Lokomotiv was founded asKazanka (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 theOctober Revolution"). In 1931, the club was again renamed toKazanka (Moskovskaya-Kazanskaya Zh.D) and in 1936, it was eventually renamed to as it is known today,Lokomotiv (the name means "Locomotive"). During theCommunist rule, Lokomotiv Moscow club was a part of theLokomotivVoluntary Sports Society and was owned by the Soviet Ministry of Transportation through theRussian Railways.[citation needed]
When theLokomotivVoluntary Sports Society was created in 1936, its football team featured the best players ofKazanka, 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-everSoviet football club championship with a game againstDynamo 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 beatDynamo Tbilisi 2–0 in theSoviet Cup Final, thus winning the firstSoviet Cup.[citation needed]
Lokomotiv Moscow in final 1957
The following years were rather successful as Lokomotiv were consistent in the national championships. However, performances afterWorld War II suffered and in a five-year span, Lokomotiv were relegated to theSoviet First League twice. In 1951, Lokomotiv came second and eventually won the promotion to theSoviet 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 thecup 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 asVladimir Maslachenko,Valentin Bubukin,Victor Voroshilov,Zaur Kaloyev, andYuri 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]
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.[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 atDynamo Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd. Lokomotiv took an early lead thanks a low drive from captainDmitry Loskov, and eventually the goal turned out to be enough for Lokomotiv to claim the first title in the club's history.[citation needed]
In 2005, long-time head coach Yuri Semin left the team to coach theRussian national team, where he was replaced at Lokomotiv byVladimir 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 bySlavoljub 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 theRussian Cup. These poor performances prompted the board of directors to sack both coachAnatoly Byshovets and President Semin.Rinat Bilyaletdinov was subsequently named caretaker coach. This lasted until 6 December 2006, when Lokomotiv brought inRashid Rakhimov fromAmkar Perm on a three-year contract. Again, however, this resulted to be yet another poor decision from the board, as Lokomotiv only finished seventh in2008, also beginning the2009 season poorly. Unsurprisingly, on 28 April 2009, Lokomotiv fired Rakhimov; long-serving playerVladimir Maminov was installed as acaretaker 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 playerPeter Odemwingie toWest Bromwich Albion, photographs showed Lokomotiv Moscow fans celebrating the sale of Odemwingie through the use ofracist 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 againstTottenham 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 formerSpartak Nalchuk managerYuri Krasnozhan. On 4 June 2011, rumours spread that Lokomotiv chairmanOlga Smorodskaya suspected Krasnozhan ofthrowing away the 27 May, 1–2 home league defeat toAnzhi 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] TheRussian 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 ofJosé Couceiro, who had himself just finished a caretaking stint as manager ofSporting 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 the2011–12 season. AfterCroatia national team head coachSlaven Bilić announced he would step down after his nation's participation atEuro 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 the2013–14 season, Bilić was sacked and replaced with new head coachLeonid 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]
In 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 withIgor 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 theRussian Cup with a 3–1 win overKuban Krasnodar. This success, which brought the first piece of silverware to Lokomotiv in 8 years, was enough to convinceOlga 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 the2016–17 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 appointedYury Semin as their manager for the fourth time. In also came crowd favouriteDmitri 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 crushingUral 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 thenext 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 toRound of 16 for the first time in their history and got eliminated byAtlético Madrid, who eventually went on to win the Cup.[citation needed]
Lokomotiv reached theCup Winners' Cup semi-final twice, in 1997–98 and 1998–99. The club also played in theUEFA Champions League for the2002–03 and2003–04 seasons, progressing past the group stage in the latter only to fall to eventual finalistsAS Monaco in the round of 16. They qualified to the group stages again for the2019–20 season.[11]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Lokomotiv 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.
