FC Tractor Stalingrad in the 1941 season

New squad

After five years of personnel stability, the team lost 4 players in the offseason, who played in the starting lineup in the 1940 season . The striking three of the strikers Provornov , Ponomarev , Protsenko and central defender Georgy Ivanov were transferred to the created class “A” team “ Trade Unions-1 ”. ^[one]

Alexander Keller , a 30-year-old native of the Volga German family, was appointed head coach of Tractor. In 1938-1940 he worked as a playing coach for the Torpedo class B team (Gorky) . Mikhail Kirillov, who led the Tractor in the second round of the 1940 championship, became the second coach.

Keller brought to the Tractor from Gorky quarterback Sergei Plonsky , who in 1937 played two matches for the Moscow Spartak and midfielder Yevgeny Shpinyov . The left-welterweight Leonid Sheremet came to Stalingrad from the team of group “B” “Sudostroitel” (Nikolaev) . The loudest acquisition was the flank striker Sergei Papkov from the disbanded Moscow Metallurg - in 1938 he was included in the list of 55 best players of the USSR .

Season Prep

Traditionally, the Tractor field training camp was held in the second half of March in Yevpatoriya , where the team trained from the 19th. The spring of 1941 turned out to be abnormally cold, instead of the usual Crimean weather, snow fell several times, grass did not grow on the training field. The Tractor’s gathering neighbors, the Stakhanovets team (Stalin), urgently returned home, while the Stalingraders completed the training program to the end. ^[2]

USSR Championship

The new coach Alexander Keller in the first 6 rounds let goalkeepers take turns, and Usov played against Dynamo Kyiv . Pokrovsky was transferred from the left flank to the defense center to replace Ivanov, who had left for the Moscow Trade Unions-1, from the left flank. The main reshuffle was the transfer to the attack of the defender Matveev , who immediately scored a direct shot from the corner - goalkeeper Trusevich caught the ball already behind the goal line. All matches of Tractor and Dynamo (Kiev), starting in 1939, ended with the victory of the guests, and once a year without fail with a score of 2: 3. “The reason for this is the superiority of technical forwards over defense,” Red Sport explained. ^[3]

The second game took place on the dirty field of the Tractor Stadium in the rain. At " Zenith " was the first time the transfer was played after the transition from the Leningrad Dynamo Peter Dementiev . As part of the "Tractor" debuted 22-year-old center forward Viktor Shvedchenko . After his unexpected transfer of the ball from the right flank to the left score, Matveyev opened, who almost made a hat-trick, but in one episode, the Zenit goalkeeper kept up with the ball, after hitting a barbell rolling down the goal line. ^[4] Observers for the first time noted the game of Tractor with a change of places in the attack - this tactical novelty in 1940 was brought to Soviet football by the Moscow Dynamo coach Boris Arkadyev . ^[five]

In the third match against the Leningrad Spartak , the only goal of Tractor was scored by another newcomer, the far right Hanon Diener . "Tractor" tried to formalize its transition from Dnepropetrovsk before the 1940 season, but received permission only a year later. ^[6] “A strong and energetic player, repeatedly broke through to the gates of“ Spartacus “. Unfortunately, Diener's technique is still weak, the shot is inaccurate, ”the strict“ Stalingrad Truth ”rated the 26-year-old debutant. ^[7] Diner scored 10 minutes before the end, but two minutes later goalkeeper Yermasov , catching the ball sent from the corner, fell into the goal with him after a collision with the defender, 1: 1.

In the away match of the 4th match against Dynamo (Tbilisi), Matveyev finally secured his position as the left-most fielder scored his fourth goal of the season, although he could help the team win, but shot a penalty in the post.

In the next three home games, the Stalingers won a draw with the same score 1: 1, losing during the game. The following two home meetings, the "tractor drivers" held with varying degrees of success. The first - with Moscow Spartak lost 1: 3, the second - with Spartak Kharkov won 1-0.

In paired matches in Moscow, the Stalingraders twice avoided defeat, reducing both matches to a draw 1: 1, although they could have won in the game with CSKA , realize a penalty Matveev.

War

The news of Nazi Germany ’s attack on the Soviet Union was found by Tractor in the Donbass , where football players were preparing for a meeting with the Stakhanovets team. On the day of the match, the war went on for several days, but no one thought of canceling the competition. The game began exactly at the appointed time. Only the stadium, according to the memoirs of Vasily Yermasov, this time was not filled, as it was before, to failure. In some places one could see empty seats. The match was spectacular, now and then there were sharp moments. Everything went as usual. And only from time to time it was possible to see either in the line of attack, or in the line of defense of individual players who lifted their heads to the sky. They watched the enemy planes flying over the city. “Tractor” won with a score of 3: 2, but this was the only time when the Stalingraders after the game left the field silently, with their heads bowed. This was the last match in the USSR Championship. The next championship took place only in 1945, after defeating the enemy. ^[eight]

The next game on the calendar was to be in Minsk . The Tractor gave a telegram there about the team’s reception, but the Stalingraders didn’t receive an answer, because Belarus was already in the flames of battle. ^[eight]

In 1942, hard days came in Stalingrad. Many Tractor footballers were evacuated along with factory personnel. They began to work at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant . But not all football players left the city. S. Plonsky , K. Belikov , V. Yermasov , L. Sheremet , the forward of “Tractor” in 1937-1938 remained in the battle ranks of his defenders. G. Shlyapin and others, including players from other teams of Stalingrad. Most of them became participants in the match “On the Ruins of Stalingrad” . The Tractor team gathered in 1944, held several matches for the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions Cup and one match in the USSR Cup , in which CSKA lost 0–5. ^[eight]

•   Alexander Keller is a head coach.
•   Mikhail Kirillov (according to other sources V.P. Kirillov) - coach.

     - victory      - draw      - Defeat

Friendlies

USSR Championship

First Circle

Individual

Matches and Goals

Bombardiers

Dry Matches

Note: in this table only full matches are taken into account (without replacements), in which the goalkeeper did not concede goals.

Team

Standings

Note: the tournament was to be held in two circles, the rules provided for 2 points for a victory, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss.

General statistics

Note: the results of friendly matches are not taken into account in this table.

General tournament statistics

• FC Spartak Moscow in the 1941 season