Associated football clubhouse in Saint Petersburg, Russia

football club
Football Club Zenit ( russian : Футбольный клуб « Зенит » [ fʊdˈbolʲnɨj ˈkɫup zʲɪˈnʲit ] ), besides known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or plainly Zenit, is a russian professional football club based in the city of Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 ( or in 1914, according to some russian sources ), the club plays in the russian Premier League. Zenit are the reigning champions of the Russian Premier League. previously they won the 2007, 2010, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20 and the 2020-21 seasons of the Russian Premier League, angstrom well as the 2007–08 UEFA Cup and the 2008 UEFA Super Cup. The club is owned and sponsored by the russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. The team play its home plate matches at the Gazprom Arena.

history [edit ]

Before Zenit [edit ]

Zenit ‘s history is tightly connected with the political history of Saint Petersburg, Russia ( besides called “ Petrograd ” and “ Leningrad ” at times in its history ). In 1897, the first officially-recorded 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 lapp time, respective formal football clubs were founded in Saint Petersburg, chiefly around large industrial companies. Players ‘ membership was unofficial and identical lax, however, sometimes allowing the like players to play for respective different teams during the lapp season .

formation of Zenit [edit ]

The original Zenit team stemmed from several football teams, which changed names and owners many times during the Soviet era after the Revolution of 1917, as potent political forces manipulated the careers of individual players adenine well as the destiny of the hale team. The club was renamed respective times and its owners and leaders were under political coerce for many decades. The origins of Zenit date back to the begin of the twentieth hundred to respective harbinger teams in Saint Petersburg that were playing locally. The oldest document predecessor of Zenit was the team “ Murzinka, ” founded in 1914, which played in the Obukhovsky stadium from 1914 until 1924, when the team came to be known as “ Bolshevik ” ( the new name for Obukhovsky diligence and its stadium ). The team and stadium survived the play of World War I, the Bolshevik rotation of 1917, and the Russian Civil War of 1918 to 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 “ Stalinist ” ; however, in russian, the appoint is a play on words as stal means “ steel ” in that lyric. ) Historians documented that both harbinger teams of Zenit were playing independently until their official amalgamation at the end of 1939. The Stalinets were not the like team named Zenit that took separate in the 1938 USSR backing. The current diagnose 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. The name Zenit means “ Zenith “. In 1939, during the rule of Joseph Stalin, Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod became partially 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 [edit ]

Zenit won their first honours in 1944, claiming the war-time USSR Cup after defeating CSKA Moscow in the well-attended concluding. The club was constantly adored in Leningrad, [ citation needed ] but was not able to make much of a significant impact in the Soviet League. In 1967, Zenit finished last but were saved from relegation because the soviet leadership decided it would not be prudent to relegate a Leningrad team during the fiftieth 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 ] Zenit won the bronze decoration in 1980, besides reaching the soviet Cup Final and winning the Soviet League deed in 1984. In 1985, Zenit beat the soviet Cup holder in the soviet Super Cup ( besides called the Season Cup ) .

Zenit in the Russian League [edit ]

The LOMO ocular implant took up the ownership of the team after the war. [ vague ] In 1990, FC Zenit were re-registered as an mugwump city-owned master baseball club. After being relegated in the beginning class of the Russian League ( 1992 ), Zenit returned to the top flight in 1996 and has been becoming since. They claimed the 1999 russian Cup, finished third in the League in 2001, made the Cup final in 2002, became the runner-up in the Premier League and won the russian Premier League Cup in 2003 .

Gazprom era [edit ]

In December 2005, Gazprom took a controlling venture in the club. [ 2 ] The deal was announced by Valentina Matviyenko, the Saint Petersburg governor. Gazprom bought the majority of the club and invested over $ 100 million, buying new players and building the newly stadium .

Under Advocaat [edit ]

Although Zenit reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2006, a mediocre begin to the league season led to the summer surrogate of passenger car Vlastimil Petržela. In July 2006, Dick Advocaat [ 3 ] took over as Zenit ‘s director. Advocaat worked together with his adjunct director, former Netherlands national youth team coach Cor Pot. Zenit won the 2007 russian Premier League —their best league accomplishment since winning the USSR Championship in 1984—allowing them to compete in the group stage of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League. In 2008, Zenit won the russian Super Cup and reached the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup for the irregular time in their history. In the inaugural leg of the quarter-final aside game against german side Bayer Leverkusen, the team achieved a 4–1 victory. They qualified for the semi-finals of the competition for the inaugural time in their history, despite a 1–0 home personnel casualty to Leverkusen in the second leg, and were drawn to play foster german opposition in the semi-final, Bayern Munich, considered the top team remaining. [ 4 ] A battle performance in the first leg of the semi-final earn Zenit a 1–1 pull away against Bayern Munich. In the irregular peg 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 golf club history, where they met scots side Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester on 14 May. Zenit won 2–0, with goals from Igor Denisov in the 72nd minute and Konstantin Zyryanov in arrest time, to lift the clubhouse ‘s first-ever UEFA Cup. Andrey Arshavin was named man of the match. [ 5 ] On 29 August 2008, at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, Zenit then 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 base, the latter being named man of the equal in his debut for Zenit. [ 6 ] In the 2008–09 Champions League group stage, Zenit was grouped with Real Madrid, Juventus and BATE Borisov in Group H, which by some was marked as the “ group of death. ” Zenit ultimately finished in third base position in the group, behind Juventus and Real Madrid, and was thus unable to progress to the knockout phase of the competition. This position, however, was beneficial adequate to earn the club a place in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup last 32, where the team faced VfB Stuttgart for a place in the last 16 of the competition. After defeating Stuttgart on away goals, Zenit went on to lose 2–1 over two legs against italian club Udinese .

Under Spalletti [edit ]

Luciano Spalletti signed a sign with Zenit in December 2009, with italian coaches Daniele Baldini, Marco Domenichini and Alberto Bartali besides joining the russian cabaret. The Board of Zenit mandated him to return the Russian Premier League deed to Zenit, win the russian Cup and advance from the group stage of the Champions League in his first year. Zenit won the russian Cup on 16 May 2010 after beating Sibir Novosibirsk in the final ( previously beating Volga Tver in the quarter-finals and Amkar Perm in the semi-finals ). After 16 games in the 2010 Premier League, with 12 wins and four draw, Zenit claimed 40 points, setting a newly russian Premier League record for most points won at that stage of the crusade. In the summer transfer window of 2010, Spalletti made his foremost signings, securing ahead Aleksandr Bukharov and midfielder Sergei Semak from Rubin Kazan ; defenders Aleksandar Luković from Udinese and Bruno Alves from Porto .
On 25 August 2010, Zenit lost its first game under Spalletti to French slope Auxerre and failed to advance to the Champions League group stage, alternatively participating in the Europa League. On 3 October, Zenit beat Spartak Nalchik to set another russian Premier League record for most back-to-back games going undefeated, with 21 games since the start of the league season. On 27 October, however, Zenit suffered its beginning get the better of of the season at the hands of rival cabaret Spartak Moscow, just seven games short of finishing the backing undefeated. On 14 November, Zenit defeated Rostov and two games anterior to the end of the season won the championship claim, the first in Spalletti ‘s managerial career. Zenit progressed through the smasher stagecoach of the 2010–11 Europa League in first base station, then beating Swiss slope Young Boys in the Round of 16. On 6 March 2011, Zenit won against CSKA Moscow in the russian Super Cup, the third base russian trophy won under Spalletti. On 17 March, however, Zenit were knocked out of the Europa League, losing to Dutch team Twente 2–3 on sum in the quarter-finals. In the 2011–12 Champions League, Zenit began the group degree drawn into Group G aboard Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and APOEL. On 6 December 2011, the team finished the group stage in second target and for the first time in clubhouse ‘s history qualified for the give hard phase of Champions League. In the Round of 16, Zenit were drawn with portuguese side Benfica, winning the foremost branch 3–2 at home through two goals from Roman Shirokov and one from Sergei Semak. In the second leg in Lisbon, however, Zenit lost 2–0 and were frankincense eliminated from the competition. In April 2012, Zenit won their second-straight russian championship after beating Dynamo Moscow. [ 7 ]

Under Villas-Boas [edit ]

After a series of disappoint results in both the Champions League and the Premier League, Spalletti was fired on 11 March 2014. [ 8 ] A week belated, the club announced they had negotiated a biennial consider with André Villas-Boas, who himself had been released a few months prior after a disappoint least sandpiper as director of English side Tottenham Hotspur. [ 9 ] In the 2014–15 Europa League, Zenit were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Sevilla. In May 2015, Zenit won the russian Championship, the first gear championship title under Villas-Boas and the team ‘s fifth-ever on the eve of its 90th anniversary celebration. Zenit then defeated Lokomotiv Moscow in the 2015 russian Super Cup 1–1 ( 4–2 on penalties ). later in the 2015 calendar year, Villas-Boas said that he would be leaving the club after the 2015–16 season. In the 2015–16 Champions League, Zenit began the contest in the group stage. They were drawn in Group H aboard Valencia, Lyon and Gent. They ended the group stagecoach with their best group degree ending ever, winning five out of six matches and emerging as group winners. They were, however, eliminated from the rival in the Round of 16 by portuguese side Benfica. On 24 May 2016 Villas-Boas left the club at the end of the season, with Mircea Lucescu appointed the new director of Zenit. [ 10 ] [ 11 ]

Under Lucescu [edit ]

In July 2016 Zenit won the russian Super Cup after a 0–1 victory over CSKA Moscow. During the 2016–17 Europa League, Zenit began the group stage drawn into Group D alongside Maccabi Tel Aviv, AZ Alkmaar and Dundalk. On 8 December 2016, the team finished the group stage in first gear space and qualified for the spring knockout phase of Europa League. In the round of 32, Zenit faced R.S.C. Anderlecht and was eliminated 3–3 on aggregate due to the away goals principle. In the league, Zenit ‘s performances in the spring were disappoint and as such the club finished third base and missed out on the Champions League for the second base class in a row. Zenit was besides eliminated in the round of 16 by FC Anzhi Makhachkala 0–4 on aggregate after an abysmal performance. The beginning ( and stopping point ) season of Mircea Lucescu was a arrant disappointment despite the expectations .

Under Mancini [edit ]

On 1 June 2017 Zenit appointed Roberto Mancini as the new coach of the team. [ 12 ] On 13 May 2018, Mancini terminated his contract by reciprocal accept. [ 13 ]

Under Semak [edit ]

FC Zenit logo during the 95th birthday celebrations at May 2020.

Read more: Wikipedia

In May 2018, Mancini left to become the lead passenger car of the Italy national football team. Sergey Semak became the new coach of Zenit, receiving a biennial abridge. [ 14 ] In August 2018, during the 1st leg of the 3rd reservation polish of the UEFA Europa League, Zenit suffered a 0–4 loss to Dynamo Minsk. During the 2nd branch back on home plate land, Zenit made a rejoinder winning 8–1, scoring 3 goals in the irregular half and 4 goals in the second half of the extra time, with 2 goals scored in the hundred-and-twentieth moment. [ 15 ] Zenit went on to beat Molde FK 4–3 on aggregate in the following rung, entering the group stage of 2018-19 UEFA Europa League. [ 16 ] In March 2020, the league was forced to halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. [ 17 ] Zenit secured another style on 5 July 2020 after a victory over FC Krasnodar, with 4 games left to play in the tournament. [ 18 ] On 2 May 2021, Zenit secured their one-third championship in a quarrel in a 6-1 victory over second-place FC Lokomotiv Moscow. [ 19 ] Zenit opened the 2021/2022 season with a seventh gain in the russian Super Cup after a 3-0 acquire over Lokomotiv Moscow, but without major key players who left the golf club like Yuri Zhirkov, Andrei Lunev and Sebastian Driussi .

Stadiums [edit ]

Zenit ‘s home plate ground is now the 67,800-capacity Krestovsky Stadium, known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons, in Saint Petersburg. Petrovsky Stadium used to be the home ground of the team before the modern Krestovsky Stadium was built. Before moving to the Petrovsky Stadium, Zenit ‘s home prime was the Kirov Stadium. It stood on the web site where the Krestovsky Stadium was later erected .

Honours [edit ]

domestic competitions [edit ]

Prem'er-Liga (2008).svg Soviet Top League / Russian Premier League [ 20 ]
Russian Cup football (2010).svg Soviet Cup / Russian Cup [ 21 ]
Russian Super Cup (2008).svg Soviet Super Cup / Russian Super Cup

  • Winners (7): 1984, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021
  • Runners-up: 2012, 2013, 2019,

USSR Federation Cup / Russian Premier League Cup
Soviet First League / Russian National Football League

International competitions [edit ]

UEFA Cup (adjusted).png UEFA Cup
UEFA - Super Cup.png UEFA Super Cup

League and cup history [edit ]

Soviet Union [edit ]

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

russia [edit ]

League Positions [edit ]

Players [edit ]

current team [edit ]

As of 2 September 2021

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Out on loanword [edit ]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Reserve police squad [edit ]

Zenit ‘s reserve squad played professionally as Zenit-2 ( russian Second League in 1993, russian Second Division from 1998 to 2000 ) and Zenit-d ( russian Third League from 1994 to 1997 ). Another team that was founded as Lokomotiv-Zenit-2 played as Zenit-2 in the russian Second Division from 2001 to 2008. By 2008, there was no relative between that team and FC Zenit. Another farm golf club called FC Smena-Zenit debuted in the russian Second Division in 2009, taking the point of the former FC Zenit-2. FC Smena-Zenit was dissolved after the 2009 season because it did not fulfill Zenit ‘s initial expectations. Zenit-2 reentered professional football in the 2013–14 season in the russian Professional Football League .

team captains [edit ]

club officials [edit ]

Board of directors [edit ]

Position Name
General Director Alexander Medvedev
Sporting Director Javier Ribalta[24]
Deputy General Directors Dmitri Mankin
Deputy General Directors Vyacheslav Malafeev
Deputy General Directors Rosteslav Leontyev
Deputy General Directors Zhanna Dembo
Deputy General Directors Yury Andreyevich
Director of the “Smena” study-practice complex Vasily Kostrovsky

source : fc-zenit.ru

management [edit ]

source : hypertext transfer protocol : //fc-zenit.ru/zenit/coaches/

Kit suppliers [edit ]

Period Kit manufacturers
1997–2000 Adidas
2001–02 Diadora
2003–04 Umbro
2005–07 Adidas
2008–09 Puma
2010– Nike

Presidents [edit ]

head coaches [edit ]

As of 8 December 2020

By competition [edit ]

luminary players [edit ]

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose mention is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Zenit .

partnership [edit ]

Corporations [edit ]

Rivalries [edit ]

Zenit ‘s traditional rivals are the big Moscow clubs, most notably FC Spartak Moscow, CSKA Moscow, FC Dynamo Moscow and FC Torpedo Moscow. They besides shared rivalries with the big ukrainian clubs FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the Soviet earned run average .

See besides [edit ]

Notes [edit ]

References [edit ]

  • Official website ( in Russian, English, Spanish, German, Hebrew, and Persian )