Moscow football has had tough times in terms of stadiums. Two clubs – CSKA and Dynamo – haven’t yet built their arenas, Torpedo doesn’t have enough money to rent the stadium they used to play in, while the biggest Russian venue Luzhniki, which hosted the Olympic games in 1980 and Champions League final in 2008, is closed for renovation in preparation for the World Cup final. Spartak finally opened its own stadium called “Otkrytie Arena” this year (check the Otkrytie Arena article), but the only stadium in Moscow which has all the necessary infrastructure for hosting games is “Lokomotiv”.
The stadium is located in Cherkizovo which was famous for its market. Several years ago you could buy “Abibas” sneakers or fashionable Golce & Dabbana jeans here for the price of a sandwich. After the market closed the stadium became the only association with this Moscow district.
The club’s best times were at the beginning of the century when the team won two Premier League titles and played in Champions League playoffs two times in a row. This year the club, which came 3rd two years ago, won the Russian Cup for the seventh time in its history and now play in the Europa League.
