Zenit's history is tightly connected with the political history ofSaint Petersburg, Russia (also called "Petrograd" and "Leningrad" at times in its history). In 1897, the first officially-recorded football match in Russia was held in Saint Petersburg onVasilievsky 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.[citation needed]
The original Zenit team stemmed from several football teams, which changed names and owners many times during theSoviet era after theRevolution of 1917, as powerful political forces manipulated the careers of individual players as well as the fate of the whole team. The club was renamed several times and its owners and leaders were under political pressure for many decades. The origins of Zenit date back to the beginning of the 20th century to several predecessor teams inSaint Petersburg that were playing locally. The oldest documented predecessor of Zenit was the team "Murzinka," founded in 1914, which played in theObukhovsky stadium from 1914 until 1924, when the team came to be known as "Bolshevik" (the new name forObukhovsky industry and its stadium). The team and stadium survived the drama ofWorld War I, theBolshevik revolution of 1917, and theRussian Civil War of 1918 to 1922.[citation needed]
In 1925, another predecessor team of Zenit was formed, of workers from theLeningradsky Metallichesky Zavod (Leningrad Metal Plant); they were called the "Stalinets" in the 1930s. (Stalinets translates literally to English as "Stalinist"; however, in Russian, the name is a play on words asstal means "steel".) Historians documented that both predecessor teams of Zenit were playing independently until their official merger at the end of 1939. The Stalinets were not the same team named Zenit that took part in the 1938 USSR championship. The current name of FC Zenit was registered in 1936 (as Bolshevik became part of theZenit sports society and was renamed), three years before the Stalinets merged with it. The nameZenit means "Zenith".[citation needed]
In 1939, during the rule ofJoseph Stalin, Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod became part 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.[citation needed]
Zenit won their first honours in 1944, claiming the war-time USSR Cup after defeatingCSKA Moscow in the well-attended final. The club was always 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 50th anniversary of theOctober Revolution, which occurred in the city. ComposerDmitry Shostakovich and film starKirill 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 medal in 1980, also reaching the Soviet Cup Final and winning the Soviet League title in 1984. In 1985, Zenit beat the Soviet Cup holder in the Soviet Super Cup (also called the Season Cup).[citation needed]
TheLOMO optical plant took up the ownership of the team after the war.[vague] In 1990, FC Zenit were re-registered as an independent city-owned professional club. In 1992, After being relegated in the first year of the Russian League,[5] Zenit returned to the top flight in 1996 and has been decent since. They claimed the 1999Russian Cup, finished third in the League in 2001, made the Cup final in 2002, became the runners-up in thePremier League and won theRussian Premier League Cup in 2003.[citation needed]
In December 2005,Gazprom took a controlling stake in the club.[6] The deal was announced byValentina Matviyenko, the Saint Petersburg governor. Gazprom bought the majority of the club.[citation needed]
Andrey Arshavin, one of the most successful players in Zenit history
Although Zenit reached the quarter-finals of theUEFA Cup in 2006, a mediocre start to the league season led to the summer replacement of coachVlastimil Petržela. In July 2006,Dick Advocaat[7] took over as Zenit's manager. Advocaat worked together with his assistant manager, former Netherlands national youth team coachCor Pot. Zenit won the 2007Russian Premier League—their best league achievement since winning the USSR Championship in 1984—allowing them to compete in thegroup stage of the2008–09 UEFA Champions League.[citation needed]
In 2008, Zenit won theRussian Super Cup and reached the quarter-final of theUEFA Cup for the second time in their history. In the first leg of the quarter-final away game against German sideBayer Leverkusen, the team achieved a 4–1 victory. They qualified for the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in their history, despite a 1–0 home loss to Leverkusen in the second leg, and were drawn to play further German opposition in the semi-final,Bayern Munich, considered the top team remaining.[8] A battling performance in the first leg of the semi-final earned Zenit a 1–1 draw away against Bayern Munich. In the second leg 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 club history, where they metScottish sideRangers at theCity of Manchester Stadium inManchester on 14 May. Zenit won 2–0, with goals fromIgor Denisov in the 72nd minute andKonstantin Zyryanov in stoppage time, to lift the club's first-everUEFA Cup.Andrey Arshavin was namedman of the match.[9]
In the 2008–09 Champions League group stage, Zenit was grouped withReal Madrid,Juventus andBATE Borisov in Group H, which by some was marked as the "group of death." Zenit ultimately finished in third place 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 good enough to earn the club a place in the2008–09 UEFA Cup last 32, where the team facedVfB 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 clubUdinese.[citation needed]
Luciano Spalletti signed a contract with Zenit in December 2009, with Italian coachesDaniele Baldini, Marco Domenichini and Alberto Bartali also joining the Russian club. The Board of Zenit mandated him to return the Russian Premier League title to Zenit, win theRussian Cup and progress from the group stage of theChampions League in his first year.[citation needed]
Zenit won the Russian Cup on 16 May 2010 after beatingSibir Novosibirsk in the final (previously beatingVolga Tver in the quarter-finals andAmkar Perm in the semi-finals). After 16 games in the 2010 Premier League, with 12 wins and four draws, Zenit claimed 40 points, setting a new Russian Premier League record for most points won at that stage of the campaign.[citation needed]
On 25 August 2010, Zenit lost its first game under Spalletti to French sideAuxerre and failed to advance to theChampions Leaguegroup stage, instead participating in theEuropa League. On 3 October, Zenit beatSpartak Nalchik to set another Russian Premier League record for most consecutive games going undefeated, with 21 games since the start of the league season. On 27 October, however, Zenit suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of rival clubSpartak Moscow, just seven games short of finishing the championship undefeated. On 14 November, Zenit defeatedRostov and two games prior to the end of the season won the championship title, the first in Spalletti's managerial career.[citation needed]
Zenit progressed through the knockout stage of the2010–11 Europa League in first place, then beating Swiss sideYoung Boys in the Round of 16. On 6 March 2011, Zenit won against CSKA Moscow in the Russian Super Cup, the third Russian trophy won under Spalletti. On 17 March, however, Zenit were knocked out of the Europa League, losing to Dutch teamTwente 2–3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.[citation needed]
In the2011–12 Champions League, Zenit began thegroup stage drawn into Group G alongside Porto,Shakhtar Donetsk andAPOEL. On 6 December 2011, the team finished the group stage in second place and for the first time in club's history qualified for the spring knockout phase of Champions League. In the Round of 16, Zenit were drawn with Portuguese sideBenfica, winning the first leg 3–2 at home through two goals fromRoman Shirokov and one from Sergei Semak. In the second leg inLisbon, however, Zenit lost 2–0 and were thus eliminated from the competition.
In April 2012, Zenit won their second-straight Russian Championship after beatingDynamo Moscow.[11]
After a series of disappointing results in both the Champions League and the Premier League, Spalletti was fired on 11 March 2014.[12] A week later, the club announced they had negotiated a two-year deal withAndré Villas-Boas, who himself had been released a few months prior after a disappointing stint as manager of English sideTottenham Hotspur.[13] In the2014–15 Europa League, Zenit were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual championsSevilla. In May 2015, Zenit won the Russian Championship, the first championship title under Villas-Boas and the team's fifth-ever on the eve of its 90th anniversary celebration. Zenit then defeatedLokomotiv Moscow in the2015 Russian Super Cup 1–1 (4–2 on penalties).[citation needed]
Later in the 2015 calendar year, Villas-Boas said that he would be leaving the club after the2015–16 season. In the2015–16 Champions League, Zenit began the competition in thegroup stage. They were drawn in Group H alongsideValencia,Lyon andGent. They ended the group stage with their best group stage finish ever, winning five out of six matches and emerging as group winners. They were, however, eliminated from the competition in the Round of 16 by Portuguese sideBenfica.[citation needed]
On 24 May 2016 Villas-Boas left the club at the end of the season, withMircea Lucescu appointed the new manager of Zenit.[14][15]
In July 2016 Zenit won the Russian Super Cup after a 0–1 victory over CSKA Moscow.[citation needed]
During the2016–17 Europa League, Zenit began thegroup stage drawn into Group D alongsideMaccabi Tel Aviv,AZ Alkmaar andDundalk. On 8 December 2016, the team finished the group stage in first place and qualified for the spring knockout phase of Europa League. In the round of 32, Zenit facedR.S.C. Anderlecht and was eliminated 3–3 on aggregate due to the away goals rule. In the league, Zenit's performances in the spring were disappointing and as such the club finished third and missed out on the Champions League for the second year in a row. Zenit was also eliminated in the round of 16 byFC Anzhi Makhachkala 0–4 on aggregate after an abysmal performance. The first (and last) season of Mircea Lucescu was a complete disappointment despite the expectations.[citation needed]
On 1 June 2017 Zenit appointedRoberto Mancini as the new manager of the team.[16] On 13 May 2018, Mancini terminated his contract by mutual consent.[17]
In August 2018, during the 1st leg of the 3rd qualification round of theUEFA Europa League, Zenit suffered a 0–4 loss toDynamo Minsk. During the 2nd leg back on home ground, Zenit made a comeback winning 8–1, scoring 3 goals in the second half and 4 goals in the second half of the extra time, with 2 goals scored in the 120th minute.[19] Zenit went on to beatMolde FK 4–3 on aggregate in the next round, entering thegroup stage of2018-19 UEFA Europa League.[20]
In March 2020, the league was forced to halt due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Russia.[21] Zenit secured another title on 5 July 2020 after a victory overFC Krasnodar, with 4 games left to play in the tournament.[22]
On 30 April 2022, Zenit secured their fourth title in a row and eighth overall.[26] Many of Zenit's foreign players have not been able to leave Russia, unable to secure moves away from Russian clubs, due tointernational sanctions placed upon the country as a result ofRussia's invasion of Ukraine.[27]
On 7 May 2023, Zenit secured their fifth title in a row and ninth overall.[28]
In 2024, Zenit was one of the organizers of the Equality Cup, an international football tournament.[29]
On 25 May 2024, Zenit won their sixth title in a row dramatically on the last day of the season, as league-leadingDynamo Moscow lost to third-placedKrasnodar, allowing Zenit to come back to the top. The winning goal in Zenit's game againstRostov was scored in the 85th minute byArtur.[30] On 2 June 2024, Zenit won theRussian Cup with a late-comeback 2–1 victory overBaltika Kaliningrad,Nuraly Alip scored the winning goal in the 5th added minute.[31] On 13 July 2024, Zenit won the2024 Russian Super Cup.[32]
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.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Zenit's reserve squad played professionally asZenit-2 (Russian Second League in 1993,Russian Second Division from 1998 to 2000) andZenit-d (Russian Third League from 1994 to 1997). Another team that was founded asLokomotiv-Zenit-2 played asZenit-2 in theRussian Second Division from 2001 to 2008. By 2008, there was no relation between that team and FC Zenit. Another farm club calledFC Smena-Zenit debuted in theRussian Second Division in 2009, taking the spot 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 theRussian Professional Football League.
In July 2023, by decision of the board of directors, a new executive body, the board, was created at Zenit. The purpose of creating a new structure is to streamline the decision-making process and increase the planning horizon. The board included CEOAlexander Medvedev as chairman, his deputies and heads of departmentsAndrey Arshavin, Alexander Vasilyev, Zhanna Dembo, Oleg Zadubrovsky, Vladimir Litvinov, Alexey Pak, Maxim Pogorelov, head coachSergey Semak.[38]
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