Haves, have nots and haven’t a clues – Russian football on the brink
When the dust settled after the Russian FA Presidential election three things were crystal clear: a0 there was a general desire to level the playing field, b) build grass roots/youth football and c)...
View ArticleStriking pain – Where will Russian football find goals?
You don’t expect to chair a sports quiz on Valentines Day, especially in a bar full to the rafters with a heady mix of couples and singletons. Given permission to be the MC, I added a few questions...
View ArticleThe heat is on in the Russian Premier League
The Russian weather warms, the Premier League clubs are feeling the heat of an end of season battle for Europe or survival. The fine performance by Zenit in the Europa League was a spring highlight and...
View ArticleLast call for Russian football – Part 2
With three games left in the Premier League the title, a place in the Champions League Group stage is Zenit’s. Odds on for the spot in the third qualifying round of the same competition are Krasnodar,...
View ArticleDivision Two – Where Russian football lives and dies
The third level of Russian Professional Football began the season with great gusto. Added into the mix were homecomers – from Crimea – Yalta, Sevastopol and Simferopol. However, once the RFS President...
View ArticleTerek Grozny – Stuck in the middle with Ramzan
Terek Grozny is a curious beast. The club from the capital of Russia’s most infamous republic hold a very strange position within Russian football. Some years ago at a match between Lokomotiv Moscow...
View Article“Idiotism, they shame us”– Russian clubs foul up again
I gave my tickets to last Saturday’s Spartak Moscow – Zenit St. Petersburg showdown to a German friend and his colleague. They were mad to taste something local and, like the vast majority of “Western”...
View ArticleSponsorship in Russian football and the looming crisis
Every week it seems a new pronouncement is handed down from the Kremlin or some loony faction in the parliament (Duma). At a Federal level it is closer to a bunch of monkeys with time on their hands...
View ArticleRussian Premier League – best season EVER!
This season I’ve invested more in the Russian Premier League than in the last two years. I’ve attended and watched more matches, done more media pieces and basically enjoyed seeing the beginning of the...
View ArticleRussian Premier League – Last day drama
If we’d been given the permutation that would leave two clubs fighting for the title on the last day and five clubs in danger of relegation, you’d have gotten the same odds as Leicester City winning in...
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