FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Zenit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Football Club Zenit Saint Petersburg |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Meshki (The Sacks), Bomzhi (Hobos) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1925 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 22,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Sergei Fursenko |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Dick Advocaat |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Russian Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Russian Premier League, 4th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FC Zenit (Russian: Футбольный клуб "Зенит" Санкт-Петербург) is a Russian football club, based in Saint Petersburg. The club plays in the Russian Premier League. Until recently, the team was coached by Vlastimil Petržela from the Czech Republic but he was sacked by the board of directors on May 3, 2006. Zenit has signed the experienced Dutch specialist Dick Advocaat as coach. The team's best domestic result was a championship in 1984, and its best European performance was in 2005/06 when Zenit reached the quarterfinal of the UEFA Cup. Zenit currently play all their home games at Petrovsky Stadium in St. Petersburg.
Contents |
[edit] History
The origins of Zenit Saint Petersburg date back to 1925, when a team was formed consisting of workers from a Leningrad metallurgical factory.
Originally members of the metallurgical workers' sporting society, they were called Stalinets Leningrad (translated as "Stalinist") from 1936 to 1940. This was the year when the plant became part of the military industry and its sports teams were transferred to the Zenit sports society. Stalinets were merged with a club called Zenit which played in the second division and assumed their name. The LOMO optical plant took up the ownership of the team after the war and in 1990 the independent city-owned professional club was created.
Zenit won their first honours in 1944, claiming the war-time USSR Cup after defeating CDKA in the well-attended final. The club was always adored in Leningrad 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 powers that were decided it wouldn't be prudent to relegate a Leningrad team during the 50th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, which occurred in the city.
The Eighties have finally brought some glory to the Northern Capital: the bronze medal in 1980, Soviet Cup Final 1984 and, finally, the Championship in 1984, the club's only league title to date. Next year, Zenit beat Soviet Cup holder in Soviet Super Cup (also named as Season Cup).
After being relegated in the first year of the Russian League (1992), Zenit returned to the top flight in 1996 and have 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.
[edit] Nicknames
Two of the widespread nicknames for Zenit are Bomzhi and Meshki. "Bomzhi" (Bums or Hobos) refers to Zenit's fans travelling long distances to away matches by local trains and sleeping in the railway stations. "Meshki" (The Sacks) dates back to 1984, when lots of plastic bags were produced with a slogan stating that "Zenit are the champions", to celebrate the title victory. The slogan is popular until now, and the bags gave rise to the nickname. Both of these nicknames, however, are somewhat sarcastic and rarely used in Saint Petersburg. Local fans prefer the nickname Sine-belo-golubye (Navy, White and Blue) derived from the club's colors.
[edit] Gazprom Control
In December 2005 Gazprom took a controlling stake in the club. The deal was announced by Valentina Matviyenko, the Saint Petersburg governor. According to her, Gazprom has already arranged the construction of a new stadium and was planning to invest in the club's facilities and equipment and the development of junior football leagues.
[edit] Current squad
As of March 7, 2007, according to the Russian Premier League official website.
|
|
Notes:
- Olexander Spivak and Olexander Gorschkov have played for Ukraine national team, but also have Russian citizenship.
- Squad number 12 is reserved for the Zenit's supporters ("The twelfth player").
The following players are listed by Zenit's website as reserve players. They are eligible to play for the first team.
|
|
[edit] Famous players
Lev Burchalkin- Oleg Salenko
- Aleksandr Kerzhakov
[edit] Honours
- Soviet Championship: 1
- Winners: 1984 (as Zenit Leningrad)
- Russian Cup: 1
- Soviet Cup: 1
- USSR Super Cup: 1
- Winners: 1985 (as Zenit Leningrad)
- USSR Federation Cup: 1
- Runners-up: 1986 (as Zenit Leningrad)
- Russian Premier League Cup: 1
- Winners: 2003
- Intertoto Cup: 0
- Runners-up: 2000
[edit] External links
- FC-Zenit.ru — Official website
- (Russian) ZIA — Zenit fans message board
- (Russian) Landscrown — Zenit ultras website
|
|
 |
| Amkar Perm | CSKA Moscow | Dynamo Moscow | FC Khimki | Krylya Sovetov Samara | Kuban Krasnodar | Lokomotiv Moscow | Luch-Energia Vladivostok | FC Moskva | FC Rostov | Rubin Kazan | Saturn Moscow Oblast | Spartak Moscow | Spartak Nalchik | Tom Tomsk | Zenit Saint Petersburg | |
