FC Zorya Luhansk

Overview

FC Zorya Luhansk (Ukrainian: ФК «Зоря» Луганськ [zoˈrʲɑ lʊˈɦɑnʲsʲk]) is a Ukrainian football team based in the city of Luhansk. Due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, after 2014 the team was forced to play its games at Slavutych-Arena in Zaporizhzhia. The modern team was established on 10 April 1964 by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union, merging the October Revolution Plant (Luhanskteplovoz) sports club Zorya and the Luhansk regional branch of the "Trudovye Rezervy" sports society. In 1972, as Zaria Voroshilovgrad, the club became the first provincial Soviet club to win the Soviet Top League title. Today, they consider predecessor the football team of the Luhansk Steam Locomotive Plant (October Revolution Steam Locomotive Plant, today Luhanskteplovoz) that was established back in 1923, however due to poor performance of the factory team in the 1950s which played at republican level, the playing record of "Trudovye Rezervy" which played at all-Union level is also considered part of the club's history. It has been a flagman club in Luhansk Oblast and one of three Ukrainian football "teams of masters" that won the Soviet Top League. The name Zorya roughly means "dawn" in Ukrainian or more precisely the red skies phenomenon.