1920s–1930s

FC Zenit`s history began with the physical education group of the Leningrad Metal Plant in the name of Stalin. A football team was organized at the factory on May 25, 1925. At first the “metal workers” took part only in the district league, but starting from the 1930s the team began playing in the Leningrad-wide championship.

In 1935–1936, when voluntary sports groupings were formed in the USSR, the Leningrad Metal Plant football team came under the aegis of the “Stalinets” voluntary sports group. Starting in 1936 the Stalinets team started playing in the USSR Championship among “model teams of companies and governmental departments” in Group B. Stalinets played its first match in the USSR Championship on May 27, 1936, in Dnepropetrovsk. The match vs. Dynamo Dnepropetrovsk ended in a 1:1 tie. The club`s first goal was scored by Alexey Larionov. The team`s coach was Pyotr Filippov.

Starting from 1938, Stalinets played among the best teams in the country. The team played its first match in the highest division on May 12, 1938, and tied Stakhonevets (today – Shaktar) in Donetsk 2:2. Stalinets` first goals were scored by Viktor Sorokin. The “metal workers” came in 14th out of 26 in their first season. A year later Stalinets drew a lot of attention when it made it to the final of the USSR Cup, where it lost to Spartak Moscow 1:3 in a dramatic match. The best players of that time were Leonid Ivanov (goalkeeper), Boris Ivin and Anatoly Mishuk (halfbacks) Georgy Lasin, Viktor Smagin, and Valentin Shelagin (forwards). The team coach was Konstantin Andryevich Egorov.

At the end of 1939, the Leningrad Metal Plant came under the command of the People’s Commissariat for Arms and Ammunition, and the team was renamed Zenit in the 1940 season.

1940s–1950s

World War II led to new changes in Zenit`s history. The club came under the management of the State Optical-Mechanic Plant (later – LOMO) during the war, while the team`s players and coaches were evacuated to Kazan. Not all of the players left for Kazan though. Some stayed in Leningrad and took part in matches held during the city’s blockade. Many of the team’s players went to fight. The brothers Evgeny and Valentin Shelagin died fighting in the war, as did Nikolay Salostin, Samuil Kozinets, and Nikolay Lepeka. Arkady Larionov, Boris Ivin, and Leonid Dorofeyev did not survive the blockade.

Zenit returned to its home city of Leningrad in the spring of 1944, after which it sensationally won the USSR Cup. Zenit beat Dynamo Moscow and Spartak Moscow on its way to the final. Zenit managed to beat the “Lieutenants` team” (TsDKA) in the final. Zenit`s goals were scored by Chuchelov and Salnikov. Zenit played almost all its games in the tournament with the exact same starting 11: Leonid Ivanov, Nikolay Kopus, Ivan Kurenkov (the captain), Alexey Pshenichny, Viktor Bodrov, Alexey Yablochkin, Alexey Larionov, Boris Levin-Kogan, Nikolay Smirnov, Boris Chuchelov, and Sergey Salnikov. The team was coached by Konstantin Lemeshev.

Unfortunately, Zenit couldn`t build on this success. Year after year the team`s results worsened, and in 1948 there was even talk of breaking up the team. In 1958, Georgy Ivanovich Zharkov, from Moscow, became the first coach from outside Leningrad to head the club. Zharkov put an emphasis on cultivating players from Leningrad`s sports schools. Although the team had many natives of Leningrad, including Stanislav Zadidonov, Anatoly Dergachev, Vadim Khrapovitsky, Lev Burchalkin, Nikolay Ryazanov, and Oleg Morozov, it could not climb higher than 4th place.

1960s–1970s

Zenit was once again close to winning the USSR Championship in 1963 under Evgeny Eliseyev, but fell one step short of victory. Vasily Danilov, a Zenit player, was on the USSR team that came in third place in the World Cup in 1966. Danilov, a defender, holds the record for most caps by a Zenit player in the USSR national team: 23 matches.

Zenit finished last in the USSR Championship in 1967, but the team was kept in the top division anyway as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution being celebrated. Zenit’s play started to improve dramatically in the beginning of the 1970s with the coming of Evgeny Goryansky, but the coach was quickly called up to train the national team instead. His replacement, German Zonin, tried to build the team’s play using a scientific approach. Zonin applied the results of research done by scientists, but the best result he could achieve was fifth place in the fall championship of 1976 and reaching the semifinal of the USSR Cup in 1977. Zenit was headed by a new trainer, Yury Morozov, in October, 1977.

1980s

The new plans introduced by Yury Morozov, who took over as Zenit’s coach at the end of the 1970s, weren’t always supported by Morozov’s players, and two years later Morozov came to the conclusion that he should raise a new generation of young Leningrad football players. The effect of this move exceeded all expectations. Zenit came in third place in the USSR Championship for the first time in its history. The third place winners were Alexander Tkachenko, Anatoly Davydov (team captain), Alexey Stepanov, Vladimir Golubyov, Sergey Bondarenko, Nikolay Larionov, Vladimir Dolgopolov, Vladimir Kazachyonok, Yury Zheludkov, Vyacheslav Melnikov, Yury Gerasimov, Igor Yakovlev, Vladimir Klementyev, Yury Timofeyev, and Sergey Shvetsov. Zenit made its debut in the UEFA Cup in the fall of 1981. The club`s first experience playing in Europe was not a successful one though, as Zenit lost to Dynamo Dresden (1:2; 1:4).

Pavel Fyodorovich Sadyrin took over as Zenit’s coach in the end of 1982. The young coach managed to liberate his players, thereby allowing the footballers to improvise more on the pitch. Zenit reached the final of the USSR Cup for the 3rd time in its history in 1984, but lost to Dynamo Moscow. The experience only brought the Zenit players closer together though. The team rose through the USSR Championship standings, and kept hold of first place. Zenit became champion of the USSR on November 21, 1984, beating Metallist Kharkov in the last match of the season 4:1. Zenit`s first-ever USSR Championship title was won by Mikhail Biryukov, Anatoly Davydov, Alexey Stepanov, Sergey Kuznetsov, Sergey Vedeneyev, Nikolay Larionov (team captain), Vladimir Dolgopolov, Yury Zheludkov, Boris Chukhov, Vyacheslav Melnikov, Vladimir Klementyev, Arkady Afanasiev, Valery Broshin, Sergey Dmitriev, and Dmitry Barannik. Four Zenit players were called up to the national team (Biryukov, Larionov, Dmitriev, and Klementyev) for the first time ever.

1990s

Zenit officially stopped being supported by LOMO on August 6th, 1990. Zenit Football Club was established as an independent company by decree of the Executive Committee of the Leningrad Soviet. Vladislav Gusev, a famous sports journalist, was elected as the first president of the team.

That said, these changes didn’t help the team’s situation. Due to chronic financial and organizational problems, the team performed worse and worse, and was an outsider in the First League. At the end of the 1991 season Zenit found itself in the relegation zone, and was demoted to the second league. Only thanks to the collapse of the Soviet Union was Zenit given its place back in the top league, which was organized into the Russian Premier League.

That said, the blue-white-light blues were still eventually relegated. Zenit played in Russia's second league for three years in a row. The club was completely reorganized over these years, and was registered as a closed joint-stock company. Vitaly Mutko became the new club president. Mutko was the vice mayor of St. Petersburg at the time. The key change in the team’s fate came with the return of Pavel Sadyrin to the coaching helm. Sadyrin returned Zenit to the top league, but was soon replaced by Anatoly Byshovets.

The new coach gave his players new creativity, while foreign players took on leadership positions within the Zenit squad for the first time ever. Players from Ukraine, Armenia, Moldavia and Belarus all played a role. Football based on solid defense and discipline isn’t so fun to watch, but it was very effective for Zenit. It was this tactical style combined with a certain freedom which Anatoly Viktorovich Davydov brought to the team when he became coach, thereby leading Zenit to the Russian Cup title on May 26, 1999. The hero of the final was Alexander Panov, who scored twice. Roman Maksimyuk also scored in Zenit’s 3:1 victory. The players in the winning team were Roman Berezovsky, Alexander Babiy, Andrey Kondrashov, Sarkis Ovspeyan, Alexey Igonin, Yury Vernidub, (team captain), Konstantin Lepyokhin, Alexander Gorhskov, Gennady Popovich, Roman Maksimyuk, Alexander Panov, Igor Zazulin, and Andrey Kobelev.

2000s

Yury Morozov returned to the helm of the club in the beginning of the new millenium. Morozov led Zenit to a third-place finish in the Russian Premier League in 2001. The Czech coach Vlastimil Petržela, who replaced Morozov, gave the team the liberty it needed on the field, and Zenit came in second place in the Russian Premier League for the first time in 2003. The next year four Zenit players took part in Euro 2004 playing for the Russian national side: Vyacheslav Malafeyev, Vladislav Radimov, Alexander Kerzhakov, and Vladimir Bystrov. Another Zenit player, Pavel Mareš, played for the Czech national team in Euro 2004, and came in second place in the tournament.

Zenit still needed a coach capable of bringing the team to a new level. It was precisely Dick Advocaat, the Dutch specialist, who did so when he became Zenit’s coach in July, 2006. The next season was triumphant for Zenit. Winning its last match of the season against Saturn, Zenit became Russian Premier League champions for the first time. The golden season team included the players Vyacheslav Malafeyev, Kamil Čontofalský, Martin Škrtel, Kim Dong-Jin, Alexander Anyukov, Erik Hagen, Ivica Križanac, Nicolas Lombaerts, Yury Lebedev, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (team captain), Konstantin Zyryanov, Igor Denisov, Radek Šírl, Vladislav Radimov, Alexander Gorshkov, Fernando Ricksen, Ilya Maximov, Andrey Arshavin, Pavel Pogrebnyak, Alejandro Dominguez, and Fatih Tekke. The Russian Footballer of the Year award was given to Zenit player Konstantin Zyryanov in 2007.

The spring of 2008 brought international success to Dick Advocaat’s team. Having won in the spring stage of the UEFA Cup over the Spanish side Villarreal, the French side Olympique Marseille, and the German clubs Bayer Leverkeusen and Bayern Munich, Zenit then went on to beat the Scottish side Glasgow Rangers in the final 2:0 (Denisov and Zyryanov scored), thereby winning the coveted European trophy. Five Zenit players played in the Russian national side at Euro 2008 (Malafeyev, Anyukov, Shirokov, Zyryanov and Arshavin), and won third place at the tournament. Furthermore, Arshavin and Zyryanov were both selected to the Team of the Tournament for Euro 2008.

On August 29, 2008, Zenit took on Manchester United, winner of the UEFA Champions League, in the UEFA Super Cup. Zenit won the match 2:1 (Zenit`s goals were scored by Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny). Zenit thereby became the first Russian team ever to win the UEFA Super Cup.

Zenit debuted in the UEFA Champions League in the fall of 2008, while the 2009 season brought the Blue-White-Sky Blues two sets of awards: the main squad came in third place in the Russian Premier League, while Zenit`s youth team won the Russian Youth Championship for the first time ever.

Zenit hired Italian coach Luciano Spalletti to lead the team in January, 2010. Zenit did extremely well in the first half of the season, allowing just three goals in 10 matches, and the team also won its second-ever Russian Cup. Zenit beat Sibir Novosibirsk 1:0 in the final, which was held for the first time ever outside of Moscow, in Rostov-on-Don. The winning goal was scored on a penalty kick by Roman Shirokov.

Then, on November 14th, 2010, Zenit won the Russian Premier League for the second time with 2 matchdays to spare, destroying Rostov 5:0 at Petrovsky Stadium. Zenit`s goals were scored by Danko Lazović, Sergey Semak, Alexander Kerzhakov, and Alexander Bukharov.