Nikita Simonyan

Nikita Simonyan
	Simonyan in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan
Date of birth	12 October 1926 (age 98)
Place of birth	Armavir, Russian SFSR, USSR
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Dynamo Sukhumi
Senior career*
Years	Team
1946–1948	Krylya Sovetov Moscow
1949–1959	Spartak Moscow
Total
International career
1954–1958	USSR
Managerial career
1960–1965	Spartak Moscow
1963	USSR
1964	USSR
1967–1972	Spartak Moscow
1973–1974	Ararat Yerevan
1977–1979	USSR
1980–1981	Chornomorets
1984–1985	Ararat Yerevan
1988	USSR
Medal record
Soviet Union
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan (Russian: Никита Павлович Симонян, Armenian: Նիկիտա Մկրտիչ Սիմոնյան, 12 October 1926) is a Soviet and Russian former football striker and coach of Armenian descent. He was born in Armavir. As of 2021 he was the Russian football functionary First Vice-president of the Russian Football Union.^[1] Simonyan was awarded the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR title in 1954, the Honored Coach of Russia title in 1968, the Merited Coach of the USSR title in 1970 and the Commander of the Order "For Services to the Fatherland" award in 2011.^[2] Simonyan is the top scorer in the history of the club Spartak Moscow at 160 goals.^[3]

Club career

Simonyan was a player for FC Dinamo Sukhumi during his youth career. After sixteen years of living in Sokhumi, Simonyan moved to Moscow, where he joined the local club FC Krylya Sovetov Moscow, also known as the "Wings of the Soviets". Gorokhov became Simonyan's first coach in Moscow.

After Krylya Sovetov Moscow came in last place at the 1948 Soviet Top League, the club was disbanded. Simonyan signed with Spartak Moscow in 1949. In his first year, Spartak Moscow came in third place at the 1949 Soviet Top League. Simonyan and Spartak finally achieved victory in the 1952 Soviet Top League. He made 233 appearances and scored 133 goals for Spartak in his career.

International career

Simonyan joined the Soviet Union national football team in 1954. He competed with the team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The team defeated Germany, Indonesia, Bulgaria and finally Yugoslavia to win the gold medal in football.^[4]

Simonyan was a member of the Soviet football team at the 1958 FIFA World Cup, its first World Cup. Because Team Captain Igor Netto was unable to play due to injury for most of the World Cup, Simonyan was named Captain of the team in his place. The team was placed in Group 4. Simonyan scored a goal against England, and the Soviet team would have been defeated without it. The Soviet Union lost to the Pelé-led Brazil team in the final group game. The USSR came in second place, which qualified them for the knockout stage. They were defeated by Sweden. Simonyan played his last match on 19 June 1958. Out of 20 internationals for the team, he scored 10 goals.^[5]

Managerial career

After retiring from football as a player, Simonyan became the manager and head coach of Spartak Moscow in 1960. After Simonyan and Spartak won the 1965 Soviet Cup, Simonyan stopped managing the club. He started managing Spartak again in 1967. Spartak made it to the Top League finals again in 1968 but did not win. The club won the 1969 Soviet Top League, their second Top League title with Simonyan as head coach and manager. Simonyan and Spartak won the 1971 Soviet Cup. Simonyan stopped managing Spartak for good in 1972.

Simonyan, an Armenian himself, began managing and coaching Armenian club FC Ararat Yerevan in 1973. He led the club to victory at 1973 Soviet Top League. Ararat Yerevan won the 1973 Soviet Cup as well that year. Under Simonyan, the club won its first Soviet titles. Simonyan stopped leading the club in 1974. He came back to Ararat Yerevan in 1984 and stopped managing for good in 1985.

Administrative career

At the opening of the Fisht Stadium in 2017

Simonyan later worked in senior positions at the Football Federation of the Soviet Union, Sports Committee of the USSR and the Russian Football Union. On 24 November 2009, Simonyan was appointed acting president of the Russian Football Union following the resignation of Vitaly Mutko. Simonyan was in office until 3 February 2010. At a special conference of the Russian Football Union, Sergei Fursenko was chosen as the new president on 3 February.

Simonyan was in attendance for the UEFA Euro 2012 match between Russia and Armenia in Yerevan, which ended in a draw. On 25 March 2011, the day before the match, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan awarded Nikita Simonyan with the "Medal of Honor." At the award ceremony, Simonyan said:

I am honored to receive this esteemed award. You know, I'm one hundred percent Armenian. My parents, being Armenians from Artvin, once escaped from the genocide. My father was a great patriot. For me it was a great honor to lead the national team in 1973, "Ararat." And what did these guys win the title and the cup for me, as a coach, was a holiday. You can not pass, as it responded to the people. Indeed, it was a great team. So I'm a generation, and of course, all our people just grateful and worship.^[6]

After Sergei Fursenko resigned on 25 June 2012, Simonyan was appointed acting president of the Russian Football Union for a second time. Simonyan left office on 3 September 2012, when Nikolai Tolstykh was elected president of the Russian Football Union.

Simonyan, along with fellow Spartak veteran Alexander Mirzoyan, sent well wishes to Yura Movsisyan in connection with his becoming a Spartak player. Simonyan wrote to Movsisyan, “Dear Yura, I hope that you win more titles at Spartak than I. I wish you success!” Movsisyan replied: “It will be difficult to exceed Simonyan’s achievements—[both] as a player and a coach. Thanks very much for such valuable gift. I know of Simonyan and Mirzoyan as the greatest players, and I am proud to be an Armenian just like them. I have not seen them play, but I know that they have done a lot for Spartak. I am not even close to them [in terms of accomplishments]. [But] I certainly do have plans. I want to score goals and achieve wins. [And] when something goes successfully, I will enter into history at that time.”^[7] On 19 February 2013, Simonyan attended the grand opening of the new Spartak arena. He reminisced that if he were 20 years younger, he would be happy to still play for the club.^[8]

Honours

Simonyan on a 2009 stamp of Abkhazia

Club

Player

Spartak Moscow

Soviet Top League (4): 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958
Soviet Cup (2): 1950, 1958
Soviet Top League Top Goalscorer (3): 1949 (26 goals), 1950 (34 goals), 1953 (14 goals)