goals. Amkar took first place and earned the right to play in the First Division. 1999–2004. First Division From 1999 to 2003, the team performed reasonably well in the First Division, finishing each year in the top six. In the 2001–02 season, the club reached the semi-final of the Russian Cup but lost to CSKA Moscow 0–1. In 2003, with two matches left to play, Amkar was in fourth position, one point behind Kuban Krasnodar and losing out to Tom Tomsk and Terek Grozny on the total number of wins. According to the pundits, Amkar and Terek would be losers in this four-horse race but a sensational draw between Tom and Baltika Kaliningrad made the red and blacks favourites. In the final match, Kuban and Terek played each other. To move up into the Premier League, Amkar needed a win against Fakel Voronezh, which was duly achieved. 2004–2008 In the Premier League, Amkar at first performed satisfactorily, finishing 11th, 12th and 13th in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. Before the first season in the Premier League, Amkar was strengthened by such players as Ivan Levenets, Oleksandr Shutov, Vladimir Leonchenko, Zahari Sirakov, Andrei Lavrik, Ghenadie Olexici, Noureddine Ziyati and Erik Lincar, among others, and their debut match was away against Kuban Krasnodar. The match finished 0–0. In the first rounds, the team played well, gathering eight points in four matches with just a single defeat. In the 2004–05 season, Amkar repeated its success in the Russian Cup, once more reaching the semi-finals, but losing on aggregate 0–2 to Khimki. There were many memorable matches in the 2005 season, including a 1–0 home win over Zenit Saint Petersburg, a large 4–1 win over Dynamo Moscow and a 3–4 defeat to Lokomotiv Moscow, despite Amkar leading 3–0 at half-time. In the middle of the 2006 season, head coach Sergei Oborin resigned and was replaced by Rashid Rakhimov. Amkar began to play very good football, and in the part of the championship between the 19th and 30th rounds, Amkar was in fourth-place in the league. In the same season, Amkar had the longest series of matches in the Premier League without conceding a goal, with 15. 2008. The most successful season In 2007, the club made two key acquisitions: Georgi Peev arrived from Dynamo Kyiv and Nikola Drinčić from Turkish club Gaziantepspor. These players became leaders of the team and during the season the