The pride and love of St. Petersburg, FC ZENIT is the only main club of the city. The passion of its fans can be seen at the infamous Petrovskiy Stadium on match days, and around the whole city when the team isn’t even playing. Blue, white, and sky blue are the colors of the club, and the fans walk around the city with these scarves and hats on to support their club. In the past few years, Zenit has experienced great success in the Russian league and the European leagues. The influx of money can be found by its’ main sponsor, Gazprom. The oil and gas giant recently became the club’s sponsor shortly after the turn of the millennium.

Zenit’s history started in the early 20th century as a loosely organized amateur club, but its true history started during 1944, when the club won the USSR Cup against CSKA. This started the success and legend of Zenit St. Petersburg for the city. Although the club was named Zenit Leningrad throughout the Soviet Union era, the club was often placed in the middle part of the league, as Moscow clubs such as Spartak, CSKA, and Dynamo Moskva took most of the honors, as well as the most successful club in the Soviet era, Dynamo Kyiv. The club won bronze in 1980, won the Soviet Cup Final and the league in 1984, and in 1985, Zenit won the Soviet Super Cup. 

The post Soviet era saw Zenit performing in the second league until the late 1990’s. Zenit saw its first cup victory under the name of Zenit St. Petersburg in 2003. Then in 2007, Zenit won the Russian Premier League title and allowed the club to make its first ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League. But before taking part in the Champions League, Zenit made history in the UEFA Cup, by destroying Bayern Munich in the semi-finals 5-1 on aggregate. It was a huge shock for all of Europe, and the biggest shock came next, as the club defeated Rangers of Glasgow 2-0 in the final. It was the first European trophy won by the club, and the UEFA Super Cup came shortly after as Zenit defeated Manchester United 2-1. 

The recent success of Zenit has made the passion and belief in its fans to be at an all time high. The club means so much for the city and its fans, which its fame will not be going away anytime soon.

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