FC ZENIT Saint Petersburg were founded in May 1925. Zenit’s home ground is now the Petrovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg and has a capacity of 21,570. They are nicknamed Sine-belo-golubye (Blue-Whites or Sky Blues)
Initially, it was a football team at the Stalin Metal Plant in Leningrad. The club had various names; until 1940, when it got its present name of Zenit. The team made its debut in the UEFA Cup in the autumn of 1981. Zenit finally became champions of the USSR for the first time on November 21, 1984, beating Metallist Kharkov to the title.
The 1990s were a dismal time for Zenit, with the club even being relegated to Russia’s first division. In 1999 Zenit won promotion back to the top division along with winning the Russian Cup. Famous coach Yury Morozov returned to the helm of the club in the beginning of the new century, and Zenit came in 3rd place in the Premier League in 2001.
The Czech coach Vlastimil Petrzela replaced Morozov and Zenit came second in the Russian Premier League in 2003. But Zenit still needed a coach who was capable of bringing the team to a new level. It was Dick Advocaat, the Dutch specialist, who did so when he became Zenit’s coach in July of 2006. The next season was a triumphant one for Zenit. Winning their last match of the season against Saturn, from the Moscow region, Zenit became Russian champions for the first time.
The spring of 2008 brought Dick Advocaat’s team international success. Having beaten the Spanish side Villarreal, the French side Olympique Marseille, and the German clubs Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, in the ealier rounds of the UEFA Cup, Zenit then went on to beat the Scottish side Glasgow Rangers in the final 2-0 and win the coveted European trophy.
On August 29, 2009, Zenit met Manchester United, the winner of the UEFA Champions League, in the UEFA Super Cup. Zenit won the match 2-1 (Zenit’s goals were scored by Pogrebnyak and Danny). Thus Zenit became the first Russian team ever to win the UEFA Super Cup.
In January of 2010 Zenit hired Italian manager Luciano Spalletti to lead the team. Zenit did extremely well in the first half of the season, allowing just three goals in 10 matches. The team won its second-ever Russian Cup in the summer of 2010, followed by the Russian Premier League title in November of 2010.
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Zenit continued their winning ways at the start of 2011 by defeating CSKA for the Russian Super Cup, thereby completing a historic treble of Russian trophies in just one year under Spalletti. They won their second Russian Premier League title under Spalletti in 2012.
Some interesting FC Zenit facts
• Zenit have lost only one of their last 19 European home games, going down 3-2 to AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the autumn. They finished third in Group C to move into the UEFA Europa League last 32.
• Zenit have not lost in nine UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League home games since losing 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in the 2007/08 quarter-finals. UEFA Cup winners in 2007/08, Zenit are back in the round of 32 for a fifth time since the advent of the group stage in 2004/05, and have yet to be eliminated at this stage.
• Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel knows Zenit well, having made 74 league appearances for the club – and helping them to the 2007 Russian title before heading to Anfield in January 2008.
• Notable players at Zenit include Captain Danny, Portuguese defender Bruno Alves, Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel and Brazil striker Hulk (full name Givanildo Vieira de Souza) who joined from FC Porto in 2012 for €40million.
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