He worked both as a football player and as a salesman: the success story of a Pskovian conquering the Moscow media league

Tell me how you got into football? How did your sports path begin?

– We moved with my parents to Pskov when I went to first grade. Soon my parents took me to a training session at the Mashinostroitel stadium, but after a while, for some reason, I stopped going to football.

He returned to the sport a little later – he went with his classmates and, as it turned out, got into the same team and the same coach. This time I have already stayed for a long time.

– Who was your first coach, and who laid the backbone of the qualities necessary for a football player?

– My first coach was Yuri Veresov, he managed to assemble the Strela-1997 super-team. I won’t say that we did something supernatural on the field, but we did a lot. Yuri Ilyich gave me an impetus to the world of football.

The best thing was that he let us play without pressure, taught us to enjoy the game. He gave me the confidence I needed. I know that Yuri Ilyich is still training children. I want to say hello to him and wish him the best of health!

– How old were you when you came to professional football and signed a contract? With which football club?

– I signed my first professional contract with the Pskov-747 club in 2014. Then I was 16 years old, and I did it on the eve of the training camp in Turkey.

Why this particular club? Everything is simple here – I am a local, and at that age I simply had nowhere to go.

Literally six months before the signing of the contract, coach Vyacheslav Volkov seriously took up my training. I was in a football recession at the time and he was appointed head coach of the youth team I played for. Thanks to him, I managed to become the best striker in just one season, and after that I could sign a contract with the club.

– During your sports career, you often changed clubs – Dolgoprudny, Pskov, Dnepr, Mashuk … What was the reason for this?

– I must say right away: there were no quarrels and scandals anywhere. All changes were understandable and logical.

For example, I got to Dolgoprudny at the age of 18. There was a very high level of competition in this club, and I lost it. There were difficulties in life besides football. The contract with Dolgoprudny was for two years, and after a year of my stay there, I was loaned back to Pskov. I spent the next season at home well and returned to the Moscow region.

The next club was Smolensk – it was closed due to lack of finances. Then I came back to Pskov for six months. Then he went to Pyatigorsk “Mashuk”. Then it seemed that everything had already returned to normal, but the situation changed dramatically with the arrival of a new coach. I realized that he was not betting on me. Of course, I was not kicked out of the team, but I myself decided to terminate the contract, because I really wanted to try my hand at the Estonian Narva. They went to meet me, and we parted peacefully.

I returned from Estonia at the very beginning of 2020 without signing a contract. Soon the coronavirus pandemic began, and with it my professional pause.

How did you manage the pandemic? And what did you do during your career break?

– In the spring of 2020, there was a strict quarantine, then after the restrictions were relaxed, I tried to start playing again – in July 2020 I signed a contract with the new club FC Pskov (he played in the third division). After a couple of months, I left the team. I confess that I did not follow the rules and regulations. However, I was grateful to my club for the opportunity to take the field.

In the spring of 2021, I went to the Moscow region, to Klin – there was also a third division team there. I spent an amazing 4 months in it, playing only football, improving my health and nutrition, without being distracted by anything. Then, returning to Pskov, I wanted to return to big sport again, but nothing came of it. Then I thought about ending my career as a football player.

A new stage in my life began with the construction industry – I went to work for my friend. Literally three months later, I started having problems with my back, and I had to go for six months of treatment, moonlighting where I could. After recovering, he decided to try his hand at a construction site again, but again worked for about three months.

After that, I was fascinated by the field of sales – I worked in a tea shop with my friend. I also tried myself in the coffee business as a logistician (I want to thank everyone who helped me with new professions and with training for them). In the same period I got married and I can definitely say that it was the best event in my life!

At the beginning of 2023, I firmly decided for myself that I needed to go to Moscow and try to return to football.

— How did you start your sports career in Moscow? Was medialiga your goal, or did you just want to get back into the sport?

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to get into the Medialiga. I began to consider this option even before the move, and we discussed this topic a lot with my wife. After arriving in Moscow, I began to write to my friends who are playing there now to find out how to get into it.

Much to my surprise, an old friend invited me to train with one of the league’s most media teams, Amkal. The invitation came almost immediately – I lived in Moscow at that time for a little over a week. But an easy and direct road to the goal is not about me (laughs). This is where the trouble began…

The last six months of my life in Pskov, before leaving for Moscow, I did not carefully monitor myself and my form. Naturally, I did not manage to show myself well at the Amkala training. After that, my friends helped me with a trial game in another Medialeague team – Sakhalinets. Then I myself wrote to the third team – “Broke Boys” (but here I was not invited to training, indicating that I did not have enough playing qualities).

Then I came close to working on myself and, thanks to dietary adjustments and regular training, I lost about 13 kilograms. In addition, during this preparation I was able to play in amateur tournaments and championships, and by the fourth season I was already fully ready to enter the field. After that, when I got another chance, I came back for a trial workout, and this time everything went well. They took me to Kickstown.

Now we are playing play-offs, fighting for entry into the tournament. I returned to big football with joy. Medialiga is a good start in order to show oneself and, perhaps, after reaching the level of professional football in the second division. Still, the football of the second division has a more serious approach, and after a long pause it will be very difficult to even get to the viewing.

— There are many famous football players and representatives of show business in the Medialiga. Have you already met someone? Maybe someone you communicate with on a regular basis?

– When I was still playing in the media eight in the tournament for the Starmix team, I met Valery Efremov, the lead singer of the 5sta Family group. In addition, I trained and train now in a team with Bahh Tee and Ellai.

I communicate with the soloist of the group “Intonation” Dan Gladkiy (the songs of this group are heard in the TV series “Youth”). When we played against Disco Accident, we managed to talk with singer Alexei Serov.

It was possible to intersect and play with many media personalities.

– How do you feel media football differs from the professional leagues of the lower division? Are there noticeable differences in wages?

– First of all, the differences are noticeable in the organization of the process. Here, most play just for fun. Of course, there are teams that are in no way inferior to professionals, but it’s still a little easier to play.

In media football, probably, they go more for recognition. In addition, many clubs in media football are higher in terms of finances than the clubs of the second league … Therefore, it is not surprising that athletes purposefully leave professional football here.

Over 10,000 people watched the broadcast of the first play-off between Kickstown and FC Ars (which took place on Sunday, August 20). Did you feel responsible for the result, maybe some kind of moral pressure? What was the emotional mood before the game?

– There were a lot of emotions. In the morning, when I was driving to the stadium, I was nervous, as if I was entering the field for the first time in my life. Then before the game there were a lot of official moments – even in the second league there were not so many! And there are a lot of cameras around. But, to be honest, I always wanted to feel it.

When I entered the field, I immediately forgot about the excitement, I just began to enjoy the game, I didn’t feel any pressure. I wanted to play well because I know how my friends and acquaintances from my hometown worried about me.

By the way, I performed at number 60. You probably understand why I chose it. I adore Pskov and I am proud that I am a stapler!

– In this match, you played as a left-back, although, as it seems to us, you usually play closer to the attack. Was this change the coach’s decision? What was it about?

– It’s a difficult question. Firstly, there are different statuses in the Media League – “media”, “professional”, “neutral”. The “media” guys usually play in the attack, and it’s quite difficult to do this.

I had already played in the defensive position during my professional career, so this was not new to me. In addition, the coach said that I showed myself well as a defender before the first game, in a friendly match against the Druzhina team. After the Sunday game, they also said that everything was fine. I was able to give an assist.

— During the play-off you lost 0:3, but then the team managed to win back 3 goals. How did you manage to turn the game around? What were your feelings during and after the game?

– At the beginning of the game, everyone (including me) was very worried about the result. After the score became 0:3, we realized that we had nothing to lose and we had to play as best we could. All these psychological moments faded into the background.

I will say more, we have diverged so much that if we had added 5 minutes, we would have scored more! We understand that the team turned out to be weak, so we are not very happy with the result. Nevertheless, not everyone can win back like this, and this cheered us up, gave us a boost for the next game. I assure you it will be completely different!

– On Sunday, August 27, your team will meet again with FC Ars in the second leg. What do you expect from the next game?

– Now we already know what kind of team it is, what it is. From the very beginning, we will play the way we played last time at the end. We count only on victory!