FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok

Football club infobox
clubname = Luch-Energiya


fullname = Football Club
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
nickname =
founded = 1958
ground = Dynamo Stadium,
Vladivostok
capacity = 10,500
chairman = flagicon|RUS Aleksandr Kostenko
manager = flagicon|UKR Semen Altman
league = Russian Premier League
season = 2007
position = Russian Premier League, 14th
pattern_la1= | pattern_b1= | pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FFFF00 | body1=FFFF00 | rightarm1=FFFF00 | shorts1=0000FF | socks1=FFFF00
pattern_la2= | pattern_b2= | pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=0000FF | body2=0000FF | rightarm2=0000FF | shorts2=0000FF | socks2=0000FF

FC Luch-Energiya ( _ru. Футбольный клуб "Луч-Энергия" Владивосток) is a Russian football club based in Vladivostok. In 2005, Luch-Energia won the Russian First Division and played in the Premier League in 2006 and 2007, although was almost relegated in the latter year.

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

History

Luch has been playing in the USSR championship since 1958. 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.

Complications

Situated in the far east of the country, their location poses a significant problem for away teams. When playing FC Zenit Saint Petersburg at home, a trio of Zenit fans (Evgeny Stepanov, Aleksandr Zaraysky and Veronika Davidova) drove 15,000km 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 October 1, 2006.In addition to this, Igor Akinfeev, the CSKA Moscow goalkeeper, said that "they should play in the Japanese League", after his team lost 4-0 after a seven hour flight. [http://www.fc-zenit.ru/eng/news.phtml?month=10.2006]

Current squad

As of 31 August 2008, according to the [http://www.rfpl.org/clubs.shtml?team=153&act=squad&year=2008 Official Russian Premier League Site] .

Notable past players

;Russia/USSR
* Anatoli Agrofenin
* Nikolai Gontar
* Andrei Kondrashov
* Ramiz Mamedov
* Aleksandr Smirnov;Armenia
* Andrey Movsisyan;Belarus
* Sergei Shtanyuk
* Gennady Tumilovich;Brazil
* Willer;Côte d'Ivoire
* Dacosta Goore;Czech Republic
* Marek Čech
* Marian Palát;Georgia
* Giorgi Lomaia;Latvia
* Jurģis Pučinskis
* Mihails Ziziļevs;Serbia
* Nenad Stojanović

External links

*ru icon [http://www.luch-energy.ru Official website]
*ru icon [http://www.luch.vladivostok.ru Sunstrike fan-club website]
*sp icon [http://fanaticosdelvodka.blogspot.com/ South America fan-club website]