FC Lokomotiv Moscow (FC Lokomotiv Moskva, Russian: Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, [fʊdˈbolʲnɨj kɫup ɫəkəmɐˈtʲif mɐˈskva]) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup a record nine times. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Club Association suspended all Russian teams from participation in international competition.[2]
| Full name | Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва (Football Club Lokomotiv Moscow) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Loko, Parovozy (Steam Locomotive/s) | |||
| Founded | 23 July 1922 | |||
| Ground | RZD Arena | |||
| Capacity | 27,320[1] | |||
| Owner | Russian Railways | |||
| General director | Vladimir Leonchenko | |||
| Head coach | Mikhail Galaktionov | |||
| League | Russian Premier League | |||
| 2023–24 | Russian Premier League, 4th of 16 | |||
| Website | fclm.ru | |||
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History
editEarly years
editLokomotiv was founded as Kazanka (Moskovsko-Kazanskaya Zh.D) in 1922. In 1924, the club brought together the strongest football players of several lines of the Moscow railway system as KOR ("Club of the October Revolution"). In 1931, the club was again renamed to Kazanka (Moskovskaya-Kazanskaya Zh.D) and in 1936, it was eventually renamed to as it is known today, Lokomotiv (the name means "Locomotive"). During the Communist rule, Lokomotiv Moscow club was a part of the Lokomotiv Voluntary Sports Society and was owned by the Soviet Ministry of Transportation through the Russian Railways.[citation needed]
Soviet era
editWhen the Lokomotiv Voluntary Sports Society was created in 1936, its football team featured the best players of Kazanka, and a number of strong Soviet footballers of that time such as Valentin Granatkin, Nikolay llyin, Alexey Sokolov, Pyotr Terenkov, Mikhail Zhukov, llya Gvozdkov and Ivan Andreev. Lokomotiv debuted in the first-ever Soviet football club championship with a game against Dynamo Leningrad on 22 May 1936. In the first two seasonal championships (spring and autumn), Lokomotiv finished fifth and fourth respectively. The first Lokomotiv success arrived shortly as in 1936, the railwaymen rose up to the occasion to beat Dynamo Tbilisi 2–0 in the Soviet Cup Final, thus winning the first Soviet Cup.[citation needed]
The following years were rather successful as Lokomotiv were consistent in the national championships. However, performances after World War II suffered and in a five-year span, Lokomotiv were relegated to the Soviet First League twice. In 1951, Lokomotiv came second and eventually won the promotion to the Soviet Top League. This kicked off the second Lokomotiv's resurgence and until the beginning of the 1960s, Lokomotiv competed for the USSR's top trophies. In 1957, Lokomotiv won the cup for the second time, and two years later, Lokomotiv won the silver medals of the Soviet League. Second place was the highest position ever obtained by Lokomotiv during the Soviet era.[citation needed]
Another important trademark for Lokomotiv was the authorization of playing friendly matches against foreign opposition. Typically, up to the late 1950s, international sports contacts with Soviet teams were extremely rare. However, since in 1955, Lokomotiv became a quasi-"football ambassador" for the Soviet Union abroad, participating in friendly matches in various parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa and even North America. This policy of openness ushered in a great era for Lokomotiv, with the squad including some of the finest Soviet footballers of the era, such as Vladimir Maslachenko, Valentin Bubukin, Victor Voroshilov, Zaur Kaloyev, and Yuri Kovalyov. When Lokomotiv's strongest players abandoned the club, however, Lokomotiv fell again from grace and a swing between the first and second divisions followed, instability lasting until the end of the 1980s.[citation needed]
Post-Soviet era
editIn the beginning of the 1990s, Lokomotiv was considered the "weakest link" amongst the top Moscow clubs. It lacked both results on the pitch and fans' support in the stands.[citation needed] In 2002, a new stadium—Lokomotiv Stadium—resembling a traditional, compact English one was built.[citation needed]
In 2002, a "golden match" was needed to decide who will be the champion, as Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow both finished with the same number of points after Gameweek 30. The game was played at Dynamo Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd. Lokomotiv took an early lead thanks a low drive from captain Dmitry Loskov, and eventually the goal turned out to be enough for Lokomotiv to claim the first title in the club's history.[citation needed]
Two years later, Lokomotiv again won the Russian Premier League, edging city rivals CSKA by a single point; Lokomotiv defeated Shinnik Yaroslavl 0–2 in Yaroslavl, a week after CSKA fell to city rivals Dynamo at home.[citation needed]
In 2005, long-time head coach Yuri Semin left the team to coach the Russian national team, where he was replaced at Lokomotiv by Vladimir Eshtrekov. During the same year, although leading the league for most of the year, Lokomotiv stumbled in the last games of the campaign, allowing CSKA overtake them and claim the title, with Lokomotiv ultimately falling to third. Estrekhov was later sacked and replaced by Slavoljub Muslin, the first foreign manager in the club's history. After a poor start to the new season, Lokomotiv recovered and finished third, but despite the respectable performance, Muslin was sacked; Anatoly Byshovets took the helm as his replacement, with Yury Semin returning to serve as team president. This brought little success to Lokomotiv, who finished the season in seventh, with the only bright spot being the victory of the Russian Cup. These poor performances prompted the board of directors to sack both coach Anatoly Byshovets and President Semin. Rinat Bilyaletdinov was subsequently named caretaker coach. This lasted until 6 December 2006, when Lokomotiv brought in Rashid Rakhimov from Amkar Perm on a three-year contract. Again, however, this resulted to be yet another poor decision from the board, as Lokomotiv only finished seventh in 2008, also beginning the 2009 season poorly. Unsurprisingly, on 28 April 2009, Lokomotiv fired Rakhimov; long-serving player Vladimir Maminov was installed as a caretaker manager. A month later, Semin was brought back to the club to take charge. After a really poor start, Lokomotiv recovered and finished the season on a high, claiming fourth place in the process.[citation needed]
In 2010 shortly after the signing of former Lokomotiv player Peter Odemwingie to West Bromwich Albion, photographs showed Lokomotiv Moscow fans celebrating the sale of Odemwingie through the use of racist banners targeted at the player.[3] One banner included the image of a banana and read "Thanks West Brom".[3] Before West Brom's game against Tottenham Hotspur in September 2010, it was announced that West Brom fans would unfurl a banner to counter the racist one, the banner read 'Thanks Lokomotiv' and is accompanied by a picture of Odemwingie celebrating his win on his debut against Sunderland.[4]
Before the 2011–12 league season, Semin left the club and was replaced by former Spartak Nalchuk manager Yuri Krasnozhan. On 4 June 2011, rumours spread that Lokomotiv chairman Olga Smorodskaya suspected Krasnozhan of throwing away the 27 May, 1–2 home league defeat to Anzhi Makhachkala, deciding to sack him on the grounds of the suspicion.[5][6][7] Lokomotiv was fifth in the table at the time, just one point away from first-placed CSKA. On 6 July, after a Lokomotiv Committee of Directors meeting, Krasnozhan's contract was officially terminated on the basis of "negligence in his job."[6][7][8][9] The Russian Football Union subsequently refused to investigate the case.[10] Assistant manager Maminov again took over as caretaker for three weeks until a replacement was found in the form of José Couceiro, who had himself just finished a caretaking stint as manager of Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Couceiro, however, lasted just one year in the role, as the club opted not to renew his contract at the end of the 2011–12 season. After Croatia national team head coach Slaven Bilić announced he would step down after his nation's participation at Euro 2012, Loko acted quickly to sign him to a three-year contract. However, Bilić's first season at the helm brought another disappointment, as Loko finished ninth, its lowest-ever finish in the post-Soviet era of Russian domestic football. Just prior to the 2013–14 season, Bilić was sacked and replaced with new head coach Leonid Kuchuk. Eventually, however, Lokomotiv ran out of steam and after only managing to win a single points from the last three matches of the season, Lokomotiv had to settle for the third place.[citation needed]
Recent history
editIn the following season, Kuchuk failed to build up on the improved performances of the previous season and with Lokomotiv languished at the ninth place, Kuchuk was given the sack prematurely. Miodrag Božović was called to steady the ship but despite the early promise, a disastrous run of one win in a stretch of nine matches resulted in Božović being sacked with three league matches to go and with Igor Cherevchenko re-appointed as caretaker manager for the second time during the season. Despite the poor league performance, wherein Lokomotiv placed in the 7th place again, Lokomotiv did end the season on a positive tone as Cherevchenko managed to rally his troops and win the Russian Cup with a 3–1 win over Kuban Krasnodar. This success, which brought the first piece of silverware to Lokomotiv in 8 years, was enough to convince Olga Smorodskaya to appoint Cherevchenko on a permanent basis. Lokomotiv's performances under Cherechenko did improve in the beginning but it was a false promise once again as in the end Lokomotiv faltered and did not manage to qualify for European football. Notwithstanding this, Cherevchenko was confirmed for the 2016–17 season.[citation needed]
After months of speculation, and with only two games in the new season, the board pulled the plug on Smorodskaya's disastrous tenure and relieved Smorodskaya hand Cherechenko from their positions. Ilya Herkus was brought in for Smorodskaya and with the goal of resolving the previous board's fractious relationship with the fans and bring them back to the stadium, Lokomotiv appointed Yury Semin as their manager for the fourth time. In also came crowd favourite Dmitri Loskov, who was assigned to assist Semin with his duties. Despite the good feelings brought by the change in management, Lokomotiv's performances seldom improved and a tumultuous season ended up in Lokomotiv placing in a disappointing eighth position. In what was the only highlight of the season, Lokomotiv managed to snatch the Russian Cup for a joint record seventh time by crushing Ural Yekaterinburg's dreams of their first ever piece of silverware with a two-nil victory.[citation needed]
Despite the average league performance, Semin was confirmed for the next season. Herkus' decision to retain Semin resulted to be a shrewd decision as Semin managed to do the unthinkable and rallied Lokomotiv to win the Russian Premier League for only the third time in their history. In Europe, Lokomotiv also performed admirably, as they managed to advance to Round of 16 for the first time in their history and got eliminated by Atlético Madrid, who eventually went on to win the Cup.[citation needed]
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Club Association suspended the team.[2]
Performances in Europe
editLokomotiv reached the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final twice, in 1997–98 and 1998–99. The club also played in the UEFA Champions League for the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons, progressing past the group stage in the latter only to fall to eventual finalists AS Monaco in the round of 16. They qualified to the group stages again for the 2019–20 season.[11]
Players
editCurrent squad
edit- As of 12 September 2024[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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League positions
editHonours
editDomestic competitions
editLeagues
editCups
editInternational competitions
editStadium
editLokomotiv play their home games at RZD Arena. Its total seating capacity is 27,320 seats, all covered. The stadium was opened after reconstruction in 2002.
Ownerships, kit suppliers, and Sponsors
edit| Period | Kit manufacturers | Period | Sponsors | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936—1992 | ? | — | — | Lokomotiv society |
| 1989 | Adidas | |||
| 1990—1992 | Score | Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation | ||
| 1993 | Patrick | 1993 | Victor | |
| Adidas | Galleano Transport | |||
| 1994 | Umbro | 1994 | El Campero | |
| 1995—1999 | Puma | 1995 | ||
| 1995—1996 | Samsung | |||
| 1997—1999 | TransRail | |||
| 2000 | Diadora | 2000 | Russian Railways | Russian Railways |
| 2001 | Puma | 2001 | ||
| 2002—2004 | Nike | 2002—2003 | Moscow Railways | |
| 2004 | Russian Railways | |||
| 2005—2010 | Adidas | 2005— | ||
| 2011—2014 | Puma | |||
| 2014—2018 | Adidas | |||
| 2018—2020 | Under Armour | |||
| 2020—2022 | Adidas |
League and Cup history
edit
Soviet Union
edit
| Season | Div. | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Cup | Top scorer (league) |
Head coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 (s) | 1st | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10 | — | ||
| 1936 (a) | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 15 | W | |||
| 1937 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 20 | 31 | SF | |||
| 1938 | 8 | 25 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 37 | 30 | R64 | |||
| 1939 | 5 | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 42 | 39 | 30 | R16 | |||
| 1940 | 6 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 52 | 25 | — | |||
| 1944 | no competition | R16 | ||||||||||
| 1945 | 12 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 54 | 5 | R32 | |||
| 1946 | 2nd, "South" | 7 | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 46 | 33 | 26 | — | ||
| 1947 | 2nd, "Centre" | 1 | 28 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 56 | 22 | 45 | Qual. | ||
| 2nd, Final | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 9 | ||||
| 1948 | 1st | 7 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 38 | 64 | 24 | R16 | ||
| 1949 | 11 | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 59 | 56 | 30 | R64 | |||
| 1950 | 15 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 41 | 73 | 30 | QF | |||
| 1951 | 2nd | 3 | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 72 | 38 | 48 | R64 | ||
| 1952 | 1st | 9 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 21 | 12 | R16 | ||
| 1953 | 6 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 18 | SF | |||
| 1954 | 10 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 21 | R16 | |||
| 1955 | 5 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 32 | 27 | 25 | SF | |||
| 1956 | 10 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 38 | 28 | 18 | — | |||
| 1957 | 4 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 39 | 27 | 28 | W | |||
| 1958 | 5 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 48 | 34 | 24 | SF | |||
| 1959 | 2 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 25 | 29 | — | |||
| 1960 | 5 | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 45 | 46 | 34 | R32 | |||
| 1961 | 5 | 30 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 58 | 42 | 38 | QF | |||
| 1962 | 13 | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 38 | 45 | 27 | R32 | |||
| 1963 | 17 | 38 | 5 | 19 | 14 | 37 | 54 | 29 | R32 | |||
| 1964 | 2nd | 1 | 40 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 45 | 30 | 53 | R32 | ||
| 1965 | 1st | 15 | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 37 | 48 | 24 | R16 | ||
| 1966 | 17 | 36 | 11 | 5 | 20 | 34 | 49 | 27 | R32 | |||
| 1967 | 17 | 36 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 33 | 37 | 28 | QF | |||
| 1968 | 10 | 38 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 35 | 39 | 37 | R32 | |||
| 1969 | 18 | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 33 | 47 | 25 | R32 | |||
| 1970 | 2nd | 4 | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 53 | 39 | 50 | R32 | ||
| 1971 | 2 | 42 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 81 | 33 | 62 | R32 | |||
| 1972 | 1st | 15 | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 48 | 21 | QF | ||
| 1973 | 2nd | 3 | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 47 | 32 | 46 | R32 | ||
| 1974 | 1 | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 73 | 33 | 53 | R32 | |||
| 1975 | 1st | 11 | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 28 | 33 | 26 | QF | 5x players – 4 | |
| 1976 (s) | 15 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 23 | 9 | — | 3x players – 3 | ||
| 1976 (a) | 8 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 15 | R16 | |||
| 1977 | 6 | 30 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 27 | 25 | 32 | R32 | |||
| 1978 | 15 | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 26 | 40 | 22 | SF | |||
| 1979 | 12 | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 44 | 57 | 24 | GS | |||
| 1980 | 18 | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 44 | 25 | GS | |||
| 1981 | 2nd | 3 | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 65 | 41 | 54 | R16 | ||
| 1982 | 4 | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 63 | 32 | 54 | GS | |||
| 1983 | 15 | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 51 | 47 | 38 | R32 | |||
| 1984 | 6 | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 44 | 37 | 46 | R64 | |||
| 1985 | 6 | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 52 | 51 | 43 | R64 | |||
| 1986 | 6 | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 63 | 48 | 53 | R32 | |||
| 1987 | 2 | 42 | 23 | 13 | 6 | 59 | 26 | 58 | R128 | |||
| 1988 | 1st | 7 | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 35 | 29 | 30 | R32 | ||
| 1989 | 15 | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 32 | 23 | R32 | |||
| 1990 | 2nd | 4 | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 52 | 34 | 47 | RU | ||
| 1991 | 1st | 16 | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 18 | 47 | 18 | SF | ||
| 1992 | no competition | SF | ||||||||||
Russia
edit
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Top scorer
(league)Head coach 1992 1st 4 26 13 7 6 34 25 33 — — Mukhamadiev – 7
1993 5 34 14 11 9 45 29 39 R16 — 1994 3 30 12 12 6 49 28 36 QF UC Round of 64 1995 2 30 20 5 5 52 23 55 QF — 1996 6 34 15 10 9 46 31 55 W UC Round of 64 1997 5 34 15 9 10 47 37 54 W CWC Round of 16 1998 3 30 16 7 7 45 28 55 RU CWC Semi-final Janashiya – 9
1999 2 30 20 5 5 62 30 65 R32 CWC Semi-final 2000 2 30 18 8 4 50 20 62 W UC Round of 64 2001 2 30 16 8 6 53 24 56 W UC Round of 32 Obiorah – 14
2002 1 31 20 9 2 47 14 69 R32 UCL
UCFirst group stage
Round of 322003 4 30 15 7 8 54 33 52 R16 UCL Second group stage 2004 1 30 18 7 5 44 19 61 QF UCL Round of 16 2005 3 30 14 14 2 41 18 56 R32 — 2006 3 30 15 8 7 47 34 53 QF UCL
UCThird qualifying round
Round of 32Muslin
2007 7 30 11 8 11 39 42 41 W UC First round 2008 7 30 13 8 9 37 32 47 R32 UC Group stage 2009 4 30 15 9 6 43 30 54 R32 — Maminov
2010 5 30 13 9 8 34 29 48 R32 EL Play-off Round Aliyev – 14
2011–12 7 44 18 12 14 59 48 66 QF EL Round of 32 Couceiro
2012–13 9 30 12 7 11 39 36 43 R16 — N'Doye – 10
Bilić
2013–14 3 30 17 8 5 51 23 59 R32 — Kuchuk
2014–15 7 30 11 10 9 31 25 43 W EL Play-off Round Božović
2015–16 6 30 14 8 8 43 33 50 R16 EL Round of 32 2016–17 8 30 10 12 8 39 27 42 W — 2017–18 1 30 18 6 6 41 21 60 R32 EL Round of 16 Farfán – 10
2018–19 2 30 16 8 6 45 28 56 W UCL Group Stage 2019–20 2 30 16 9 5 41 29 57 R32 UCL Group Stage 2020–21 3 30 17 5 8 45 35 56 W UCL Group Stage Krychowiak – 9
2021–22 6 30 13 9 8 43 39 48 R16 EL Group Stage Gisdol
2022–23 8 30 13 6 11 54 46 45 QF — Isidor – 8
2023–24 4 30 14 11 5 52 38 53 QF —
Notable players
editHad international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Lokomotiv.
Club records
edit
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Coaching staff
edit- As of 13 October 2022
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach | |
| Assistant head coach | |
| Goalkeeper coach | |
| Fitness coach | |
| Supply Administration Specialist | |
| Head doctor | |
| Doctor | |
| Head of physiotherapy and Rehabilitation | |
| Manualtherapist | |
| Physiotherapist | |
| Translator | |
| Masseur | |
| Administrator | |
| Operator | |
| Team Manager |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "RZD Arena | FC Lokomotiv Moscow". Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Which sports have banned Russian athletes?". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Osaze Odemwingie hits back at 'racist' Russian fans". BBC Sport. 27 August 2010. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "West Brom to counter Russian racism toward striker". BBC Sport. 10 September 2010. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "Красножан может быть уволен из "Локо" (Krasnozhan may be fired from Loko)" (in Russian). Sport Express. 4 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ a b "Lokomotiv Moscow fires coach who reportedly is suspected of match-fixing". The Canadian Press. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.[dead link]
- ^ a b "Lokomotiv Moscow dismiss head coach Yuri Krasnozhan over alleged match fixing". sports.ru. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ "Официальная формулировка увольнения Красножана – "упущения, допущенные при работе" (Official wording of Krasnozhan's dismissal reason is "neglect of duties")" (in Russian). sports.ru. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ "Title contenders Lokomotiv Moscow sack coach". Eurosport. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ "Фурсенко: РФС не собирается вмешиваться в дела "Локомотива" (Fursenko: RFU won't interfere in Lokomotiv affairs)" (in Russian). championat.ru. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ "UEFA Champions League: Full group-stage fixture schedule 2019-20". ESPN. 29 August 2019. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "Players". FC Lokomotiv Moscow. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
External links
edit- (in Russian) Official site
- (in English) Official site
- (in English) Fans' Organization "UnitedSouth"
- (in Italian) Italian Blog