FC Luch Vladivostok () was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

. In 2005, Luch won the

Russian First Division The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Russian football league system. The Russian Professional Football League (PFL) used to ...

and played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Football in Russia#League system, Russian football league system. The Russian Professio ...

and won that tournament. Luch played in Russian Top League in 1993 and was relegated, having finished 15th. Luch played in

from 1994 until relegation in 1997, and in

Russian Second Division The Russian Second League (), formerly the Russian Professional Football League, are both the third (Division A) and fourth level (Division B) of Russian professional Association football, football. History In 1998–2010, it was run by the :ru: ...

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

in 2005. In 2008 Luch finished in the last position and was relegated to the

. 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 Khimki (, ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately northwest from central Moscow, and is part of the Moscow metropolitan area. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station that had existed sin ...

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, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with Luch Vladivostok dropping to the Russian Amateur Football League once football returns.

Domestic

Complications

Situated in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

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 (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club p ...

at home, a trio of Zenit fans drove 15,000 km across the country only for their car to break down when in

, leaving them unable to drive home. These fans thus took the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...

back to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, 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 said "They should join football league in Japan." after

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () 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 Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

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 professional football manager and former player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** ...

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

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an teams and another for Asian teams. Vladivostok is 4,000 miles from

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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

* {{Russian Premier League Association football clubs established in 1958 Luch Vladivostok Luch Vladivostok 1958 establishments in Russia Association football clubs disestablished in 2020 2020 disestablishments in Russia