Foundation and immediate success (1998–2003) Levadia was founded on 22 October 1998, when
Viktor Levada's Levadia Group OÜ became the official sponsor of
Maardu based
Esiliiga club
Olümp, which subsequently changed its name to Levadia. The club won the
1998 Esiliiga and were promoted to the
Meistriliiga. Before the start of the season, Levadia merged with
JK Tallinna Sadam to grant the club a place in the
UEFA Cup through Sadam's European qualification. Led by head coach
Sergei Ratnikov, Levadia immediately made a mark during their first season in top flight football in
1999, becoming the first team to win the Meistriliiga, the
Estonian Cup and the
Estonian Supercup in the same year. After the turn of the century, Levadia moved their home matches from Maardu to the
Kadriorg Stadium and managed to repeat their success by winning another treble during the
2000 season, which included going unbeaten in the league. In the
2000–01 UEFA Champions League, Levadia defeated
The New Saints 6–2 on aggregate in the first qualifying round, but lost to
Shakhtar Donetsk 2–9 on aggregate in the second qualifying round. Following the loss to Shakhtar Donetsk, Ratnikov was sacked. In 2001,
Valeri Bondarenko was appointed as a manager. Levadia failed to defend their title, finishing the
2001 season in third place and in November 2001, Bondarenko was replaced by
Pasi Rautiainen. Under Rautiainen, Levadia finished the
2002 Meistriliiga as runners-up, only two points behind champions
Flora. After the season, Rautiainen resigned and was replaced by
Franco Pancheri in January 2003. Pancheri coached Levadia for just 9 Meistriliiga matches, before he was sacked in June 2003. He was replaced by
Tarmo Rüütli and Levadia finished the
2003 season in third place. Levadia faced
Newcastle United and were eliminated from the competition by losing 1–3 on aggregate. The two clubs merged their first teams, becoming FCI Levadia, with FCI Tallinn's
Aleksandar Rogić taking over as manager. FCI Levadia finished the
2018 season as runners-up, but won the
Estonian Cup, beating rivals FC Flora 1–0 in the final. In 2019, Levadia moved to Estonia's largest stadium
A. Le Coq Arena. On 15 September 2019, Rogić was sacked after disappointing results, with assistant coach
Vladimir Vassiljev taking over as caretaker manager. In November 2019, former Estonia head coach
Martin Reim was appointed as manager. However, after a disappointing start to the season, Martin Reim decided to resign in July 2020 and Vladimir Vassiljev took over the role. In August 2020, Levadia's former assistant coach
Marko Savić returned to the club and became joint managers with Vassiljev. In the following
2021 season, Levadia ended their 7-year Premium Liiga title drought, becoming Estonian champions in the last day of the season, after drawing 2–2 with rivals
FC Flora in the title-deciding final match. FCI Levadia also lifted the Estonian Cup in 2021 and Estonian Supercup in February 2022, again beating Flora in both of the finals. In July 2022, Marko Savić and Vladimir Vassiljev announced they will be stepping down as head coaches of the club, with the main driver for the resignation being the disappointing 1–6 loss against
Víkingur Reykjavík in the
UEFA Champions League preliminary round. The remainder of the 2022 season was widely described by Estonian media outlets as turbulent, with Levadia changing head coaches multiple times in a short period of time and sporting director
Tarmo Kink and CEO
Sergei Hohlov-Simson also leaving the club. FCI Levadia finished the
2022 season as runners-up.
Recent history (2023–present) In November 2022, Levadia announced the appointment of former Spanish international
Curro Torres as manager. The club finished the
2023 season as runners-up, before winning the double in 2024 by defeating
Paide Linnameeskond 4–2 in the
2023–24 Estonian Cup final and lifting their 11th Premium Liiga title at the end of the
2024 season. Levadia began the 2025 season by winning their 9th Estonian Supercup against
Nõmme Kalju, but lost the
2024–25 Estonian Cup final to the same opponent on penalties three months later. The club had strengthened their team with the ambition of reaching the league phase in Europe, but after a disappointing loss in the Conference League third qualifying round, Levadia ultimately finished the
2025 league season as runners-up, and replaced Torres with
Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko. == Kit ==