Oldest Russian derby

The Oldest Russian derby is a football rivalry played between Moscow rivals FC Spartak Moscow and FC Dynamo Moscow. It is the oldest still-existing Moscow derby that originated back in early 20th century when both teams were competing for the Moscow Championship. During the early years of the Soviet Top League the derby had status of a national title rivalry. The derby became less intense as Dynamo Moscow has not won a title since 1976 and only once succeeded in domestic competitions since the fall of the Soviet Union.

History

Game of political importance

This Moscow derby has also a political dimension. The teams fought each other for the championship of Moscow, and then for the Soviet Top League. In 1942, the founder and footballer of Spartak, Nikolai Starostin, was arrested, along with his three brothers among other teammates, facing accusations of involvement in a plot to kill Joseph Stalin. After two years of interrogations, the charges were dropped but the Starostin brothers were tried and sentenced to spend 10 years in the camps of Siberia. Throughout all those years, Nikolai Starostin had always believed that Lavrentiy Beria, Dynamo Moscow's chief patron, was the one behind all this. Returning from prison, Nikolai Starostin became chairman of Spartak again and always demanded from his players at all costs to beat Dynamo.

Decline

Around the end of the 1970s, the Spartak-Dynamo rivalry had lost its status in Soviet football; the blue-and-whites were slowly declining and Dynamo Kiev became the main rival of the red-and-whites. After the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the Russian Premier League, the confrontation between Spartak and Dynamo slightly increased.

Honours

Crossing the divide

Players who have played for both clubs

• Sort by date of birth
• A partial list of players

Managers worked in both clubs

Statistics

Head-to-head record

Competition	Country	Games	Spartak	Draw	Dynamo
League	USSR	99	28	39	32
	Russia	47	23	16	8
	Total	146	51	55	40
Cup	USSR	11	6	2	3
	Russia	3	1	0	2
	Total	14	7	2	5
Federation Cup	USSR	7	0	5	2
Prize Union Committee	USSR	1	0	1	0
Moscow Championship	USSR	22	9	4	9
Other	USSR	6	3	1	2
	Russia	3	0	1	2
	Total	9	3	2	4
Total		200	72	69	59

Record wins

Spartak biggest wins

1991 — Soviet Top League — Spartak — Dynamo 7:1
1985 —Soviet Top League — Spartak — Dynamo 5:1
2005 — Russian Premier League — Spartak — Dynamo 5:1
2012 — Russian Premier League — Dynamo — Spartak 0:4

Dynamo biggest wins

1946 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Spartak 5:0
1940 — Soviet Top League — Spartak — Dynamo 1:5
1945 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Spartak 4:0
1948 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Spartak 5:1
1966 — Soviet Top League — Dynamo — Dynamo 4:0
2012 — Russian Premier League — Spartak — Dynamo 1:5

Matches list

Soviet Top League 1936 - 1992

Russian League 1992 -

Soviet Cup 1936 - 1992

Russian Cup 1992 -