FC Orenburg

Orenburg
Full nameFootball Club Orenburg
Founded1976 (1976)
GroundGazovik Stadium
Capacity10,046
OwnerGazprom (through subsidiaries)
ChairmanVasily Eremyakin[1]
ManagerVladimir Slišković
LeagueRussian First League
2024–25Russian Premier League, 15th of 16 (relegated)
Websitefcorenburg.ru

FC Orenburg (Russian: ФК «Оренбург») is a Russian professional football club based in Orenburg. Founded in 1976, it will return to the Russian First League in the 2025–26 season.[2]

History

It played professionally as Gazovik from 1976 to 1982 and from 1989 on. Before 1976 another Orenburg team, Lokomotiv Orenburg, played professionally, including three seasons in the second-highest Soviet First League in 1960–62. In 1989 Gazovik was called Progress Orenburg. Gazovik began Russian League at Zone 5 of Second League and relegated from Zone 6 from one to Third League in 1993. They stayed in Zone 5 of Third League until 1997 season, when they returned to third level. They finished Ural Povolzhye (Volga Region in Russian) as runner-up in 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons and finally promoted to the Russian First League in 2010.

On 2 May 2016, the club secured top-two finish in the 2015–16 Russian National Football League and with that, the promotion to the Russian Premier League for the 2016–17 season for the first time in club's history.[3]

On 25 May 2016, the club was renamed from its historical name FC Gazovik Orenburg to FC Orenburg.[4]

The club was relegated back to the second tier at the end of the 2016–17 season after losing a penalty shootout in the relegation playoffs to FC SKA-Khabarovsk. It was promoted back to the Russian Premier League after one season in the second tier.[5] It was relegated at the end of the 2019–20 Russian Premier League season. They were forced to forfeit two games late in the season due to COVID-19 infections in the squad and play more games with a weakened line-up. On 8 May 2021, they secured a second-place finish in the FNL and return to the Russian Premier League after one season in the second tier.[6] However, Russian Football Union rejected the club's application for a RPL license on 5 May 2021 due to the stadium not passing capacity requirements and other conditions, and their appeal was rejected on 12 May 2021. The club considered filing a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[7] On 24 May 2021, the club announced they will not file a lawsuit with CAS and will accept the RFU decision. They also announced that the club will begin the stadium reconstruction in June 2021 to bring it up to Premier League standards.[8]

In the 2021–22 season, Orenburg led the FNL for most of the season, before dropping out of the direct promotion spot to the 3rd place on the last matchday. That qualified Orenburg for the promotion play-offs against FC Ufa, which finished 14th in the Premier League. Orenburg won the play-offs 4–3 on aggregate thanks to the second-leg added-time goal by Andrei Malykh and returned to the Russian Premier League after two seasons in the second tier.[9] They finished their first season upon return in 7th place.

On 17 May 2025, Orenburg lost their chances of avoiding relegation from the Russian Premier League.[2]

Honours

Domestic Competitions

Current squad

As of 5 July 2025, according to the official RPL 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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
4 DF  RUS Danila Khotulyov
5 DF  RUS Aleksei Tatayev
7 MF  TUR Emircan Gürlük
10 FW  IRN Saeid Saharkhizan
11 FW  RUS Stepan Oganesyan
16 FW  CHI Jordhy Thompson
18 MF  RUS Aleksandr Kovalenko
19 FW  ECU Justin Cuero
20 MF  RUS Dmitri Rybchinsky
31 DF  RUS Georgi Zotov
35 DF  TUR Kazımcan Karataş (on loan from Galatasaray)
38 DF  RUS Artyom Kasimov
47 FW  BLR Timofey Martynov
59 DF  RUS Maksim Syshchenko
70 MF  RUS Danil Kapustyansky
77 FW  RUS Atsamaz Revazov
No. Pos. Nation Player
90 FW  RUS Maksim Savelyev
96 MF  RUS Aleksey Baranovsky
99 GK  RUS Nikolai Sysuyev
GK  RUS Andrey Khodanovich
GK  RUS Bogdan Ovsyannikov
DF  GEO Anri Chichinadze
DF  RUS Stanislav Poroykov
MF  RUS Yevgeni Bolotov
MF  RUS Vladislav Kamilov
MF  GEO Irakli Kvekveskiri
MF  RUS Vitaly Letechin
MF  RUS Aleksandr Lomakin
FW  RUS Ivan Gulko
FW  RUS Batraz Gurtsiyev
FW  BIH Gedeon Guzina

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
FW  RUS Osman Minatulayev (at Ufa until 30 June 2026)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW  RUS Dmitry Usov (at Dynamo Kirov until 31 December 2025)

Reserve squad

Coaching staff

Managers

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Orenburg.

Russia
Europe
Africa
Asia
CONCACAF

References

  1. ^ ""Оренбург" объявил имя нового президента клуба" (in Russian). sport24. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b "«Краснодар» остался лидером Мир РПЛ за тур до конца сезона благодаря победе над «Оренбургом»" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 17 May 2025.
  3. ^ «Газовик» в Премьер-лиге! (in Russian). Russian National Football League. 2 May 2016.
  4. ^ Футбольный Клуб "Оренбург" (in Russian). FC Orenburg. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Orenburg and Krylia Sovetov promoted to Premier League" (in Russian). Russian Football National League. 6 May 2018.
  6. ^ ""Оренбург" завоевал путевку в Премьер-Лигу" (in Russian). Russian Football National League. 8 May 2021.
  7. ^ ""Оренбург" готов обратиться в CAS при недопуске в РПЛ в виде исключения" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 12 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Заявление ФК "Оренбург"" (in Russian). FC Orenburg. 24 May 2021.
  9. ^ ""Оренбург" вырвал победу у "Уфы" и завоевал право играть в РПЛ" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 28 May 2022.