Torpedo Moscow

Name history

• AMO (1930–1932) – owned by Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo (AMO).
• ZIS (1933–1936) – after owner's name AMO was changed to Zavod Imeni Stalina (ZIS).
• Torpedo Moscow (1936–July 1996) – when they became one of the founding members of the Soviet 'B' League.
• Torpedo-Luzhniki (August 1996 – 1998) – as they became property of the Luzhniki corporation.
• Torpedo Moscow (1998–present)

Club history

Torpedo Moscow Football Club (based on Proletarskaya Kuznitsa teams) was formed in 1924 by the AMO automotive plant (later known as "Stalin Automotive Plant – ZIS" and later "Likhachev Automotive Plant – ZIL").^[]

They played in the Moscow League until 1936 when they became one of the founder members of the Soviet 'B' League and changed their name to Torpedo Moscow. In 1938, they were promoted to the 'A' League.^[] In 1949, Torpedo won their first professional title, the USSR Cup. In 1957 Torpedo Moscow, as well as other Soviet sport clubs named "Torpedo", became a part of the republican VSS Trud of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.^[]

Nicknamed "the Black-Whites," Torpedo has not been a major force in Russian football since the days of Eduard Streltsov, the brilliant striker of the 1950s and 1960s, known as "the Russian Pelé." In 1960, Torpedo won the double; the Top League and the USSR Cup.

Torpedo had its glory period in the 1980's and early 90s, when they made six Soviet/Russian Cup finals, winning the 1985–86 Soviet Cup and the 1992–93 Russian Cup, and finished in the top 6 7/8 times from 1983 to 1991.

The club used to belong to the ZIL automobile plant until a fallout in the mid-1990s that resulted in Torpedo leaving their historic ground and moving across town to Luzhniki, as they became property of the Luzhniki corporation and its name was changed to Torpedo-Luzhniki between (1996–1997) before it was renamed Torpedo Moscow. ^[]

After selling Torpedo Moscow in 1996, ZIL created a new team, Torpedo-ZIL (1997), which debuted in the Third Division and reached the Russian Premier League in 2000. However, ZIL sold the team to MMC Norilsk Nickel in 2003, where it was relaunched as FC Moscow. This new team, however, was eventually dissolved after spending the 2010 season in Amateur Football League when its owner and main sponsor, MMC Norilsk Nickel, withdrew funding.^[]

After selling Torpedo-ZIL in 2003, ZIL created another team, Torpedo-ZIL (2003), which began play in the Third Division. This team, however, was also eventually disbanded in 2011 after its efforts to seek promotion to the First Division failed.^[]

Under SC Luzhniki ownership (1996–2009), the team had some high points that had not been reached since the Soviet era, such as finishing in the top four of the Russian Premier League from 1999 to 2002 – including a third-placed finish in 2000 – but were relegated to the First Division in 2006 and after two seasons it fell further to the Second Division. In early 2009, Luzhniki sold the team back to ZiL. For most of this era, the team played at Luzhniki Stadium. It was speculated that ZIL would merge Torpedo Moscow and Torpedo-ZIL (2003), but instead an independent Torpedo Moscow spent 2009 in the Amateur Football League, later earning two consecutive promotions to gain a spot in the First Division in 2011. In their first season back in the First Division, the team finished eighth during the first half of the tournament at the end of 2011, taking them through to a Top 8 Promotion playoff during the season's second half.

In the 2012–13 season, Torpedo barely avoided relegation to the second division. At the end of the championship the head coach was replaced once again when 42-year-old Vladimir Kazakov was hired, who played for Torpedo in the past. Several players with experience of playing at the highest level were acquired. However, in the first 6 matches, Torpedo were able to earn only two points; manager Kazakov took the blame and resigned. In 2013, a team led by Aleksandr Borodyuk began to become more competitive, ultimately placing third in the 2013–14 season and securing a playoff spot for promotion to the Premier League. The team drew the previous year's 14th-placed Premier League team, Krylia Sovetov Samara, in a game held on 18 May 2014 at the stadium in suburban Ramenskoye, which ended 2–0 for Torpedo. On 22 May, in the tie's second leg at Metallurg Stadium in Samara, Torpedo played to a draw, thus prevailing on aggregate and returning to the Premier League after an eight-year absence.

The 2014–15 season began poorly for Torpedo in the top division; in the first matchday, the club was defeated 1–4 by CSKA Moscow. At the end of the season, the team was relegated back to the Russian Football National League after finishing second-last, in 15th. Due to a lack of financing, however, Torpedo could only receive licensing for play in the third-tier Russian Professional Football League for 2015–16 season, thus sealing a two-level relegation.

In 2017 Torpedo got a new owner – Roman Avdeev, who is a Russian billionaire and the head of Ingrad real estate development company and Rossium concern.

The Eduard Streltsov Stadium, Torpedo's home stadium, is also owned by Rossium. In 2017 Roman Avdeev announced the reconstruction of the stadium. Work began in 2021, once completed, the capacity will be 15,000 (all-seated).

In July 2018 Erving Botaka's failed transfer back to Torpedo Moscow made headlines across Europe when it was reported the club canceled his contract because the ultras refused to allow a black footballer to play for the club. Torpedo later denied this via an official statement but the Torpedo ultras were adamant with their own statement. At the end of the 2018–19 season, they were promoted back to the second-tier FNL. Torpedo won the 2021–22 Russian Football National League to secure the return to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years on 21 May 2022. They were relegated after one season at the top level.