Moscow (football club)

Foundation and first seasons of Torpedo ZIL

In the summer of 1996, the Likhachev Moscow plant sold the rights to the Torpedo football club, which has been associated with the plant since the 1930s, Luzhniki OJSC, in the future the team began to play home matches on the Grand Sports Arena under the name Torpedo-Luzhniki . However, the new ZIL leadership, especially Valery Nosov (a football fan ^[1] and the elder brother of the former Torpedo president Vladimir Nosov ), appointed in January 1997 to the post of general director ^[2] , wanted to revive the factory team, the rights to which would belong entirely factory ^[1] , and in early 1997, the club "Torpedo-ZIL" was organized. The leadership of the club was formed from former torpedo; the director general was Vladimir Sakharov , a former player of the USSR national team, Sergey Petrenko , the head coach of the team, who had previously worked as an assistant to Alexander Tarhanov at Torpedo. The backbone of the new team was also formed from former “car manufacturers” who were not at that time in other clubs; Petrenko admitted that some players themselves offered their services, learning about the existence of the team. The “Torpedo-ZIL” was given the ambitious task of reaching the Russian Premier League. To ensure stable financing, a board of trustees was created at the club, which included representatives of AMO ZIL and the prefecture of the Southern District of Moscow ^[1] . The club’s home stadium was Torpedo Stadium on Vostochnaya Street , which ZIL retained rights to.

The team began the 1997 season in the third zone of the third league and immediately performed quite successfully, reaching the 1/64 final of the Russian Cup and finishing the championship in third place in the zone, which gave the right to enter the second division . The team’s top scorer in all tournaments with 18 goals was Sergey Lavrentyev ^[3] . In the offseason, the team was strengthened by midfielders Oleg Shirinbekov and Alexander Polukarov , and before the second round, one of the top scorers of the last season, Gleb Panfyorov ^[4] , who played in the second Bundesliga for Fortuna from Düsseldorf , returned to the second round. In September 1998, “Torpedo” suffered a series of defeats and, reaching the 1/16 Cup final, was defeated by the Moscow “Dynamo” with a score of 7: 0 ^[6] , after which Petrenko was replaced by Boris Ignatiev , who had experience with Russian national team ^[7] . Subsequently, Ignatiev spoke approvingly of the club leader Valeria Nosov ^[8] , but did not assess the level of professionalism of the players with whom he had to work ^[9] ; Nevertheless, the team took first place in the “West” zone and solved the problem of reaching the first division . A significant role in the success of the team was played by the productive game and the dedication of the former striker of the Moscow Lokomotiv Alexei Snigirev , who became the top scorer of the entire second division with 32 goals ^[10] . During the 1999 season, Seoul Olympic champion and club member Grigory Fedotov Alexander Borodyuk was acquired, however, Torpedo took fourth place in the 1999 season, four points behind the winner of the Anji championship, and at stage 1 / 32 Russian Cup torpedo defeated by Spartak-Chukotka from the second division. Despite the fact that the team failed to break into the top division, the team’s game impressed the rivals ^[11] . Twelve players replenished the Moscow club at once in the transfer window, including four-time Russian champion Sergei Gorlukovich , twins Beslan and Ruslan Adzhindzhaly , Alexey and Vasily Berezutsky ^[12] , while Snigirev and Borodyuk moved to Kosice and Wings of the Soviets , respectively ^[13] . Before the start of the 2000 championship, “Torpedo-ZIL” was considered one of the main favorites of the tournament ^[14] . Having not suffered a single defeat in his field, the club took second place, nine points behind the winner of the Falcon tournament, and registered for the top division ^[15] . In the Russian Cup, “Torpedo-ZIL” reached the 1/16 finals, where they lost to Dynamo Moscow. After the end of the tournament, Boris Ignatiev said that under no circumstances would he return to the first division ^[16] .

Top Division and Renaming to Torpedo-Metallurg

In December 2000, after the expiration of the contract of Boris Ignatiev, the team was headed by the ex-head coach of the Volgograd Rotor Evgeny Kucherevsky ^[17] . Before the season, the team left midfielder Alexander Smirnov , who left for Metallurg in Krasnoyarsk, and forward Oleg Sergeyev , who became a player of Baltika , acquired Uralan midfielder Saulius Mikalayunas as a reinforcement of the squad ^[18] . On June 24, 2001, the first confrontation took place between the “old” “ Torpedo” (the name “Torpedo-Luzhniki” had already been abolished) and “Torpedo-ZIL”. The dramatic match ended with the score 1: 1: already in the compensated time Vitaly Kaleshin brought the remaining “minority car makers” a draw with the current bronze medalist of the championship ^[19] . “Torpedo” the whole season was near the relegation zone and finished the championship in 14th place, keeping the “residence” in the top division. In the Russian Cup, the team performed more successfully, winning all their matches and making their way to the spring part of the tournament ^[20] . At the end of the season, Kucherevsky went to Dnipro , and Vadim Nikonov, the former coach of the team’s double, was appointed to his post ^[21] . Before the 2002 Russian Championship, “Torpedo” was in a difficult financial situation, because of which most of the leaders left the team, including defender Vasily Berezutsky and striker Valery Klimov ; Nevertheless, the club managed to replenish the budget by renting CSKA to the home matches of the Eduard Streltsov stadium ^[22] , and the general director Valery Nosov set the task to take the place in the top ten ^[23] . The performance of the “car manufacturers” could not be called successful: in the Premier League championship they took 14th place, and they left the relegation zone only in the last round, in the ¼ Cup final they lost to the future trophy holder - CSKA ^[20] - and in the match 1/16 the finals of the Cup of Russia 2002/03 against the “Lada” put up a duplicate and were defeated with a score of 0: 6 ^[24] . The experts evaluated the team’s fighting qualities and considered that Nikonov had achieved the maximum possible result for such a weak team, noting that the club’s financial situation did not allow for more than a “struggle for survival” ^[25] . The team's top scorer Dmitry Smirnov also praised the work of the coach ^[26] .

On November 30, 2002, the media reported that ZIL sold the football club to the structures of the Norilsk Nickel concern ^[27] ; shortly afterwards, the founder of Torpedo-ZIL Valery Nosov left the post of general director of the automobile plant due to his illness. After the change of ownership, Yuri Belous became the general manager of the club. Vadim Nikonov left his post, but remained in the club, having entered the headquarters of the new coach - USSR champion and UEFA Cup winner Sergey Aleinikov ^[28] , who previously worked in Serie D ^[29] . Some time after the sale, there were rumors about the club’s possible relocation to Krasnoyarsk ^[30] , refuted ^[31] by RFU President Vyacheslav Koloskov , and there was uncertainty with the name under which the team would begin the 2003 season ; among others, the options were Metallurg (Moscow), Torpedo-Krasnoyarsk, Yenisei, Torpedo Yenisei ^[32] . In December, there were reports that a number of team players demanded termination of contracts in connection with non-payment of salaries ^[33] . At the end of January 2003, it was announced that the team would be called Torpedo-Metallurg ^[34] . The new owners allocated large funds to buy new players, and 9 new players joined the team, including Russian champions defender Dmitry Khlestov and striker Baba Adam ^[35] . Strengthening the team, however, did not help the team achieve high results: in May, due to unsatisfactory results (3 points after 8 rounds ^[36] ) Aleinikov was fired, and Valentin Ivanov was appointed acting coach, who was replaced by Alexander Ignatenko in August ^{[37 ]} . After the first round, Tor-Met took the last place in the table, gaining only 10 points ^[38] , which prompted the club's management to put 10 players on the transfer right away ^[39] and acquire Argentine striker Hector Bracamonte ^[40] . “Metallurgists” again managed to avoid relegation in the last round, beating Spartak 2-0, while their rival Uralan suffered a crushing defeat from Lokomotiv - 0: 6 ^[41] . After the completion of round 30, Ignatenko was to be appointed head coach on an ongoing basis, but did not sign a contract with the club. In December 2003, the press disseminated information about the possible renaming of the club in FC Moscow due to the fact that the Moscow mayor's office and Interros holding were to become team sponsors ^[42] .

FC Moscow

The club began the 2004 season under the leadership of Valery Petrakov , who had previously worked for Tomi ^[42] . The new specialist significantly updated the team: goalkeeper Alexander Filimonov , defender Jerry-Christian Tchuyse and defensive midfielder Radu Rebezh (he became the team captain and wore this status until 2007) came to Torpedo-Metallurg, while Dmitry Khlestov and Dmitry Ananko left the club ^[43] . In late March, the issue of the club’s new name was finally resolved - with the permission of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, it became known as FC Moskva ^[44] . At the same time, the team was officially renamed only after the 13th round of the championship. Having gained solid financial support, the team began to progress and from the outsider of the championship turned into a middle peasant ^[45] . The defenders Mariusz Jop and Pompiliou Stoica , who were the main players of the “townspeople” for the next few years ^{[46] [47],} joined the team in the summer transfer window. “Moscow” finished the season in ninth place in the championship, and striker Hector Bracamonte took fifth place in the scorers' dispute, scoring 11 goals. In addition, the team showed its best result at that time in the Cup of Russia , reaching the semifinals, where the “townspeople” in extra time lost to “ Wings of the Soviets ” ^[48] . In the winter of 2005, the team was strengthened by midfielder Damian Gorawski , goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov ^[49] and striker Dmitry Kirichenko , the top scorer of the 2002 championship ^[50] . The transfer campaign turned out to be very successful: Zhevnov quickly ousted the more experienced Filimonov and Kozko ^[51] , while Kirichenko and Bracamonte formed one of the strongest teams in the history of the Russian championships ^[52] . Despite the successful start of the season (“Moscow” played poorly in the Cup of Russia, losing to CSKA already in the 1/8 finals, but in the championship until the ninth round the team took the place in the top three, and some journalists already named “Moscow” among the contenders for medals ^[53] ), on July 14, Valery Petrakov was dismissed from the post of head coach, and he was taken by the coach of the backup team Leonid Slutsky ^[54] . In 2015, Petrakov admitted that he did not understand what caused his dismissal ^[55] . “Citizens” remained in the group of leaders and, according to the results of the championship, took fifth place, which gave them the right to play in the Intertoto Cup - the first European Cup tournament for “Moscow”. Kirichenko with 14 goals scored became the top scorer of the championship ^[56] .

Before the 2006 season, the team was replenished with such players as Isaac Okoronkvo , Tomasz Cizek and Roman Adamov ^[57] . Also in February, Sergei Semak, the former captain of the CSKA Moscow, moved to Moscow from PSG ^[58] . “Citizens” didn’t start the championship in the best way, gaining only 12 points in the first 10 matches ^[59] , and rumors appeared in the press about the imminent resignation of Leonid Slutsky, but the team’s chief manager Yuri Belous denied them ^[60] . On July 1, 2006, the team played their first match in the European Cup, defeating the Belarusian MTZ-RIPO 2-0 in the second round of the Intertoto Cup . Having won with a minimum score and the return match, the “townspeople” reached the next round, where they met with the German “ Herta ” ^[61] . The meeting in Berlin ended in a goalless draw, but in the home match the Russian team lost 0–2 and lost the opportunity to continue playing in European competitions ^[62] . In the summer transfer window, Moscow announced the Argentinean midfielder Pablo Barrientos , who became the club’s most expensive acquisition ^[63] . The second part of the championship, the “townspeople” spent more successfully and finished the season in 6th position, and in the Cup of Russia “Moscow” reached the 1/8 finals, where they lost to their principal rival - the Moscow “Torpedo”. In the offseason, the team was strengthened by Alexander Epuryanu , but at the same time was unable to extend the contracts with Tchuise and Kirichenko ^[64] . Before the 2007 season, Yuri Belous announced the club’s ambitions - winning the Russian Cup and championship medals ^[65] . “Citizens” began their performance in the championship with a seven-match win-win series ^[66] and after the first round were perceived as a serious contender for a place in the top three strongest teams in Russia ^[67] . In the Russian Cup, the “black garnet” also performed well: having beaten “ Wings of the Soviets ” in 1/4, and in the semifinal - the Bryansk Dynamo , they met in the final with the Moscow “ Lokomotiv ”. The main time of the match ended in a goalless draw, and in an extra Harry O'Connor managed to deliver an accurate shot on goal by Yuri Zhevnov and brought the trophy to the “railroad” ^[68] . The final of the 2006/07 Cup draw remained the highest cup achievement of FC Moscow. In the championship, the team until the 28th round was in third place in the table, but, losing to Zenit , Moscow dropped to fourth position and, despite winning two final rounds, could not catch CSKA ahead of them. It is worth noting that in the first match against Zenit, held in the 15th round, Moscow was awarded a technical defeat with a score of 0: 3 due to the participation in the game of the Czech defender Roman Gubnik , whose contract at the time of the game was not formally extended yet ^[69] , but this did not lead to a change in the standings, because the St. Petersburg club already won with a score of 2: 1 ^[70] . Fourth place was the highest place occupied by the team in its history; thanks to this achievement, the “townspeople” have earned the right to compete in the UEFA Cup . At the end of the season, Roman Adamov, together with Roman Pavlyuchenko, became the top scorer of the championship, scoring 14 goals ^[71] . Shortly before the 30th round, information appeared that in connection with the failure to fulfill the task for the season, Leonid Slutsky would be fired. Yuri Belous confirmed the veracity of this information, but refused to give the name of the specialist who will replace Slutsky ^[72] .

On December 14, Oleg Blokhin, the former coach of the Ukrainian national team, was introduced as the new head coach of the team ^[73] , who signed a three-year contract with the Moscow club ^[74] . In winter, six players from Rostov , who had financial difficulties, moved to Moscow, while Muscovites broke up with Semak, Kozko, Goravsky and Morales ^[75] . The team started the season weakly and managed to win only in the eighth round ^[76] ; during the championship, the “townspeople” managed to rise somewhat in the standings, but at the end of the season, “Moscow” took only ninth place. In August, Moscow for the first time in its history began participating in the UEFA Cup ; in the second qualifying round, the club defeated the Polish Legia in a two-match match with a total score of 4: 1, but in the next round lost to Copenhagen with a total score of 2: 3 and could not reach the group stage of the tournament. The performance in the Cup was also unsuccessful: in the quarter finals, the “caps” lost to Amkar . In November, Blokhin was fired, and the team’s funding in connection with the economic crisis was reduced ^[77] . The Montenegrin specialist Miodrag Bozovic became the new coach of the “black garnet”, who managed to bring Amkar to the best results in history in the 2008 season: fourth in the Premier League and the final of the Russian Cup ^[78] . A number of key players left the club in the winter transfer window, including Peter Bystrov , Tomas Chizhek and Vitaliy Kaleshin , but Dmitry Tarasov and Martin Yakubko were acquired and Gia Grigalava was rented ^[79] . Despite the fact that in the summer the fundamental players Hector Bracamonte and Mariusz Jop left the team ^{[80] [81]} , the “townspeople” reached the semifinals of the Russian Cup , and in the Premier League they fought for a place in the top three winners all season , but after losing the match On the 29th round from the Nalchik “ Spartak ” team lost the chance of medals and in the end took only sixth place ^[82] .

At the end of the 2009 season, the club began to part with its players due to financial problems ^[83] . On February 5, 2010, the team’s shareholders announced their refusal to participate in the 2010 Russian Championship ^[84] . The official reason for this step was the reluctance of the club’s main shareholder, the Norilsk Nickel concern, to contain a non-core asset, however, Nornickel’s categorical refusal to sell the club to potential investors gave some fans reason to believe that the withdrawal of Moscow from the championship was due to some political reasons ^{[ 85]} . On February 11, the club, represented by its new leader Vladislav Plotnikov, notified the Premier League of the withdrawal of the 2010 season from the championship ^[86] . On February 16, the Premier League officially announced the termination of the membership of FC Moscow in the Premier League ; the vacant place in the elite division was taken by Alania ^[87] , and the match of the quarter finals of the Cup against Amkar was canceled, and the Perm team was awarded a technical victory. Premier League clubs continued to buy Moscow players: at the time of closing the transfer window on April 8, 10 out of 16 Premier League clubs purchased at least one player from the townspeople, including Rostov and Dynamo each signed contracts with four ex-players. football players of "Moscow" ^[88] . On March 19, 2010 it was reported that FC Moscow would participate in the amateur championship of the country ^[89] . On April 23, 2010, the team held its first match in the 2010 season - in the Moscow Cup against the team of the Veterinary Academy, winning 4-0 ^[90] . In the 2010 season, the team took 3rd place in Division “A” of the MRO “Center” , and reached the final of the Moscow Physical Fitness Cup ^[91] .

On December 28, 2010, the press service of the team’s general sponsor announced the club’s demise ^[92] .

Youth Team

With the main team entering the top division (Premier League), the club’s second team (backup team) was announced in the newly formed doubles tournament , previously in the KFK championship in 1998–2000 ^{[93] [94]} - in 2000 it won the Moscow zone ", In 1999 took the 4th place, in 1998 finished in 2nd place in the 1st group of" Moscow "and in 3rd place in the final tournament of the group" Moscow "of the 5th zone (" Center ") ^[95] . In the doubles tournament of the Premier League, the team once took 1st place (in 2004), twice - 2nd (in 2001 and 2005) and once - 3rd (2006). In 2008-2009, she played in the youth championship, which replaced the doubles tournament (in 2008 she took 4th place).

After the founding of the team, the fans got confused about which “Torpedo” to consider “real” ^[96] . Some fans of the Moscow Torpedo , which was purchased from AMO ZIL , began to support the new club, and the veterans of the car factory declared that it was Torpedo ZIL that kept the history and traditions of the club ^[97] . After the team was renamed to FC Moskva, many fans stopped supporting the club, as it ceased to belong to the car factory ^[98] , moreover, in 2005 a new club was founded with the name Torpedo-ZIL . In 2006, a society of fans appeared under the name “Moscow Lads”, which, unlike other such organizations, prioritized the support of their team without any riots or fights ^[99] . Various campaigns began to take place, such as “Bring Mom to Football,” trips to team matches were constantly organized ^[100] . When it became known that “Moscow” was being disbanded, the fans went on a hunger strike ^[101] .

In 2007, the team captain Radu Rebezh admitted that he considers all Moscow teams to be principal rivals ^[102] . Before the third renaming of the club, the confrontation with Torpedo was especially important due to the connection of both teams with the Likhachev plant and disputes about which Torpedo deserves this name more ^[103] .

In the fan environment, “Moscow” had several nicknames: “black garnet” according to the color scheme of the team’s uniform, “cap” - due to the connection with the great connoisseur of this headdress Yuri Luzhkov ^[104] . The nickname “Citizens” came from the name of the club, but it was not very popular among fans ^[105] . Until 2004, until the team was renamed “Moscow”, it had a traditional nickname for all clubs associated with ZIL, its nickname was “car manufacturers” ^[106] .

Home Match Attendance

In the period from 2002 to 2009, the average home attendance of the club did not exceed 6 thousand spectators. Moreover, the average attendance (including away games) did not exceed 10 thousand ^[107] .

Club colors

From 1997 to 2004, the team uniform was designed in the classic “Torpedo” black-green-white colors. After joining the Moscow Government Club shareholders , the uniform became black and garnet. This idea belonged to team president Yuri Belous and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov ^[108] .

Club Emblem

Initially, the green letter “T” was depicted on the club’s emblem against a background of a red racing car and a yellow bicycle asterisk. The emblem symbolized the team's affiliation with the car factory ^[109] . After changing the name to Torpedo-Metallurg, the same symbol began to be displayed on the shield , and a ribbon appeared on the bottom with the name of the team written on it. The next emblem was a large garnet letter “M”, around which a soccer ball revolved in orbit. The name “Moscow Football Club” was written below.

• Club Emblem History
•  

  1997—2002

•  

  2003—2004

•  

  2004 — n. at.

Throughout its history, the home stadium of Moscow was the stadium named after Eduard Streltsov , located on Vostochnaya Street in Moscow . Before the World Youth Games in Moscow in 1998, the stadium, which had been dilapidated by that time, had been repaired; instead of benches in the stands, plastic seats were installed, as a result of which the stadium capacity was reduced to 13,300 people. One of the first in the country was mounted on the field of the stadium an artificial turf heating system. The stadium belonged to the ZIL automobile concern until 2005, and when the Norilsk Nickel acquired a controlling stake in Torpedo-ZIL, along with the football club, the sports complex also became the property of Norilsk Nickel ^[110] . The club management had plans for its complete reconstruction, but this did not happen due to financial difficulties ^[111] .

Russia

Season	Division	Position	Games	AT	H	P	MOH	MP	Glasses	Cup of Russia	Europe		Bombardier	Ch. trainer
1997	League 3 - Zone 3	3	40	23	eight	9	77	29	77				Lavrentiev - 17	Petrenko
1998	Division 2 - Center	one	40	28	6	6	90	thirty	90	1/64			Snigirev - 32	Petrenko   Ignatiev
1999	1 division	four	42	23	13	6	67	27	82	1/16			A. Smirnov - 11	Ignatiev
2000		2	38	24	eight	6	62	28	80	1/32			Swan - 10	Ignatiev
2001	Premier League	14	thirty	7	ten	13	22	35	31	1/16			Piyuk - 6	Kucherevsky
2002		14	thirty	6	ten	14	20	39	28	1/4			D. Smirnov - 7	Nikonov
2003		14	thirty	eight	five	17	25	39	29	1/16			Monaryov - 8	Aleinikov   Ivanov   Ignatenko
2004		9	thirty	ten	ten	ten	38	39	40	1/16			Bracamonte - 11	Petrakov
2005		five	thirty	14	eight	eight	36	26	50	1/8			Kirichenko - 14	Petrakov   Slutsky
2006		6	thirty	ten	13	7	41	37	43	1/8	Intertoto Cup	3 round	Kirichenko - 12	Slutsky
2007		four	thirty	15	7	eight	40	32	52	The final			Adam - 14	Slutsky
2008		9	thirty	9	eleven	ten	34	36	38	1/2	UEFA Cup	1 round	Bracamonte - 8	Blokhin
2009		6	thirty	13	9	eight	39	28	48	1/2			Yakubko - 8	Bozovic
2010	MRO Center , Moscow, Division A	3	28	21	one	6	75	28	64				Agaptsev - 21	Vasiliev

Statistics taken from WildStat.ru

European Cups

In the Intertoto Cup 2006 “Moscow” in the second round, Minsk MTZ-RIPO 2-0, 3-0, and in the third round lost to German Hertha Berlin 0-0, 0-0.

In the UEFA Cup 2008/09 in the second qualifying round the Polish “Legia” 2: 0, 2: 1 were beaten, and in the first round the defeat from the Danish “Copenhagen” 1: 2, 1: 1 followed.

• The best result in the championship of Russia : 4th place - 2007 ( coach - Leonid Slutsky )
• Finalist of the Cup of Russia : 2006/07
• RFPL understudy tournament : Winner (1): 2004
  Silver medalist (2): 2001, 2005
  Bronze medalist (1): 2006

Player Achievements

• Dmitry Kirichenko - the best scorer of the Russian Championship 2005 ( 14 goals )
• Roman Adamov - the best scorer of the Russian Championship 2007 ( together with Roman Pavlyuchenko , both scored 14 goals )

In the lists of 33 best players of the championship of Russia :

• 2005: Dmitry Kirichenko (No. 1), Jerry-Christian Tchuise (No. 3)
• 2006: Oleg Kuzmin (No. 2)
• 2009: Edgaras Chesnauskis (No. 2), Kirill Nababkin (No. 3)

•   Sergey Petrenko (1997 - September 18, 1998)
•   Boris Ignatiev (September 18, 1998 - December 25, 2000)
•   Evgeny Kucherevsky (December 25, 2000 - November 10, 2001)
•   Vadim Nikonov (November 14, 2001 - December 2002)
•   Sergey Aleinikov (December 15, 2002 - May 15, 2003)
•   Valentin Ivanov (May 15 - August 4, 2003, acting)
•   Alexander Ignatenko (August 4, 2003 - December 3, 2003, until November 4 - acting)
•   Valery Petrakov (December 5, 2003 - July 14, 2005)
•   Leonid Slutsky (July 14, 2005 - November 6, 2007)
•   Oleg Blokhin (December 14, 2007 - November 26, 2008)
•   Miodrag Bozovic (November 2008 - February 2010)
•   Alexander Polukarov (2010)
•   Nikolay Vasiliev (2010)

Data from the site sport-express.ru

• List of FC Moscow legionnaires

• Статистика на сайте Footballfacts