Russian football

FC Rubin Kazan

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:01:00 GMT

Rubin was previously called "Iskra" from 1958 to 1964, and then "Rubin-TAN" from 1992 to 1993. Having never played in the Soviet Top League, Rubin were promoted to the Russian Premier League in 2003, finishing third in their debut season to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Their 2004 campaign was less successful as they came 10th, but 2005 saw them finish 4th, again qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In 2008, Rubin won the league championship to qualify for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League Group stage, making them the easternmost team to play in the competition. Their championship season began with a league record seven consecutive wins, including victories against defending champions Zenit Saint Petersburg. Rubin clinched its first championship in club history and became only the third club from outside of Moscow to win the Russian Premier League (after Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz and Zenit St Petersburg). On 20 October 2009, Rubin recorded a shocking win over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League at Camp Nou. This was followed up by a 0–0 draw at home two weeks later. On 21 November 2009, Rubin secured a draw (0–0) against Zenit St Petersburg to win the Russian Premier League championship for the second season in a row.

Foundation of FC Spartak Moscow

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:20:00 GMT

In the early days of Soviet football many government agencies such as the police, army, and railroads created their own clubs. In 1921 the Moscow Sport Circle (Moscow sport club of Krasnopresnensky district), later named Krasnaya Presnya was formed by Ivan Artemyev and involved Nikolai Starostin, especially in its football team. The team grew, building a stadium, supporting itself from ticket sales and playing matches across Russia. As part of a 1926 reorganisation of football in the USSR, Starostin arranged for the club to be sponsored by the food workers union and the club moved to the 13,000 seat Tomskii Stadium and was known as Pishcheviki . The team changed sponsors repeatedly over the following years as it competed with Dinamo Moscow, whose 35,000 seat Dinamo Stadium lay close by. As a high-profile sportsman, Starostin came into close contact with Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) who already had a strong influence on sport and wanted to extend it. In November 1934, with funding from Promkooperatsiia, Kosarev employed Starostin and his brothers to develop his team to make it more powerful. Again the team changed its name, this time to Spartak Moscow.[7] It took its name from the Roman slave rebel and athlete Spartacus. It became part of the Spartak Sports Society during its establishment on April 19, 1935

Nickname of FC Spartak Moscow

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:20:00 GMT

The team is usually called "red-and-whites", but among the fans "The Meat" is a very popular nickname. The origins of the nickname belong to the days of the foundation of the club; in the 1920s the team was renamed several times, from "Moscow Sports Club" to "Red Presnya" (after the name of one of the districts of Moscow) to "Pishcheviki" ("Food industry workers") to "Promkooperatsiya" ("Industrial cooperation") and finally to "Spartak Moscow" in 1935, and for many years the team was under patronage of one of the Moscow food factories which dealt with meat products. One of the most favourite slogans of both the fans and players is "Who are we? We're The Meat!" "Meats by Ste'The other nickname is "Svin'i" ("Pigs"), although, unsurprisingly, this is considered offensive by the team's fans.

Rival teams

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:20:00 GMT

At present, Spartak's arch rival is CSKA Moscow; although this is a relatively recent rivalry having only emerged in the last twenty years. Seven of ten matches with the largest audience in Russian Premier League (including top three) were Spartak-CSKA derbies.One of the most celebrated rivalries is "Spartak-Dinamo", with neighbours Dinamo Moscow. However, this has faded somewhat due to Dinamo's poor performances. Matches against Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St.Petersburg attract thousands of people as well, almost always resulting in packed stadiums. Another rivalry was lost with the collapse of the Soviet Union. This was with Dynamo Kyiv, one of the leaders of the USSR championship. since they are now playing in the Ukrainian championship, they must qualify for UEFA tournaments to meet each other.

Stadium

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:20:00 GMT

Spartak has never had its own stadium and the team has played in various Moscow stadiums throughout its history and even once an exhibition match on Red Square. Currently, the club's home ground is the 5-star Luzhniki Stadium which officially belongs to another Moscow club, Torpedo. However, the club's new board has recently declared that "Spartak will soon play on their own stadium". The federal government has agreed to give land for the stadium near the Tushino air field. The construction will begin in 2007 and is expected to end in 2009.

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