FC Spartak Moscow - Russian: Футбольный клуб «Спартак» Москва [spɐrˈtak mɐˈskva

  

FC Spartak Moscow

FC Spartak Moscow (Russian: Футбольный клуб «Спартак» Москва [spɐrˈtak mɐˈskva]) is a Russian football club from Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships (second only to Dynamo Kyiv) and 9 of 19 Russian championships they are one of the country's most successful clubs. They have also won the Soviet Cup 10 times and the Russian Cup 3 times. Spartak have also reached the semi-finals of all three European club competitions.

Historically the club was a part of the Spartak sports society. Other teams in the society include ice hockey club HC Spartak Moscow. Currently, the club is not connected with Spartak sports society and is an independent privately owned organization. They are nicknamed "Meat" (Russian: "мясо", "myaso").  

  

  

History

Foundation

In the early days of Soviet football many government agencies such as the police, army and railroads created their own clubs. So many statesmen saw in the wins of their teams the superiority over the opponents patronizing other teams. Almost all the teams had such kind of patrons: «Dinamo» – police, CSKA – army. «Spartak», created by trade union public organization considered to be «people's team».

In 1922 the Moscow Sport Circle (Moscow sport club of Krasnopresnensky district) (МКС, Московский кружок спорта), 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 reorganization 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 seatTomsky Stadium and was known as Pishcheviki . The team changed sponsors repeatedly over the following years as it competed with Dinamo Moscow, whose 35,000 seatDinamo 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.

The club founders, four Starostin brothers, played a big role in the formation of the team. The Starostins played for the red-whites in the thirties but right before the war they were subjected to repression as the leaders of the most hated^{[clarification needed]} team by the state authorities. Elder brother Nikolai Starostin wrote in his books that he had survived in the State Prison System due to his participation in football and Spartak. After the political rehabilitation, in 1954, he returned to the team but to another position, the one of team's manager.

Achievements

Domestic competitions

• Soviet Top League / Russian Premier League: 21

1936 (autumn), 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001

• • Runners-up (16): 1937, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011-12

• Soviet Cup / Russian Cup: 13

1938, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2003

• • Runners-up (7): 1948, 1952, 1957, 1972, 1981, 1996, 2006

• Soviet Super Cup / Russian Super Cup:
  • Runners-up (3): 2004, 2006, 2007

• Soviet First League / Russian National Football League: 1

1977

• • Runners-up : none

• USSR Federation Cup: 1

1987

• • Runners-up : none

International competitions[edit]

• Commonwealth of Independent States Cup: 6

1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001

• • Runners-up (3): 1997, 1998, 2002

Non-official[edit]

• Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy: 1

1982

• • Runners-up : none

• Copa del Sol: 1

2012

• Runners-up : none

Rival teams

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.^[7] One of the most celebrated rivalries is Spartak Moscow–Dynamo Moscow rivalry, 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 stadia. Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Spartak's rivalry with Dynamo Kyiv, one of the leaders of the USSR championship, was lost. Since Dynamo Kyiv now plays in the Ukrainian Premier League, both teams must qualify for UEFA tournaments to meet each other.

Spartak Moscow

Full name	Футбольный клуб Спартак Москва (Football Club Spartak-Moscow)
Nickname(s)	Narodnaya komanda (The People's Team) Spartachi Krasno-Belye (The Red-Whites) Myaso (The Meat)
Founded	18 April 1922; 92 years ago
Ground	Otkrytie Arena
Capacity	44,929
Manager	Murat Yakin
League	Russian Premier League
2014–15	Russian Premier League, 6th