# FC Spartak Moscow

FC Spartak Moscow (Russian: Футбольный клуб «Спартак» Москва, romanized: Futbolʹnyy klub «Spartak» Moskva, pronounced) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships (second only to Dynamo Kyiv) and 10 Russian championships (a record jointly held with Zenit St Petersburg), it is the country's most successful club. They have also won a record 10 Soviet Cups, 4 Russian Cups and one Russian Super Cup. Spartak have also reached the semi-finals of UEFA Europa League, UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup.

## History
### Foundation and early period (1883–1941)

In the early days of Soviet football, government agencies such as the police, army, and railroads created their own clubs. Many statesmen saw in the wins of their teams the superiority over the opponents patronising other teams. Almost all the teams had such kind of patrons; Dynamo Moscow aligned with the Militsiya, CSKA Moscow with the Red Army, and Spartak, created by a trade union public organization, was considered to be "the people's team".
The history of the football club and sports society "Spartak" originates from the Russian Gymnastics Society (RGO Sokol [ru]), which was founded on 16 May 1883. The society was founded under the influence of the Pan-Slavic "Sokol movement" with the aim of promoting the "Sokolsk gymnastics" and then sports including fencing, wrestling, figure skating, skating, football, hockey, lawn tennis, boxing, skis, athletics, and cycling. In the RGO Sokol began to play football in the summer of 1897; the professional football section was founded in the spring of 1909. On 1 August 1920, the football team began to officially act under the name MCS, or Moscow Sports Club.
In 1923, the MCS, later named Krasnaya Presnya (Red Presnya), was formed by Ivan Artemyev and involved Nikolai Starostin, especially in its football team. Presnya is a district of Moscow renowned for the radical politics of its inhabitants; for example, it represented the centre of the Moscow uprising of 1905.
The team grew, building a stadium, supporting itself from ticket sales and playing matches across the Russian SFSR. As part of a 1926 reorganization of football in the Soviet Union, Starostin arranged for the club to be sponsored by the food workers union and the club moved to the 13,000 seat Tomsky Stadium, known as Pishcheviki. The team changed sponsors repeatedly over the following years as it competed with Dinamo Moscow, whose 35,000 seat Dynamo Stadium lay close by.
As a high-profile sportsman, Starostin came into close contact with Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) who already had a strong influence on sport and wanted to extend it. In November 1934, with funding from Promkooperatsiia, Kosarev employed Starostin and his brothers to develop his team to make it more powerful. Again the team changed its name, this time to "Spartak Moscow" (the name Spartak means "Spartacus", a gladiator who led an uprising against Ancient Rome).
The club founders, four Starostin brothers, played a big role in the formation of the team. The Starostins played for the red-whites in the 1930s but right before World War II they were subjected to repression as the leaders of the most hated team by the state authorities. Elder brother Nikolai Starostin wrote in his books that he had survived in the State Prison System due to his participation in football and with Spartak (after the political rehabilitation, in 1954, he would later return to the team as the squad's manager).
In 1935, Starostin proposed the name Spartak. It was inspired by the Italian novel Spartaco, written by Raffaello Giovagnoli, and means Spartacus ("Spartak" in Russian), a gladiator-slave who led a rebellion against Rome. Starostin is also credited with the creation of the Spartak logo. The same year, the club became a part of newly created Spartak sports society.
Czechoslovak manager Antonin Fivebr is credited as the first head coach of Spartak, though he worked as a consultant in several clubs simultaneously. In 1936, the Soviet Top League was established, where its first championship was won by Dynamo Moscow while Spartak won its second, which was held in the same calendar year. Before World War II, Spartak earned two more titles. In 1937, Spartak won the football tournament of Workers' Olympiad at Antwerp.

### Post-war period (1945–1991)

During the 1950s, Spartak, together with Dynamo, dominated the Soviet Top League. When the Soviet national team won gold medals at the Melbourne Olympics, it consisted largely of Spartak players. Spartak captain Igor Netto was the captain of the national team from 1954 to 1963. In the 1960s, Spartak won two league titles, but by the mid-1960s, Spartak was no more regarded as a leading Soviet club. The club was even less successful in the 1970s and in 1976 Spartak was relegated into the lower league.
The following season in 1979, fans stayed with the team despite being relegated to the lower division, keeping the stadium full. Konstantin Beskov became the head coach. He had made his name playing for Spartak's main rivals, Dynamo Moscow). He introduced several young players, including Rinat Dasayev and Georgi Yartsev. Spartak returned the following season and won the title in 1979, beating Dynamo Kyiv.
On 20 October 1982, disaster struck during the UEFA Cup match between Spartak and Dutch club HFC Haarlem. Sixty-six people died in a crowd crush during the match, making it Russia's worst sporting disaster.
In 1989, Spartak won its last USSR Championship, rivals Dynamo Kyiv 2–1 in the closing round. Spartak's striker Valery Shmarov scored the "golden" free kick with almost no time left. The next season, Spartak reached the European Cup semi-final, consequently eliminating Napoli on penalties and Real Madrid (with 3–1 away victory), but losing to Marseille.

### Modern period (1991–present)
#### Initial success (1991–2004)

A new page in the club's history began when the Soviet Union collapsed and its championship ceased to exist. In the newly created Russian league, Spartak, led by coach and president Oleg Romantsev, dominated and won all but one title between 1992 and 2001. Season after season the team also represented Russia in the Champions League.
Problems began in the new century, however. Several charismatic players (Ilya Tsymbalar and Andrey Tikhonov among others) left the club as a result of conflict with Romantsev. Later, Romantsev sold his stock to oil magnate Andrei Chervichenko, who in 2003 became the club president. The two were soon embroiled in a row that would continue until Romantsev was sacked in 2003 with the club suffering several sub-par seasons until Chervichenko finally sold his stock in 2004. The new ownership made a number of front office changes with the aim of returning the team to the top of the Russian Premier League.
Spartak has been entitled to place a golden star on its badge since 2003 to commemorate winning five Russian championships in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997. They have won the championship another four times since 1997.

#### Title-less run (2004–2016)

In 2004, Leonid Fedun became the club's President and second-largest shareholder behind his business partner Vagit Alekperov.
In the 2005 season, Spartak, led by Aleksandrs Starkovs, finished second in the league to beat Lokomotiv Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Rubin Kazan to the last Champions League place. Following a mixed start to the 2006 season and public criticism from Dmitry Alenichev, the team's captain and one of its most experienced players, Starkovs left his position to Vladimir Fedotov.
In the 2012–13 season, Spartak qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League group stage and finished last after disappointing performances against FC Barcelona, Celtic and Benfica. In the league, Spartak finished in fourth place while in the cup it was eliminated in the round of 16 by FC Rostov 0–0 (3–5 p), completing a disappointing season.
Since 2013, the club have added another three stars as rules allowed teams to include titles won during the Soviet era.
The next 3 seasons (2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16) were somewhat similar as Spartak finished 6th, 6th and 5th accordingly while the club did not qualify for European Competitions.

#### Revival (2016–2022)

By the beginning of the 2016–17 season, under ex-Juventus manager Massimo Carrera, Spartak had acquired a squad consisting of foreign talents such as Quincy Promes, Fernando, Zé Luís, Lorenzo Melgarejo and Russians such as Denis Glushakov, Roman Zobnin and Ilya Kutepov. Spartak won the 2016–17 Russian Premier League with the squad, winning most derbies and ultimately finishing with a difference of 7 points.
The following season, Spartak participated in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage. Despite suffering its greatest ever loss in a 7-0 result against Liverpool F.C. at Anfield, the club achieved considerable victories, including a 5-1 win against Sevilla FC.
Having finished second 2020-21 Russian Premier League under manager Domenico Tedesco, whose contract expired at the season's end, Spartak followed up with a successful run in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, now led by Rui Vitoria. Spartak topped its group, which included Napoli (which it defeated both home and away), Leicester City and Legia Warsaw. It was set to face RB Leipzig in the round of 16, but the club - along with all Russian club and national teams - was suspended from FIFA, UEFA and the ECA until further notice due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the clubs continued to play with themselves.
On 29 May 2022, in the final match of Paolo Vanoli (manager since December 2021), Spartak won the 2021–22 Russian Cup.

#### New ownership (2022–present)

On August 22, 2022, PJSC Lukoil Oil Company announced the acquisition of Spartak Moscow and Otkritie Arena. This occurred after numerous changes at the club, such as the appointment of Spanish specialist Guillermo Abascal as manager, his assistants Carlos Maria Valle Moreno and Vladimir Slišković, physical training coaches Fernando Perez Lopez and Alexander Zaichenko, and goalkeeper coach Vasily Kuznetsov. At 33 years of age, Abascal became the youngest manager in the club's history. It was also reported that Leonid Fedun has resigned as President of the club and member of the board of directors. Under his leadership of more than 18 years, he left behind a mixed legacy. The club had won only a single Russian league, cup and supercup. Second place in the league was achieved six times, and four times the club head reached the group stage of the Champions League. A stadium solely for the use of the club was built for the first time. On September 26, 2022 Alexander Matytsyn, first vice president of Lukoil, became chairman of the board of directors of FC Spartak. Lukoil's top managers Pavel Zhdanov, Ivan Maslyaev, and Yevgeny Khavkin joined the board of directors, as did Spartak's general director Yevgeny Melezhikov (left the club in the summer of 2023), academy president Sergei Rodionov, as well as independent directors Oleg Malyshev and Yusuf Alekperov. Englishman Paul Ashworth was appointed sporting director. In December 2023, it was announced that the club was reviving a second team, closed in 2022 due to lack of funding. It will be entered in the second league.

## Honours
### Domestic competitions

* Soviet Top League/Russian Premier League
** Champions (22) (record): 1936 (autumn), 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989 / 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2016–17
** Runners-up (16): 1937, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011–12, 2020–21
* Soviet Cup/Russian Cup
** Winners (14) (record): 1938, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1992, 1993–94, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2021–22
** Runners-up (7): 1948, 1952, 1957, 1972, 1981, 1995–96, 2005–06
* Russian Super Cup
** Winners: 2017
** Runners-up (4): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2022
* Soviet First League
** Champions: 1977
* USSR Federation Cup
** Winners: 1987

### International

* Commonwealth of Independent States Cup
** Winners (6): 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001
** Runners-up: 1997, 1998, 2002

### Non-official

* Match Premier Cup
** Winners: 2019, 2020, 2021
* Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy
** Winners: 1982
* Copa del Sol
** Winners: 2012

## Notable European campaigns
### UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 22 September 2023, Source:
| 99 | Zorya Luhansk | 14.500 |
| 100 | Anderlecht | 14.500 |
| 101 | Spartak Moscow | 14.500 |
| 102 | Köln | 6.000 |
| 103 | Hoffenheim | 12.000 |

### Football Club Elo ranking

    As of 14 June 2023
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 155 | Millwall | 1536 |
| 156 | Tenerife | 1536 |
| 157 | Spartak Moscow | 1535 |
| 158 | West Bromwich | 1531 |
| 159 | Molde | 1531 |
    As of 14 August 2018
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
| UEFA Champions League | 122 | 40 | 31 | 51 | 173 | 189 | −16 | 032.79 |
| UEFA Europa League | 114 | 59 | 22 | 33 | 180 | 138 | +42 | 051.75 |
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 17 | +14 | 055.56 |
| Total | 254 | 109 | 57 | 88 | 382 | 341 | +41 | 042.91 |

## League history
### Soviet Union

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Top scorer (league) Manager/acting manager 1936 (s)1st3631212713-- Glazkov – 4 Kozlov 1936 (a)17421191017QF- Glazkov – 7 Kozlov 1937216853241637R16- Rumyantsev – 8 Kvashnin 19381251834741939W- Sokolov – 18 Kvashnin P.Popov 19391261493582337W- Semyonov – 18 P.Popov 19403241356543531-- Semyonov – 13 Kornilov – 13 Gorokhov 1944no league competitionSF-- Kvashnin 194510226313224415R16- Timakov – 7 Isakov Vollrat 1946622859384021W- Salnikov – 9 Vollrat 1947824699342621W- Dementyev – 9 Vollrat 19483261817643437RU- Konov – 15 Kvashnin 19493342176934349SF- Simonyan – 26 Dangulov 195053617109774044W- Simonyan – 34 Dangulov 195162813510503531QF- Simonyan – 10 Dangulov Gorokhov Glazkov 1952113922261220RU- Paramonov – 8 Sokolov 19531201172471529QF- Simonyan – 14 Sokolov 19542241437492631R16- Ilyin – 11 Sokolov 19552221534552733SF- Parshin – 13 Gulyaev 19561221543682834-- Simonyan – 16 Gulyaev 19573221165432828RU- Simonyan – 12 Gulyaev 19581221363552832W- Ilyin – 19 Gulyaev 1959622886322824-- Isaev – 8 Gulyaev 19607301578523237R16- Ilyin – 13 Simonyan 19613301686573440R16- Khusainov – 14 Simonyan 19621322156612547R16- Sevidov – 16 Simonyan 19632382288653352W- Sevidov – 15 Simonyan 196483212812343232SF- Sevidov – 6 Simonyan 1965832101210282632W- Khusainov – 5 Reingold – 5 Simonyan 196643615129454142QF- Osyanin – 15 Gulyaev 196773613149383040R32CWCR16 Khusainov – 8 Salnikov Simonyan 196823821107644352R32- Khusainov – 14 Simonyan 19691322462511554R32- Osyanin – 16 Simonyan 197033212146432538QF- Khusainov – 12 Simonyan 19716309138353131WECCR32 Kiselyov – 5 Silagadze – 5 Piskarev – 5 Simonyan 1972113081012293026RUUCR32 Papaev – 4 Andreev – 4 Piskarev – 4 Simonyan 19734301488372831QFCWCQF Piskarev – 12 Gulyaev 19742301596412339QF- Piskarev – 10 Gulyaev 1975103091011273028R16UCR64 Lovchev – 8 Gulyaev 1976 (s)1415429101810-UCR16 Pilipko – 2 Lovchev – 2 Bulgakov – 2 Krutikov 1976 (a)1515537151813R32- Bulgakov – 6 Krutikov 19772nd13822106834254R16- Yartsev – 17 Beskov 19781st53014511423333R16- Yartsev – 19 Beskov 197913421103662550Qual.- Yartsev – 14 Beskov 19802341897492645SF- Rodionov – 7 Beskov 19812341987704046RUECCQF Gavrilov – 21 Beskov 19823341699593541Qual.UCR32 Shavlo – 11 Beskov 19832341897602545R16UCR16 Gavrilov – 18 Beskov 19842341897532945QFUCQF Rodionov – 13 Beskov 198523418106722846R16UCR16 Rodionov – 14 Beskov 19863301497522137SFUCR16 Rodionov – 17 Beskov 198713016113492642R16UCR16 Rodionov – 12 Cherenkov – 12 Beskov 198843014115402639QFUCR32 Rodionov – 12 Beskov 198913017103491944QFECCR16 Rodionov – 16 Romantsev 19905241257392629R16UCR32 Shmarov – 12 Romantsev 19912301776573041QFECCSF Mostovoi – 13 Radchenko – 13 Romantsev 1992--WUCR32- Romantsev

### Russia

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Top scorer (league) Manager/acting manager 19921st1261871621943-- Radchenko – 12 Romantsev 199313421112811853R32CWCSF Beschastnykh – 18 Romantsev 19941302181732150WUCLGS Beschastnykh – 10 Romantsev 19953301975762663SFUCLGS Shmarov – 16 Romantsev 19961352294723575RUUCLQF Tikhonov – 16 Yartsev 19971342275673073QFUCR32 Kechinov – 11 Romantsev 19981301785582759WUCL UCQual. SF Tsymbalar – 10 Romantsev 19991302262752472R32UCLGS Tikhonov – 19 Romantsev 20001302316693070SFUCL UCGS R32 Titov – 13 Romantsev 20011301794563060QFUCL2nd GS Titov – 11 Robson – 11 Romantsev 20023301677493655R32UCLGS Beschastnykh – 12 Romantsev 2003103010614384836WUCLGS Pavlyuchenko – 10 Romantsev Chernyshov Fedotov Scala 200483011712434440R32UC UICR16 QF Pavlyuchenko – 10 Scala Starkov 20052301686472656R32- Pavlyuchenko – 11 Starkov 200623015132603658RU- Pavlyuchenko – 18 Starkov Fedotov 20072301785503059SFUCL UCGS R32 Pavlyuchenko – 14 Fedotov Cherchesov 200883011118433944R32UCL UCQual. R32 Bazhenov – 6 Pavlyuchenko – 6 Pavlenko – 6 Welliton – 6 Cherchesov M. Laudrup 20092301749613355QF- Welliton – 21 M. Laudrup Karpin 201043013107433310R16UCL UCQual. GS Welliton – 19 Karpin 2011–12244211211684875R16UCQual Emenike – 13 Karpin 2012–134301569513951R16UCLGS Y. Movsisyan – 13 Emery Karpin 2013–1463015510463650R16UCQual Y. Movsisyan – 16 Karpin Gunko 2014–1563012810424244R16- Promes – 13 Yakin 2015–1653015510483950R16- Promes – 18 Alenichev 2016–171302235462769R32UCQual Promes – 11 Alenichev Carrera 2017–183301686513256SFUCLGS Promes – 15 Carrera 2018–195301479363149QFUCL UELQual. GS Zé Luís – 10 Carrera Kononov 2019–2073011613353339QFUELQual. A.Sobolev – 12 Kononov Tedesco 2020–212301767523457R16- Larsson – 15 Tedesco 2021–22103010812161938WUELR16 A.Sobolev – 9 Rui Vitoria Vanoli
Notes
* ↑ Spartak Moscow had qualified for the round of 16 as a group winner, but were disqualified from the competition before playing that round due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

### Top goalscorers

    As of match played 12 November 2022
| | Name | Years | League | Russian Cup | Europe | Other | Total |
| 1 | Nikita Simonyan | 1949–1959 | 133 (233) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 133 (233) |
| 2 | Sergey Rodionov | 1979–1990 1993–1995 | 124 (303) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 124 (303) |
| 3 | Galimzyan Khusainov | 1961–1973 | 102 (350) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 102 (350) |
| 4 | Yegor Titov | 1995–2008 | 86 (324) | 3 (42) | 15 (77) | 1 (2) | 105 (445) |
| 5 | Quincy Promes | 2014–2018 2021–Present | 80 (164) | 10 (15) | 5 (17) | 1 (2) | 98 (198) |
| 6 | Fyodor Cherenkov | 1977–1990 1991–1993 | 95 (398) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 95 (398) |
| 7 | Andrey Tikhonov | 1992–2000 2011 | 68 (192) | 4 (20) | 18 (51) | - (-) | 90 (263) |
| 8 | Yuri Gavrilov | 1977–1985 | 89 (280) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 89 (280) |
| 8 | Roman Pavlyuchenko | 2003–2008 | 69 (141) | 4 (17) | 14 (28) | 2 (3) | 89 (189) |
| 10 | Anatoli Ilyin | 1949–1962 | 83 (224) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 83 (224) |
| 11 | Yury Sevidov | 1960–1965 | 71 (146) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 71 (146) |
| 12 | Vladimir Beschastnykh | 1991–1994 2001–2002 | 56 (104) | 6 (11) | 5 (28) | - (-) | 67 (143) |
| 13 | Sergei Salnikov | 1942–1943 1946–1949 1955–1960 | 64 (201) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 64 (201) |
| 14 | Aleksei Paramonov | 1947–1959 | 63 (264) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 63 (264) |
| 15 | Welliton | 2007–2014 | 57 (126) | 2 (6) | 1 (15) | - (-) | 60 (147) |
| 16 | Georgi Yartsev | 1977–1980 | 55 (116) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 55 (116) |
| 17 | Anatoli Isayev | 1953–1962 | 54 (159) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 54 (159) |
| 17 | Valeri Shmarov | 1987–1991 | 54 (143) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 54 (143) |
| 19 | Nikolai Osyanin | 1966–1971 1974–1976 | 50 (248) | ? (?) | ? (?) | ? (?) | 50 (248) |

## Nickname

The team is usually called "red-and-whites," but among the fans "The Meat" (Russian: "Мясо", "Myaso") is a very popular nickname. The origins of the nickname belong to the days of the foundation of the club; in the 1920s, the team was renamed several times, from "Moscow Sports Club" to "Red Presnya" (after the name of one of the districts of Moscow) to "Pishcheviki" ("Food industry workers") to "Promkooperatsiya" ("Industrial cooperation") and finally to "Spartak Moscow" in 1935, and for many years the team was under patronage of one of the Moscow food factories that dealt with meat products.
One of the most favourite slogans of both the fans and players is, "Who are we? We're The Meat!" (Russian: "Кто мы? Мясо!", "Kto my? Myaso!")

## Ownerships, kits and crests

FC Spartak Moscow's main colour is red. In 2014, Nike unveiled kit inspired by the club's new home.

### Owners, kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

| Period | Kit supplier | Shirt sponsor | Owner |
| 1979–1987 | Adidas | — | Spartak society |
| 1988 | Adidas | Danieli | Spartak society |
| 1989 | Adidas | JINDO | Spartak society |
| 1990–1993 | Adidas | Unipack | Spartak society |
| 1994–1996 | Adidas | Urengoygazprom | Oleg Romantsev |
| 1997–1998 | Adidas | Akai | Oleg Romantsev |
| 1999 | Adidas | — | Oleg Romantsev |
| 2000–2002 | Adidas | Lukoil | Andrey Chervichenko |
| 2003–2004 | Umbro | Lukoil | Leonid Fedun |
| 2005–2023 | Nike | Lukoil | Leonid Fedun |
| 2023–2024 | Wildberries | Lukoil | Lukoil |
| 2024–present | Jögel | Lukoil | Lukoil |

## Rival teams and friendships

At present, Spartak's archrival is CSKA Moscow, although this is a relatively recent rivalry that has only emerged after the collapse of the USSR. Seven of ten matches with the largest audience in Russian Premier League (including top three) were Spartak-CSKA derbies. Historically, the most celebrated rivalry is with Dynamo Moscow, a fiercely contested matchup which is Russia's oldest derby. Matches against Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg attract thousands of people as well, almost always resulting in packed stadia. Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Spartak's rivalry with Dynamo Kyiv, one of the leaders of the USSR championship, was lost. Since Dynamo Kyiv now plays in the Ukrainian Premier League, both teams must qualify for UEFA tournaments to meet each other.
Since the mid-2000s the supporters of Spartak maintain brotherhood relations with Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) and Olympiacos ultras – a friendship based on common Orthodox faith and same club colours. Also fans of Spartak have generally friendly relationships with Torpedo Moscow supporters, and of supporters of Polish club Lech Poznań.

## Stadium

Until 2014, Spartak had never had its own stadium, with the team historically playing in various Moscow stadia throughout its history, even once playing an exhibition match in Red Square. The team played home games at various Moscow stadiums – especially at the Locomotiv and Luzhniki stadiums. After the purchase of the club by Andrei Chervichenko in the early 2000s, several statements were made about the speedy construction of the stadium, but construction did not begin.
After a controlling stake in the club was bought by Leonid Fedun, real steps were taken to promote the stadium project, and in 2006, the Government of Moscow allocated land at Tushino Aeropol at a size of 28.3 hectares for the construction of the stadium. The project involved the main arena of 42,000 people with natural lawn, sports, and an entertainment hall for tennis, handball, basketball and volleyball for 12,000 spectators. The ceremony of laying the first stone took place on 2 June 2007.
In February 2013, it was announced that as a result of a sponsorship deal with Otkritie FC Bank ("Discovery"), the stadium will be called Otkritie Arena for 6 years. The opening match at the new stadium took place on 5 September 2014, when Spartak drew with the Serbian side Red Star Belgrade (1-1). The first competitive match took place on 14 September 2014, in which Spartak defeated Torpedo Moscow 3–1 in the 7th round of the championship.

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 20 February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | RUS | Ilya Pomazun |
| 2 | DF | MDA | Oleg Reabciuk |
| 4 | DF | PAR | Alexis Duarte |
| 5 | MF | ARG | Esequiel Barco |
| 6 | DF | SRB | Srđan Babić |
| 7 | FW | ARG | Pablo Solari |
| 8 | FW | BRA | Marquinhos |
| 9 | FW | CRC | Manfred Ugalde |
| 11 | FW | TRI | Levi García |
| 14 | DF | SUR | Myenty Abena |
| 16 | GK | RUS | Aleksandr Dovbnya |
| 18 | MF | RUS | Nail Umyarov |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | PAR | Jesús Medina |
| 22 | MF | RUS | Mikhail Ignatov |
| 23 | DF | RUS | Nikita Chernov |
| 25 | MF | RUS | Danil Prutsev |
| 29 | DF | POR | Ricardo Mangas |
| 35 | MF | LUX | Christopher Martins |
| 47 | MF | RUS | Roman Zobnin |
| 68 | DF | RUS | Ruslan Litvinov |
| 77 | MF | COD | Théo Bongonda |
| 82 | DF | RUS | Daniil Khlusevich |
| 97 | DF | RUS | Daniil Denisov |
| 98 | GK | RUS | Aleksandr Maksimenko |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | RUS | Pavel Maslov (at Sochi until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | RUS | Igor Dmitriyev (at Krylia Sovetov Samara until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | RUS | Maksim Laykin (at Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | RUS | Ivan Pyatkin (at Tyumen until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | RUS | Anton Roshchin (at Metallurg Lipetsk until 30 June 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | RUS | Vitali Shitov (at Tyumen until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | RUS | Anton Zinkovsky (at Krylia Sovetov Samara until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | RUS | Daniil Zorin (at Akhmat Grozny until 30 June 2025) |
| — | FW | RUS | Artyom Bykovsky (at Petrocub Hîncești until 31 December 2025) |
| — | FW | RUS | Maksim Ofitserov (at Torpedo Miass until 30 June 2025) |

### Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Spartak. For further list, see List of FC Spartak Moscow players.

## Staff

* Owner: Vagit Alekperov, Leonid Fedun
* Managing Director: Yevgeni Melezhikov
* Director of Sports: Francis Cagigao
* Caretaker head coach: Vladimir Slišković
* Assistant coach: Carlos Valle
* Goalkeeping coach: Vasili Kuznetsov
* Physical coach: Fernando Perez Lopez
* Reserves team head coach: Aleksei Lunin
* Reserves team assistant coach: Aleksei Melyoshin
* Reserves team goalkeeping coach: Vasili Kuznetsov

## Coaches

| Name | Period |
| Antonin Fivebr | 1936 |
| Mikhail Kozlov | Aug 1936–37 |
| Konstantin Kvashnin | 1937 – Sept 38 |
| Pyotr Popov | Sept 1938–39 |
| Vladimir Gorokhov | 1940 |
| Pyotr Popov | 1941 |
| Vladimir Gorokhov | 1942–43 |
| Konstantin Kvashnin | 1944 |
| Pyotr Isakov | Jan 1945 – Aug 45 (caretaker) |
| Albert Vollrat | Sept 1945–47 |
| Konstantin Kvashnin | 1948 |
| Abram Dangulov | 1949 – May 51 |
| Georgi Glazkov | June 1951 – Dec 51 |
| Vasily Sokolov | 1952–54 |
| Nikolay Gulyaev | 1955–59 |
| Nikita Simonyan | 1 January 1960 – 31 December 1965 |
| Nikolay Gulyaev | 1966 |
| Sergei Salnikov | Jan 1967 – July 67 |
| Nikita Simonyan | 1 July 1967 – 31 December 1972 |
| Nikolay Gulyaev | 1973–75 |
| Anatoly Krutikov | 1976 |
| Konstantin Beskov | 1 January 1977 – 31 December 1988 |
| Oleg Romantsev | 1 January 1989 – 31 December 1995 |
| Georgi Yartsev | 1 January 1996 – 31 December 1996 |
| Oleg Romantsev | 1 January 1997 – 3 May 2003 |
| Andrei Chernyshov | 19 June 2003 – 1 September 2003 |
| Name | Period |
| Vladimir Fedotov | 2 September 2003 – 30 November 2003 (caretaker) |
| Nevio Scala | 10 December 2003 – 15 September 2004 |
| Aleksandrs Starkovs | 10 October 2004 – 26 April 2006 |
| Vladimir Fedotov | 1 June 2006 – 19 June 2007 |
| Stanislav Cherchesov | 1 July 2007 – 14 August 2008 |
| Igor Lediakhov | 15 August 2008 – 12 September 2008 (caretaker) |
| Michael Laudrup | 9 September 2008 – 15 April 2009 |
| Valeri Karpin | 16 April 2009 – 30 June 2012 |
| Unai Emery | 1 July 2012 – 25 November 2012 |
| Valeri Karpin | 26 November 2012 – 18 March 2014 |
| Dmitri Gunko | 18 March 2014 – 31 May 2014 |
| Murat Yakin | 16 June 2014 – 30 May 2015 |
| Dmitri Alenichev | 10 June 2015 – 5 August 2016 |
| Massimo Carrera | 5 August 2016 – 22 October 2018 |
| Raúl Riancho | 22 October 2018 – 12 November 2018 (caretaker) |
| Oleg Kononov | 12 November 2018 – 29 September 2019 |
| Serhiy Kuznetsov | 29 September 2019 – 14 October 2019 (caretaker) |
| Domenico Tedesco | 14 October 2019 – 17 May 2021 |
| Rui Vitória | 24 May 2021 – 15 December 2021 |
| Paolo Vanoli | 17 December 2021 – 9 June 2022 |
| Guille Abascal | 10 June 2022 – 14 April 2024 |
| Dejan Stanković | 16 May 2024 – present |