Sokol

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. Currently the club plays in the third-level Russian Professional Football 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.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Сокол (Саратов) (russian)