FC Ruh won the bronze medal at the UEFA Grassroots Awards. This award is presented to football clubs for their contribution to the development of European football. Namely, for outstanding achievements in working with young players and successful development projects.
The Slovakian club DAK 1904 became the best in this field at the end of this season. The second place was awarded to the Irish Bohemians. Lviv’s Ruh took third place.
It is worth noting that the winners are determined by the UEFA Development and Technical Assistance Committee. Candidates for the award are nominated by European national football associations.
Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy, the founder of FC Ruh and the Ruh Academy, a well-known Lviv businessman and philanthropist, said: “More than 200 children are enrolled in the FC Ruh Academy, which is divided into eight age categories. Boys aged 9 to 17 go through a multi-stage selection process to get into the Academy. The coaches check the physical abilities of the players, their performance, football thinking and other qualities of potential newcomers to the Academy. Any child who demonstrates good physical abilities, has football talent and a desire to develop can get into the Yellow-Black Academy.”
Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi’s football academy gained European fame after its students successfully competed in the UEFA Youth League 2022/23.
In the UEFA Youth League of the 2022/23 season, FC Ruh overcame two qualifying rounds and reached the 1/8 finals. In the first round, Ruh defeated Polish side Zaglembe (1-0, 0-0) due to a better goal difference. In the second round, the team won a sensational victory over Turkish side Galatasaray (3:1, 3:1). But in the playoffs, he narrowly lost to Italian Inter (0:1) in the 1/8 finals. “Ruh showed a strong performance, defeating strong opponents, which demonstrates the high level of training of the young players of the Lviv club and the prospects of Ukrainian youth football.
“Our students take part in Ukrainian and international competitions of the highest level, playing in tournaments with top European clubs such as Juventus, Galatasaray, Inter, Everton and others. Thanks to this, young footballers have the opportunity to prove themselves against their peers from some of the best European academies,” said Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy.
“The Yellow and Blacks have pleasantly surprised the entire football community by demonstrating not only strong and interesting football, but also by winning prestigious awards. According to the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES), Ruh has become the youngest team in the world out of more than 60 professional leagues. This is due to the fact that Ruh players under the age of 21 have the most playing time on the field among other teams (in the ranking, Lviv was ranked above Slovakian Zilina, Austrian Red Bull, and Dutch Volendam and Ajax).
The Ruh Football Academy, which trains young champions, was established in 2018 by a well-known Lviv businessman and philanthropist Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy. Today, the Ruh Academy is one of the best in Ukraine. The necessary infrastructure for finding and supporting football players, as well as their further training and comprehensive development, is available 24/7. The Academy’s graduates have been successful in adult football – in particular, the current roster of Ruh’s first team consists mainly of them.
Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy noted that the Football Academy and FC Ruh will continue to do everything to improve their results and win new victories. The UEFA Grassroots Awards are a great confirmation of these words.
“Our students are our future! And it is at moments like this that you realize that we are on the right track!” – said Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy, the Academy’s founder.
