FC Rostov () is a Russian professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena.
History
Soviet era (1930–1991), Rostselmash The club was established on 10 May 1930, and was initially named Selmashstroy (Сельмашстрой). They were renamed Selmash in 1936 and Traktor in 1941. In 1950, the club joined the South Zone of the Azov-Don group of the Russian SFSR Championship. The following season they were placed in Group B of the championship. After finishing first in their group, they played in Group A in 1952. A third-place finish meant the club were promoted to the Class B for the 1953 season, during which they were renamed again, becoming Torpedo. In 1958, they were renamed Rostselmash.
In 1964 the club won their Division of Class B. In the Russian-zone play-offs they finished second in the first round and top in the second after defeating Terek Grozny 2–0 in the deciding match, earning promotion to the Soviet First League. The following season they finished bottom of the division, but were not relegated as the number of teams in the division was increased.
By the early 1970s the club was back in the Russian leagues. In 1975 they returned to Class B (now known as the Soviet Second League). Following several near misses, the club won their zone of the Second League in 1985. They went on to win a play-off tournament, earning promotion back to the First League.
Modern era (1991–present) In 1991 the club finished fourth in what was the final season of Soviet football following the USSR's disintegration. This was enough to earn them a place in the new Russian Top League. Following an eighth-place finish in their first season, the 1993 season saw the club struggle, eventually finishing second bottom, resulting in relegation to the First League.
The club made an immediate return to the Top League after finishing second in the 1994 First League season. In 2003, they adopted their current name and reached the Russian Cup final for the first time, losing 1–0 to Spartak Moscow. In 2007 they finished bottom of the (now renamed) Premier Division and were relegated to the First Division. However, they made another return to the top division as First Division champions.
Rostov won the 2013–14 Russian Cup, defeating FC Krasnodar on penalties 6–5, and earned qualification to the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. However Rostov were excluded from the competition at the end of May 2014, due to breached financial rules, being replaced by Spartak Moscow. Later Rostov appealed the decision of the local football federation to lift the club from the tournament in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, the club won the right to play.
On 18 December 2014, the official website of FC Rostov announced the appointment of Kurban Berdyev as head coach. Under his leadership, the team has maintained a place in the Premier League on aggregate (1–0, 4–1) beating "Tosno" in the play-offs Premier League – First Division. Throughout the second half of 2015, the club had problems with the payment of salaries and bonuses the players, but it has not prevented the club at the end of the first part of the season 2015–16 to hold 2nd place in the championship.
In the 2016–17 season, Rostov earned a UEFA Champions League spot in the League Route as runners-up of the Russian Premier League. In the third qualifying round, they were drawn against Anderlecht. After a 2–2 home draw, they beat Anderlecht 2–0 away. In the play-off, Rostov were drawn against Dutch giants Ajax. In the first leg in Amsterdam, Netherlands, they held on to a 1–1 draw, which gave them an away goal advantage. In the return leg, Rostov earned a 4–1 surprise win over Ajax and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stages, a stunning performance as was their first qualification into the group stages of a European tournament. Rostov were drawn in Group D, against Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid and PSV Eindhoven, gaining their first Champions League victory on 23 November 2016, defeating Bayern Munich 3–2 at Olimp-2.
On 9 June 2017, Rostov announced Leonid Kuchuk as their new manager on a one-year contract with the option of an additional year. Kuchuk resigned and was replaced by Valeri Karpin during the winter break in December 2017.
On 19 June 2020, Rostov were due to play their first match of the restarted Russian Premier League season, which had been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, against PFC Sochi. Rostov were in fourth place, just a few points of UEFA Champions League qualification. A few days before the match, six players in Rostov's first-team squad tested positive for the coronavirus, putting the entire first-team squad into a 14-day quarantine period. This forced the club to select their Under-18 squad to play the match, making it the youngest starting 11 and the youngest matchday squad in Russian Premier League history. Rostov would go on to lose 10–1, but the youngsters were highly praised for their performance with 17-year-old goalkeeper Denis Popov named man-of-the-match after saving a penalty and making 15 saves, a Russian Premier League record, and 17-year-old Roman Romanov scoring his first senior goal on his debut in the first minute of the match.
On 26 October 2021, Rostov announced Turkmenistani coach Vitaly Kafanov as their new manager.
In 2022, the European Club Association suspended Rostov, citing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Rostov was 2nd in the 2022–23 Russian Premier League with 5 games left, but lost 4 out of 5 games and dropped to 4th place at the final table.
In the first match of the 2023–24 RPL season with Fakel Voronezh, Rostov scored his thousandth goal in the history of the Russian championships, becoming the sixth team to have such an achievement.
In the 2024–25 season, Rostov reached the Russian Cup superfinal, which they lost to CSKA in a penalty shoot-out.
Mohammad Mohebi was selected to represent Iran at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Seasons Domestic
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA PCupEuropeTop scorer (league)Head coach19921st8268711222823R8-- Tikhonov – 7 Yulgushov1993173481214355228R8-- Spanderashvili – 8 Yulgushov19942nd2422787924462R16-- Maslov – 32 Yulgushov19951st14308418355628R16-- Maslov – 18 Yulgushov Andreyev1996113411815586041R8-- Maslov – 23 Andreyev1997133491411343841R16-- Gerasimenko – 8 Andreyev199863011118423844QF-- Matveyev – 14 Andreyev199973011811323741R16UICSF Pestryakov – 7 Andreyev2000123061410242732R16UIC3R Kirichenko – 14 Andreyev200112308814294332R16-- Kirichenko – 13 Balakhnin Baidachny2002113071013294931RU-- Adamu – 5 Baidachny Balakhnin2003113081012304234QF-- Osinov – 7 Balakhnin200412307815284229R8-- Pérez – 5 Shevchenko Balakhnin200513308715264131R16-- Buznikin – 8 Styopushkin Petrakov2006123010614424836QF-- Osinov – 12 Balakhnin2007163021216184418R8-- Osinov – 4 Kanyenda – 4 Dolmatov20082nd1422994782996R32-- Osinov – 16 Dolmatov20091st143071112283932R16-- Akimov – 6 Ahmetović – 6 Dolmatov201093010416274434SF-- Adamov – 8 Protasov2011–121344121220456148SF-- Adamov – 11 Protasov Lyutyi Talalayev Balakhnin Baidachny2012–1313307815304129SF-- Holenda – 6 Božović2013–1473010911404039Winner-- Dzyuba – 17 Božović2014–1514307815275129R16UELPO Grigoryev – 5 Božović Berdyev2015–162301965412063R32-- Azmoun – 9 Berdyev2016–176301398361848R32UCLUELGSR16 Azmoun Poloz – 7 Berdyev Kirichenko (caretaker) Daniliants2017–18113091011272837R16-- Ionov – 5 Kuchuk Kirichenko (caretaker) Karpin2018–1993010119252341SF-- Ionov – 6 Karpin2019–205301299455045R16-- Shomurodov – 11 Karpin2020–2193013413373543R16UEL3QR Hashimoto – 6 Poloz – 6 Karpin2021–2293010812475138R32-- Poloz – 14 Karpin Syomin Tedeyev (caretaker) Kafanov Karpin 2022–234301587484453SF-- Komlichenko – 10 Karpin2023–2473012711434643SF-- Golenkov – 8 Karpin 2024–2583010911414339RU-- Osipenko – 9 Karpin Alba2025–2610308913253233RPS2-- Ronaldo – 6 Alba
European
Competition Pld W D L GF GA UEFA Intertoto Cup 8 2 1 5 7 18 UEFA Europa League 7 1 3 3 7 7 UEFA Champions League 10 3 4 3 15 16 Total 25 6 8 11 29 41 Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup 2R FK Cementarnica 55 2–1 1–1 3–2 3R NK Varteks 0–1 2–1 2–2 (a) SF Juventus 0–4 1–5 1–9 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup 3R AJ Auxerre 0–2 1–3 1–5 2014–15 UEFA Europa League PO Trabzonspor 0–2 0–0 0–2 2016–17 UEFA Champions League 3R Anderlecht 2–2 2–0 4–2 PO Ajax 4–1 1–1 5–2 Group D Bayern Munich 3–2 0–5 3rd place Atlético Madrid 0–1 1–2 PSV Eindhoven 2–2 0–0 UEFA Europa League R32 Sparta Prague 4–0 1–1 5–1 R16 Manchester United 1–1 0–1 1–2 2020–21 UEFA Europa League 3Q Maccabi Haifa 1–2 1–2
Notes 3Q: Third qualifying round 2R: Second round 3R: Third round PO: Play-off round SF: Semi–finals
Honours
Domestic competitions Russian Premier League Runners-up (1): 2015–16 Russian Cup Winners (1): 2013–14 Russian Super Cup Runners-up (1): 2014 Russian National Football League Winners (1): 2008
Players Current squad , according to the Russian Premier League's official website.
Out on loan
Coaching staff {|class="wikitable" |- !Position !Staff |- |Manager||| Jonatan Alba |- |First-Team Coach||| Viktor Onopko Mikhail Osinov |- |Analyst/coach|| Marcos Merino Mazón |- |Goalkeeping coach||| Andrei Kondratyuk |- |Rehabilitation trainer|| Álvaro Sayabera Iñarrea |- |Physiotherapist-rehabilitation specialist|| Raúl Álvarez Canle Javier Sanabria Alvaro |- |Physiotherapist|| Alejandro Nunez Lopez |- |Rehabilitation specialist|| Aleksei Muzalevsky |- |Doctor|| Denis Vsyansky |- |Massage therapist|| Grigory Davidyan |- |Massage therapist|| Nikita Kovalyov |- |Massage therapist|| Mikhail Murashkintsev
References
External links