How LNZ Cherkasy Became a Wartime Success Story in Ukrainian Football
Quick summary
The Guardian profiles LNZ Cherkasy, a small Ukrainian club from central Ukraine that has emerged as a competitive force in the Ukrainian Premier League during the ongoing war, qualifying for European competition.
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Attributed to original sourceUkrainian club were in fourth tier in 2021 but, despite war with Russia, will contest European qualifiers for first time
It is time for set-piece training at LNZ Cherkasy’s smart, shiny training facility. “Arsenal!” one player says with a laugh as the grappling at a corner begins, the joke spreading among others clustered in the six-yard box. That is a level everyone here must aspire to but they are edging nearer. This week a club from what used to be one of Ukraine’s football backwaters will make its European debut in a wartime success story with few modern-day parallels.
“We are making history,” the LNZ striker Mark Assinor says after the jostling has stopped and the session wound down. “But there’s been a change in mentality here and I think this is only a starting point for the club.”
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What happened
A long-form Guardian feature examining LNZ Cherkasy's improbable rise in Ukrainian football amid the ongoing war. The club, based in the central Ukrainian city of Cherkasy, finished second in the 2024-25 Ukrainian Premier League season and earned a place in European competition — a remarkable achievement for a club with limited resources operating under wartime conditions. The piece explores the club's recruitment model, tactical identity, infrastructure constraints caused by the conflict, and how they have managed to compete with traditionally dominant Ukrainian clubs despite operating in a war-affected environment.
Chance analysis
LNZ Cherkasy's emergence challenges the assumption that wartime conditions inevitably degrade competitive standards, and their European qualification adds an unfamiliar variable to early-round UEFA qualifiers where betting markets and prediction models will have limited baseline data. For prediction systems, LNZ should be treated as a lower-tier European opponent with limited scouting history but potential unpredictability. The story is also significant as a case study in football resilience under extreme conditions, relevant to broader discussions about Ukrainian football's competitive future.
LNZ Cherkasy's European qualification means they will appear in UEFA competition draws as a low-seeded, unpredictable side with limited recent European track record.
LNZ Cherkasy enters European competition as a relatively unknown quantity with limited recent European pedigree; treat as a potential upset-prone underdog in early qualifying rounds.