What is a locomotive? The countries of the former socialist bloc have never been rich and imaginative in the choice of names for their sports clubs. Today, in the expanses of the former USSR, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and other countries, we can easily find thousands of Spartak, CSKA, Dynamo, Torpedo and Lokomotiv.
Usually these names are directly related to the organizations that oversaw these clubs. Everyone knows, for example, that CSKA is an army club, and Lokomotiv is an original railway club. Let us dwell on the second one and consider where the roots of the teams named after the driving element of the rolling stock grow from.
Locomotive: definition
What does this mean? Locus means "place", motivus means "shifter". A locomotive is what drives a non-self-propelled train behind it. Types of locomotives: steam locomotives, electric locomotives, diesel locomotives, motor locomotives, electric diesel locomotives, etc.
Main Railway Club
In addition to the railway tractor, Lokomotiv is a Russian football club whose history dates back to 1922, when the Kazanka and KOR clubs were formed, which wereteams of railway workers.
Under its new name, the united team played for the first time in 1936, at the first USSR football championship. In the same year the club won the first USSR Cup. The most glorious period in Soviet history came at the end of the 1950s, when great masters played for the team: Vladimir Maslachenko, Valentin Bubukin and Viktor Sokolov. In 1957, for the second time in their history, the railway workers won the second most important Soviet trophy.
The next page of victories begins in our time. Since the early 1990s, Lokomotiv has gradually become the flagship of Russian football: the team won the championship twice, the Cup seven times. At the end of the last decade of the twentieth century, the club reached the final of the European tournament - the Cup Winners' Cup twice in a row.
All the new successes of the Moscow club are associated with one coach: Yuri Pavlovich Semin has been at the helm of the team for more than 20 years. It is safe to say that the Moscow Lokomotiv is Yuri Pavlovich. The last trophy at the moment is the Cup of Russia won last season. The current team is in first place and has every chance to win the championship for the third time.
The club plays its home matches at its own stadium, which until recently had the same name. Now, following modern trends, the name has been sold to the title sponsor. RZD Arena is the highest category UEFA stadium with a capacity of 27,320 spectators. In addition to football matches, here sometimesconcerts of performers of the first magnitude are held. For example, the famous British band Depeche Mode played at the stadium in 2013.
"Locomotives" of other socialist countries
Besides the Moscow club, there are a number of other clubs of the same name. So, Lokomotiv is a team based in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. She is a four-time champion of her country and a four-time cup winner. Such well-known players as Atanas Mikhailov and Tsvetan Genkov played for Lokomotiv Sofia.
Lokomotiv Leipzig achieved even more impressive success. In the domestic arena, the team stopped three times a step away from the championship. But the GDR Cup obeyed her as many as five times. On the European arena, the Leipzig team also achieved outstanding results: Lokomotiv won the Cup Winners' Cup and the Intertoto Cup once. The club also owns another interesting achievement. The team spent the 2004/2005 season in the 11th league, which did not prevent it from gathering 12,421 spectators at the next championship match. This is a world record.
Croatia, Moldova, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine have their own Locomotives. Over the years, this name was worn by teams from Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Armenia.
Other sports
Hockey "Lokomotiv" from Yaroslavl gained special fame and love of fans. The team won the Russian championship three times - in 1997, 2002 and 2003. Became silver twice and six timesbronze medalist. Hockey players of the Yaroslavl club have repeatedly become winners of major international competitions in their national teams.
Basketball club "Lokomotiv-Kuban" from Krasnodar once became the silver and bronze medalists of the VTB United League. Four times the team climbed to the third step of the podium in the Russian championship. In the 2012/2013 season, the Eurocup was won, and in the 2015/2016 season, the club became the bronze medalist of the Euroleague. Today Lokomotiv Krasnodar is one of the main active forces in Russian and European basketball.
