FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. They are the league's reigning champions.

The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Division, the second highest division of the Russian football league system, despite finishing Zone South of Second Division in third. At the end of the 2010 season, they were promoted to the Russian Premier League for the 2011 season, despite finishing fifth in the first division.

In 2013, FC Krasnodar began the construction of the 35,074-seat Krasnodar Stadium which was opened on 9 October 2016. Until the stadium was completed, FC Krasnodar continued playing their home matches in the Kuban Stadium.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Club Association suspended the team, along with all other Russian clubs and national teams, from competing in European competitions.

The club owner and founder is Sergey Galitsky, a Russian businessman who has been rewarded by the Russian Football Union for his dedication to development of football in Russia.

In February 2008, FC Krasnodar had been granted professional status which allowed them enter Second Division (the third tier of Russian professional football). Its first official match was a 0–0 draw against FC Nika Krasny Sulin. The team was at that time managed by Vladimir Volchek.^{[citation needed]}

FC Krasnodar finished third in the 2008 Second Division season. Although the third place does not grant promotion to the upper tier of Russian football league, FC Krasnodar had been invited by PFL to take part in the 2009 First Division tournament. This happened because SKA Rostov and Sportakademklub refused to take part in the tournament despite finishing high enough to avoid relegation.

After being promoted, the club appointed Nurbiy Khakunov as manager. Krasnodar finished its debut First Division campaign tenth in the league table.^{[citation needed]}