FC Rostov is based in Rostov-on-Don. Currently, the club is an open joint stock venture with the controlling interest owned by the Rostov oblast administration.
The team was founded in 1930 thanks to builders of Rostselmash who decided to continue working there after they completed the primary job. In 1950 the club made its debut in the USSR championship. Rostov had its best results in 1991 when the team finished fourth in the USSR first football league. So, next year the team played in the elite division – although it was no longer USSR, but Russia. There were no major successes in the new championship; however, their sixth place in the end of 1998 was quite a remarkable result.
FC Rostov took part in twenty four editions of the Soviet Cup but they never made it further than the Last 32 round. The club also took part in all Russian Cup editions and their best result was reaching the final of this second most important national tournament. As for European successes, the team managed to play as far as in the UEFA Intertoto Cup semifinal in 1999. In 2008 FC Rostov won the Russian first division tournament.
The club used to alter its name many a time. In 1930-1936 the team was called ‘Selmashstroi’ which was later shortened to ‘Selmash’. The name was used till 1941 when it was switched for ‘Traktor’. Next rebranding happened in 1953 when the Rostov team was named ‘Torpedo’. In 1957 the team got the name ‘Rostselmash’ and used it till 2004 when the simplified ‘FC Rostov’ variant was introduced.
CF Rostov playes its home matches at the Olimp-2 stadium which first used to be called ‘Rostselmash’ and then ‘Olimp – 21 vek’ (Eng. ‘Olympus — 21st century’). It is an old stadium with the capacity of under 16 thousand people; however, it corresponds to the requirements of the UEFA Stadium Certification. The pitch hosted such clubs as Grêmio (Brazil), Steaua (Romania), Rapid (Austria), Galatasaray (Turkey), Auxerre (France) and Juventus (Italy). The stadium also hosted the 2011 Russian Cup final when FC Zenit won against FC Sibir.
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