Sergey Valeryevich Kulichenko (February 3, 1978, Karaganda — July 1, 2026) was a Russian footballer and sports executive. A forward and a product of the CSKA youth sports school (SDYuSShOR), he played in 2001 for Nizhny Novgorod's Lokomotiv. After ending his playing career, he spent many years working within Russia's national football team system, eventually rising to the position of team manager (head of delegation) of the senior national team.[1]

Playing career

Kulichenko began his professional career at CSKA (Moscow), for whom he played from 1996 to 1998 and then again in 2000. In 1998 he spent a season at the Estonian club Lantana (Tallinn), playing 10 matches and scoring 5 goals in the Estonian championship; that season he finished third in the league with the club.[1] In 1999 he played for Krylia Sovetov (Samara), and during the 1999/2000 offseason he was on the roster of Belgium's Mechelen.[2]

In 2001 Kulichenko played for Lokomotiv (Nizhny Novgorod) in the First Division of the Russian championship, appearing in 4 matches.[2] In 2002 he moved to Torpedo-ZIL (Moscow), where he played 9 matches in the top division. In that year and the next he played for Fakel-Voronezh.[1]

In total, Kulichenko played 19 matches in the Russian championships and scored 1 goal — for CSKA against Lokomotiv (Nizhny Novgorod) on November 1, 1997.[3]

At Nizhny Novgorod's Lokomotiv

Kulichenko spent the 2001 season at Lokomotiv (Nizhny Novgorod), which was playing in the First Division of the Russian championship. The forward played 4 matches for the club.[2]

Executive career

After ending his playing career, Kulichenko moved into administrative work. From 2005 to 2012 he held the positions of manager, team head, and administrator with various Russian national teams — the senior, youth, Olympic, and junior squads. In the summer of 2012 he briefly served as acting general director of Tekstilshchik (Ivanovo). From June 2012 he returned to working with the national teams as senior administrator, and from August 2021 he held the position of head of the Russian national team, which he occupied until July 2026.[1] In 2006 he defended a dissertation and became a Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences.[1]

Sources

  1. sport-strana.ru — Kulichenko Sergey Valeryevich — Sport-strana.ru
  2. footballfakts.ru — Kulichenko Sergey Valeryevich, born February 3, 1978. All footballers of Russia, the USSR, and the CIS. Information, biographies, teams, matches, goals, interviews
  3. 100bombardirov.ru — 100 Top Scorers — Russian Championship — Sergey Kulichenko