It’s sink or swim for Torpedo
Published 29 May, 2008, 18:17
One of the most famous clubs in the history of Soviet and Russian football, Torpedo Moscow, is going through what could be a ‘make or break’ time.
With just a week gone since the thrilling Champions League final, the Luzhniki Stadium hosted an altogether more sombre event. Home side Torpedo are fighting to survive in the first division – just two years after being relegated from Russia's top flight.
Three-time USSR champions and seven-time cup winners, Torpedo were the very first Soviet team to take part in the European Champions’ Cup in 1966.
But now the club, which was founded in 1930 and gave the country such great players as Eduard Streltsov, Valentin Ivanov and Valery Voronin, is a victim of poor financing.
“Save Torpedo – Save the Legend” was the call from their supporters, who’d planned to take an unprecedented measure – to leave the stadium in the 65th minute of the game to draw attention to their financial plight.
The game itself did little to cheer the Torpedo fans. The visitors, Kuban of Krasnodar, opened the scoring. Later, true to their word, Torpedo supporters left the stadium. Even the Kuban supporters sympathised with their plight and started chanting ‘Torpedo! Torpedo!’
Meanwhile on the pitch, things went from bad to worse for the home side, with Kuban eventually running out 3-1 winners in front of a virtually empty stadium.
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