Baltika

Full name	Football Club Baltika Kaliningrad
Nickname(s)	Balda
Founded	1954; 70 years ago (1954)
Ground	Kaliningrad Stadium
Capacity	35,016
Owner	Kaliningrad/Kaliningrad Oblast
Chairman	Kirill Volzhenkin
Manager	Sergei Ignashevich
League	Russian Premier League
2022–23	Russian First League, 2nd of 18th (promoted)
Website	Club website

FC Baltika (Russian: Акционерное Общество «Футбольный клуб «Балтика») is a professional association football club based in Kaliningrad, Russia. The club will be promoted to the Russian Premier League for the 2023–24 season.^[1]

History

The club was founded on 22 December 1954 as Pishchevik Kaliningrad. In 1958 the club was renamed Baltika.

The team entered the Soviet League in 1957 and played in Class B (1957–1965), Class A, Group 2 (1966–1970), and Second League (1971–1991). The best result was achieved in 1984, when Baltika won the regional group tournament.

In 1992 Baltika entered the Russian Second Division and won the regional tournament and promotion to the First Division. After a fourth-place finish in 1993 and third position in 1994 Baltika won the division in 1995. In 1996 Baltika achieved the best result in club's history, finishing 7th in the Top Division, the Russian Premier League. Baltika were relegated in 1998, spending a total of three seasons in the top flight. In 1998 Baltika participated in the Intertoto Cup and reached the third round.

Since then, Baltika played in the First Division, except for the 2002 and 2005 seasons which they spent in the Second Division.

In 2018–19 Russian Football National League, they finished 16th (a relegation spot). However, PFL zone East winners FC Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk did not apply for the FNL license, keeping Baltika in the league.^[2]

On 19 May 2023, Baltika secured a promotion to the Russian Premier League for the first time in 25 years.^[1]

League results

Current squad

As of 21 February 2024, according to the official Russian Premier League website.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  RUS Yevgeni Latyshonok 2 DF  RUS Aleksandr Zhirov 3 DF  RUS Kirill Malyarov 4 DF  FRA Nathan Gassama 5 MF  RUS Aleksandr Osipov 6 MF  RUS Maksim Kuzmin 7 DF  BOL Roberto Fernández (on loan from Bolívar) 8 MF  BLR Kirill Kaplenko 9 FW  BIH Gedeon Guzina 10 FW  GHA Joel Fameyeh (on loan from Rubin Kazan) 11 MF  BLR Yury Kavalyow 13 DF  VEN Diego Luna 16 DF  COL Kevin Andrade 17 MF  CRO Kristijan Bistrović (on loan from CSKA Moscow)

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW  CHI Ángelo Henríquez 19 MF  RUS Sergei Pryakhin 21 DF  SRB Ivan Ostojić 23 GK  RUS Ivan Konovalov 24 MF  RUS Dmitri Rybchinsky 25 FW  BRA Alex Fernandes 26 DF  SRB Nikola Radmanovac 35 GK  RUS Soslan Dzhanayev 59 MF  ARM Tigran Avanesyan 67 GK  RUS Maksim Borisko 77 MF  RUS Danila Kozlov 80 MF  RUS Yaroslav Arbuzov 88 FW  BLR Vitaly Lisakovich (on loan from Rubin Kazan) 89 MF  RUS Vladislav Lazarev

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  RUS Aleksandr Koryakin (at Rodina-2 Moscow until 30 June 2024) — MF  POR João Lameira (at Oțelul Galați until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  RUS Gocha Gogrichiani (at Volgar Astrakhan until 30 June 2024)

Reserve team

Reserve team

Baltika's reserve team played professionally in the Russian Third League in 1994 as FC Baltika-d Kaliningrad and in the Russian Second Division in 2006 and 2007 as FC Baltika-2 Kaliningrad.

Notable players

These players had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Baltika.

Club staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Sergei Ignashevich
Assistant Manager	Dmitri Michkov
First-Team Coach	Leonid Tkachenko
First-Team Coach	Artsyom Buloychyk
Fitness Coach	Mikhail Solovey
Club Doctor	Ruslan Zasiev
Team Manager	Evgeniy Buda