FC Baltika Kaliningrad explained

Clubname:	Baltika
Upright:	0.8
Fullname:	Football Club Baltika Kaliningrad
Nickname:	Balda
Ground:	Kaliningrad Stadium
Capacity:	35,016
Website:	https://www.fc-baltika.ru/
Chairman:	Ravil Izmaylov
Chrtitle:	General director
Owner:	Kaliningrad/Kaliningrad Oblast
Manager:	Aleksandr Grishchenko
League:	Russian First League
Season:	2023–24
Current:	2024–25 FC Baltika Kaliningrad season
Position:	Russian Premier League, 15th of 16th (relegated)
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Pattern B1:	_baltika2023h
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Pattern Sh1:	_baltika2023h
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Pattern B2:	_baltika2023aw
Pattern Ra2:	_baltika2023a
Pattern Sh2:	_baltika1920h
Pattern So2:	_baltikaBFU2023
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Pattern La3:	_kaizer2021t
Pattern B3:	_baltika2021t
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FC Baltika (Russian: Акционерное Общество «Футбольный клуб «Балтика») is a professional association football club based in Kaliningrad, Russia. The club will return to the Russian First League in the 2024–25 season.

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.^[1]

On 19 May 2023, Baltika secured a promotion to the Russian Premier League for the first time in 25 years.^[2]

In the 2023–24 Russian Cup, Baltika advanced to the Superfinal.^[3]

Baltika finished 15th in the league season and was relegated back to second tier after one year in the Premier League.^[4]

On 2 June 2024, Baltika lost the 2024 Russian Cup final to Zenit St. Petersburg with the score of 1–2, Baltika initially led 1–0 and conceded two goals in the 81st minute and in the 5th added minute.^[5]

League results

ImageSize = width:800 height:60PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyyDateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1991 till:01/07/2022ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1992Colors = id:bl1 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:bl2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3) id:rs value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6) id:rn value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1)

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from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:20 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:

from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 color:rs shift:(0,13) text: "D2" from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1995 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "D1" from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1998 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "RFPL" from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2001 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "D1" from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 color:rs shift:(0,13) text: "D2" from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2004 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "D1" from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 color:rs shift:(0,13) text: "D2" from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2021 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "D1"

Current squad

As of 5 August 2024, according to the official Russian First League website.

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.