Everything about Fc Zenit Saint Petersburg totally explained
:
For other uses, see FC Zenit (disambiguation).
Aleksandr Dyukov |
mgrtitle = Head Coach |
manager =
Dick Advocaat |
league =
Russian Premier League |
season =
2007 |
position = Russian Premier League, 1st|
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FC Zenit Saint Petersburg (
Russian: ФК "Зенит" Санкт-Петербург) is a
Russian
football club from
Saint Petersburg. Founded in
1925 (or in
1914 according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the
Russian Premier League and currently is the richest in the country, thanks to the sponsorship of
Gazprom. Zenit are the 2007 champions of the Russian Premier League and the holders of the
2008 UEFA Cup.
History
Before Zenit
The story of FC Zenit is tightly connected with the turbulent political history of
Saint Petersburg -
Petrograd -
Leningrad, Russia.
In 1897 the first football match in Russia was held in
Saint Petersburg on Vasilyevsky Ostrov, an unofficial game between the local English team "Ostrov" and the local Russian team "Petrograd" which the English team won 6 : 0. The players of those local teams were amateurs and loosely associated with each other. At the same time several formal football clubs were founded in Saint Petersburg, mainly around large industrial companies. However players' membership was unofficial and very loose, sometimes allowing the same players to play for several different teams during the same season.
Formation of Zenit
The original team Zenit stemmed from several football teams, which had changed many names and owners during the
Soviet era after the
Revolution of 1917. Powerful political forces had manipulated careers of individual players as well as the fate of the whole team. The club was renamed several times, and its owners and leaders were under political pressure for many decades.
The origins of Zenit Saint Petersburg date back to the beginning of the 20th century, to several predecessor teams in
Saint Petersburg, which were playing locally. The oldest documented predecessor of "Zenit" was team "Murzinka" founded in 1914, which played exactly on the same "Obukhovsky" stadium from 1914 until 1924, when the team became called "Bolshevik" (the new name for "Obukhovsky" industry and its stadium). The team and stadium survived the drama of
WW I, the
Bolshevik revolution of 1917, and the
Russian Civil War of 1918-1922.
In
1925, another predecessor team of Zenit was formed of workers from the Leningrad Metal Plant
LMZ, it was called "Stalinets" in the 1930s. Historians had documented that both teams predecessors of "Zenit" were playing independently until their official merger in the end of 1939. "Stalinets" wasn't the same team, named "Zenit" that took part in the 1938 USSR championship.
The current name of FC "Zenit" was registered in 1936 as Bolshevik became part of the
Zenit sports society and was renamed to FC Zenit, three years before "Stalinets" was merged with it. In 1939, during the rule of
Joseph Stalin, FC Zenit was ordered to take in members of the metallurgical workers' team, called
Stalinets Leningrad (translated as "Stalinist"). At that time the Leningrad Metal Plant (
LMZ) became part of the military industry and its sports teams, players and managers were transferred to the
Zenit sports society. After the end of the 1939 season, Stalinets was merged with Zenit which played in the second division.
Zenit in the Soviet League
FC Zenit won their first honours in
1944, claiming the war-time
USSR Cup after defeating
CDKA in the well-attended final. The club was always adored in Leningrad but wasn't able to make much of an impact in the Soviet League. In
1967, Zenit finished last but were saved from relegation because the powers that were decided it wouldn't be prudent to relegate a Leningrad team during the 50th anniversary of the
October Revolution, which occurred in the city.
Composer
Dmitry Shostakovich, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev and film star
Kirill Lavrov were well-known as ardent supporters of Zenit, a passion that's reflected in their attendance of many games, personal correspondence as well as official reports.
FC Zenit won the bronze medal in
1980, achieved Soviet Cup Final
1984 and, finally, won the Soviet League title in 1984. Next year, Zenit beat Soviet Cup holder in Soviet Super Cup (also named as Season Cup).
Zenit in the Russian League
The
LOMO optical plant took up the ownership of the team after the war. In
1990 FC Zenit was re-registered as the independent city-owned professional club.
After being relegated in the first year of the Russian League (
1992), Zenit returned to the top flight in
1996 and have been decent since. They claimed the
1999 Russian Cup, finished third in the League in
2001, made the Cup final in
2002, became the runners-up in the
Premier League and won the
Russian Premier League Cup in
2003.
Zenit today
Zenit today is supported by
Gazprom, who bought the majority of the club and invested over a hundred million dollars into buying new players and building a new stadium with a capacity of over 60,000 people.Zenit today is amongst Russia's strongest football clubs .
In
December 2005 Gazprom took a controlling stake in the club. The deal was announced by
Valentina Matviyenko, the Saint Petersburg governor. According to her, Gazprom has already arranged the construction of a
new stadium and was planning to invest in the club's facilities and equipment and the development of junior football leagues.
Although Zenit reached the quarterfinal of the
UEFA Cup in
2006, a mediocre start to the league season led to the summer replacement of
coach Vlastimil Petržela. Since July 2006, Zenit has been under the experienced and respected
Dick Advocaat
Squad number 12 is reserved for the Zenit's supporters ("
The twelfth man").
U21 squad
» As of 27 March 2008.Notable players
USSR
Russia
(Included are players who were capped for Russia and those who were ever in the RFS 33 Best Players of the Season list)
Honours
UEFA Cup:1
Russian Premier League:1
Russian Cup:1
Russian Premier League Cup:1
Russian Super Cup:1
Soviet Top League:1
Soviet Cup:1
Soviet Super Cup:1
References and notes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fc Zenit Saint Petersburg'.
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