The club was formed on 30 January 1998 at the
Kharkiv Aviation Institute sports court. Its initial home stadium was "Spartak" and the first head coach –
Valentyn Kryachko. The club's first game at professional level took place on 2 August 1999 in
Kremenchuk against the local
FC Kremin Kremenchuk, which Arsenal won 1:0. The club's first goal was scored by
Viktor Hryhorov. In 2005 the club was reorganized after a successful season in the
2004–05 Ukrainian First League. After obtaining promotion to the
Ukrainian Top League, the club yielded the opportunity to a newly established club
FC Kharkiv which was led by the former coach of Arsenal
Hennadiy Lytovchenko. Several Arsenal's leading footballers also joined the new club. In 2005 FC Arsenal Kharkiv started out again from the
Ukrainian Second League. ==Stadiums==