea of Azov, just above the Black Sea, Mariupol was a rapidly improving industrial setting, renowned for its colossal steel plants and thriving port.
Since gaining promotion back to the top flight in 2017, FC Mariupol had been stable competitors in the Ukrainian Premier League. They began their existence back in 1960 as Azovstal Zhdanov, named after the local steelworks. Until 1989, shortly before the collapse of the
