Garin Oleg Sergeyevich (September 22, 1966, Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai — October 2026, Khabarovsk) was a Soviet and Russian footballer, a forward. He played for clubs in the Far East, for Moscow's Lokomotiv, and for Nizhny Novgorod's Lokomotiv. He is best known for the 1994 season at Moscow's Lokomotiv, when Garin scored 20 goals in the Russian Championship — a club record that was not surpassed during his lifetime.[1]

Career

He began his football career at clubs in the Far East: in 1984 he played for Luch (Vladivostok) in the Second League, then returned to his native Nakhodka and spent many years — from 1987 to 1992 — as a forward for Okean.[2] During this period he consistently ranked among the team's top scorers: in the 1991 season he scored 25 goals, in 1990 — 17, and he finished the debut 1992 Russian Championship with 16 goals in 28 matches.[3]

In 1993 Garin moved to Moscow's Lokomotiv, where he spent five seasons. The peak of his career came in the 1994 Russian Championship: 20 goals in 30 matches, with four hat-tricks — three of them in that very season.[1] In total, Garin played 118 matches and scored 40 goals in the Russian Top League for Moscow's Lokomotiv.[4] The player's height was 172 cm and his weight 73 kg; his position was forward.[3]

At Nizhny Novgorod's Lokomotiv

In 1998 Garin moved to Nizhny Novgorod's Lokomotiv, which played in the First Division. Over the season he played 36 matches and scored 15 goals, becoming the best newcomer of the First Division for 1998.[3] In 1999 he played 4 more matches in the Top League for the Nizhny Novgorod club, after which he moved to Uralan (Elista), then to Lada (Tolyatti), and returned to Okean (Nakhodka), for which he played in 2000–2001.[2]

Death

Oleg Garin died in October 2026 in Khabarovsk at the age of 60 — shortly before that, in September, he had celebrated his birthday and given an interview.[1] The press service of Moscow's Lokomotiv expressed condolences and called him a "legendary forward" of the club.[1]

Sources

  1. sport.rambler.ru — Lokomotiv responds to news of the death of club legend Oleg Garin
  2. footballfakts.ru — Garin Oleg Sergeyevich, born September 22, 1966. All footballers of Russia, the USSR, and the CIS. Information, biographies, teams, matches, goals, interviews
  3. loko.nnov.ru — Oleg GARIN
  4. 100bombardirov.ru — 100 Scorers — Oleg Garin: all goals for Russian teams