noun
- a cigar-shaped self-propelled underwater missile designed to be fired from a ship or submarine or dropped into the water from an aircraft and designed to explode on reaching a target.
- an electric ray.
After almost a decade of name changes and disputes, Torpedo were back playing in the top level of Russian football – the Russian Premier League – in 2015.
Out of the depths of despair the club shot out from the sea like a missile – a new ray of sunlight had shot up amidst many grim tales. The key was in the ignition once again and the engine restarted – wheels in motion.
Winners of the Soviet top league three times and the Soviet Cup, it was as recently as season 1992 -1993 that the club from the south west of Moscow knocked Manchester United out of the UEFA Cup. In doing so, Torpedo achieved its best ever result in European club competitions.
Some 15 years later in 2008, the club found themselves temporarily disappearing off the face of the Russian professional football map. The historic club were denied membership of the Russian football league and had its playing license temporarily revoked as murky business dealings were uncovered.
As a result of numerous disputes the famous name of Torpedo Moscow more or less disappeared from Russian football. For a number of years it was the new FC Moscow side which took Torpedo’s place.
In common with its ‘riches and poverty’ past, such is the rollercoaster nature of life at Torpedo that not one year after disappearing from the professional football map the club was back with a playing license once again.
And, although the club are now back in the top level Russian football league, they are now a minor player in terms of the Russian footballing landscape. Huge problems have followed with a number of Torpedo fans being accused of both homophobic chants and racism. The club are also overshadowed by the more financially affluent Moscow clubs of Spartak, Dinamo and CSKA and now sit some way behind Lokomotiv – a club they once dominated.
Moreover, as its great rivals from the 1960’s and 1970’s branch out into being global clubs playing in purpose built modern stadia, things continued to be so different for Torpedo. While an affiliation of some sorts remains with the ZiL manufacturing company, dominant private investors continue to play games with future progress.
Despite an admirable run back to the top division, the club still found themselves absent from the historic Eduard Streltsov Stadium.
Witness to the worst of the USSR and Russia’s climatic extremes the Torpedo Stadium was the home of the motor workers. The club were named after the first Soviet built production car, the Torpedo, and played in a Soviet proletarian district south-east of Red Square near the Moskva River.
At the time of the 2018 FIFA World Cup this was one of Russia’s greatest historical football sites. With the historic homes of Dynamo, CSKA and Spartak now modern theatres the home of Torpedo was a walk-in museum of Soviet times. A fitting memorial to one of the USSR’s most tragic football figures.
You can see the images from the former Torpedo stadium here.
Update – May 2024
The reconstruction of the stadium named after the legendary Eduard Streltsov is planned to be completed by the 100th anniversary of the football club “Torpedo”, which was founded on August 17, 1924.
The original stadium was built in 1959, with the official opening taking place on September 7, 1960.
Initially, the stadium was used as a training base for one of the oldest and most titled football clubs in the country – Moscow “Torpedo”, the first official match at the stadium took place on April 15, 1977.
After the reconstruction of the arena, which was home for Torpedo Moscow, its capacity will increase to 15,076 seats.
The arena will meet the modern requirements of the Russian Football Union and UEFA for holding matches of the highest level. The reconstruction is being carried out by the title sponsor of the Torpedo club.
Its architectural design carefully builds into its appearance the structures, monuments and artwork related to the former legacy Torpedo stadium.