Nikolai Starostin

Nikolai Starostin (1902-1996), was a Russian footballer and ice hockey player, and founder of Spartak Moscow.

Related Topics:
1902 - 1996 - Russian - Footballer - Ice hockey - Spartak Moscow

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The eldest of four brothers, Starostin was born and raised in the suburbs of Moscow. Following the death of his father from typhoid in 1920, Starostin used his sporting talent to support his family by playing football in the summer and ice hockey in the winter, progressing to captain the Soviet national team at both sports.

Related Topics:
Moscow - Typhoid - 1920 - Soviet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1935, Starostin founded the football club Spartak Moscow as an alternative to the teams run by the secret police (Dynamo Moscow) and the army (CSKA Moscow), naming the club after the Roman slave rebel Spartacus. Starostin played for and managed Spartak, and his three brothers also played for the team.

Related Topics:
1935 - Spartak Moscow - Dynamo Moscow - CSKA Moscow - Spartacus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Under Starostin, Spartak won the league title in 1938 and 1939, much to the annoyance of Beria, the head of the secret police, who was also the president of Dynamo. A keen footballer in his youth, Beria had played against Starostin in the 1920s, suffering humiliating defeat.

Related Topics:
1938 - 1939 - Beria

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On March 20, 1942, Starostin was arrested, along with his three brothers, facing accusations of involvement in a plot to kill Stalin. Following two years of interrogation, the charges were dropped, but the Starostins were tried and sentenced to ten years in Siberia anyway, having been found guilty of "lauding bourgeois sport and attempting to drag bourgeois motives into Soviet sport".

Related Topics:
March 20 - 1942 - Stalin - Siberia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Starostin spent the following years in several different gulags, as successive gulag commanders attempted to secure his appointment as football coach. After Stalin's death in 1953, and Beria's subsequent execution, the sentences of Starostin and his brothers were declared illegal, and they were set free. Nikolai was appointed as coach to the Soviet national football team, and in 1955 returned to Spartak as president, a position he maintained until 1992.

Related Topics:
Gulags - 1953 - Soviet national football team - 1955 - 1992

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Starostin published his memoirs, titled Futbol skvoz gody (Football Through the Years) in 1989.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~