FC Rostov, a Russian professional soccer club, is located in Rostov-on Don, Rostov Oblast. They are part of the Russian Premier League and play at the Rostov Arena.
The club was founded on 10 May 1930 and was initially called Selmashstroy. In 1936, they were renamed Selmash and Traktor, respectively, in 1941. The club was incorporated into the South Zone of Azov-Don in 1950. They were then placed in Group B for the following season’s championship. They were promoted to Group B in 1952 after finishing first in their respective groups. They were promoted to Class B in 1953 and renamed Torpedo. They were renamed Rostselmash in 1958.
1964 saw the club win their Division of Class A. They won their Division of Class B in the Russian-zone playoffs. After defeating Terek Grozny by 2-0 in the final match, they were promoted to the Soviet First League. They finished last in the division the following season, but they were not relegated because the number of teams was increasing.
The club was in the Russian leagues by the 1970s. They returned to Class B competion in 1975, now known as the Soviet Second League. After several close calls, the club was able to win its Second League zone in 1985. They won a playoff tournament and were promoted back to the First League.
The club was fourth in the 1991 Soviet Football Championship, which was the last season prior to the collapse of the USSR, and were awarded a spot in the Russian Top League. The club finished eighth in the first season and was relegated to the First League in 1993.
After finishing second in 1994’s First League season, the club immediately returned to the Top League. They made an immediate return to the top division, becoming First Division champions. They adopted their current name in 2003 and reached the Russian Cup final, losing 1-0 against Spartak Moscow. They were demoted to the First Division in 2007 after finishing bottom of the Premier Division (now renamed).
Rostov won the 2013-14 Russian Cup beating FC Krasnodar 6-5. This earned Rostov qualification to the 2014-15 UEFA Europa League. Rostov was expelled from the competition in May 2014 due to financial violations. Spartak Moscow replaced them. Rostov later appealed to the decision of the local soccer federation to expel the club from the tournament at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Lausanne. The club was awarded the right to participate.
Rostov Arena is the club’s current home arena.
Kurban Berdyev was appointed head coach of FC Rostov on 18 December 2014. His leadership has seen the team maintain a spot in the Premier League aggregate (1-0, 4-1) and beat “Tosno in the Premier League First Division playoffs. The club experienced problems paying salaries and bonuses to players in the second half of 2015, but this has not stopped them from securing 2nd place at the end of 2015-16. The club purchased Cesar Navas and Christian Noboa, and Sardar Azmoun, who had previously worked with Berdyev at FC Rubin.
Rostov was runners-up in the Russian Premier League’s 2016-17 season and earned a UEFA Champions League slot in the League Route. They were drawn against Anderlecht in the third qualifying round. They beat Anderlecht by 2-0 after a 2-2 draw at home. Rostov was drawn against Dutch giants Ajax in the play-off. They held on to a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This gave them an away goal advantage. Rostov won a historic 4-1 win over Ajax in the return leg and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage. This was their first time qualifying into the group stages at a European tournament. Rostov was drawn against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in Group D. They defeated Bayern Munich 3-2 at Olimp-2 to win their first Champions League.
Rostov appointed Leonid Kuchuk, their new manager, on a one-year contract. There was also the possibility of an additional year. Kuchuk resigned, and Valeri Karpin was appointed as their new manager during the winter break of December 2017.
In 2021, Rostov was due to face PFC Sochi in their first match of the Russian Premier League. Rostov, a successful season, was just a few points away from UEFA Champions League qualification. However, six players from Rostov’s first-team squad were positive for coronavirus a few days before the match and the entire squad was placed in a 14-day quarantine. The club had to field their Under-18 team to play in the match. This made them the youngest matchday squad and the youngest starting 11 in Russian Premier League history. Rostov lost 10-1. However, the youngsters were highly praised. 17-year old goalkeeper Denis Popov was named man-of-the-match after saving a penalty kick and making 15 saves. Roman Romanov, 17, scored his first senior goal in the match’s first minute.
Rostov named Vitaly Kafanov, Turkmenistani coach, as their new manager on 26 October 2021.
Players
Sergey Pesjakov, Goalkeeper
Egor Baburin is Goalkeeper
Maksim Rudakov, Goalkeeper
Maksim Osipenko, Centre-Back
Dennis Hadzikadunic, Centre-Back
Bastos, Centre-Back
Nikita Kotin Centre-Back
Viktor Melekhin Centre-Back
Nikolay Poyarkov (Left-Back)
Igor Kalinin, Left-Back
Denis Terentjev (Right-Back).
Konstantin Kovalev (Right-Back).
Andrey Langovich, Right-Back
Danil Glebov – Defensive Midfield
Armin Gigovic – Defensive Midfielder
Kento Hashimoto, Central Midfield
Pavel Mamaev, Central Midfield
Kirill Folmer is Right Midfield
Khoren Bayramyan (Left Midfield)
Danila Sukhomlinov, Attacking Midfield
Roman Tugarev (Left Winger)
Pontus Almqvist, Right Winger
Nikolay Komlichenko, Centre-Forward
Centre-Forward Ali Sowe
Dmitri Poloz, Centre-Forward
Danila Proshlyakov, Centre-Forward
