Orel

In 2003, Orel and Dynamo Bryansk finished the Second Division's Centre zone level on points, and the promotion place had to be settled in a playoff staged in Tula. Orel won it. The title took them into the First Division, and the following year, 2004, they finished 6th there, the highest place the club has reached in the national league.

The two clubs contest the Central Derby, and 2003 is the season that gave it its edge.

The route to that point had not been straight. The club started in 1960 as Locomotive, became Spartak in 1963, spent 1973 to 1975 as Stal, and returned to Spartak until 1992. As Spartak Orel it took 3rd place in Class B, Zone 3, in 1966. It has been Orel for most of the period since 1993, apart from Rusichi from 2008 to 2012 and a short spell as Rusichi-Orel in 2022. In the 1996/97 Russian Cup it reached the round of 16.

The money then ran out. Professional status was lost in 2007, and the club had to be rebuilt in 2012, with a further reformation in 2022. In 2023 it won the Cup of the Central Federal Football Union, which brought back a place in professional football.

Home is the Central Stadium named after V.I. Lenin. Its green and white is worn by a side whose supporters call it the Eagles.