SC Rotor Volgograd () is a Russian professional football club from the large city of

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

Volgograd Oblast Volgograd Oblast ( rus, Волгоградская область, p=vəɫɡɐˈgratskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the Volga region, lower Volga region of Southern Russia ...

(formerly Stalingrad). The club plays in the second-tier

Russian First League The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Football in Russia#League system, Russian football league system. The Russian Professio ...

, and are the largest and best supported Volgograd club. For most of their existence, they have been the city's only representatives in the national league system. They played at the top level of Soviet/Russian football either side of World War II, from 1989 to 1990, from 1991 to 2004 and in the 2020–21 season. During the 1990s, they were one of the strongest clubs in newly independent Russia and qualified for European competition four times. In recent years, financial and ownership difficulties have repeatedly threatened their professional status and they have played mostly in lower regional leagues. The team currently plays its home games at the

Volgograd Arena The Volgograd Arena () is a football stadium in Volgograd, Russia. The stadium was one of the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It also hosts FC Rotor Volgograd. It has a capacity of 45,568 spectators. History The stadium was built on site of ...

since 2018.

History

Both the current team name and the former name "Traktor" are references to the

Stalingrad Tractor Factory The Volgograd Tractor Plant (, ''Volgogradski traktorni zavod'', or , ''VgTZ''), formerly the ''Dzerzhinskiy'' Tractor Factory or the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, is a heavy equipment factory located in Volgograd, Russia. It was once one of the larg ...

, once a major producer of tractors, and the scene of heavy fighting during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

during World War II.

Soviet era

The creation of a Russian national football pyramid immediately prior to World War II propelled Traktor Stalingrad to national prominence. Traktor were champions of the new fourth-level Group G in 1937, and were then promoted straight to the highest-level Group A as it expanded from 9 clubs to 26. They remained at the top level until 1950. Rotor then spent three decades at the top regional level, although the creation of the Supreme League in 1970 pushed their league from the second level overall down to the third. They gradually improved throughout the 1970s and finally won Zone III of the Soviet Second League (the third tier) in 1980 and 1981, and were successful in the promotion playoffs the second time. In 1988 Rotor finished second in the

Soviet First League The Soviet First League in football () was the second highest division of Soviet football,Evgeni Kazakov. The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футболу)''. History of Soviet football championships. Volume 1 ...

, earning promotion to the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

. They finished 13th and last in the downsized 1990 competition after the Georgian and Lithuanian teams withdrew, and the decision was made to relegate them. However they bounced straight back as champions of the First League in 1991, thus becoming founder members of the new Russian Top Division after the USSR collapsed.

Top Division/Premier League and Europe

In the mid-1990s, Rotor was one of the strongest clubs in Russia, rivalling Spartak Moscow for the championship, yet never winning it. Rotor became the league runners-up in 1993 and 1997. Rotor played five successive seasons in European competition, from 1994–95 to 1998–99. They qualified for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

through their league position every year except 1996–97, when they instead chose to enter the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

. Unfortunately for Rotor, the fall of communism had left all the former

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

leagues badly under-resourced compared to their Western counterparts, and indeed Rotor were knocked out by all four of the French and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

clubs they played. The exception came against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in 1995–96. Having drawn the home leg 0–0, Rotor raced into a 2–0 lead at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

before United scored their first goal. Rotor were seconds away from being the first European club to win at Old Trafford when United's

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Peter Schmeichel Peter Bolesław Schmeichel (born 18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During eight seasons at English club Manchester United, he won 15 trophies including five Premier League titles, three FA C ...

scored a famous equaliser, but the 2–2 draw meant Rotor progressed by the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. They went on to be defeated by eventual Runners-up

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in the second round. Full European results: * QR: Qualifying round In the 2000s, Rotor's results declined, and in 2004, the team finished last in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

. The club's owner Vladimir Goryunov, a member of the

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

and head of the parliamentary sports committee, explored options to save Rotor from relegation, such as expanding the Premier League to 20 teams. But in January 2005 Rotor were unable to make the required financial guarantees and so lost their professional licence entirely.

2005–2014: Financial troubles and decline

Rotor's reserve side in the

Russian Second Division The Russian Second League (), formerly the Russian Professional Football League, are both the third (Division A) and fourth level (Division B) of Russian professional Association football, football. History In 1998–2010, it was run by the :ru: ...

, Rotor-2 Volgograd, became the club's first team and was renamed Rotor in 2006. In 2007 local businessman Oleg Mikheev acquired the club's main asset the Volgograd Central Stadium, and with it effective control over the club, but financial troubles continued and the team's performances in the Second Division declined. Matters came to a head in 2009. Russia had officially launched its bid for the FIFA World Cup 2018 and Volgograd city was in line for a new stadium – provided they had a professional club to fill it after the tournament. Rotor, facing legal action and a transfer embargo due to their financial status, were not reliable candidates. The government created a new entity, FC Volgograd, intending to assume the Rotor name. In fact, Rotor managed to co-exist with the new FC for the first half of the 2009 season, before Mikheev suspended operations and the government took ownership of the club and stadium from him. The two clubs were merged into one, and the new Rotor Volgograd were promoted to the second-level

Russian Football National League The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Russian football league system. The Russian Professional Football League (PFL) used t ...

thanks to teams above them withdrawing. The regional Ministry of Sport invested 150 million roubles ($4.9m) in the club's playing budget for the 2010 campaign, but it ended in failure as Rotor were relegated in 17th place. Governor Brovko admitted that the transition to the higher level was made too quickly. Former club player Sergei Nechay took over management and steered the team to promotion as champions of their Second Division zone in 2011–12. This time they were able to consolidate in the National League, finishing 9th and then 14th. But financial troubles continued. A Ministry of Sport investigation found evidence of financial misconduct by club management along with substantial overspending, and regional Governor Andrey Bocharov announced after the 2013 season that government support for Rotor was being withdrawn. The club dropped back into the Second Division (renamed the Professional Football League) for the first half of the 2014–15 (autumn-spring) season, then withdrew in order to immediately transfer to the 2015 (spring-autumn)

Russian Amateur Football League Russian championship among amateur football clubs (III division) () is the fifth overall tier of the Russian football league system. Sometimes it is called Amateur Football League, after the organization that holds the competition (). The league ...

, the fourth level overall.

2015–present: Revival and a new decline

In the 2015 season Rotor won the Amateur League Chernozemye (South-West Region) division at the first attempt by 11 points, suffering only one defeat in 22 games. The 45,000-seater

was under construction on their old Central Stadium site, and it was reported in August 2015 that the first team was still interested in moving into the facility after the 2018 World Cup, which made attaining a higher league status a priority. They were licensed for third-tier

Russian Professional Football League The Russian Second League (), formerly the Russian Professional Football League, are both the third (Division A) and fourth level (Division B) of Russian professional football. History In 1998–2010, it was run by the Professional Football Lea ...

for the 2016–17 season. They won their zone of the PFL in the 2016–17 season and were promoted to the second-level

Russian National Football League The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Russian football league system. The Russian Professional Football League (PFL) used t ...

for 2017–18. Despite ending the 2017–18 season in the relegation zone, the club stayed in the league for the 2018–19 season as another team that finished above them in the table failed to obtain the league license. On 15 May 2020, FNL season was abandoned due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Russia The COVID-19 pandemic in Russia was a part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Russia on 31 January 2020, when two Chinese citi ...

. As Rotor was in the 1st position in the standings, they were promoted to the

for the 2020–21 season, returning to the top level after a 16-year break. In the

2020–21 Russian Premier League The 2020–21 Russian Premier League（known as the Tinkoff Russian Premier League, also written as Tinkoff Russian Premier Liga for sponsorship reasons）was the 29th season of the premier football competition in Russia since the dissolution of ...

season, Rotor only was able to score 15 goals in 30 games, and finished in 15th place, leading to relegation back to FNL after one season in the top tier. They also were awarded two losses due to a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

outbreak in the squad. In the 2021–22 Russian Football National League, Rotor finished 18th out of 20 clubs, suffering second consecutive relegation. In the 2023–24 season, Rotor qualified for the Second League promotion play-offs, in which they defeated

FC Novosibirsk FC Sibir Novosibirsk () is a Russian professional association football club based in Novosibirsk, playing at the Spartak Stadium. The club was established by the initiative of the Government of Novosibirsk Oblast in 2019. History The club wa ...

to earn promotion back to the

Honours

Leagues

(first tier) **Runners-up: 2 (1993, 1997) *

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(second tier) **Winners: 2 (1991, 2019–20) **Runners-up: 1 (1988) *

Russian Second League The Russian Second League (), formerly the Russian Professional Football League, are both the third (Division A) and fourth level (Division B) of Russian professional Association football, football. History In 1998–2010, it was run by the :ru: ...

(third tier) **Winners: 2 (1981, 2011–12) **Runners-up: 2 (1979, 1980) *

Soviet Second League B The Soviet Second League B or Soviet Lower Second League was an auxiliary fourth tier of the Soviet league system, because it was not consistent as it existed only for six seasons and somewhat randomly. It was the fourth highest division of Soviet ...

(fourth tier) **Winners: 2 (

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

, 2015 (Chernozemye Region))

Cups

* Russian Cup **Runners-up: 1 (1995) * King's Cup (Thailand) **Winner: 1 (1995) *Far East Club Championship (Held only once in China in 1998) **Winner: 1 (1998)

Current squad

As of 11 June 2025, according to th
First League website

Reserve squad

Historical names

*Traktorostroitel Stalingrad ''(1929~1936)'' *Dzerzhinets-STZ Stalingrad ''(1936)'' *Traktor Stalingrad ''(1937~47)'' *Torpedo Stalingrad ''(1948~57)'' *Traktor Stalingrad ''(1958~60)'' *Traktor Volgograd ''(1961~69)'' *Stal Volgograd ''(1970~1971)'' *Barrikady Volgograd ''(1972~1974)'' *Rotor Volgograd ''(1975~2004)'' *Rotor-2 ''(2005)'' *Rotor ''(2006~2009,2010~2014)'' *Rotor Volgograd ''(2015~2018)'' *Rotor ''(2018~)''

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Rotor. ;Russia/USSR *

Anatoli Zinchenko Anatoli Alekseyevich Zinchenko () (born 8 August 1949, in Stalinsk) is a retired Soviet football player and Russian coach. He is best known for being the first Soviet football player to play for a Western European professional club. His transfer ...

* Oleg Sergeyev * Aleksandr Ponomarev * Valeri Kleimyonov *

Igor Lediakhov Igor Anatolyevich Lediakhov (; born 22 May 1968) is a Russian football coach and a former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He played for almost a decade in Spain, mainly for Sporting de Gijón (eight years, amassing La Liga totals ...

* Evgeni Aldonin * Aleksei Bakharev * Albert Borzenkov *

Maksim Buznikin Maksim Buznikin (born 1 March 1977) is former Russia international forward or attacking midfielder. Buznikin spent his prime years playing for Spartak Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow. In 2005 Buznikin was chosen Rostov's footballer of the year. H ...

* Andrei Chichkin * Aleksei Gerasimenko * Yevgeni Makeyev * Nikolai Olenikov *

Roman Pavlyuchenko Roman Anatolyevich Pavlyuchenko (; born 15 December 1981) is a Russian football coach and a former player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He works as a forwards coach with FC Rodina-2 Moscow, Rodina-2 Moscow. H ...

* Aleksei Rebko * Aleksandr Shmarko * Oleg Veretennikov * Roman Vorobyov * Valeri Yesipov * Denis Zubko ;Armenia * Khoren Bayramyan * Armen Manucharyan ;Azerbaijan * Rizvan Umarov ;Belarus * Dzmitry Kamarowski * Andrei Kovalenko * Ivan Mayewski * Dzmitry Rawneyka ;Estonia * Sergei Pareiko ;Georgia * Giorgi Arabidze * Zuriko Davitashvili * Solomon Kvirkvelia * Beka Mikeltadze ;Kazakhstan * Vitaliy Abramov * Yuri Aksenov * Valeri Korobkin * Andrei Miroshnichenko * Vladimir Niederhaus *

Aleksey Shchotkin Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shchyotkin (; born 21 May 1991) is a Kazakh football striker who plays for the Kazakhstan national football team. Career Club Shchyotkin left FC Taraz in December 2014, signing a one-year contract with reigning Kazakhst ...

Dmitri Shomko Dmitry Andreyevich Shomko (; born 19 March 1990) is a Kazakh football player who plays for Astana and the Kazakhstan national football team. Career Club Shomko began his career in 2006 with FC Batyr Ekibastuz. He has been playing for Irtysh ...

* Sergei Zhunenko ;Latvia *

Ivans Lukjanovs Ivans Lukjanovs (born 24 January 1987) is a Latvian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger. Club career Lukjanovs was born in Daugavpils, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union. As a youth p ...

;Malawi *

Essau Kanyenda Essau Black-Mamba Kanyenda (born 27 September 1982) is a former Malawian international footballer who played as a striker. Career Kanyenda started his career in 1998 in Malawi's First Division for FC Welfare in Dwangwa. He was spotted by Jom ...

;Moldova * Alexandr Covalenco ;Tajikistan * Andrei Manannikov ;Ukraine * Yuri Hudymenko * Yuri Kalitvintsev * Hennadiy Orbu * Ihor Zhabchenko ;Uzbekistan * Vitaliy Denisov *

Yaroslav Krushelnitskiy Yaroslav Krushelnitskiy (; born 16 March 1983) is an Uzbekistani football coach and a former Uzbekistani international defender. Career FC Shurtan Guzar He joined FC Shurtan Guzar in 2010 and prolonged his contract with club for another one ...

* Vladimir Radkevich ;Venezuela * Andrés Ponce

References

External links

*
Fans' website

Rotor's Return: Goals, Ghosts and Stalingrad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotor Volgograd, FC Association football clubs established in 1929 Football clubs in Russia Sport in Volgograd 1929 establishments in Russia Soviet Top League clubs Works association football clubs in Russia