FC Sokol Saratov
| Full name | Professional Football Club Sokol Saratov | ||
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| Founded | 1930 | ||
| Ground | Lokomotiv Stadium, Saratov | ||
| Capacity | 15,000 | ||
| Chairman | Aleksey Potapov[1] | ||
| Manager | Mladen Kašćelan | ||
| League | Russian First League | ||
| 2024–25 | 16th of 18 | ||
| Website | sokol-saratov | ||
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PFC Sokol (Russian: ПФК "Сокол") is a Russian association football club based in Saratov. In 2001 and 2002, Sokol played in the Russian Premier League. The club now plays in the second-tier Russian First League.
History
The club was founded as Dynamo. It was known by this name until 1930 and in 1946–1953. Other club's names include Lokomotiv (1956–1960), Energiya (1954–1955), Sokol (1961–1994 and 1998–2005), and Sokol-PZD (1995–1997). "Sokol" is Russian for "falcon".
Dynamo did not enter the Soviet league until 1946, when they debuted in the Third Group and were promoted to the Second Group at the first time of asking. Dynamo played in the Second Group until 1949. After a period of absence in the league, the club entered Class B in 1954 under new name, Energia. After a considerable time spent in Class B, Sokol were eventually promoted to Class A, Group 2 in 1965. Sokol played there until 1970. In 1971–1991, they played in the Second League.
In 1992 Sokol entered the newly formed Russian First Division. They played in this division until 2000, never finishing lower than 10th, and eventually won it. The 2001 season was the best in club's history. Sokol were leading in mid-season, but could not keep up and finished 8th in the Top Division. Andrey Fedkov, Sokol's striker, was capped for Russia national team. The next year Sokol were relegated after finishing last in the league.
The club continued playing in the First Division since 2003. In 2005 Sokol finished last thanks to a points deduction for failing to pay for player transfer. Instead of starting in the Second Division in 2006, Sokol chose to play in the Amateur League. In addition, the club was renamed Sokol-Saratov.
Sokol reached the semifinals of the Soviet Cup in 1966/67 and of the Russian Cup in 2000/01.
On 29 May 2023, Sokol ensured promotion back into the second-tier Russian First League.[2]
At the end of the 2024–25 Russian First League season, Sokol qualified for relegation to the third-tier Russian Second League Division A.[3] However, as Khimki, which played in the Premier League, were dissolved, Sokol was kept in the First League.
Current squad
As of 5 July 2025, according to the First League website.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve squad
Sokol's reserve squad played professionally as FC Sokol-d Saratov in the Russian Third League in 1994.
Notable players
Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Sokol.
References
- ^ "Алексей Потапов назначен директором "Сокола"" (in Russian). 1fnl.ru. 2016-06-07. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ^ ""ЧЕРНОМОРЕЦ", "ЛЕНИНГРАДЕЦ" И "СОКОЛ" В ПЕРВОЙ ЛИГЕ!" (in Russian). Russian Second League. 29 May 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "«Алания» Гогниева вылетела из Первой лиги" (in Russian). Sports.ru. 11 May 2025.
External links
- Official website (in Russian)