The Oldest Russian derby is a football rivalry played between Moscow rivals
FC Spartak Moscow and
FC Dynamo Moscow
FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footb ...
.
The derby became less intense as Dynamo Moscow has not won a title since 1976 and only once succeeded in domestic competitions since the
fall of the Soviet Union. Spartak missed the
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
season of the Soviet League due to relegation, while Dynamo missed the
2016–17 season of the
Russian Premier League.
History
Game of political importance
This Moscow derby has also a political dimension. The teams fought each other for the championship of Moscow, and then for the
Soviet Top League. In 1942, the founder and footballer of Spartak,
Nikolai Starostin, was arrested, along with his three brothers among other teammates, facing accusations of involvement in a plot to kill
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
. After two years of interrogations, the charges were dropped but the Starostin brothers were tried and sentenced to spend 10 years in the camps of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. Throughout all those years, Nikolai Starostin had always believed that
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik ...
, Dynamo Moscow's chief patron, was the one behind all this. Returning from prison, Nikolai Starostin became chairman of Spartak again and always demanded from his players at all costs to beat Dynamo.
Decline
Around the end of the 1970s, the Spartak-Dynamo rivalry had lost its status in Soviet football; the blue-and-whites were slowly declining and
Dynamo Kiev became the main rival of the red-and-whites.
Honours
Crossing the divide
Players who have played for both clubs
*'' Sort by date of birth''
*'' A partial list of players''
Managers worked in both clubs
Statistics
Head-to-head record
Head-to-head record in Russian Football National League
Record wins
Spartak biggest wins
1991 — Soviet Top League — Spartak — Dynamo 7:1
1985 —Soviet Top League — Spartak — Dynamo 5:1
2005 — Russian Premier League — Spartak — Dynamo 5:1
2012 — Russian Premier League — Dynamo — Spartak 0:4
Dynamo biggest wins
1946 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Spartak 5:0
1940 — Soviet Top League — Spartak — Dynamo 1:5
1945 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Spartak 4:0
1948 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Spartak 5:1
1966 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Dynamo 4:0
2012 — Russian Premier League — Spartak — Dynamo 1:5
Matches list
Soviet Top League 1936 - 1992
Russian League 1992 -
Soviet Cup 1936 - 1992
Russian Cup 1992 -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spartak Moscow-Dynamo Moscow rivalry
FC Spartak Moscow
Спартак
Football derbies in Russia