FOOTBALL IN THE "CITY OF THE DEAD"
In April 1942, the German command published a newspaper called Leningrad - City of the Dead. There were photographs of corpses in the streets and destroyed buildings. The meaning is clear: soon the besieged city will fall. The Nazis scattered leaflets of similar content over Leningrad …
The city leadership decided to prove to the residents, our troops defending the city, and, of course, the Nazis that Leningrad is alive. Then the idea came up against all odds to organize a football match.
Captain of the NKVD Viktor Bychkov, who fought on the Pulkovo Heights, was appointed in charge. In peacetime, he was a famous footballer in the city.
We decided to assemble Dynamo Leningrad, which was one of the grandees of the pre-war USSR championships. Some of the players served in the police, some fought at the front, some worked in factories in the city. Bychkov managed to recreate an almost optimal composition.
And the team of the Leningrad garrison became the rivals of Dynamo. According to other sources, it was called the command of the Baltic Fleet.
VIEWERS BROUGHT BY CAR
Promotional video:
On May 6, the first football match in the history of besieged Leningrad took place at the Dynamo stadium on Krestovsky Island. About two thousand spectators were delivered by cars. They decided not to publish posters - the match was organized in the shortest possible time and in the strictest secrecy. They feared raids by enemy aircraft.
The meeting was served by the famous Leningrad referee Nikolai Usov.
Dynamo's class was higher, and they won with a large score of 7: 3.
Dynamo roster: V. Nabutov, G. Moskovtsev, B. Oreshkin, P. Sychev, D. Fedorov, Val. Fedorov, K. Sazonov, A. I. Fedorov, A. Alov, A. Viktorov, E. Arkhangelsky.
MATCH COMMENTARY WERE BROADCASTED ON THE FORWARD
The commentary of the match in Russian and German was recorded at the stadium. The next day, the game was broadcast on the front lines using loudspeakers for both Soviet and German soldiers. During the lull between battles, the soldiers of both armies, right in the trenches, could make sure that yesterday they were playing football in the besieged city.
In modern terms, in the field of public relations, the leadership of Leningrad outplayed the Nazi propagandists. What they wrote in their newspapers did not fit in with the lively words of the match commentator, his joyful exclamations during the goal. What is the "city of the dead" if football is played there?
FOOTBALL LIVE AND FIGHT HELPS
The game raised the morale of our soldiers and residents of the besieged city. Therefore, it was decided not to stop there.
According to the recollections of a football player from the pre-war Zenit squad Alexander Zyablikov, in the spring of 1942 he accidentally met Dynamo player Dmitry Fedorov on the street. He offered to play with Dynamo. Zyablikov during the blockade was the deputy head of the air defense of the Leningrad metal plant named after I. V. Stalin. Several Zenit players worked at the plant. Zyablikov also attracted the footballers of the Leningrad Spartak to the team. But they called this "team" the team of the "N-plant".
This time, the townspeople were notified of the game in advance, and the football match became part of the sports event.
LEAVE THE FIELD, SUPPORTING EACH OTHER
Football players were given the same rations as residents of besieged Leningrad. Just before the match, the ration was slightly increased. Subsequently, the participants in the game recalled that they barely survived two halves.
The game was scheduled for May 31, 1942. The venue is the same Dynamo on Krestovsky Island. Before the start, with the consent of referee Pavel Pavlov, it was agreed that the halves would be 30 minutes each: many players were very weak. The team of the N plant had difficulties with the composition - some of the players included in the composition never entered the field, they were so exhausted from hunger.
The factory workers did not have a goalkeeper either, so defender Ivan Kurenkov took his place. But they still lacked one more footballer. Then Dynamo lost to Ivan Smirnov's factory workers.
The game ended with the score 6: 0 in favor of Dynamo. Arkady Alov and Konstantin Sazonov scored two goals each.
Dynamo: Viktor Nabutov, Mikhail Atyushin, Valentin Fedorov, Arkady Alov, Konstantin Sazonov, Viktor Ivanov, Boris Oreshkin, Evgeny Ulitin, Alexander Fedorov, Anatoly Viktorov, Georgy Moskovtsev.
"N-sky plant": Ivan Kurenkov ("Spartak"), Alexander Fesenko, Georgy Medvedev, Anatoly Mishchuk, Alexander Zyablikov, Alexey Lebedev, Nikolay Smirnov (all - "Zenith"), Ivan Smirnov ("Dynamo"), Pert Gorbachev ("Spartak"), Nikolay Gorelkin (hockey player), Leonid Losev.
According to the testimony of Dynamo defender Valentin Fedorov, those who had the most ration of bread on the ration won. They left the field, supporting each other.
The next day's recording of the match was broadcast on the radio - there was no live radio coverage from the stadium. On June 2, a note about the match was published in the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper, on June 3, in the Smena newspaper.
On June 7, 1942, a second meeting between these teams took place, it was judged by Nikolai Usov. This time, the “team of the N plant” managed to draw the match 2: 2.
PS In 1991, a commemorative plaque with the names of the participants in the May 31, 1942 blockade match was installed at the Dynamo Stadium in St. Petersburg.
Volokhov Yuri
