One of the oldest Moscow clubs has started another restructuring

Winter in Russian football is surprisingly rich in news. Having rested after the end of the first part of the season, the teams of the Premier League (RPL) and the First League (PL) are already preparing in earnest for the first spring matches.

MK writes regularly about the top division. Sometimes undeservedly forgetting about the second strongest Russian football tournament – the First League. Although life there is even more active than in the “big brother”. Why? The answer is quite obvious.

Due to discriminatory decisions by FIFA and UEFA, Premier League teams, like our national team, have been excluded from all international tournaments. Of course, the fight for the national title is no less exciting than matches in foreign competitions. But it’s still a little sad without European Cups. True, the RFU is constantly updating the Cup format, filling the season with additional games and introducing new intrigue in the fight for this honorable trophy. And still…

Another thing is the First League. From where teams can go not only for promotion to the first division (RPL), but also get into the grindstones of the third and even fourth divisions. Depending on the financial capabilities and sporting ambitions of their leaders. Therefore, the struggle both for first places and for maintaining registration in the championship is tough. In addition, many players who later become stars of our football begin their real “combat” path, graduating from club academies, in the teams of the First League. And young coaches, before getting the opportunity to work with top clubs, hone their skills in this tournament. Therefore, of course, I would like to see more attention paid to him on television and in the media.

However, paradoxically, it was the sanctions of FIFA and UEFA that contributed to the fact that the First League began to be shown more often on television and covered more widely on the pages of print and online publications. And this is good. Because along with successes, we can now see problems more clearly.

Turkish winter hut

Professional sports, including football, must not only be successful in terms of sporting indicators, but also economically effective. These two components are equivalent for its normal functioning. Unfortunately, over the past two decades we have seen more than once how football clubs that even played in the Premier League and won national tournaments either lost their professional status or completely disbanded. Constantly reminding us all that we must live within our means.

It will be all the more interesting to find out where First League teams are currently holding winter training camps. The information is quite interesting. Of the 18 teams, eight teams will begin preparations for spring in our country. Eight more teams will immediately go to Turkey. And two clubs, Akron and Torpedo, will go to the UAE. Moreover, Türkiye is the highest priority region for First League participants. Because of the eight clubs currently training in Russia, then at least four more will go to this country.

On the one hand, we can say that everyone goes to Turkey. That it is easier to find opponents for test matches there, that in its Mediterranean region the climate is warmest at this time of year. And yet, as club leaders are convinced, it is more comfortable and cheaper there than in the southern regions of our country. Although in the last two years the need to develop sports infrastructure in the south of Russia has been repeatedly discussed. And the fact that it is cheaper in Turkey than in the Krasnodar Territory or in Dagestan, where the leader of the First League, Makhachkala Dynamo, is based is a debatable issue. However, team directors know better. Ultimately, they are responsible for the results of performances in the championship and the places taken according to its results.

Torpedo at a crossroads

Among all 18 PL teams, Torpedo deserves special attention. For several reasons.

Firstly, this is one of the oldest clubs in the capital, taking part in the Moscow championships from the first years of its holding. And for some Moscow fans, the confrontation between Torpedo and Dynamo is the only real derby of our football from its very origins. Due to geographical (east versus west), departmental and social reasons. And not the matches between Dynamo and Spartak.

Secondly, Torpedo gave our football great names – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Eduard Streltsov and Slava Metreveli. By the way, the Central Stadium in Sochi is named after him, a very good base for off-season training for a First League club. Don’t forget about the football player and then coach of the car factory, Viktor Maslov. Whom not only domestic, but also Western sports historians consider the ancestor of all modern football ideology. What MK wrote about on December 8, 2022: “The East of Europe and the USSR gave us modern football, now there is a desert here.”

And thirdly, and most importantly, Torpedo has always played in the top division. Along with the official tournament sign, Moscow (and not only) fans always keep separate statistics of the “capital championship”. And without Torpedo it is incomplete.

Unfortunately, car manufacturers have not been able to find stability since the beginning of this century. Primarily due to financial difficulties. The consequence of this was that at the end of 2006 the club left the top division of domestic football for the first time in its history.

And then for almost the whole of 2009 (an unthinkable thing!) I was deprived of my professional status.

The return to its former greatness was gradual. Torpedo played in the Premier League twice – in seasons 14/15 and 22/23, but so far the team has not been able to gain a strong foothold in the RPL.

The hope that this would happen sooner or later appeared at the end of 2017, when Torpedo acquired a private new owner. It was from this moment that the team’s athletic performance began to improve, and eventually, as mentioned earlier, their second entry into the Premier League took place. Even if it was only for one season (for now), but for all football fans, not just the team’s fans, it was a good memory of the previous glorious battles on green fields with the best teams in the country.

● ● ●

The current season, the task for which was announced even before it began, is definitely a return to the RPL, but the Torpedo team is still struggling. The team is in eighth place and has 14 more rounds to play in the spring part of the championship.

At the same time, the density in the PL table is so high that even three or four victories can bring a team into the play-off zone. And considering that, as has already happened in previous years, not all clubs can obtain RFU licenses for the right to play in the Premier League, regardless of sports performance, an increase in class for car manufacturers is not such a pipe dream.

The more interesting, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, alarming are the changes that have occurred in just the last couple of weeks.

On January 16, it became known that its head coach Artem Gorlov had left the team. And the very next day, two important messages about the new president and the new head coach of the automakers appeared on the official website. Which became a fairly famous Belarusian specialist Oleg Kononov.

Of course, Kononov has much more experience than Gorlov. RPL bronze medals and the Russian Cup final with Krasnodar, as well as the title of best coach of the Premier League in the 14/15 season inspire optimism. However, there are also concerns. Not about Kononov’s professionalism, which no one doubts. And the fact is that Torpedo is one of the few completely private clubs of such a high level. Yes, changing a coach in the middle of a season is common, but this happens in conjunction with the emergence of a “new partner and investor.” And in the modern history of car manufacturers, there have already been cases when not everything went smoothly in similar cases. At the same time, it will be possible to competently evaluate the work of the new coaching staff only after the end of the season.

And yet for some reason there are feelings. I really want to see Torpedo in the Premier League again. But preparations for spring are taking place in the UAE, not in Turkey. Where there are many more sparring partners from both the PL and the RPL. And new players, with the exception of Khudoklinov, Reznichenko, Kiselev and Kapitonich, who signed contracts with Torpedo-2, are not yet visible. Perhaps they will appear again, because to enter the RPL, strengthening is simply necessary.

So for now we can only hope that everything that is done at Torpedo is for the better. And for his fans, and for all of our football.