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FC Luch Vladivostok (russian: Футбольный клуб "Луч" Владивосток) was an
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
. In 2005, Luch won the
Russian First Division The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...
and played in the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
from 2006 to 2008. 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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
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 The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...
and won that tournament. Luch played in Russian Top League in 1993 and was relegated, having finished 15th. Luch played in
Russian First Division The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...
from 1994 until relegation in 1997, and in
Russian Second Division The Russian Second League (russian: Первенство России II дивизиона ФНЛ), formerly Russian Professional Football League is the third level of Russian professional football. History In 1998–2010, it was run by the Pr ...
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 The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
in 2005. In 2008 Luch finished in the last position and was relegated to the
Russian First Division The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...
. 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. 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. 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. On 16 July 2018, the club was renamed back to FC Luch. On 1 April 2020, the government of
Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...
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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, with Luch Vladivostok dropping to the
Russian Amateur Football League Russian championship among amateur football clubs (III division) (russian: Первенство России среди любительских футбольных клубов (III дивизион)) is the fourth overall tier of the Russian f ...
once football returns.


Domestic

:


Complications

Situated in the
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...
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 Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acc ...
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 The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...
back to
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, upon which the club rewarded them with a new car on 1 October 2006. 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 Igor Vladimirovich Akinfeev ( rus, Игорь Владимирович Акинфеев, Igor' Vladimirovich Akinfeyev, p=ˈiɡərʲ vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ɐkʲɪnˈfʲe(j)ɪf; born 8 April 1986) is a Russian professional footballer who pla ...
said "They should join football league in Japan." after
CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...
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 Matija Kristić (born 10 October 1978) is a Croatian football manager and former football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the ...
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 Srđan Radonjić (Cyrillic: Срђан Радоњић; born 8 May 1981) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as striker. Radonjić represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He later played for the M ...
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 Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
."


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


External links


Official website
{{Russian Premier League Association football clubs established in 1958 Luch Vladivostok Luch Vladivostok 1958 establishments in Russia