FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
| File:FC Zenit Saint Petersburg logo.svg | |||
| Full name | Football Club Zenit | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Sine-Belo-Golubye (Blue-White-Light blue) Bomzhi (Homeless, Beggars) Meshki (Bags, Sacks) | ||
| Founded | 1925 | ||
| Ground | Petrovsky Stadium, Saint-Petersburg | ||
| Capacity | 21,504 | ||
| Owner | Gazprom | ||
| Chairman | Aleksandr Dyukov | ||
| Head Coach | Luciano Spalletti | ||
| League | Russian Premier League | ||
| 2010 | Russian Premier League, 1st (Champions) | ||
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Football Club Zenit (Russian: Футбольный клуб «Зенит», English: Zenith)[1] is a Russian football club from the city of Saint-Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Premier League and currently is one of the strongest in the country. Zenit were the 2007 and 2010 champions of the Russian Premier League and the winners of both the 2008 UEFA Cup and the 2008 UEFA Super Cup.
History
Before Zenit
Zenit's history is tightly connected with the turbulent political history of Saint-Petersburg, Russia (also called "Petrograd" and "Leningrad" at times in its history).
In 1897, the first football match in Russia was held in Saint-Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island, 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 changed names and owners many times during the Soviet era after the Revolution of 1917. Powerful political forces manipulated the 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 date back to the beginning of the 20th century, to several predecessor teams in Saint-Petersburg that were playing locally. The oldest documented predecessor of Zenit was team "Murzinka", founded in 1914, which played in the same Obukhovsky stadium from 1914 until 1924, when the team became to be called "Bolshevik" (the new name for Obukhovsky industry and its stadium). The team and stadium survived the drama of World War 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 Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod (Leningrad Metal Plant); they were called the "Stalinets" in the 1930s. (Stalinets translates literally to English as "Stalinists"; however, in Russian, the name is a play on words as stal means "steel" in that language.) Historians documented that both predecessor teams of Zenit were playing independently until their official merger at the end of 1939. The Stalinets were not 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, three years before the Stalinets merged with it. In 1939, during the rule of Joseph Stalin, Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod became part of the military industry and its sports teams, players, and managers were transferred to the Zenit sports society. FC Zenit was ordered to take in members of the "Stalinets" metallurgical workers' team after the end of the 1939 season.
Zenit in the Soviet League
         "FC Zenit"
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In final 1944. |
FC Zenit won their first honours in 1944, claiming the war-time USSR Cup after defeating CSKA in the well-attended final. The club was always adored in Leningrad,[citation needed] 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 Soviet leadership 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 and film star Kirill Lavrov were well-known as ardent supporters of Zenit, a passion that is reflected in their attendance of many games.[citation needed]
FC Zenit won the bronze medal in 1980. They reached Soviet Cup Final and won the Soviet League title in 1984. In 1985, Zenit beat the Soviet Cup holder in the Soviet Super Cup (also called the Season Cup).
Zenit in the Russian League
The LOMO optical plant took up the ownership of the team after the war.[vague] In 1990, FC Zenit were re-registered as an 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 has 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.
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 have been under Dick Advocaat[2] Advocaat works together with his Assistant Manager, former Netherlands National Youth Team coach Cornelius Pot.
Zenit won the 2007 Russian Premier League, their best league achievement since winning the USSR Championship in 1984. That allowed them to compete in the group stage of the Champions League 2008–09.
In 2008, Zenit won the Russian Super Cup and reached the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup for the second time in their history. In the first leg of the quarter-final away game against Bayer Leverkusen from Germany, the team achieved a 4–1 victory. They qualified for the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in their history, despite a 1–0 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg, and were drawn to play further German opposition in the semi-final, Bayern Munich, considered the top team remaining.[by whom?] A battling performance in the first leg of the semi-final earned Zenit a 1–1 draw away against Bayern Munich.
In the second leg at home, Zenit won 4–0, defeating Bayern 5–1 on aggregate and going through to the UEFA Cup final for the first time in the club's history, where they met the Scottish team Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester on 14 May. Zenit won 2–0, with goals from Igor Denisov in the 72nd minute and Konstantin Zyryanov in stoppage time, to lift the club's first ever UEFA Cup. Andrei Arshavin was named man of the match.[3][failed verification] Zenit's Pavel Pogrebnyak became the top scorer of that year's tournament.[4]
On 29 August 2008, at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, Zenit defeated Manchester United 2–1 in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup, becoming the first Russian side to win the trophy. Pavel Pogrebnyak scored the first goal and Danny scored the second. Danny was named for man of the match in his debut for Zenit.
In the UEFA Champions League 2008–09 group stage Zenit was grouped with Real Madrid, Juventus, and BATE in Group H, which by some was marked as the group of death. Unfortunately the team finished in third place in Group H, behind Juventus and Real Madrid and was unable to progress to the knockout phase of the competition. However this position was good enough to earn the club a place in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup last 32 where the team faced Stuttgart of Germany for a place in the last 16 of the competition. This allowed the club a shot to defend the trophy that they won the previous season in Manchester. However after defeating Stuttgart on away goals, they went on to lose 2–1 over two legs against Udinese.
Spalletti Era
Luciano Spalletti signed a contract with Zenit in December 2009, with Italian coaches Daniele Baldini, Marco Domenichini, and Alberto Bartali also joining the Russian club. The Board of Zenit wanted him to return the Russian Premier League title, win the Russian Cup, and go through the group stage of the Champions League in his first year.
Zenit won the Russian Cup on 16 May 2010, beating FC Sibir Novosibirsk in the final (having beaten Volga Tver in the quarterfinal and Amkar Perm in the semifinal). After 16 games in the 2010 Premier League, with 12 wins and four draws, under Spalletti Zenit have obtained 40 points. This set a new Russian Premier League record for most points won at that stage of the campaign. In the summer transfer window of 2010, Spalletti made his first signings: forward Aleksandr Bukharov and midfielder Sergei Semak came from Rubin Kazan; defenders Aleksandar Lukovic from Udinese and Bruno Alves from FC Porto. On 25 August 2010, Zenit lost its first game under Spalletti to AJ Auxerre and failed to advance to the Champions League group stage, but Zenit will be playing in UEFA Europa League. On 3 October 2010, Zenit beat Spartak Nalchik to set another Russian Premier League record for most consecutive games going undefeated, with 21 games since the start of the league season. On October 27 2010, Zenit suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of rival club Spartak Moscow, seven games short of finishing the championship undefeated. On November 14, Zenit won FC Rostov and for 2 games before to the end won the championship title. This champions title became the first in Spalletti's career. Also Zenit went through the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in first place to the 1/16 stage. In the UEFA Europa League, in the 1/16 stage Zenit beat BSC Young Boys. On 6 March 2011 Zenit won against PFC CSKA Moscow in the Russian Super Cup, it became the third Russian trothy under Spalletti, after that all domestic Russian cups Zenit won under the Italian coach. On 17 March 2011 Zenit lost in UEFA Europa League FC Twente 2-3 aggregate in 1/8 stage.
Achievements
European
- UEFA Cup
- Winners: 2008
- UEFA Super Cup
- Winners: 2008
Russia
Soviet Union
- Soviet Top League
- Winners: 1984
- Soviet Cup
- Winners: 1944
- Soviet Super Cup
- Winners: 1984
League and Cup history
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup Europe 1936 2nd 3 6 9 9 13 1936 2nd 6 7 6 13 12 Round of 16 1937 2nd 4 12 22 18 25 Round of 128 1938 1st 14 25 7 10 8 38 57 24 Round of 16 1939 1st 11 26 7 7 12 30 46 21 Runner-up 1940 1st 10 24 6 6 12 37 42 18 1944 Winner 1945 1st 6 8 7 7 35 31 23 Semi-final 1946 1st 9 22 5 5 12 22 45 15 Round of 16 1947 1st 6 24 10 2 12 35 49 22 Quarter-final 1948 1st 13 26 4 9 13 29 48 17 Round of 16 1949 1st 5 34 17 8 9 48 48 42 Quarter-final 1950 1st 6 36 19 5 12 70 59 43 Quarter-final 1951 1st 7 28 10 8 10 36 40 28 Round of 16 1952 1st 7 13 6 2 5 20 21 14 Quarter-final 1953 1st 5 20 11 1 8 25 21 23 Round of 16 1954 1st 7 24 8 7 9 27 26 23 Semi-final 1955 1st 8 22 5 8 9 23 36 18 Round of 16 1956 1st 9 22 4 11 7 27 43 19 1957 1st 10 22 4 7 11 23 41 15 Round of 16 1958 1st 4 22 9 8 5 41 32 26 Round of 16 1959 1st 8 22 8 4 10 29 38 20 1960 1st 15 30 14 5 11 47 37 33 Round of 32 1961 1st 13 32 12 8 12 50 52 32 Semi-final 1962 1st 11 32 11 7 14 53 42 29 Round of 32 1963 1st 6 38 14 17 7 45 32 45 Round of 32 1964 1st 11 32 9 9 14 30 35 27 Round of 16 1965 1st 9 32 10 12 10 32 32 32 Round of 32 1966 1st 16 36 10 8 18 35 54 28 Round of 16 1967 1st 19 36 6 9 21 28 63 21 Round of 32 1968 1st 11 38 10 14 14 35 49 34 Round of 32 1969 1st 9 26 6 9 11 21 34 21 Round of 16 1970 1st 14 32 10 7 15 30 40 27 Quarter-final 1971 1st 13 30 8 10 12 29 32 26 Quarter-final 1972 1st 7 30 11 11 8 44 30 33 Quarter-final 1973 1st 11 30 9 12 9 33 35 21 Round of 16 1974 1st 7 30 8 15 7 36 41 31 Round of 16 1975 1st 14 30 7 10 13 27 42 24 Round of 16 1976 1st 13 15 4 5 6 14 15 13 1976 1st 5 15 6 4 5 22 16 16 Round of 16 1977 1st 10 30 8 12 10 34 33 28 Semi-final 1978 1st 10 30 9 8 13 31 46 26 Quarter-final 1979 1st 10 34 11 9 14 41 45 30 Group stage 1980 1st 3 34 16 10 8 51 42 42 Group Stage 1981 1st 15 34 9 10 15 33 43 28 Round of 16 1982 1st 7 34 12 9 13 44 41 33 Group stage UC First round 1983 1st 4 34 15 11 8 42 32 40 Semi-final 1984 1st 1 34 19 9 6 60 32 47 Runner-up 1985 1st 6 34 14 7 13 48 38 35 Semi-final 1986 1st 4 30 12 9 9 44 36 33 Semi-final ECC Second round 1987 1st 14 30 7 10 13 25 37 24 Round of 16 1988 1st 6 30 11 9 10 35 34 31 Round of 16 UC First round 1989 1st 16 30 5 9 16 24 48 19 Round of 16 1990 2nd 18 38 8 14 16 35 41 30 Round of 32 UC Second round 1991 2nd 18 42 11 14 17 44 50 36 Round of 32
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Top Scorer
(League)Head Coach 1992 1st 16 30 10 8 12 39 45 28 — — Kulik - 13
Melnikov
1993 2nd,
"Centre"2 38 25 8 5 87 33 58 Round of 32 — Kulik - 36
Melnikov
1994 2nd 13 42 14 12 16 44 49 40 Round of 64 — Kulik - 9
Melnikov
1995 3 42 24 5 13 68 42 77 Round of 32 — Kulik - 19
Sadyrin
1996 1st 10 34 13 4 17 32 37 43 Round of 32 — Kulik - 11
Sadyrin
1997 8 34 13 10 11 28 29 49 Semifinal — 
Gorshkov - 5
Byshovets
1998 5 30 12 11 7 42 25 47 Round of 16 — Panov - 8 Maksimyuk - 8
Byshovets Davydov
1999 8 30 9 12 9 36 34 39 Winner — Popovich - 7
Davydov
2000 7 30 13 8 9 38 26 47 Round of 32 UC
IC1st Round
Runner-Up Popovich - 10
Davydov Morozov
2001 3 30 16 8 6 52 35 56 Round of 32 — Popovich - 7
Morozov
2002 10 30 8 9 13 36 42 33 Runner-Up — Kerzhakov - 14
Morozov Biryukov Rappoport
2003 2 30 16 8 6 48 32 56 Round of 16 UC 1st Round Kerzhakov - 13
Petržela
2004 4 30 17 5 8 55 37 56 Round of 16 — Kerzhakov - 18
Petržela
2005 6 30 13 10 7 45 26 49 Semifinals UC Group Stage Arshavin - 9
Petržela
2006 4 30 13 11 6 42 30 50 Semifinals UC Quarterfinals Arshavin - 7
Petržela
Borovička
Advocaat
2007 1 30 18 7 5 53 32 61 Quarterfinals — Pogrebnyak - 11
Advocaat
2008 5 30 12 12 6 59 37 48 Quarterfinals UC Winner 
Tekke - 8
Advocaat
2009 3 30 15 9 6 48 27 54 Round of 32 UCL
UCGroup Stage
Round of 16 Tekke - 8
Advocaat Davydov
2010 1 30 20 8 2 61 21 68 Winner EL 1st Round Kerzhakov - 13
Spalletti
League results
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Squad number 12 is reserved for Zenit's supporters.
For recent transfers, see List of Russian football transfers summer 2010 and List of Russian football transfers winter 2010–11.
Players out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Youth Team squad
As of 29 April 2011.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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