Dynamo was the only club that had always played in thetop tier of Soviet football (along withDynamo Kyiv) and of Russian football from the end of the Soviet era until they were relegated in 2016. Despite this, they have never won the modernRussian Premier League title and have wonRussian Cup only once, in the season of1994–95.
During theSoviet era, they were affiliated with theMVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs – The Soviet Militia) and with theKGB[3][4] and was a part ofDynamo sports society. Chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatusNKVDLavrentiy Beria was a patron of the club until his downfall. For this reason, the team and fans was nicknamed "the cops" (менты).
From 10 April 2009 theVTB Bank has been the owner of Dynamo after acquiring a 74% share in the club.[5]Boris Rotenberg Sr. was chairman until he resigned on 17 July 2015.[6] On 29 December 2016,Dynamo Sports Society agreed to buy VTB Bank shares back for 1 ruble.[7] On 14 February 2019, Dynamo Sports Society agreed to sell the club back to VTB for 1 ruble.[8][9] On 24 February 2022, the shares were transferred by VTB back to theDynamo sports society.[10]
Dynamo's traditional colours are blue and white. Their crest consists of a blue letter "D," written in a traditionalcursive style on a white background. The club's motto is "Power in Motion," initially proposed byMaxim Gorky, the famous Russian author, who was once an active member of the Dynamo sports society.
Commemorative coin ofLev Yashin, the legendary goalkeeper of the team.
Dynamo Moscow has its roots in the football Club Sokolniki Moscow.[citation needed]
After theRussian Revolution, the club eventually found itself under the authority of the Interior Ministry and its headFelix Dzerzhinsky, chief of theCheka, the Soviet Union's secret police. The club was renamed Dynamo Moscow in 1923 but was also referred to disparagingly as "garbage", a Russian criminal slang term for "police", by some of the supporters of other clubs.[11]
Dynamo won the first two Soviet Championships in 1936 and 1937, a Soviet Cup in 1937, and another pair of national titles in 1940 and 1945. In 1945, they were also the first Soviet club to tour the West when they played a series of friendlies in the United Kingdom.[12][13] Complete unknowns to the British, the Soviet players first drew 3–3 againstChelsea and then defeatedCardiff City 10–1. They defeated anArsenal side reinforced withStanley Matthews,Stan Mortensen andJoe Bacuzzi by a score of 4–3 in a match played in thick fog atWhite Hart Lane. They then drew 2–2 against Scottish sideRangers, meaning they completed the tour undefeated.[14]
They continued to be a strong side at home after World War II, and enjoyed their greatest success through the 1950s. Dynamo captured another five championships between 1949 and 1959, as well as their second Soviet Cup in 1953. Honours were harder to come by after that time. The club continued to enjoy some success in the Soviet Cup, but has not won a national championship since 1976. Even so, Dynamo's 11 national titles make them the country's third-most decorated side behindDynamo Kyiv (13 titles) andSpartak Moscow (12 titles).[citation needed]
At the end of the2008 season, Dynamo finished third, qualifying for the2009–10 Champions League preliminary round. On 29 July 2009, Dynamo recorded a 0–1 away win againstCeltic atCeltic Park,[15] which gave them a strong advantage going into the second leg. However, Celtic comfortably defeated Dynamo 0–2 in Moscow to progress,[16] sending Dynamo into theEuropa League play-off round where the club was eliminated by Bulgarian sideCSKA Sofia after a 0–0 away draw inSofia and a 1–2 home defeat in Moscow.[citation needed]
In 2012, after a poor start to the season in which they lost their first five league games, Dynamo replaced interim managerDmitri Khokhlov with theRomanianDan Petrescu, who managed to pull the club out of the relegation zone into a position in the upper-half of the league table. The team was close to qualifying for a place in European competition, but a failure to win in the last matchday left them in seventh, two points below the last Europa League qualifier position. Despite his efforts, Petrescu's contract was terminated on 8 April 2014 by mutual agreement after a heavy loss to league outsidersAnzhi Makhachkala 0–4.[17] As Dynamo Director of SportsGuram Adzhoyev stated, "Last year Dan drew the team from the complicated situation, lifted it to the certain level, but recently we have seen no progress."[18] Petrescu was replaced byStanislav Cherchesov as manager. Under his management, Dynamo qualified for the group stage of the2014–15 UEFA Europa League in which they won every game before falling toNapoli in the Round of 16. Dynamo was only able to finish in fourth place in the2014–15 season after a string of poor results in the latter stages.[citation needed]
In June 2015, Dynamo was excluded from2015–16 Europa League competition for violatingFinancial Fair Play break-even requirements.[19][20] As a result,VTB Bank proposed to transfer 74 percent of the shares of the club to theDynamo sports society. Under the proposed plan, the society would own 100 percent of shares of Dynamo as it did in 2009, while the shares of theVTB Arena would still be held by the Bank. The move would allow the club to comply with the requirements of Financial Fair Play, and VTB Bank would continue to provide support to Dynamo to the extent consistent with Financial Fair Play regulations.[citation needed]
On 22 December 2015, Chairman of Dynamo's board of directors Vasili Titov announced that the shares had not been transferred to the Dynamo society; that FFP compliance rather than the share transfer was the top priority for the club; and that he expected the club to achieve compliance by April 2016.[21]
After the winter break of the 2015–16 season, Dynamo won only one game out of 12 played in 2016 and Kobelev was fired with 3 games left in the season. On the final day of the season, Dynamo lost 0–3 toFC Zenit Saint Petersburg at home, dropped to 15th place in the table and was relegated from the Premier League.[citation needed]
In October 2016, with Dynamo leading the second-tierRussian Football National League at the time, the newly appointed club president Yevgeni Muravyov claimed that club's debts stand at 13 billion rubles (approximately 188 million euros) and unless a new owner is found shortly or VTB re-commits to covering the club's debts, the club might declare bankruptcy. That would have most likely meant the loss of professional license and relegation to the fourth-levelRussian Amateur Football League.[22]
On 29 December 2016,Dynamo Sports Society agreed to buy VTB Bank shares back for 1 ruble.[7] On 13 January 2017, VTB Bank announced they will sponsor Dynamo Sports Society to the amount of 10.64 billion rubles for the period from 2017 to 2019 (approximately 167 million euros as of that date).HC Dynamo Moscow and other teams of the society were also to be financed under that deal.[23] On 1 February 2017, former club presidentBoris Rotenberg said that the 75 million euro debt the football club owes to Rotenberg's companies has been restructured and "is not harming anybody".[24] On 12 April 2017, with 7 games left to play in the 2016–17 season, Dynamo secured the return to the top levelRussian Premier League for 2017–18. That is theFNL record for the earliest a team secured promotion.[2]
On 14 March 2018, Yevgeni Muravyov was dismissed as the club president due to unauthorized payment made as a "bonus" to a third company during the transfer ofKonstantin Rausch from1. FC Köln.[25]
The new stadium for the club,VTB Arena was completed in late 2018. Following that, the stadium majority owner and football club's major sponsorVTB Bank expressed interest in reacquiring the control over the club. On 14 February 2019,Dynamo Sports Society agreed to sell back the club shares to "Dynamo Management Company" (the company that owns the stadium and has VTB bank as the majority owner).[8] The price was the same symbolic 1 ruble.[9] On 26 April 2019, it was reported that the deal is close to be finalized formally, but the price for the stock increased to 10 billion rubles (approximately €138 million). This reported larger number includes accumulated debts and the cost of the club's training centre.[26] (At the beginning of 2021, the club's chairman Yuri Solovyov said in an interview that Dynamo's debts were about 5.4 billion rubles. The then state of the club Soloviev called "shocking".[27]) On 30 April 2019, VTB confirmed that the deal has been closed and formal price is 1 ruble, the debts outstanding from the football club to Dynamo society has been restructured to an 8-year term, and Yuri Belkin was appointed club's general director.[28]
The2019–20 season, their first back at the home stadium, started poorly and head coachDmitri Khokhlov resigned after 12 games played with Dynamo in second-to-last position in the table. Under his replacement,Kirill Novikov, results improved and at the end of the season Dynamo finished 6th. That allowed Dynamo to qualify for European competition (UEFA Europa League) for the first time in 6 seasons.[29]
However, at the end of September 2020, Novikov was dismissed after losing toLocomotive Tbilisi (UEFA qualification) andKhimki (RPL).Sandro Schwarz was appointed as the new coach on 14 October.[30]
In the spring of 2021, the sports press started talking about the "revival" of the Moscow Dynamo. Since the appointment of Sandro Schwarz as coach, the team have won seven victories and four defeats in the Russian Premier League matches. The club's sporting director, Željko Buvač, has already described the start of the season as "great."[31] The team finished the season in 7th place.[citation needed]
After the invasion was launched, formerLiverpool F.C. and Ukraine strikerAndriy Voronin, who had been the team's assistant coach, left the club, writing that he could not work in a country that was bombing his homeland.[33]
The club remained in second place in the2021–22 Russian Premier League and at competitive points distance from first-place defending championsFC Zenit Saint Petersburg for most of the season before some late Dynamo losses allowed Zenit to secure the title with three games left to play in the season.[34] The club also qualified for the2021–22 Russian Cup final, their first Russian Cup final appearance since 2012.[35] On the last matchday of the league season on 21 May 2022, Dynamo lost 1–5 at home toPFC Sochi and dropped to 3rd place, letting Sochi overtake them. Still, that was the first Top-3 finish for Dynamo since 2008.[36] On 29 May 2022, Dynamo lost the Russian Cup final to Spartak 1–2, withDaniil Fomin missing a penalty kick deep in added time.[37] ManagerSandro Schwarz resigned from the club after the Cup final.[38]
Slaviša Jokanović was hired as a new manager on 17 June 2022.[39] Several key starting line-up foreign players from the 2021–22 season left the club on loan or suspended their contracts before the season due to the continuing Russian war in Ukraine, includingSebastian Szymański,Nikola Moro,Fabián Balbuena,Ivan Ordets, andGuillermo Varela. Dynamo took positions in the upper half of the league table, but below the top 3 during the summer/fall part of the 2022–23 season, not going on any long unbeaten or winless streaks. New Cameroonian signingMoumi Ngamaleu was the only Dynamo player selected for the2022 FIFA World Cup squads (not counting Szymański and Varela who were loaned out before the season).[40] Dynamo went into the winter break of the season in 4th place.[41] The results continued to be inconsistent after the winter break, and Jokanović was dismissed on 14 May 2023 following a 0–3 home loss toFC Akhmat Grozny, with Dynamo in 7th place.[42] Dynamo lost 5 of the last 7 league games and finished in 9th place.
On 22 June 2023,Marcel Lička was appointed new manager.[43] After losing the opening game of the2023–24 season, Dynamo went into the winter break in 3rd place. After a series of three losses in late March and early April, Dynamo dropped 9 points behind league leadersZenit and 5 points behind second-placedKrasnodar with 7 games left. However, Dynamo won their next five games, including scoring winning goals late in added time againstSochi andBaltika, as Zenit and Krasnodar both went on winless streaks, and with 2 games left Dynamo took the top spot in the table with a 2 points lead.[44][45] Dynamo extended the winning streak to 6 in the next game, a win or a draw in the last game of the season on 25 May 2024 away againstKrasnodar would have secured the title for Dynamo.[46] Dynamo lost 0–1 to Krasnodar, allowing Krasnodar to overtake them in the standings, as Zenit won their game and claimed their sixth consecutive title, with Dynamo finishing in 3rd place.[47] At the season-end league awards,Konstantin Tyukavin was named player of the season and forward of the season and received the goal of the season award, as Lička was named coach of the season.[48]
In the2024–25 Russian Premier League season, Dynamo gained 30 points after the first half of the games have been played, that was a 5-point improvement on the previous season's record at the same point. Dynamo also never gained more points after 15 games since RPL was created in 1992, and the last time they reached 30 was in 1997. However, they were in 4th place at that point, 7 points behind league-leadingKrasnodar. On 2 December 2024, Dynamo goalkeeperIgor Leshchuk scored an added-time equalizer with a header againstAkhmat Grozny, becoming the first goalkeeper in the history of theRussian Premier League (andSoviet Top League before it) to score a goal which was not a converted penalty kick.[53] Dynamo went into the season's winter break in 4th place with 35 points, 4 points behind league leaders Krasnodar and Zenit.[54] In the first game after the winter break,Konstantin Tyukavin suffered anACL tear and was ruled out for the rest of the season. The results remained inconsistent through the spring and, following Dynamo's elimination from the2024–25 Russian Cup,Marcel Lička left the club on 1 May 2025, with the club in 5th place in the league, 11 points behind Krasnodar with 4 games left to play. Dynamo had 47 points at the time, which matched their total in the previous season at the same time, but several other clubs significantly increased their points total compared to the 2023–24 season.[55] Dynamo finished the season in 5th place.
On 13 June 2025,Valery Karpin was hired as Dynamo manager on a three-year contract.[56] He also remained the manager of thenational team as it was only playing friendlies at the time due to the continuing war in Ukraine. The signings of national team playersMaksim Osipenko,Ivan Sergeyev andAnton Miranchuk, as well as Kazakhstan internationalBakhtiyar Zaynutdinov, who was coached by Karpin before, followed.[57][58][59][60] Dynamo started the2025–26 league season with 2 wins in their first 8 games, taking 9th place in the standings, 10 points behind the league leaders Krasnodar.[61] They finished the first half of the league season with 17 points, which was the lowest since the 2019–20 season and 13 points below the previous season's record.[62] Karpin resigned from his Dynamo position on 17 November 2025.[63]
In December 2021, according to the strategy of the club, FC Dynamo Football launched Women's team, as well as Women's Youth team[65] and Girl's section in Lev Yashin Academy.[66] Sergey Lavrentiev, graduate of the club UEFA "A" licence holder and former "man at the wheel" of Russian National Women's team, Chertanovo and CSKA Moscow women's teams, was appointed head coach of the new-born first squad. Goalkeepers coach Vitaly Shadrin (alongside same duties at Russian National Women's team) and strength & conditioning coach Yulia Gordeeva have also joined the staff.[67]
In 2021 the academy won both winter and summer championships in Moscow youth league, Club's League, being the only club to score more than 200 goals (2,85 per match) and conceding as well the fewest number of 47 goals.[68] Soon after, Alexander Kuznetsov, academy's director since 2013 and since 2006 in the club, has overviewed the evolution of football education in the academy, precising that "we've stopped acquiring "running horses" in favour of footballers – creative, technically skilled and able to make right decisions on the pitch". Mr Kuznetsov has also mentioned the role in modern approach in the Academy of Juan Martinez Garcia, Spanish specialist, who had been working in the club for several years a decade ago.[69] In March 2022, the academy andHigher School of Economics became official partners in education and research.[70]
Franchise
The club has a football Academy named afterLev Yashin (official siteArchived 17 August 2021 at theWayback Machine), created on the basis of the Dynamo youth team. In recent years, the owners of the club have seriously taken up its development. VTB Group has created an endowment fund with a capital of 5 billion rubles to finance the training of young footballers. The board of trustees of the fund is headed by the former prime minister of Russia, member of the board of directors of Dynamo,Sergei Stepashin.[71]In 2020, 13 graduates of the academy played for the main team of Dynamo.[72]
In 2020, the academy began to develop a network of branches. The first branch was created inMakhachkala (Dagestan) and then in more than 15 Russian cities and towns. In August and September 2021, the latest franchise football schools of the academy were opened inBarnaul,[73] inBelgorod,[74] inVladivostok,[75] inVoronezh[76] and in stanitsa Novotitarovskaya inKrasnodar Krai.[77] The next branch, based on local "Junior" school of sports, would be coming soon inNizhnevartovsk.[78]
In August 2021, the club started providing online workshops as a manual to launch Lev Yashin Academy franchises in any Russian city.[79]
Endowment fund
In September 2021,Alexander Ovechkin, worldwide hockey superstar and formerHC Dynamo Moscow forward, was named official ambassador for the endowment fund of Lev Yashin Academy.[80]Since September 2021, FC Dynamo Moscow has been launched marketing activities to promote the endowment fund of Lev Yashin Academy. Within the first promo offer, 30% of the cost of official new kit is transferred to support young Dynamo players sustainability, and each kit's buyer could get a number and a name on it for free.[81]
Since September 2021, each purchase in roubles, miles or bonus points by card ofVTB Bank could be directly converted into a single donation for the endowment fund of Lev Yashin Academy.[82]
In August 2021, FC Dynamo Moscow opened the official fanstore with sports and casualwear atVTB Arena as an integral part of club's renewed brand platform.[83] In December 2021, premiere screening of "Legends of the Future", dedicated to Dynamo's starsMikhail Yakushin,Konstantin Beskov andAlexei Khomich, was held at club's official fanstore.[84]
The first ever vintage Dynamo's collection was produced in 2008 and then in the late 2010s. A new vintage fashion line was launched in August 2021 featuring heritage brand "Olovo".[85]
In September 2021, iconic British designerNigel Cabourn started cooperating with the club with a fashion line, which will be his first cooperation with a football club, in a view of FC Dynamo Moscow's centenary in 2022, because vintage has always been a source of inspiration for the designer.[86] In February 2022, Nigel Cabourn presented the whole FC Dynamo Moscow casual range atPitti Uomo, famous international men's fashion show, atFortezza da Basso inFlorence.[87]
In October 2021, capsule collection, dedicated to Lev Yashin's anniversary, was shown in his favourite cinema, Pioner, in Moscow.[88]
In November 2021, the club organized auction to sell all new collection retro shirts, presented by Dynamo's footballers before the kick-off of the home game withFC Khimki, held on October 22, the day of the anniversary ofLev Yashin, for the benefit of endowment fund of FC Dynamo Moscow.[89]
In December 2021, the club launched its first full-range New Year's collection.[90] In February 2022, in the way to promote the fanstore and the 2nd round of the championship, where FC Dynamo Moscow is running on the Champions League's 2nd place, the club offered a free ticket for each more than 5000 roubles purchase.[91]
"Dynamo Runners" club
In August 2021, "Dynamo Runners" club was launched to promote Dynamo's spirit on a larger scale. Running, fitness and healthy lifehacks inMoscow are scheduled for every new training of the club. Olympic championYuri Borzakovskiy has become one of the ambassadors of "Dynamo Runners" club together with top bloggers and other celebrities.[92]
Dynamo & VTB Bank day
In October 2021, Dynamo & VTB Bank day was dedicated to 92nd anniversary ofLev Yashin together with school students, invited to Dynamo's game againstFC Khimki, won 4 to 1, and to the official club fanshop atVTB Arena.[93] Communication with school students has been carried on in December 2021 within tours atVTB Arena for school students fromKhimki.[94]
Cyber and high-Tech Marketing
The last home matchday vsFC Zenit Saint Petersburg atVTB Arena was powered by the first Augmented reality (AR) show within a football game in Russia.[95]
In January 2022, according to Deportes y Finanzas, the club became the most popular Russian football team onYouTube in the year 2021.[98]
Charity
During the season 2021–22, the club upscaled its charity matchday activities with 100 roubles from each ticket and 20% of merchandise sales provided to numerous charity funds.[99]
Since its establishment in 1923, Dynamo's historical rival has beenSpartak Moscow. Clashes between the clubs were seen by their fans and more generally as the most important games in the Soviet Union for more than three decades, attracting thousands of spectators. (Ironically, however, on New Year's Day in 1936, it was a combined Dynamo-Spartak team that traveled toParis to faceRacing Club de France, then one of Europe's top teams.) Dynamo clinched the first-ever Soviet League by beating Spartak 1–0 at Dynamo Stadium. Spartak responded by winning the championship the following year.[citation needed]
View of the historical Dynamo Stadium, home of Dynamo from 1928 to 2008. In 2011, it was demolished in preparation for a new stadium, which has now been built, and is now known as the VTB Arena.
Dynamo's ground used to be the historicDynamo Stadium in Petrovsky Park, which seated 36,540. In 2008, it was closed for demolition. From 2010 to 2016, Dynamo Moscow played their matches at theArena Khimki, which they shared with their Moscow rivals,CSKA Moscow. They continued to play at Arena Khimki until 26 May 2019, when FC Dynamo Moscow officially "returned home," as they played their first match at the newly openedVTB Arena.[citation needed]
In the 1st half of the 2021–22 season Dynamo recorded the best attendance at home among Moscow football clubs, according to official stats provided byRussian Premier League.[100]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Following Dynamo's relegation from theRussian Premier League (which holds its own competition for the Under-19 teams of the Premier League clubs) at the end of the 2015–16 season, the reserve squadFC Dynamo-2 Moscow received professional license and was registered to play in the third-tierRussian Professional Football League, beginning with the 2016–17 season. Following the main squad's promotion back to the RPL, they stopped playing professionally in the 2017–18 season, with players returning to the RPL U19 tournament. Dynamo-2 returned to PFL for the 2020–21 season.
In the Dynamo organization, the position of "president" has not always been present; several times the head of the club was titled as "chief executive officer (CEO)," or general director.
Nikolai Tolstykh, president ofRussian Football Union in 2012–2015. Tolstykh played his entire professional career for Dynamo from 1974 to his retirement in 1983 after a serious injury. After retiring, he served as the team's president and general director on numerous occasions.
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