The club was established on 10 May 1930, and was initially named Selmashstroy (Сельмашстрой). They were renamed Selmash in 1936 and Traktor in 1941. In 1950, the club joined the South Zone of the Azov-Don group of theRussian SFSR Championship. The following season they were placed in Group B of the championship. After finishing first in their group, they played in Group A in 1952. A third-place finish meant the club were promoted to theClass B for the1953 season, during which they were renamed again, becoming Torpedo. In 1958, they were renamedRostselmash.[citation needed]
In1964 the club won their Division of Class B. In the Russian-zone play-offs they finished second in the first round and top in the second after defeatingTerek Grozny 2–0 in the deciding match, earning promotion to theSoviet First League. Thefollowing season they finished bottom of the division, but were not relegated as the number of teams in the division was increased.[citation needed]
By the early 1970s the club was back in the Russian leagues. In1975 they returned to Class B (now known as the Soviet Second League). Following several near misses, the club won their zone of the Second League in1985. They went on to win a play-off tournament, earning promotion back to the First League.[citation needed]
In1991 the club finished fourth in what was the final season of Soviet football following the USSR's disintegration. This was enough to earn them a place in the newRussian Top League. Following an eighth-place finish in their first season, the1993 season saw the club struggle, eventually finishing second bottom, resulting in relegation to theFirst League.[citation needed]
The club made an immediate return to the Top League after finishing second in the1994 First League season. In 2003, they adopted their current name and reached theRussian Cup final for the first time, losing 1–0 toSpartak Moscow.[1] In2007 they finished bottom of the (now renamed) Premier Division and were relegated to the First Division. However, they made another return to the top division asFirst Division champions.[citation needed]
On 18 December 2014, the official website of FC Rostov announced the appointment ofKurban Berdyev as head coach. Under his leadership, the team has maintained a place in the Premier League on aggregate (1–0, 4–1) beating "Tosno" in the play-offs Premier League – First Division. Throughout the second half of 2015, the club had problems with the payment of salaries and bonuses the players, but it has not prevented the club at the end of the first part of the season 2015–16 to hold 2nd place in the championship.[citation needed]
In the2016–17 season, Rostov earned aUEFA Champions League spot in the League Route as runners-up of the Russian Premier League. In the third qualifying round, they were drawn againstAnderlecht. After a 2–2 home draw, they beat Anderlecht 2–0 away. In the play-off, Rostov were drawn against Dutch giantsAjax. In the first leg inAmsterdam,Netherlands, they held on to a 1–1 draw, which gave them an away goal advantage. In the return leg, Rostov earned a 4–1 surprise win over Ajax and qualified for theUEFA Champions Leaguegroup stages, a stunning performance as was their first qualification into the group stages of a European tournament.[5] Rostov were drawn in Group D, againstBayern Munich,Atlético Madrid andPSV Eindhoven,[6][7] gaining their first Champions League victory on 23 November 2016, defeatingBayern Munich 3–2 atOlimp-2.[8]
On 9 June 2017, Rostov announcedLeonid Kuchuk as their new manager on a one-year contract with the option of an additional year.[9] Kuchuk resigned and was replaced byValeri Karpin during the winter break in December 2017.[10]
On 19 June 2020, Rostov were due to play their first match of the restartedRussian Premier League season, which had been suspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, againstPFC Sochi. Rostov were in fourth place, just a few points ofUEFA Champions League qualification. A few days before the match, six players in Rostov's first-team squad tested positive for the coronavirus, putting the entire first-team squad into a 14-day quarantine period.[11] This forced the club to select their Under-18 squad to play the match, making it the youngest starting 11 and the youngest matchday squad in Russian Premier League history. Rostov would go on to lose 10–1, but the youngsters were highly praised for their performance with 17-year-old goalkeeperDenis Popov named man-of-the-match after saving a penalty and making 15 saves,[12] a Russian Premier League record,[13] and 17-year-oldRoman Romanov scoring his first senior goal on his debut in the first minute of the match.[citation needed]
On 26 October 2021, Rostov announced Turkmenistani coachVitaly Kafanov as their new manager.[14]
Rostov was 2nd in the2022–23 Russian Premier League with 5 games left, but lost 4 out of 5 games and dropped to 4th place at the final table.
In the first match of the 2023–24 RPL season withFakel Voronezh, Rostov scored his thousandth goal in the history of the Russian championships, becoming the sixth team to have such an achievement.[16]
In the 2024–25 season, Rostov reached theRussian Cup superfinal, which they lost to CSKA in a penalty shoot-out.[17]
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.
