PFC Sochi

PFC Sochi stands as the only professional football club in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. The team emerged on June 6, 2018, when FC Dynamo Saint Petersburg relocated to this southern location under the ownership of Boris Rotenberg. Dmitry Rubashko took on the role of Director General to help steer the new entity through its early years.

Sochi plays its home matches at the Fisht Olympic Stadium, a massive venue built for the 2014 Winter Olympics that seats 47,659 spectators. While the stadium is their primary ground, the club has occasionally utilized the smaller Sochi Central Stadium for specific fixtures. Their kits feature white and blue colors, which earned them the nickname Belo-sinie, while the moniker Leopardy pays homage to the region's wildlife and the mascot from the 2014 Games. [edit]

Aleksandr Tochilin guided PFC Sochi through their inaugural 2018–19 season in the Russian National Football League. The team secured a top-two finish that year, earning immediate promotion to the Russian Premier League for the 2019–20 campaign. They finished 12th in their debut top-flight season, a solid result for a newly promoted side.

The 2020–21 season brought a record-breaking 10–1 victory over FC Rostov, marking the biggest win in the club's Premier League history. Vladimir Fedotov took charge the following season and led Sochi to a third-place finish in the 2021–22 Russian Premier League. This achievement qualified the team for the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers, where they defeated Keshla twice before falling to Partizan Belgrade. Domestically, they reached the Russian Cup quarter-finals but lost 1–3 to eventual champions Lokomotiv Moscow.

Managerial instability followed this peak period with tenures by Vadim Garanin, Kurban Berdyev, and Dmitriy Khokhlov. These changes contributed to a decline that saw Sochi finish 16th in the 2025–26 season, resulting in relegation to the Russian First League. As of the 2026–27 season, Igor Osinkin leads the squad in the lower division, where they currently sit 9th after three matches. [edit]