Metalurh takes its roots from the Football Club Prometei Shakhtarsk that was allowed to participate on the non-amateur level once Ukraine attained its independence.

However, in 1995 the club's owner was killed and Promotei returned under ownership of the state coal-mining company "Shakhtarantratsyt" under the name of Shakhtar Shakhtarsk.

In 2001 Metalurh was purchased by ISD, Ukrainian industrial corporation owned by Serhiy Taruta, one of the most wealthy businessmen in Ukraine and Europe.

Throughout majority of the first decade of the new millennium, Metalurh's owners developed a close working relationship with well-known Ukrainian agent Dmytro Sylyuk, who soon became club's acting chairman and who gained much bad publicity for bringing so many foreign players into the club that they outnumbered domestic players.

After the era of Sylyuk ended, Metalurh's performance declined and a hunt for medals turned into a struggle for survival.

[2] A number of Metalurh players, including Đorđe Lazić, Gabriel Araújo Carvalho, and Oleksandr Bandura, as well as members of the club's staff, such as Erik van der Meer and Vardan Israeltian, moved to Stal.

However, on 11 July 2015 Metalurh declared bankruptcy, citing the economic difficulties caused by the fighting,[2] although FC Stal Kamianske did indeed take its place in the Ukrainian Premier League.

In the 2014–15 season, the club played their home games at Obolon Arena in Kyiv due to the war in Donbas.

Information since Ukrainian independence Metalurh Donetsk made its debut in European tournaments at the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, losing in the first round to Werder Bremen.