Claims to fame: United's opponents Rostov
Thursday, March 2, 2017
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Manchester United fans may not be too familiar with round of 16 opponents Rostov, so allow UEFA.com to introduce a club who had an Englishman in their ranks not long ago.
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Formed: 1930
Nickname: Zholto-Sinie (Yellow-Blues)
UEFA club competition honours
• none
Domestic honours
• Russian Cup: 2014
• Rostov never played in the Soviet Supreme League. It was only after the dissolution of the USSR that they made their debut in the Russian top flight, in 1992. Rostov have since established themselves as a mid-ranking club, featuring in 23 of the 25 Premier-Liga campaigns.
• Rostov's biggest star is undoubtedly Viktor Ponedelnik, the man who scored the Soviet Union's winner against Yugoslavia in extra time of the 1960 UEFA European Championship final. A local football academy and sports school are named after him, while two years ago a statue of Ponedelnik holding the Henri Delaunay Cup was unveiled in front of the stadium in Rostov-on-Don.
• Ponedelnik also played for another local club, SKA Rostov-on-Don. They were more popular in Soviet times than they are now, and won the USSR Cup in 1981. When both teams played in the first division in the 1980s their derby matches were big occasions. SKA are now in the second tier.
• The Yellow-Blues were a factory team for many decades and bore the name of Russian agricultural equipment company Rostselmash. The firm stopped funding the club in 2003 when it was renamed FC Rostov.
• Rostov's home ground Olimp 2 opened in 1930. The 15,840-capacity venue hosted a Russian international for the first time two years ago, Croatia running out 3-1 victors in November. The club will soon relocate to Rostov Arena, a 45,000-seater stadium being constructed for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
• Rostov made their European debut in the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Then known as Rostselmash, they reached the semi-finals, losing 9-1 on aggregate to Juventus. Filippo Inzaghi scored five goals over the course of the two legs.
• The names of two Englishmen feature in Rostov's recent history. Paul Ashworth was sports director in 2005 and also served as interim coach for two matches. In September 2012, Rostov signed former England midfielder David Bentley on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, but he made just eight appearances and returned home two months later.
• Rostov claimed their only trophy to date when they defeated Krasnodar on penalties in the 2014 Russian Cup final. Montenegrin Miodrag Božović, now at Crvena zvezda, was coach at the time.
• Coach Kurban Berdyev's departure last August resulted in an unusual situation. Ivan Daniliants is now officially in charge and carries out media duties, though it is assistant Dmitri Kirichenko who directs the team from the dugout during games. Stranger still, Berdyev is club vice-president and continues to oversee training.