A celebration at Zenit: how St. Petersburg celebrated the centenary of the football club

On May 25, St. Petersburg officially celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of Zenit football club. In honor of this, a legends match was held at Gazprom Arena with the participation of blue-white-blues from different eras. It attracted more than 50,000 spectators, including active fans. Later, other celebrations took place, including the passage of the flotilla along the Neva River and an exhibition in honor of the anniversary.

Match of Legends

A day before the celebration, Zenit resigned as the champion of Russia — for the first time in seven years, another team became the champion. In the last, 30th round of the Russian Premier League, the St. Petersburg club beat Akhmat Grozny at home (3:0), and this gave them chances for another championship. But only if Krasnodar misfires. But he did not allow it — having defeated Dynamo Moscow at home (3:0), the bulls took the RPL gold for the first time in history. And for the first time since May 2018, Zenit did not become the champion of our country.

It seemed that all this could overshadow the celebration of the anniversary. Moreover, it is believed that it was important for the club and its management to win the trophy in the centenary year. But according to external signs, on Sunday, all participants of the event accepted the loss of gold with dignity.

Zenit's current players came to Gazprom Arena and even shared the podium with the fans. So, midfielder Alexander Erokhin beat the rhythm on the drum. But the main event was the appearance of striker Alexander Sobolev in the fan sector. His arrival at Zenit last year was not well received by the fans, recalling his recent Spartak past. But on the anniversary day, they peacefully coexisted with the striker on the same podium.

The highlight of the anniversary program was the legends match between the teams Zenit St. Petersburg and Zenit Leningrad. They brought together former players from various successful periods in the club's history, starting with the victory in the USSR championship in 1984, continuing with the first post-Soviet successes (victory in the Russian Cup in 1999, bronze in the Russian Championship in 2001 and silver in the Russian Championship in 2003) and moving into the modern triumphant era of the last 20 years, when Zenit won 10 championships, the Cup UEFA 2008 and the 2008 Super Cup, becoming the most decorated club in the country in the twentieth century.

"We will do everything to experience these moments of joy again"

Krasnodar football player Alexander Chernikov — about the emotions of the first championship in the club's history

Representatives of all successful periods in Zenit's history over the past 45 years took the field: 1984 USSR champion Boris Chukhlov, who returned Zenit from the first league to the top league in the mid-1990s, Vladimir Kulik, 1999 Russian Cup winners Roman Berezovsky, Alexander Gorshkov and Alexey Igonin; stars of the 2000s Andrey Arshavin, Alexander Kerzhakov, Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyryanov, Vyacheslav Malafeev, Pavel Pogrebnyak, Vladislav Radimov, Nicholas Lomberts, Alejandro Dominguez, Radek Shirl; outstanding players of the 2010s team Miguel Danny, Yuri Zhirkov, Igor Smolnikov, Dominico Criscito, Tomasz Gubocan, Yuri Lodygin and many others.

The teams were coached by Zenit's current coach Sergei Semak, who won six Russian championships with him, as well as his predecessors Anatoly Davydov (1984 USSR champion as a player, 1999 Russian Cup winner as head coach), the current goalkeeper coach of the team and 1984 USSR champion as a player Mikhail Biryukov, the legendary coach of the USSR national team Anatoly Byshovets, who headed Zenit in 1997-1998.

Zenit Saint Petersburg won this match with a score of 3:1. Kerzhakov, Arshavin and Denisov scored the goals. Zenit Leningrad responded with a penalty goal from Pogrebnyak. More than 50,000 spectators came to the match, about the same number as the day before for the RPL match with Akhmat.

"The atmosphere is great, and I was very glad to be here at the stadium in St. Petersburg that day," Tomasz Gubocan told Izvestia. — It was very nice to see my former teammates, to be back in front of my favorite fans who always supported the team — I saw this when I played for Zenit. It's a pity that this anniversary didn't take place against the backdrop of another club championship, but this is football — it's impossible to win trophies every year. Zenit has already achieved great success, winning six championships in a row in the past seasons. And together with his past victories, like in the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup, he created a great story for himself and for the city. And he deserved such a celebration of his 100th birthday, which was held on this day. I am sure that Zenit will continue to delight its fans and the whole of St. Petersburg with great victories and new trophies.

Continuation of the holiday

After the legends match, the players and fans went directly from the stadium on Krestovsky Island to Sevkabel Port, where a concert in honor of the anniversary took place in the evening. They were moving there inside the flotilla, which was decorated with flowers and Zenit symbols. When she passed by the Petrovsky team's old home stadium, a festive blue-white-blue fireworks display was launched there.

As the flotilla crossed the Neva River under the bridges, numerous residents of St. Petersburg wearing Zenit scarves applauded the passing crew. A group of ships made a U—turn at the Peter and Paul Fortress and moved along the Palace and University embankments towards the pier "Win City - The City at its Zenith".

"I think Zenit will become the champion"

Legendary striker of the St. Petersburg club Pavel Pogrebnyak — about his forecast for the finish of the race for the RPL gold and the upcoming celebration of the 100th anniversary of the blue-white-blues

A concert was planned there, but first numerous guests and the players themselves visited a special Zenit exhibition. St. Petersburg. 100 years together", organized at Sevkabel Port. All the historical milestones of Zenit were displayed on it at a high technological level. They touched not only on the years of triumph, but also on the period of the club's foundation, the connection with the years of the siege of Leningrad and other events, including the role in the club's history of such people as Yuri Morozov and Pavel Sadyrin, the authors of the main achievements of Zenit during the Soviet era.

"The scale of the exhibition is amazing — it is a great opportunity to see the history of the club from its very foundation," Radek Shirl told Izvestia. "When you see this, you are even more proud that you were involved in the history of the club, played for it for several years and achieved great victories with it. Zenit, its management and staff have done an excellent job to commemorate the club's 100th anniversary and show it to the general public. I'm amazed by what I've seen.

Even before the start of the exhibition, several thousand fans gathered around Sevkabel Port, who stayed for the concert. But in other parts of the city, a considerable number of people in blue-white-blue scarves and T-shirts celebrated such a significant date for Zenit until the night.