FC Lokomotiv Moscow

Early years

Lokomotiv was founded as Kazanka (Moskovskaya-Kazanskaya Zh.D) in 1923. In 1924, the club united the strongest football players of several roads of the Moscow railway junction 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. 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.

Soviet era

When 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.

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.

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, Gennady Zabelin, Eugeny Rogov, Valentin Bubukin, Victor Sokolov, Victor Voroshilov, Igor Zajtsev, Zaur Kaloyev, Yuri Kovalyov and Vitaly Artemyev. 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.

Post-Soviet era

In 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. However, head coach Yuri Semin and president Valeri Filatov were able to lead the club's progress, thus installing Lokomotiv as the "fifth wheel of the Moscow cart." Historically, Lokomotiv was not considered to be a big club in the same vein as Spartak, CSKA, Dynamo and Torpedo. With the former Soviet republics and their clubs gone, however, Lokomotiv took the opportunity to shine.

Solid performances in domestic league and several memorable campaigns in European Cups made Lokomotiv a superclub by Russian scales and brought back fans and supporters back to the stands. In 2002, a new stadium—Lokomotiv Stadium—resembling a traditional, compact English one was built. The arena, at that time considered to be one of the most comfortable, if not the best, in Eastern Europe gave a huge boost to the club's fan growth rate. Eventually, by 2009, the average attendance at the stadium was the second highest in Moscow.

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 amount 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.

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.

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. This appointment delivered immediate success to Lokomotiv as after a really poor start, Lokomotiv recovered and finished the season on a high, claiming fourth place in the process.

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. 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." The Russian Football Union subsequently refused to investigate the case. 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 Croatian 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.

In the 2013–14 season, Lokomotiv did not win the league title.

Performances in Europe

Lokomotiv 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.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Youth

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Domestic competitions

International competitions

Stadium

Lokomotiv play their home games at Lokomotiv Stadium. Its total seating capacity is 28,800 seats, all covered. The stadium was opened after reconstruction in 2002.

Russia