# FC Arsenal Tula

FC Arsenal Tula (Russian: ФК Арсенал Тула) is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League.
Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League in 2014 for the first time in its history after finishing as runners-up in the 2013–14 Russian National Football League. This achievement marked three successive promotions for the club. On its debut season in the 2014–15 Russian Premier League, it finished in last place and was relegated back to the FNL. The club spent one season in the FNL before returning to the Premier League for the 2016–17 season, in which they have competed until the 2021–22 Russian Premier League season, when they were relegated again after finishing last.
The team currently plays its home games in Arsenal Stadium, which has a capacity of 19,241.

## History
### Team name history

* 1946–58: FC Zenit Tula
* 1959–61: FC Trud Tula
* 1962–63: FC Shakhtyor Tula
* 1964–74: FC Metallurg Tula
* 1975–79: FC Mashinostroitel Tula
* 1980–83: FC TOZ Tula
* 1984–2006: FC Arsenal Tula
* 2007: FC Oruzheynik Tula (formed based on the squad and staff of FC Arsenal Tula, but was not a legal successor to Arsenal)
* 2008–11: FC Arsenal-Tula (formed based on the squad and staff of FC Oruzheynik Tula, but was not a legal successor to Oruzheynik)
* 2011–: FC Arsenal Tula

### Early years

Arsenal Tula played their first season in the USSR Championship in 1946 under the name Zenit Tula, competing in the Central Division of the RSFSR Championship and finished 5th in their debut season. The precursors to Arsenal Tula played mainly in the Soviet Second League and never played in the Soviet Top League. The club was the champions of Zone West of the Russian Professional Football League in 1997 and 2003 and competed in the Russian Football National League from 1998 until 2001 and in 2004. In 2005, Arsenal Tula did not receive an FNL license due to financial difficulties and once again competed in Zone West in the PFL. In 2006 the team FC Arsenal Tula was liquidated and FC Oruzheynik Tula was formed in its place, playing in the Amateur Division. In 2011, it was announced that the team FC Arsenal Tula would be reformed.

### Recent history

The present day team FC Arsenal Tula was formed at the end of 2011, replacing the former team FC Arsenal-Tula. The first coach of Arsenal was the famous Russian footballer Dmitri Alenichev and the coaching staff included Dmitri Ananko, Oleg Samatov, and famous goalkeeper Aleksandr Filimonov. The club's initial squad also had several famous players such as midfielder Yegor Titov and defender Dmytro Parfenov. Over the course of the 2011/12 season, Arsenal finished in 8th place in the Russian Amateur Football League and all of the famous footballers left the club. Trainer Dmitri Alenichev decided to replace them with young players.
On June 18, 2012, Arsenal received a license to compete in Zone Center in the 2012–13 Russian Second Division. Arsenal won promotion at their first attempt, finishing the season with 73 points and 22 wins, 7 draws, and just 1 loss. In the 2013–14 season, FC Arsenal Tula were promoted once again, finishing as runners-up and being promoted to the Russian Premier League for the first time in their history. Over the course of the 2014–15 Russian Premier League, Arsenal finished in last place with 25 points and were relegated back to the FNL. During this season, on April 9, 2015, Arsenal had a sensational 1–0 victory over Spartak Moscow. In this match, the fans of Spartak climbed onto the roof of Arsenal Stadium despite it being unsafe and one fan was hospitalized. This match resulted in the club being fined 500,000 rubles and being forced to play their next match against Krasnodar at a neutral venue. In the 2014–15 Russian Cup, Arsenal reached the quarterfinals, beating Zenit Saint Petersburg in their home stadium.
Before the beginning of the 2015–16 season, trainer Dmitri Alenichev left for Spartak Moscow and was replaced by Viktor Bulatov. Viktor Bulatov was sacked after 24 games, with the club having won 14, drawn 4, and lost 6 games under his tenure. Bulatov was replaced by Sergei Pavlov, who led Arsenal back to the Premier League, with the club finishing as runners-up with 82 points. In the 2016–17 Russian Premier League, Arsenal started poorly, and in October 2016, Pavlov was sacked and replaced with Sergei Kiriakov. Arsenal finished in 14th place and advanced to the relegation play-offs against Yenisey Krasnoyarsk, which Arsenal survived and stayed in the Premier League because of the away goals rule, as Arsenal had won 1–0 in Tula and lost 2–1 in Krasnoyarsk. In the 2017–18 season Arsenal hired Miodrag Božović, who led them to their highest ever position of 7th in the Premier League. Božović left Arsenal after one year. Oleg Kononov took over as the manager, but also left after 5 months at the helm. Igor Cherevchenko eventually led them to 6th place in the 2018–19 season, which qualified them for the very first time for the European competition, 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.
In the 2023–24 Russian First League season, Arsenal qualified for the Russian Premier League promotion play-offs. Arsenal lost to Pari Nizhny Novgorod 2–3 on aggregate and remained in the First League.

## League and Cup history
### Soviet Union

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup 1946 3rd, "Center" 5 16 8 0 8 38 49 16 1947–1948 1949 2nd, RSFSR-4 13 26 6 5 15 36 66 17 1950–1958 1959 2nd, Zone 2 13 28 5 8 15 26 44 18 1960 2nd, RSFSR-Zone 1 8 30 11 6 13 39 43 28 R64 1961 6 24 11 6 7 36 22 28 R128 1962 10 32 11 8 13 32 45 30 R256 1963 11 30 9 8 13 30 35 26 R512 1964 3rd, RSFSR-Zone 2 12 32 8 12 12 31 38 28 R64 1965 3rd, RSFSR-Zone 1 9 34 11 13 10 38 24 35 R1024 1966 2 32 15 13 4 33 15 43 R512 3rd, Semi-final 1 4 2 1 1 3 2 5 3rd, Final 3 3 1 0 2 4 5 2 1967 2nd (Group 2) 13 38 9 18 11 26 35 36 R512 1968 14 40 9 16 15 31 40 34 R256 1969 5 38 12 19 7 36 25 43 R128 1970 4 42 21 11 10 80 38 53 R16 1971 3rd, Zone 2 2 38 23 8 7 58 28 77 1972 12 38 12 10 16 47 51 46 1973 3rd, Zone 3 16 34 7 8 19 37 61 19 1974 3rd, Zone 2 10 40 15 11 14 42 51 41 1975 3rd, Zone 3 19 38 9 10 19 29 51 28 1976 18 40 6 12 22 26 57 24 1977 3rd, Zone 1 10 40 16 9 15 51 34 41 1978 3rd, Zone 3 24 46 8 11 27 39 70 27 1979 3rd, Zone 1 19 46 8 18 20 41 72 34 1980 8 36 19 5 12 66 43 43 1981 17 32 4 5 23 25 67 13 1982 15 30 6 6 18 24 56 18 1983 11 30 9 9 12 27 31 27 1984 3 32 19 5 8 56 29 43 1985 4 32 15 12 5 50 34 42 R32 1986 2 30 17 7 6 39 19 41 R64 1987 12 32 8 9 15 29 40 25 1988 16 38 12 7 19 56 61 31 1989 15 42 15 6 21 41 46 36 1990 4th, Zone 5 15 32 8 8 16 31 48 24 1991 12 42 19 7 16 54 41 45

### Russia

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup 1992 3rd, Zone 2 7 42 22 7 13 56 45 51 R16 1993 3rd, Zone 3 2 34 21 7 6 58 15 49 1994 3rd, Zone Center 9 32 14 7 11 47 33 35 1995 6 40 19 10 11 61 43 67 R256 1996 4 42 29 5 8 79 36 92 1997 3rd, Zone West 1 38 28 7 3 91 26 91 R16 1998 2nd 5 42 18 11 13 65 53 65 QF 1999 9 42 19 7 16 61 51 64 R32 2000 11 38 13 13 12 45 39 52 QF 2001 16 34 10 10 14 27 35 40 R32 2002 3rd, Zone West 2 38 23 8 7 66 29 77 R256 2003 1 36 26 5 5 83 18 83 R32 2004 2nd 13 42 15 13 14 39 32 58 2005 3rd, Zone West 13 32 8 8 16 26 31 32 R256 2006 18 34 7 4 23 26 58 25 R512 2007 4th, Zone Central - Black Earth Region 2 32 18 9 5 71 21 63 2008 5 34 21 8 5 75 27 71 2009 7 24 12 3 9 40 24 39 2010 5 22 11 2 9 27 25 35 2011–12 8 42 18 10 14 58 43 64 2012–13 3rd, Zone Center 1 30 22 7 1 74 20 73 R256 2013–14 2nd 2 36 21 6 9 62 39 69 R64 2014–15 1st 16 30 7 4 19 20 46 25 QF 2015–16 2nd 2 38 25 7 6 64 36 82 R64 2016–17 1st 14 30 7 7 16 18 40 28 R32 2017–18 7 30 12 6 12 35 41 42 2018–19 6 30 12 10 8 40 33 46 SF 2019–20 8 30 11 5 14 37 41 38 R16

### European record

As of 1 August 2019
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Agg. |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Europa League | 2QR | Neftçi | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–4 |

#### Notes

* QR: Qualifying round

## Feeder club

Arsenal's feeder club Arsenal-2 Tula participated in the third tier of professional Russian football, Russian Professional Football League, beginning with the 2014–15 season. The club was dissolved after the 2016–17 season. Another team was called Arsenal-2 and competed professionally from 1998 to 2002, it last competed as Dynamo Tula.

## Supporters

Traditionally, the games of Arsenal have drawn great interest from the local football loving population. In the 2011–12 season, when Arsenal was still an amateur team, over 13,500 fans showed up for a match between Arsenal and Rusichi, which is an attendance record for a Russian amateur game. In the second division, FC Arsenal Tula's attendance was over 8,000 people on average. According to data collected by the Russian Football Union in 2013, Arsenal's attendance was 15th out of 106 professional clubs in Russia. In the FNL, the average attendance of Arsenal was 10,844, with over 16,500 people showing up for the key game against Torpedo Moscow. In Arsenal's first season in the Premier League, the average attendance was 12,154.
There are several ultras groups among Arsenal fans including the well-known Red-Yellow Cannoneers. The shirt number 12 has been permanently retired by the club management in honor of the fans.

## Current squad

As of 25 February 2025, according to the First League website.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | RUS | David Sangaré |
| 3 | DF | RUS | Erving Botaka |
| 4 | DF | RUS | Daniil Penchikov |
| 5 | MF | RUS | Nikita Razdorskikh |
| 6 | MF | RUS | Vladislav Levin |
| 7 | MF | DOM | Edarlyn Reyes |
| 8 | MF | RUS | Artyom Popov |
| 9 | FW | RUS | Amur Kalmykov |
| 10 | MF | ARM | Ishkhan Geloyan |
| 11 | MF | RUS | Sergei Tkachyov |
| 14 | MF | MNE | Miloš Brnović |
| 17 | MF | BEN | Mattéo Ahlinvi |
| 18 | GK | RUS | Mikhail Tsulaya |
| 19 | MF | RUS | Kirill Bogdanets |
| 20 | MF | RUS | Ansor Khabibov |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | MF | RUS | Alan Tsarayev |
| 23 | DF | BLR | Zakhar Volkov (on loan from Khimki) |
| 24 | FW | RUS | Ilya Azyavin |
| 25 | FW | MNE | Uroš Đuranović |
| 31 | DF | RUS | Kirill Bolshakov |
| 33 | MF | RUS | Dmitry Sergeyev |
| 36 | GK | RUS | Mikhail Levashov |
| 44 | DF | RUS | Aleksei Berdnikov |
| 46 | DF | BLR | Ilya Moskalenchik |
| 50 | MF | RUS | Ilya Sokolov |
| 51 | GK | RUS | Timofey Kashintsev |
| 59 | MF | ARM | Tigran Avanesyan |
| 64 | DF | RUS | David Semenchuk |
| 78 | MF | RUS | Danil Lipovoy |
| 95 | DF | RUS | Aleksandr Mukhin |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | RUS | Vladimir Sugrobov (at Chelyabinsk until 30 June 2025) |
| — | DF | RUS | Daniil Melnikov (at Volgar Astrakhan until 30 June 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | RUS | Artyom Sukhanov (at KAMAZ until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | RUS | Maksim Kaynov (at Sochi until 30 June 2025) |

## Coaching staff

* Head coach – Aleksandr Storozhuk
* Assistant coach – Georgy Sakhvadze
* Goalkeeping coach – Denis Pchelintsev
* Conditioning coach – Anton Antonov

## Honours

* Russian National Football League:
** Runners-up (2): 2013–14, 2015–16
* Russian Professional Football League:
** Winners Zone West (2): 1997, 2003
** Winners Zone Center (1): 2012–13

## Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Arsenal.

## Managers

* Viktor Papayev (1989)
* Aleksei Petrushin (1993–94)
* Anatoli Polosin (1995)
* Gennadi Kostylev (1996)
* Yevhen Kucherevskyi (1997–99)
* Leonid Buryak (1999)
* Vladimir Yurin (1999–00)
* Vladimir Fedotov (2001)
* Boris Stukalov (2004)
* Yury Cheryevsky (2005–06)
* Aleksandr Chimbiryov (2008–11)
* Dmitri Alenichev (2011–15)
* Viktor Bulatov (2015–16)
* Sergei Pavlov (2016)
* Andrei Kozlov (caretaker) (2016)
* Sergei Kiriakov (2016–17)
* Miodrag Božović (2017–2018)
* Oleg Kononov (2018)
* Igor Cherevchenko (2018–2020)
* Sergei Podpaly (2020)
* Dmytro Parfenov (2020–2021)
* Miodrag Božović (2021–2022)
* Oleg Kononov (2022–2023)
* Aleksandr Storozhuk (2023–)