Match on the Ruins: How Stalingrad Frontline Soldiers Beat Moscow Football Champions

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Just three months after the end of the bloody clashes for Stalingrad, just before the May holidays, an amazing match took place. Stalingrad “Dynamo” and Moscow “Spartak” met on the football field. This event created a furor in the city torn apart by the Germans. The game ended with an unexpected result and got into the annals of football under the name "match in ruins". And Western journalists caught a prophetic meaning in the derby that took place.

Donetsk match under bombing and resurrected Stalingrad

Already before the war, football was at its peak in Stalingrad. The football boom was largely driven by the local Traktor team, made up of workers from the city's tractor plant. At the Stalingrad stadium, which could accommodate at most 6 thousand people, twice as many spectators gathered on match days. Some of the fans settled down on the hills. In the 1941 championship the Stalingrad "Tractor" took the honorable 4th place. The games continued even with the approach of the Germans to Minsk and with the capture of several large Ukrainian cities by the Nazis. When, as it turned out, the last pre-war match was going on in Donetsk, the stands were already empty. And the most desperate fans who showed up for the game were now and then distracted by enemy bombers flying in the distance. The next day, "Traktor" received a command from Moscow to go to Stalingrad - the whole team was automatically considered mobilized. Some of the team went to the front, while the rest were preparing for long battles for their hometown.

By the third year of World War II, Hitler's plans were destroyed. The Germans were defeated near Moscow, the Red Army defeated Paulus on the Volga, Stalingrad was liberated, and Soviet troops went on the offensive on all fronts. The military turning point was accompanied by an unprecedented upsurge among the townspeople who survived in the Stalingrad meat grinder. Ruined to its foundations, Stalingrad, until recently the most beautiful city on the Volga, was revived by the titanic efforts of its own residents and citizens of the entire Union. It was spring …

Football in the midst of war and front-line footballers

By 1943, no European city had resurrected so rapidly after such a brutal battle. And the football match on the city ruins, according to the idea, was supposed to demonstrate the strength of the city spirit and the record speed of Stalingrad's return to its usual life. The idea of holding the game was readily supported by the Stalingrad regional committee, the leadership of the city NKVD, and representatives of the Komsomol. With the outbreak of the war, most of the players of the three teams available in Stalingrad ended up at the front or in evacuation. But some of the players who were directly involved in the defense of Stalingrad were in the city. It was decided to form one Dynamo team from all capable athletes.

It was also problematic to decide on the location of the match: after months of the hardest fighting, the stadiums were destroyed. The only partially survived field was found in the suburban area - in Beketovka. First of all, sappers were launched into the stadium, examining every centimeter of the ground. After that, the communal services and all the volunteers began to put things in order. Craters from bombs and shells gaped everywhere, which were simply covered with earth. Wooden stands for 3,000 spectators were built from scratch.

Since by the beginning of May 1943, Stalingrad was still within reach of German aviation, the rival team flew from Moscow, accompanied by several combat fighters. Initially, the match was scheduled for May Day, but the flight was postponed due to information about the upcoming air raid on Stalingrad. The Moscow footballers arrived at the place of the game the next day - May 2.

A week of preparation and extreme training regimen

As for the host side, the Stalingrad footballers took the matter more than seriously. Of course, everyone was ready for the advantage of the Moscow titled club. It was also clear that in such a tight time frame it was unrealistic to prepare optimally for a complex game. The physical form of the players, who went through all the hardships of the besieged city and with their own hands threw the enemy away from their homes, left much to be desired. But everything was decided by the Stalingrad character, which until recently helped to smash the enemy on the battlefield. Excellent physical training more than once rescued warriors-football players in moments of danger in battles, and now the hardened will in a matter of training helped to return the former sports skills.

It turned out to be difficult to train intensively on military rations, therefore, by order of the city leadership, the Dynamo players received increased nutrition. For convenience, they were settled near the stadium - in suburban dugouts and dugouts, which the anti-aircraft gunners had just left. And at the only dining table for the entire dining room, we had to dine in several shifts.

The excitement at the stadium and the dry gates of Stalingraders

Throughout Stalingrad, on the surviving fragments of the walls, one could see hastily decorated posters: May 2. Football. "Spartak" (Moscow) - "Dynamo" (Stalingrad) ". On the appointed day, as eyewitnesses of the game recalled, the stadium was attacked by an unprecedented number of spectators. Nobody expected such an influx of people. Tired of the war's ups and downs, people yearned for a holiday. First of all, it was curious to see the eminent guests of the capital at the country stadium, but they could not wait to welcome their favorite players on the field. As the Muscovites admitted after the game, they could not even imagine that these emaciated Dynamo would be able to provide some kind of resistance to the titled opponent.

In newspaper reports about that event, sports commentators reported that the Spartak team put pressure on the whole game, forgetting about defense. For this they were punished by the Stalingrad club in the 39th minute of the match. Experienced Spartak goalkeeper Anatoly Akimov was caught off guard by an irresistible hit to the top nine after a series of masterful passes. Immediately Muscovites rushed to recoup, but the front-line soldier Ermasov, who defended the master's gate, did not give the guests a single chance. We played in Stalingrad style, defeating the capital “Spartak” with a score of 1: 0. The final whistle - and tears of joy in the thousands of eyes that have returned to life. And British journalists, informed about the course of this historic game, then made a prophetic conclusion: "If the Russians from Stalingrad play football, then fascism will be defeated."

Unfortunately, not all sports were held in high esteem in the USSR. Those who were engaged bodybuilding, received unflattering nicknames, and for some hobbies in general it was possible to go to jail.