FC Khimik Novomoskovsk

Khimik (Novomoskovsk) is a Russian football club based in Novomoskovsk, Tula Oblast. He played in the championship of the USSR in class "B" and the second league under the names "Shakhter", "Trud" and "Khimik" (1954-1979) and the championship of Russia in the second and third leagues - "Don", "Khimik" and "Khimik- Arsenal (seasons 1993-2007, 2017/18-2020/21).

History

A team of craftsmen was created in Stalinogorsk in the postwar years. Best result - 2nd place in the zonal tournament class "B" in 1970. The highest achievement in the USSR Cup is the quarterfinal of the 1961 draw, on the way to which the capital's Dynamo was passed. At that time, the peak of football's popularity was observed in the city - the match with Dynamo gathered 17 thousand spectators[1].

In 1979, Khimik finished 24th among 25 teams in their second league zone and was disbanded. In the future, Novomoskovsk was represented only in the regional championship. The team was revived only in 1993, already under the name "Don". Two years later, Novomoskovites won the third zone of the Third League and got the opportunity to play a higher rank.

In the 2007 season, the club took the last, 16th place in the second division and lost its professional status, and in 2009 withdrew from the LFL tournament due to financial problems.

In 2010, "Khimik" was again declared in the LFL "Chernozemye" and performed successfully: he won the Cup of the Chernozem Region, and took 2nd place in the championship.

At the final of the Cup of Russia among amateurs held in Sochi in 2010, the Novomoskovites finished third. And since the first two teams refused to move to the second division, Khimik got the opportunity to do it instead of them[2]. However, due to the planned reconstruction of the stadium, Novomoskovites remained in the amateur league.

Season 2011/12 "Khimik" again finished on the second line of the standings of the zone "Chernozemye".

In 2014, a double team [3] entered the championship of the Tula region, since 2017 Khimik-2 has been playing in the third division (Chernozemye - SFF Center).

In 2016, the club became the owner of the Russian Cup among exercise therapy[4].

In June 2017, the club entered the structure of the Tula Arsenal [5].

In July 2017, the team received a license to play in the Center group of the PFL Championship.

Since the 2019/20 season, it has become the farm club of Tula Arsenal. Legally, the team was named Khimik-Arsenal (Tula), but Khimik continued to train and play home matches in Novomoskovsk[6].

Before the 2021/22 season in the Second Division, the FNL was replaced by Arsenal-2 [7].