FC Luch Vladivostok

FC Luch Vladivostok (Russian: Футбольный клуб "Луч" Владивосток) was an association football club based in Vladivostok, Russia. In 2005, Luch won the Russian First Division and played in the Premier League from 2006 to 2008.

Luch
Full nameFootball Club
Luch Vladivostok
Founded1958 (1958)
Dissolved2020 (2020)
GroundDynamo Stadium,
Vladivostok
Capacity10,200
ChairmanYevgeni Strizhichenko
ManagerVacant
2019–20FNL, 16th (relegated)

The club was called Luch-Energiya from 2003 to 2018, when it was renamed due to sponsorship from Dalenergo, an energy distribution company.

History

Luch has been playing in the Soviet Union championship since 1958. The name Luch means Ray. The club played in the Far East regional tournament of "B-class" teams and eventually won it in 1965, earning promotion to "A-class". Luch played in this regional tournament until league reorganization in 1972.

From 1972 to 1991, Luch played in the Eastern zone of Soviet Second League. The club's best result was a runner-up position in 1984.

In 1992, after the dissolution of Soviet Union, Luch was entitled to play in the Eastern zone of Russian First League and won that tournament. Luch played in Russian Top League in 1993 and was relegated, having finished 15th.

Luch played in Russian First Division from 1994 until relegation in 1997, and in Russian Second Division from 1998 to 2003. In 2003, Luch-Energia finished 1st in the Eastern zone and earned promotion. The club spent another 2 years in First Division, earning promotion to Premier League in 2005. In 2008 Luch finished in the last position and was relegated to the Russian First Division. The club had some financial problems and were forced to sell some of their key players making the club vulnerable at home, formerly considered a fortress on the remote Pacific coast.

Luch-Energia logo

In November 2017, Luch's home game against Khimki was delayed by 15 minutes due to a protest by the club's players over delays in wages and the running of the club. Due to four months without pay some of the players had been evicted from their accommodation and a Luch supporters group supplying food to the players.[1]

Despite finishing in the relegation zone at the end of the 2017–18 season, the club was not relegated as other clubs ahead in the standings failed to obtain the league license for 2018–19.[2]

On 16 July 2018, the club was renamed back to FC Luch.[3]

On 1 April 2020, the government of Primorsky Krai announced that all professional contracts with sports clubs in their region had been cancelled to provide funds to combat the spread the COVID-19 pandemic, with Luch Vladivostok dropping to the Russian Amateur Football League once football returns.[4]

Domestic
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Top Scorer (League) Head Coach
1992 2nd, "East" 1 30 20 4 6 44 14 23 — — Russia Kasyanenko – 9
Russia Dubovik – 9		 Russia Burchalkin
Russia Ivchenko
1993 1st 15 34 11 7 16 29 56 29 R256 — Russia Ruslyakov – 7 Russia Ivchenko
Releg.
tourn.		 4 5 2 2 1 11 9 6 RussiaTajikistan Galimov – 4
1994 2nd 12 42 15 11 16 44 53 41 — — Russia I. Protasov – 9 Russia Ig. Saenko
1995 6 42 20 6 16 51 48 66 R256 — Russia Selenkov – 16 Russia Burchalkin
1996 15 42 14 12 16 39 49 54 R128 — Russia Shkilov – 9 Russia Szekecs
1997 22 42 3 12 27 23 76 21 — — Russia Selenkov – 5 Russia Kobersky
1998 3rd, "East" 7 30 14 6 10 42 24 48 R64 — Russia Melnik – 8 Russia Fedyakin
1999 7 30 14 7 9 43 32 49 R128 — Russia Melnik – 11 Russia Fedyakin
2000 4 24 12 3 9 41 26 39 R512 — Russia Tikhonovetsky – 9 Russia Karamyan
Russia Zhuravlyov
2001 8 28 9 10 9 31 29 37 R128 — Russia Tikhonovetsky – 8 Russia Lukyanov
2002 6 30 15 6 9 51 34 51 R512 — Russia Kisurin – 10 Russia Tolkin
Russia Zhuravlyov
2003 1 24 16 4 4 53 23 52 R512 — Russia A. Smirnov – 11 Russia Zhuravlyov
Russia Antikhovich
2004 2nd 14 42 15 11 16 50 50 56 R128 — Russia Sokolov – 11
Cameroon Atangana – 11		 Russia Antikhovich
Russia Pavlov
2005 1 42 27 11 4 81 32 92 R64 — Russia D.A. Smirnov – 19 Russia Pavlov
2006 1st 7 30 12 5 13 37 39 41 R16 — Russia A. Ivanov – 5 Russia Pavlov
2007 14 30 8 8 14 26 38 32 R32 — Russia Strelkov – 5 Russia Pavlov
2008 16 30 3 12 15 24 53 21 R32 — Belarus Bulyga – 5
Russia I. Shevchenko – 5		 Croatia Vulić
Russia Altman
2009 2nd 14 38 13 11 14 42 43 50 R32 — Ukraine Dedechko – 9 Russia Yemelyanov
Russia Pobegalov
2010 12 38 13 13 12 42 42 52 QF — Russia Satalkin – 9 Russia Nazarenko
Spain Arcos
2011–12 17 48 11 21 16 37 39 54 R16 — Russia Alkhazov – 10 Spain Arcos
Russia Pavlov
2012–13 3rd, "East" 1 30 18 8 4 48 27 62 R2 — Russia Tikhonovetsky – 14 Russia Yemelyanov
2013–14 2nd 8 36 15 10 11 40 25 55 SF — Russia Asildarov – 5
Ukraine Mikhalyov −5		 Russia Yemelyanov
Russia Grigoryan
2014–15 10 34 11 9 14 40 46 42 R32 — Russia Myazin −11 Russia Grigoryan
Russia Ushahin
2015–16 15 38 12 9 17 31 46 45 R4 — Brazil Nivaldo −6 Russia Veretennikov
Russia Perednya
2016–17 16 38 9 15 14 27 41 42 R4 — Russia Stolbovoy −5 Russia Perednya
2017–18 18 38 9 13 16 40 52 40 QF — Russia Geloyan −7
Russia Myazin −7		 Lithuania Ivanauskas
Russia Grigoryan
2018–19 13 38 10 17 11 29 28 47 R64 — Russia Pavlenko −4
Russia Khleborodov −4
Russia Viznovich −4		 Russia Khuzin
2019–20 16 27 6 9 12 28 40 27 R16 — Russia Aliyev −8 Russia Khuzin
Russia Ushakhin (Caretaker)
Russia Petrakov

Complications

Situated in the Far East of the country, their location poses a significant problem for away teams, for example being 9 hours by flight from Moscow. When playing FC Zenit Saint Petersburg at home, a trio of Zenit fans drove 15,000 km across the country only for their car to break down when in Vladivostok, leaving them unable to drive home. These fans thus took the Trans-Siberian Railway back to Saint Petersburg, upon which the club rewarded them with a new car on 1 October 2006.[5]

There has been much controversy about whether the Russian league should be split into Western and Eastern leagues; however, this is yet to happen. Igor Akinfeev said "They should join football league in Japan." after CSKA Moscow lost 0–4 away from home against Vladivostok on 10 June 2007. In addition to this, even their own players admitted it was awkward as they had to travel long distances for away games. Matija Kristić said "It's not as bad for other teams because they only need to travel this distance once a year whereas we have to do it for all away matches". Srđan Radonjić said "It is just crazy, they should have two Russian premier leagues, one for the European teams and another for Asian teams. Vladivostok is 4,000 miles from Moscow."

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Luch-Energiya.

USSR/Russia
Former USSR countries
Europe
Africa

References
  1. "Luch Energiya Vladivostok's Crisis Deepens". russianfootballnews.com. Russian Football News. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  2. Клубы ФНЛ получили лицензии (in Russian). Russian National Football League. 30 May 2018.
  3. Главная команда Приморья вернула себе историческое имя (in Russian). FC Luch Vladivostok. 16 July 2018.
  4. "ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЕ КОНТРАКТОВ С ИГРОКАМИ В ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНЫХ СПОРТКЛУБАХ ПРИМОРЬЯ В СЕЗОНЕ 2020-2021 ПРИОСТАНАВЛИВАЕТСЯ". primorsky.ru/ (in Russian). Primorsky Krai. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  5. "Far East and far out: Russia's remotest derby, on the Sea of Japan". Four Four Two. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
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