Putin's telegram, Lavrov's wishes, a commemorative stamp and disputes over the date: how football Spartak was congratulated on its 100th anniversary

Ostankino tower in red and white colors and the premiere of the documentary

The centenary of Spartak has become the main event of the day in Russian football.

The club regularly received various wishes.

And on the night of April 18, the capital's fans received an unexpected gift.

The Ostankino TV tower in Moscow was painted red and white.

Also on it appeared the inscription "100 years" and the coat of arms of the team.

A separate present for the hero of the day was prepared by the Russian Post.

In honor of the solemn event, a limited series of stamps was issued in the amount of 288 thousand pieces.

The cost of each is 25 rubles.

Fans of philately should hurry up to have time to buy a rare exhibit.

Finally, the online cinema KION announced the premiere of the film "We are Spartacus", timed to coincide with the centenary.

It is noteworthy that one of the first Muscovites was congratulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose appeal was published on the official website of the Kremlin.

He called the team's achievements a common pride and national treasure.

“It is important that the current generation of Spartak fans have great respect for the famous veterans: coaches, players, organizers who laid down the wonderful traditions of their native club, strengthened its authority in the sports arena.

Their life path, professionalism and dedication to their chosen cause are a solid foundation for raising new football stars, a symbol of triumphant, unforgettable victories for everyone who shares the joy of success and bitterness of defeat with their favorite team, remains faithful to it in any situation,” the President emphasized.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov never hid his addictions and repeatedly visited the matches of the team.

On such a significant day, he separately noted Giorgi Jikia in its composition.

“Sometimes with sadness I remember the past years, when we didn’t have “Varangians”, legionnaires, and when the transition of a football player from one team to another became a whole event.

If a person already appeared in Spartak, Dynamo, CSKA - CSKA had a special article - he stayed there to play.

In Spartak, for me, this is Jikia, the captain for many years, a real symbol of the team, ”TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

On the occasion of the anniversary, the club itself published a letter on its website, in which it addressed the fans, veterans and students of the academy.

“We sincerely hope that the difficult times will pass into the past as soon as possible and we will be able to celebrate the centenary of our beloved club on a full scale at the Otkritie Arena,” Spartak expressed hope.

Warm words for the team were also found by the RFU with the RPL.

For example, the Premier League remembered all the trophies won by the red and white: 22 league titles (12 in the USSR, 10 in Russia), 13 national cup victories (10 in the USSR, 3 in Russia) and one won Super Bowl.

On a special day for Spartak, there were some jokes.

So, the principal rival of CSKA published on social networks a video of the hundredth ball of the army team against the red-and-whites, authored by Nikola Vlašić.

Rebrov's warm words and Glushakov's emotional post

The active players and coaches of Spartak also found an opportunity to congratulate the club.

For example, Artyom Rebrov, who played for the Muscovites for ten years, and now holds the post of assistant to Paolo Vanoli, was surprised to note that 1/10 of the story fell on his time.

“I spent these years in the club and not just a club, but the most beloved and popular by millions of fans around the world.

So it was, is and will be.

Win and prosper, dear "Spartak-Moscow," the specialist wrote.

Many members of the champion team, who had already left it, also spoke about the solemn event.

In particular, the former captain of the red and white Denis Glushakov, who left with a scandal, published a post on social networks.

"Happy Birthday!

With a century!

Big victories!

We'll still win a trophy.

Spartak is a great club,” wrote the Khimki midfielder.

Another ex-midfielder of the ten-time champions of Russia, Alexander Samedov, expressed the hope that the dark streak will end soon, and new trophies and victories are just around the corner.

Massimo Carrera spoke in the same vein, under whose leadership the "people's team" won the long-awaited gold medals in 2017.

“I congratulate Spartak on the holiday and wish the club to return to great victories, as in the 90s.

Spartak will always be in my heart, and I will remain grateful to him for allowing me to start a coaching career, ”the Championship quoted the Italian as saying.

And the team began that season under the leadership of Dmitry Alenichev, who was fired after a sensational relegation from the Europa League.

It is no coincidence that many noted that the red-whites became champions thanks to his "luggage".

On the centenary day of the club, the Russian expressed confidence that Spartak would have taken first place in any case.

“I do not detract from the merits of Carrera - the Italian rallied the team, the guys had passion in their eyes.

But I can say with confidence: in the 2016/17 season, the team would have fought for gold with Zenit in any case, Spartak then matured before that, ”Sport-Express quotes the coach.

The red-whites were also congratulated by two specialists who at the beginning of the century did a lot to end their hegemony - Yuri Semin and Valery Gazzaev.

The ex-coach of Lokomotiv emphasized that even in difficult times, the ten-time champions were supported by an army of fans.

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Spartak is a great success in different periods.

Spartak is a people's team.

Wishes: further success, not to lose the fans and stabilize the victory with your game, ”Semin quotes the words“ Championship ”.

And Gazzaev noted with regret that the once principled opponent is going through a difficult period, and the arrival of Vanoli has not justified itself.

“This is, of course, the brightest club in the history of Soviet and Russian football ... The centenary needs to be approached with different results ... Another experiment with the head coach was not very successful, because a specialist with serious results behind him should work in such a team,” said Gazzaev in an interview with Match TV.

Expectation of victory in the Cup and faith in a brighter future

Numerous Spartak fans hoped that in the year of the centenary he would give them the 11th championship, but the team failed the current RPL season.

In the Europa League, on the contrary, she performed well, but was excluded on the eve of the matches of the 1/8 finals with Leipzig.

Now the only hope left is to win the Cup of Russia.

And in the quarterfinals of the tournament, Vanoli's wards will meet with CSKA on April 20.

“Football players do not need to wait for the anniversary to cheer up, because the current situation is not satisfactory.

In principle, initially the team should set the highest goals.

There is a chance to win the Russian Cup, so she must do more than necessary to win the trophy.

We can only worry and support, but all the responsibility is on the players, ”said another former Muscovite captain Dmitry Parfenov.

In general, the wish to overcome the black streak as soon as possible sounded more often than others.

Anzor Kavazashvili, one of the club's oldest veterans, also expressed hope for a speedy improvement in results.

The 81-year-old former goalkeeper of the USSR national team played for Muscovites in 1969-1971 and became the champion and winner of the country's Cup with them.

Spartak is a childhood dream for me.

I've been rooting for this team since I was a kid.

My game for other teams is a transitional period and training in football skills.

I came to the club in the prime of my life, I was already the main goalkeeper of the USSR national team ... A successful game for my beloved Spartak remains the most pleasant memory.

I wish the management to cope with the problems that exist in the club.

And if they are not able to do this, they must part and pass it on to those people who will be interested in the greatness of the team and change the approach to the training system and performance, ”Sport-Express quotes Kavazashvili.

At the same time, many veterans doubted in principle that the date for the centenary was chosen correctly.

Evgeny Lovchev was one of the first to speak on a slippery topic.

In his opinion, the club was formed by Nikolai Starostin not in 1922, but in 1935.

“Just yesterday, Nikita Simonyan, probably the second person after Starostin, who honors these traditions, says: “I don’t admit that Spartak was born in 1922.”

Then it was Krasnaya Presnya, the ISS, something else ... ”, Lovchev emphasized.

Another former football player of the team, Alexander Mirzoyan, chairman of the Union of Football Veterans of Russia, agreed with him.

Spartak didn't get its name in 1922.

There were Dukat, Promkooperatsia and others, but not Spartak.

As a club, it existed even earlier, but under different names.

They started counting from 1922.

I don’t know, someone took it, wrote the story, but I read that the sports and voluntary sports society was organized on April 19, 1935.

And as part of this society, a football club was born, which received the name "Spartak".

They sat there, drank, smoked, maybe they saw an Italian book called “Spartacus,” Mirzoyan expressed his version.

The well-known journalist Vasily Utkin put an end to this dispute, according to which both versions of the club's creation have the right to life.

“History, strictly speaking, is not a science, and our time remains to a certain extent free.

Agree, if now a person can choose his gender (for example), and for this there are a lot of intermediate options, then it would be strange to forbid choosing a date for the anniversary, ”Utkin wrote in the Telegram channel.