Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

. Zenit are the reigning champions of the Russian Premier League. Previously they won the 2007, 2010, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20 and the 2020–21 seasons of the Russian Premier League, as well as the

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. The final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England on 14 May 2008 between Rangers of Scotland and Zenit Saint ...

and the 2008 UEFA Super Cup. The club is owned and sponsored by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. The team play its home matches at the

Gazprom Arena Krestovsky Stadium, known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons (russian: «Газпром Арена»), is a retractable roof stadium with a retractable pitch in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which s ...

. In March 2022, the club was expelled from all European and international club competitions by FIFA and the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

due to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

. In addition, the

European Club Association The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was fo ...

suspended the team.

History

Before Zenit

Zenit's history is tightly connected with the political history of

, 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 on

Vasilievsky Island Vasilyevsky Island (russian: Васи́льевский о́стров, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south ...

, 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.

Formation of Zenit

The original Zenit team stemmed from several football teams, which changed names and owners many times during the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

era after the

Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, 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 in

that were playing locally. The oldest documented predecessor of Zenit was the team "Murzinka," founded in 1914, which played in the ''Obukhovsky'' stadium from 1914 until 1924, when the team came to be known as "Bolshevik" (the new name for ''Obukhovsky'' industry and its stadium). The team and stadium survived the drama of World War I, the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

revolution of 1917, and the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

of 1918 to 1922. In 1925, another predecessor team of Zenit was formed, of workers from the ''

Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod (russian: Ленинградский Металлический Завод), also known as LMZ, is the largest Russian manufacturer of power machines and turbines for electric power stations. History The company ...

'' (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 as ''stal'' means "steel" in that language.) 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 the Zenit sports society and was renamed), three years before the Stalinets merged with it. The name ''Zenit'' means "

Zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction ( plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir). The zenith is the "high ...

". In 1939, during the rule of

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 Secretar ...

, 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.

Zenit in the Soviet League

Zenit won their first honours in 1944, claiming the war-time USSR Cup after defeating

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

in the well-attended final. The club was always adored in Leningrad, 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 the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

, which occurred in the city. Composer Dmitry Shostakovich and film star

Kirill Lavrov Kirill Yuryevich Lavrov (russian: link=no, Кирилл Юрьевич Лавров; 15 September 1925 – 27 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor and director. Biography Childhood Kirill Yuryevich Lavrov was born on 15 ...

were well known as ardent supporters of Zenit, a passion that is reflected in their attendance of many games. 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).

Zenit in the Russian League

The

LOMO LOMO (russian: Ленинградское Oптико-Mеханическое Oбъединение, Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie, Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association) is a manufacturer of medical and motion-picture lens ...

optical plant took up the ownership of the team after the war. In 1990, FC Zenit were re-registered as an independent city-owned professional club. After being relegated in the first year of the Russian League (1992), Zenit returned to the top flight in 1996 and has been decent since. They claimed the 1999 Russian Cup, finished third in the League in 2001, made the Cup final in 2002, became the runners-up in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and won the

Russian Premier League Cup The Russian Premier League Cup was a football competition organized by Russian Premier League. This was a knockout competition for 16 teams of the Premier League. All ties, including the final, were two-legged. The winners of the Cup did not get an ...

in 2003.

Gazprom era

In December 2005, Gazprom took a controlling stake in the club. The deal was announced by

Valentina Matviyenko Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko (russian: Валентина Ивановна Матвиенко, p=vəlʲɪnˈtʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə mətvʲɪˈjɛnkə, ukr, Валентина Іванівна Матвієнко; née Tyutina (Тютина; , ...

, the Saint Petersburg governor. Gazprom bought the majority of the club.

Under Advocaat

Although Zenit reached the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

in 2006, a mediocre start to the league season led to the summer replacement of coach Vlastimil Petržela. In July 2006,

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three stint ...

took over as Zenit's manager. Advocaat worked together with his assistant manager, former Netherlands national youth team coach

Cor Pot Cornelis "Cor" Pot (born 8 June 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former professional footballer. Playing career Pot started his career with the academy of Sparta in Rotterdam, and subsequently moved to the Ajax academy. Coaching career ...

. Zenit won the 2007

—their best league achievement since winning the USSR Championship in 1984—allowing them to compete in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

of the

2008–09 UEFA Champions League The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. It w ...

. In 2008, Zenit won the

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premie ...

and reached the quarter-final of the

for the second time in their history. In the first leg of the quarter-final away game against German side

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

, 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. 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 met Scottish side Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on 14 May. Zenit won 2–0, with goals from

Igor Denisov Igor Vladimirovich Denisov (russian: Игорь Владимирович Денисов; born 17 May 1984) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Denisov spent most of his career from 2002 to 2013 at his home ...

in the 72nd minute and Konstantin Zyryanov in stoppage time, to lift the club's first-ever

. Andrey Arshavin was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. On 29 August 2008, at the

Stade Louis II The Stade Louis II () is a stadium located in the Fontvieille district of Monaco. It serves primarily as a venue for football, being the home of AS Monaco and the Monaco national football team. The stadium is most notable for its distinctive ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, Zenit then defeated Manchester United 2–1 in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup, becoming the first Russian side to win the trophy. Pavel Pogrebnyak scored the first goal and

Danny Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People * Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

scored the second, the latter being named man of the match in his debut for Zenit. In the 2008–09 Champions League group stage, Zenit was grouped with Real Madrid, Juventus and BATE Borisov in Group H, which by some was marked as the "

group of death A group of death in a multi-stage tournament is a group which is unusually competitive, because the number of strong competitors in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament. Thus, i ...

." 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 the

2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K., Fenerbahçe, i ...

last 32, where the team faced

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

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 club

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

Under Spalletti

Luciano Spalletti signed a contract with Zenit in December 2009, with Italian coaches Daniele 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 the Russian Cup and progress from the group stage of the Champions League in his first year. Zenit won the Russian Cup on 16 May 2010 after beating Sibir Novosibirsk in the final (previously beating Volga Tver in the quarter-finals and

Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб "Амка́р" Пермь ) is a professional association football, football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm, Russia, Perm. It was a participant in ...

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. Hulk 2012 bigger

On 25 August 2010, Zenit lost its first game under Spalletti to French side

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

and failed to advance to the Champions League

, instead participating in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. On 3 October, Zenit beat Spartak 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 club

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

, just seven games short of finishing the championship undefeated. On 14 November, Zenit defeated

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While ...

and two games prior to the end of the season won the championship title, the first in Spalletti's managerial career. Zenit progressed through the knockout stage of the 2010–11 Europa League in first place, then beating Swiss side Young 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 team

Twente Twente ( nl, Twente , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Ge ...

2–3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. In the 2011–12 Champions League, Zenit began the

drawn into Group G alongside Porto,

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

and

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

. 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 side Benfica, winning the first leg 3–2 at home through two goals from Roman Shirokov and one from Sergei Semak. In the second leg in Lisbon, however, Zenit lost 2–0 and were thus eliminated from the competition. In April 2012, Zenit won their second-straight Russian Championship after beating

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

Under Villas-Boas

After a series of disappointing results in both the Champions League and the Premier League, Spalletti was fired on 11 March 2014. A week later, the club announced they had negotiated a two-year deal with

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...

, who himself had been released a few months prior after a disappointing stint as manager of English side

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. In the 2014–15 Europa League, Zenit were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. 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 defeated

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

in the 2015 Russian Super Cup 1–1 (4–2 on penalties). Later in the 2015 calendar year, Villas-Boas said that he would be leaving the club after the 2015–16 season. In the 2015–16 Champions League, Zenit began the competition in the

. They were drawn in Group H alongside

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch language, Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghen ...

. 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 side Benfica. On 24 May 2016 Villas-Boas left the club at the end of the season, with

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club Dynamo Kyiv. He is one of the most decorated managers of all time. Lucescu is also ...

appointed the new manager of Zenit.

Under Lucescu and Mancini

In July 2016 Zenit won the Russian Super Cup after a 0–1 victory over CSKA Moscow. During the 2016–17 Europa League, Zenit began the

drawn into Group D alongside

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. 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 faced R.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 by

FC Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founde ...

0–4 on aggregate after an abysmal performance. The first (and last) season of Mircea Lucescu was a complete disappointment despite the expectations. On 1 June 2017 Zenit appointed

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sa ...

as the new manager of the team. On 13 May 2018, Mancini terminated his contract by mutual consent.

Under Semak

In May 2018, Mancini left to become the head coach of the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

. Sergey Semak became the new manager of Zenit, receiving a two-year contract. In August 2018, during the 1st leg of the 3rd qualification round of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

, Zenit suffered a 0–4 loss to Dynamo 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. Zenit went on to beat

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a professional football club based in Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club was originally known as International and changed its name t ...

4–3 on aggregate in the next round, entering the

of 2018-19 UEFA Europa League. In March 2020, the league was forced to halt due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Russia The COVID-19 pandemic in Russia is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Russia on 31 January 2020, when two Ch ...

. Zenit secured another title on 5 July 2020 after a victory over

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Division, the second highest division of the R ...

, with 4 games left to play in the tournament. On 2 May 2021, Zenit secured their third title in a row in a 6–1 victory over second-place

FC Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three o ...

. Zenit opened the 2021–22 season with a seventh win in the

after a 3–0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow, but without major key players who left the club like

Yuri Zhirkov Yuri Valentinovich Zhirkov ( rus, Ю́рий Валенти́нович Жирко́в, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj vəlʲɪnˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ʐɨrˈkof; born 20 August 1983) is a Russian footballer. A left-sided player who can play full-back or winger, Zh ...

, Andrei Lunev, and Sebastián Driussi. After the

, former Ukrainian international Yaroslav Rakitskiy made a pro-Ukrainian post on Instagram and severed his contract with the team. FIFA and the

indefinitely suspended the team from their competitions. In addition, the

suspended the team. On 30 April 2022, Zenit secured their fourth title in a row and eighth overall. Many of Zenit's foreign players have not been able to leave Russia, unable to secure moves away from Russian clubs, due to western sanctions placed upon the country as a result of Russia's war with Ukraine.

Stadiums

Zenit's home ground is now the 67,800-capacity

Krestovsky Stadium Krestovsky Stadium, known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons (russian: «Газпром Арена»), is a retractable roof stadium with a retractable pitch in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which s ...

, known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons, in Saint Petersburg.

Petrovsky Stadium The Petrovsky Stadium (russian: стадион «Петровский») is on a sports complex that consists of a number of buildings, the stadium is used mostly for football and also for athletics. The Grand Sport Arena of the Petrovsky Sport Com ...

used to be the home ground of the team before the new Krestovsky Stadium was built. Before moving to the

, Zenit's home ground was the Kirov Stadium. It stood on the site where the Krestovsky Stadium was later erected.

Honours

Domestic competitions

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

*Champions (9):

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, 2007, 2010, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS ( Moldov ...

/ Russian Cup *Winners (5):

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2015–16, 2019–20 *Runners-up: 1939,

, 2001–02

Soviet Super Cup The USSR Super Cup,, az, Futbol üzrə SSRİ Superkuboku, ka, საბჭოთა კავშირის სუპერთასი, sabch’ota k’avshiris sup’ertasi, lt, TSRS Futbolo Supertaurė, ro, Supercupa URSS, uk, Супер ...

*Winners (8):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2011, 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

*Runners-up:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

USSR Federation Cup The Cup of Football Federation of USSR, az, SSRİ Futbol Federasiyasının Kuboku, kk, КСРО футбол федерациялары кубогы, KSRO fwtbol federacïyaları kwbogı, lt, TSRS Futbolo Lygos Taurė, ro, Cupa Federației de ...

*Winners: 2003 *Runners-up:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

Soviet First League The Soviet First League in football (russian: Первая лига СССР по футболу) was the second highest division of Soviet football,Evgeni Kazakov. The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футбо ...

Russian National Football League The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...

*Runners-up: 1993 (Center) The Atlantic Cup *Winners (2):

International competitions

*Winners: 2007–08

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

*Winners:

League and cup history

Soviet Union

Russia

League positions

ImageSize = width:900 height:60 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1991 till:01/07/2021 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1992 Colors = id:bl1 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:bl2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3) id:rs value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6) id:rn value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1) PlotData= bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/01/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/01/1991 till:01/07/1992 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "VL" from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1995 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "RFNL" from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1997 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "VL" from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/2001 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "VD" from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2021 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "Russian Premier League"

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Reserve squad

Zenit's reserve squad played professionally as Zenit-2 (

Russian Second League The Russian Second League (russian: Первенство России II дивизиона ФНЛ), formerly Russian Professional Football League is the third level of Russian professional football. History In 1998–2010, it was run by the P ...

in 1993,

Russian Second Division The Russian Second League (russian: Первенство России II дивизиона ФНЛ), formerly Russian Professional Football League is the third level of Russian professional football. History In 1998–2010, it was run by the Pr ...

from 1998 to 2000) and Zenit-d (

Russian Third League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...

from 1994 to 1997). Another team that was founded as Lokomotiv-Zenit-2 played as

Zenit-2 The Zenit-2 is a Ukrainian, previously Soviet, expendable carrier rocket. First flown in 1985, it has been launched 37 times, with 6 failures. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets and was designed by the Yuzhmash. History With 13– ...

in the

from 2001 to 2008. By 2008, there was no relation between that team and FC Zenit. Another farm club called FC Smena-Zenit debuted in the

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.

reentered professional football in the 2013–14 season in the Russian Professional Football League.

Team captains

Club officials

Board of directors

{, class="wikitable" , - ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Position ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Name , - , General Director ,

Alexander Medvedev Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev (russian: Александр Иванович Медведев, ) (born 14 August 1955 in Shakhtyorsk, Sakhalin Oblast) is the current Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee of Russian energy company Gazprom an ...

, - , Sporting Director , Javier Ribalta , - , Deputy General Directors , Dmitri Mankin , - , Deputy General Directors , Vyacheslav Malafeev , - , Deputy General Directors , Rosteslav Leontyev , - , Deputy General Directors , Zhanna Dembo , - , Deputy General Directors , Yury Andreyevich , - , Director of the "Smena" study-practice complex , Vasily Kostrovsky , -

Management

{, class="wikitable" , - ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Position ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Name , - , Manager , Sergey Semak , - , Assistant managers , Aleksandr Nizelik
William Artur de Oliveira
Igor Simutenkov

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk Anatoliy Oleksandrovych Tymoshchuk ( uk, Анатолій Олександрович Тимощук ; born 30 March 1979) is a Ukrainian football coach and a former midfielder, currently an assistant coach of the Russian Premier League club Ze ...

Aleksandr Anyukov Aleksandr Gennadyevich Anyukov (russian: Александр Геннадьевич Анюков; born 28 September 1982) is a Russian association football coach and a former player, who played as a right-back. He is an assistant coach with FC Z ...

, - , Goalkeeping coach , Mikhail Biryukov

Yuri Zhevnov Yuri Zhevnov ( be, Юры Жаўноў; born 17 April 1981) is a professional football coach and a former player from Belarus. He is the goalkeepers' coach with Zenit St. Petersburg. Career Zhevnov started his career at third division. In 2000 ...

, - , Fitness coach , Ivan Carminati
Andrea Scanavino
Mariya Burova , - , Doctor , Mikhail Grishin

Ownerships, sponsors, kit suppliers

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" , - ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Period ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Kit manufacturers ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Owner , - , 1977–2000 , , Adidas , ,

, XX Trest and

Saint Petersburg City Administration Saint Petersburg City Administration (Администрация Санкт-Петербурга) is the superior executive body of Saint Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), Russian Federation. It is located in a historic building, Smolny and known ...

, - , 2001–2002 , , Diadora , , rowspan="2", David Traktovenko , - , 2003–2004 , ,

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 10 ...

, - , 2005–2007 , , Adidas , , rowspan="3", Gazprom , - , 2008–2009 , , Puma , - , 2010–2022 , ,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

Partnership

Other football clubs

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

Sepahan Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club ( fa, باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی فولاد مبارکه سپاهان اصفهان, ''Bâšgâh-è Varzeši-ye Fulâd-è Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan S.C., are an Iranian spor ...

Corporations

MegaFon MegaFon (russian: МегаФон), previously known as North-West GSM, is the second largest mobile phone operator

Rossiya Airlines Rossiya Airlinesrossiya-airlines.com - About us
retrieved 2016-09-19 ( ...

* Nissan *

Obi (store) OBI GmbH & Co. Deutschland KG is a German multinational home improvement supplies retailing company. It is headquartered in Wermelskirchen and operates 668 stores in Europe, of which 351 are in Germany. History Obi was founded in 1970 by ...

Rostelecom Rostelecom is Russia’s largest provider of digital services for a wide variety of consumers, households, private businesses, government and municipal authorities, and other telecom providers. Rostelecom interconnects all local public operators� ...

* Corinthia Saint Petersburg * St. Peter Line *

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

Presidents

{, class="wikitable" , - ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Name ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Period , - , Vladislav Gusev , 1990–1992 , - , Leonid Tufrin , 1992–1994 , - ,

Vitaly Mutko Vitaly Leontiyevich Mutko (russian: Виталий Леонтьевич Мутко; born Viktor Leontiyevich Mutko; 8 December 1958) is a Russian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 2016–2020. From 2008 to 2016, ...

, 1995–2003 , - , David Traktovenko , 2003–2005 , - , Sergey Fursenko , 2006–2008 , - , Alexander Dyukov , 2008–2017 , - , Sergey Fursenko , 2017–2019 , - ,

, 2019–

Head coaches

{, class="wikitable" , - ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Name ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Period , - , Pyotr Filippov , 1936–37 , - , Mikhail Yudenich , 1938–39 , - , Konstantin Egorov , 1938–39 , - , Pyotr Filippov , 1940 , - , Konstantin Lemeshev , 1941–45 , - , Mikhail Butusov , 1946 , - , Ivan Talanov , 1946–48 , - , Konstantin Lemeshev , 1948–50 , - , Georgiy Lasin , 1950–51 , - , Vladimir Lemeshev , 1952–54 , - , Nikolay Lyukshinov , 1954–55 , - , Arkadiy Alov , 1956–57 , - , Georgiy Zharkov , 1957–60 , - , Gennadiy Bondarenko , 1960 , - , Evgeniy Eliseev , 1961–64 , - ,

Valentin Fyodorov Valentin Vasilyevich Fyodorov (russian: Валентин Васильевич Фёдоров; born 11 April 1911 in St. Petersburg; died 4 December 1981 in Leningrad) was a Soviet Union, Soviet association football, football player and coach. Ext ...

, 1964–66 , - , Arkadiy Alov , 1967 , - , Artem Falyan , 1968–70 , - , Yevgeniy Goryanskiy , 1970–72 , - , German Zonin , 1973–77 , - , Yuri Morozov , 1977–82 , - , Pavel Sadyrin , 1983-87 {, class="wikitable" , - ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Name ! style="color:#fff; background:#348eb9;", Period , - , Vladimir Golubev , 1987 , - , Stanislav Zavidonov , 1988–89 , - , Vladimir Golubev , 1989 , - ,

Anatoliy Konkov Anatoliy Konkov ( uk, Анатолій Дмитрович Коньков; born 19 September 1949) is a Ukrainian former football player and recognized as the Merited Master of Sports of the USSR (1982). He was elected as the President of the Foot ...

, 1990 , - , Vyacheslav Bulavin , 1990 , - , Yuri Morozov , 1991 , - , Vyacheslav Melnikov , 1992–94 , - , Pavel Sadyrin , Jan 1, 1995 – Dec 31, 1996 , - ,

Anatoliy Byshovets Anatoliy Fyodorovich Byshovets (russian: Анатолий Фёдорович Бышовец, uk, Анато́лій Фе́дорович Бишове́ць; born 23 April 1946) is a Soviet and Russian football manager of Ukrainian origin and for ...

, Jan 1, 1997 – Sep 25, 1998 , - ,

Anatoli Davydov Anatoli Viktorovich Davydov (russian: Анатолий Викторович Давыдов; born 13 November 1953) is a Russian professional football coach and a former player. He is the director of the academy for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. Ca ...

, 1998–00 , - , Yuri Morozov , 2000–02 , - , Mikhail Biryukov , 2002 , - , Boris Rappoport , 2002 , - , Vlastimil Petržela , Nov 19, 2002 – May 3, 2006 , - , Vladimír Borovička (caretaker) , 2006 , - ,

, July 13, 2006 – Aug 10, 2009 , - ,

, Aug 10, 2009 – Dec 9, 2009 , - , Luciano Spalletti , Dec 10, 2009 – March 11, 2014 , - ,

Sergei Semak Sergei Bogdanovich Semak (russian: Серге́й Богда́нович Сема́к ; uk, Сергій Богданович Семак; born 27 February 1976) is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who currently ...

(caretaker) , March 11, 2014 – March 20, 2014 , - ,

, March 20, 2014 – May 24, 2016 , - ,

, May 24, 2016 – May 28, 2017 , - ,

, June 1, 2017 – May 13, 2018 , - ,

, May 29, 2018 – present

Zenit in European football

''As of 8 December 2021''

By competition

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" , - !scope="col", Competition !scope="col", Pld !scope="col", W !scope="col", D !scope="col", L !scope="col", GF !scope="col", GA !scope="col", GD !scope="col", Win%Win% is rounded to two decimal places !scope="col", Ref , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", Champions League / European Cup , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", Europa League / UEFA Cup / Inter-Cities Fairs Cup , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", Super Cup , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;",

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foo ...

, , - !Total ,

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Zenit. ;USSR/Russia ;Other former USSR countries ;Europe ;South and Central America ;Asia

Rivalries

Zenit's traditional rivals are the big Moscow clubs, most notably

FC Spartak Moscow FC Spartak Moscow (russian: Футбольный клуб «Спартак» Москва, Futbolʹnyy klub «Spartak» Moskva, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships (second only to Dyn ...

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 Foot ...

and FC Torpedo Moscow. They also shared rivalries with the big Ukrainian clubs FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the Soviet era.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zenit Saint Petersburg Association football clubs established in 1925 Football clubs in Saint Petersburg 1925 establishments in Russia FC Soviet Top League clubs Works association football clubs in Russia UEFA Cup winning clubs UEFA Super Cup winning clubs