DFK Dainava

Dzūkija Futbolo Klubas Dainava, in short, DFK Dainava, is a Lithuanian football club from Alytus. The club was established in 2016 as a phoenix club after FK Dainava Alytus was dissolved in 2014.

History
The modern DFK Dainava was established after "Auska" and "Dzūkų tankai" were merged in 2016.

In 2015, FK Auska were playing in the Pirma Lyga. In 2016 the Lithuanian Football Federation allowed the club to change its name and allowed them to play in the Pirma Lyga (second tier).

In 2016, DFK Dainava came in ninth place and in 2017 they came in fourth place in the Pirma Lyga.

In the 2018 season, DFK Dainava were runners-up in the Pirma Lyga. In the relegation/promotion play-off match, they lost 0–3 to FK Palanga. On 3 November 2018, they lost the second match in Gargždai 0–2. FK Palanga won 5–0 on aggregate and saved their place in the 2019 A Lyga.

DFK Dainava sought promotion to the A Lyga in the 2019 season, but were unable to get sponsorship required for the league from the municipality of Alytus. As a result, the club remained in the I Lyga. They have finished 2019 LFF I Lyga in fourth position, and attempted to obtain a licence for A Lyga again in the 2020 season. The application was again declined.

In March 2021 before the start of the football season in Lithuania, DFK Dainava applied for a licence to play in the highest Lithuanian league tier of A Lyga in the 2021 season. The application was declined by the Lithuanian Football Federation as the club could not find a solution with stable finance and organise a women's football team. At the time, A Lyga had nine qualified teams who got permits and were able to compete in the league. DFK Dainava's application was granted by the Lithuanian Football Federation to play and compete in Lithuania's top-tier league as a 10th team, as DFK Dainava subsequently fixed all of the issues regarding sponsorship and stable finance. For the first time in DFK Dainava club history since re-creation in 2016, Alytus town will yet again have a men's football team competing in Lithuanian top-tier football league A Lyga. DFK Dainava started the season with -3 points as regulations and laws via the Lithuanian Football Federation. The first match for DFK Dainava in A Lyga was played on 6 March in Marijampolė against also newly promoted team FK Nevėžis, due to the city having a full sized indoor football ground and it is closest to Alytus.

In 2022, DFK Dainava were the league winners and were promoted to the 2023 A Lyga.

Stadium


DFK Dainava plays in the Alytus Stadium. It is a multi-use stadium in Alytus, Lithuania and holds 3,790 people. The stadium was renovated in 2010.

Managers

 * 🇱🇹 Ričardas Grigaliūnas (March, 2016 – June, 2016)
 * 🇱🇹 Darius Gvildys (June, 2016 – end of 2017)
 * 🇱🇹 Donatas Vencevičius (January, 2018 – end of 2018)
 * 🇳🇴 Kim Rønningstad (2019)
 * 🇵🇱 Łukasz Hass (2020)
 * 🇮🇹 Fabio Mazzone (August, 2020)
 * 🇱🇹 Tomas Ražanauskas (April, 2021)
 * Matthew Silva (February, 2022 – May 2022)
 * 🇧🇾 Sergey Kuznetsov (May 2022 –)