FC Sokol Saratov

PFC Sokol (ПФК "Сокол") is a Russian association football club based in Saratov. In 2001 and 2002, Sokol played in the Russian Premier League. Currently the club plays in the second-level 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.

Current squad
As of 11 July 2024, according to the First League website.

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.


 * USSR/Russia
 * Viktor Samokhin
 * 🇷🇺 Dmitri Kuznetsov
 * 🇷🇺 Vladimir Tatarchuk
 * 🇷🇺 Dmitri Khlestov
 * 🇷🇺 Andrei Piatnitski
 * 🇷🇺 Albert Borzenkov
 * 🇷🇺 Andrei Fedkov
 * 🇷🇺 Denis Kolodin
 * 🇷🇺 Aleksei Kosolapov
 * 🇷🇺 Vladimir Lebed
 * 🇷🇺 Andrei Semyonov
 * 🇷🇺 Aleksandr Sheshukov
 * 🇷🇺 Oleg Teryokhin
 * 🇷🇺 Oleg Veretennikov


 * Former USSR countries
 * 🇦🇲 Karapet Mikaelyan
 * 🇦🇿 Deni Gaisumov
 * 🇧🇾 Gennadi Bliznyuk
 * 🇧🇾 Artem Chelyadinsky
 * 🇧🇾 Alyaksandr Hrapkowski
 * 🇧🇾 Petr Katchouro
 * 🇧🇾 Vladimir Sheleg
 * 🇧🇾 Vitali Trubila
 * 🇧🇾 Vital Valadzyankow
 * 🇧🇾 Pavel Zabelin
 * Zviad Jeladze
 * Mikheil Jishkariani
 * 🇰🇿 Ruslan Baltiev
 * 🇰🇿 Vitaliy Kafanov
 * 🇰🇿 Dmitriy Lyapkin
 * 🇰🇿 Oleg Musin
 * 🇰🇿 Maksim Nizovtsev
 * 🇰🇿 Yevgeni Tarasov
 * 🇰🇿 Sergey Timofeev


 * 🇱🇻 Vladislavs Gabovs
 * 🇱🇹 Raimondas Vainoras
 * 🇲🇩 Serghei Epureanu
 * 🇹🇯 Yuri Baturenko
 * 🇺🇦 Andriy Annenkov
 * 🇺🇦 Yuriy Hrytsyna
 * 🇺🇦 Oleksandr Koval
 * 🇺🇦 Hennadiy Orbu
 * 🇺🇦 Vladyslav Prudius
 * 🇺🇦 Dmytro Tiapushkin
 * 🇺🇿 Victor Karpenko
 * 🇺🇿 Maksim Shatskikh


 * Europe
 * 🇧🇦 Senad Repuh
 * 🇧🇦 Edin Šaranović
 * 🇷🇴 Ovidiu Cuc