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A Mess Worth Making? – The Rise and Fall of Mordovia Saransk
The Mordovia Arena in August, 2017. Source: ПСО Казань. In Russia as elsewhere in football, it is a reasonably rare thing to see a team emerge from obscurity, climb the league system and find itself...
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New Stadia’s Impact on Attendances in the RFPL
The Zenit Arena on Krestosky Island looking resplendent at night with Sergei Kirov Statue overlooking it. Source: James Nickels/RFN Low attendances in the RFPL have been the subject of much debate and...
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Akhmat Grozny – Three Name Changes, Two War’s and One Crazy Owner
Ramzan Kadyrov and Dmitry Medvedev at the Akhmat Arena in Grozny. Photo: Kremlin.ru Before this season we saw a change in names with the team of Grozny. The city which is located in the province of...
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Reforming the Trans-Siberian Football League
The Football National League is the biggest football league in the world according to geographic area, covering over 4,500 miles as-the-crow-flies and even crosses eight time zones. Due to the size of...
View ArticleDinamo Moscow’s 1945 Goodwill Tour of Britain
Click to view slideshow. “The Russians are Coming”: Arrival 4th November 1945, Croydon. Two planes, appearing to be Douglas DC-3 Dakotas, approached the runway and touched down amidst a barrage of...
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Lokomotiv and the Attempt to Solve Moscow’s Spectator Crisis
Lokomotiv Stadium before the game between Lokomotiv and Ufa. Photo: Toke Theilade Over the past month, I have had the pleasure of visiting home games of all of Moscow’s major football clubs. From...
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Failing the Kids – Russian Football’s Greatest Crime
Try to imagine the following. An ambitious teacher-sports coach is embroiled in a child abuse scandal. Defending his colleague and lifelong friend against accusations from dozens of boys from 12-20....
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A Union of One – Russian Footballers Union
The original (shorter form) of this article appeared in print 06.06.16, this online edition includes relevant links. Some weeks ago the proverbial cat was put among the pigeons. As is known to anyone...
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Zenit – Spartak: The Capital Calling
Photo: Danny Armstrong There are few cities more contradictory than St. Petersburg. Its uncanny likeness to a major European town – a product of the travels of its founder Peter I to the cities of...
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Nikolai Starostin: From Hero to Gulag and Back Again
This is the second and last part of Vincent Tanguy’s mini series about Spartak founder and Soviet football legend Nikolai Starostin. You can read part one here. One man was going to send the life of...
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Behind Enemy Lines – Away Games In Russia
Photo by Danny Armstrong. It’s been just over two months since I moved back to Russia. In the heart of winter, there are a myriad things to suffer in its capital city, Moscow. Biting cold temperatures...
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The Sharapova Case – Is Russian Football Next?
Tuesday, Maria Sharapova admitted to failing a doping test. Monday, one of the most famous tennis players in the world, Maria Sharapova, announced that she failed a doping test during the Australian...
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Tarasov Becomes Part of UEFA’s Political Problem
It was hoped that this match would be able to unite two sets of people among the current diplomatic crisis between Russia and Turkey. However, unfortunately several inflammatory incidents took place...
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Travel Report: A Zenit Fan in Gent
The Champions League match between the Belgian champions from Gent and their Russian counterparts Zenit had a dramatic prelude, when the mayor of Gent banned all Zenit fans from the match in fear of...
View ArticleThe Most Memorable Russian Pitch Invasions
It was quite the scandal when Dinamo TV anchor Dmitry Derunets attacked a Spartak pitch invader during the derby match between Dinamo and Spartak at Arena Khimki two weeks ago. In this spirit, I have...
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View from the Stands – Fans versus Spectators in Russia
The fans attending football matches in Russia can be split in two large groups, at least with a rough generalization. One contains the so-called active supporters who go to the matches to support their...
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Photo Report: Muscovite Derby in the Russian Cup
I am a big fan of the Grassroots Project, where the photographer Sergey Novikov travels across Russia to take pictures of the most beautiful stadiums and most infamous amateur football teams. One does...
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Russian Football Beauty Pageant Hit by Nazi Scandal
Every year the organization behind the Russian Premier League organizes a beauty pageant for female fans of the sixteen clubs in the league. Fans of the different clubs select between several...
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First Football Scouting Course In Eastern Europe
It is no exaggeration to say that almost every football fan dreams about working in the professional football industry. Personally, I began to consider it for the first time when I played FIFA Manager...
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Fyodor Cherenkov – The Russian Hero That Football Has Forgotten
“Fyodor fue un ídolo durante mi infancia. (…) Cuando estuve en el Spartak y jugué junto a Fyodor fue como una cosa de ciencia ficción. (…) Beskov siempre le ponía como un ejemplo para nosotros.” –...
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