The history of Kharkiv sports is full of legendary figures. One of them is Nikolai Fedorovich Krotov. It’s truly heartening that, unlike so many others, this name has not been forgotten in our city. On the “Kharkiv Metalist” website, in the “Hall of Fame” section, there is an article by Y. Grot about Nikolai Fedorovich (originally published in June 1992 in the newspaper “Socialist Kharkiv Region”).
From it, we learn that Nikolai Krotov was born in 1898 and began his athletic career in 1910 on the “Zvezdochka” youth football team. He then played for the first-division team “Shturm,” which competed in the Kharkiv city championship.
With the outbreak of World War I, like many of our fellow townspeople, he went to the front. Over the course of four years, Krotov rose to the rank of ensign and was awarded the Order of St. Anne. During the Civil War, Nikolai joined the Red Army. From 1921 to 1925, thanks to the efforts of his captain, the “Shturm” team was the undisputed champion of Kharkiv.
In 1926, Krotov was appointed the first director of the “Metalist” Stadium, beloved by the residents of our city. When Ukraine’s first Institute of Physical Education was later founded in Kharkiv, Nikolai Fedorovich, together with S. D. Romanenko taught football there. However, despite his numerous merits and achievements, in 1935 Nikolai Krotov’s name was struck from the list of football players who were to be awarded the title of “Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.” The reason was extremely simple—that very Order of St. Anne.
It wasn’t until 1947 that Nikolai Fedorovich was finally able to receive the title he had long deserved. By that time, the legendary Kharkiv coach and football player already had extensive experience working in hospitals. In the 1940s, during World War II, he helped wounded soldiers get back on their feet through physical therapy. After the war, Krotov took charge of Kharkiv’s second-strongest team—Lokomotiv—and worked to develop and popularize football among the teams of the Southern Railway. For this reason, during the Soviet era, the Southern Railway’s football clubs competed annually for a cup dedicated to the memory of Nikolai Krotov, an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR who died in 1978.
So when I found the memoirs of the legendary coach of the Kharkiv teams “Shturm,” “Spartak,” and “Lokomotiv”—one of the founding fathers of Kharkiv football —I was very pleased with my good fortune.
In the eight typewritten pages of his memoir, “From the History of the Kharkiv Football Team,” Nikolai Fedorovich describes the events of 1925–1936.
The memoirs begin in a very interesting way:
In 1925, a German workers’ delegation visited the Soviet Union. After returning to their homeland, they sent a letter requesting that a delegation be sent to their country for a return visit. However, this trip did not take place because the German authorities refused to issue visas for entry into Germany. Some time later, a second invitation arrived from Germany, this time from Social Democratic organizations whose athletes were members of the “DSF-1910” club. The club’s football team enjoyed great popularity thanks to its outstanding achievements in competitions.
Higher-level organizations decided to send the best team—the winner of the 1925 football championship, the Kharkiv national team—to play against the German football players.
Nikolai Fedorovich goes on to explain the significance the Soviet authorities attached to this event. After all, it was the first time Ukrainian football players had traveled abroad, and it was regarded as a major cultural and political event.
In addition to describing how warmly the Kharkiv football players were welcomed in Germany, Krotov writes:
“Those who were unhappy with this meeting threw up all sorts of obstacles.” However, despite this, members of the delegation still managed to visit several plants, factories, and workers’ clubs. The Kharkiv national team’s first game against the “DSF-1910” club team ended in a victory for the Germans. Nikolai Krotov writes honestly, like a true professional:
That game made a huge impression on us. The German football players’ skill level was very high—it’s safe to say it was on par with that of professional teams. This was the period when the “Red Sport International” was formed, and many working-class football players who had previously played for professional clubs began transferring to workers’ clubs.
The claim that the loss was due to the move cannot be taken into account; they simply outplayed us in every aspect and won 3–1. In the rematch, we already knew our opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, so we really pulled together and secured the victory, albeit by a narrow 1–0 margin.
In other cities, according to Nikolai Fedorovich’s recollections, our team easily emerged victorious.
After the phrase “The Kharkiv city football team has come a long way,” the author moves on to the history. Specifically, he writes that after the revolution, the “dominance of foreigners” in our city “faded into oblivion.” I find it difficult to agree with this assertion, since the notorious “dominance of foreigners” (referring to their presence on Kharkiv teams prior to 1917) did not end after the revolution, but in 1914, with the outbreak of World War I. The reason was simple: Western Europe had declared mobilization, and foreign nationals living in Kharkiv left our city.
Krotov then writes that, from a sports perspective, the years of the Civil War were “very lackluster” for Kharkiv; it was not until the fall of 1921 that an event unprecedented in the history of Ukrainian football took place:
The Ukrainian Football Championship was held in Kharkiv. Eight cities participated in the tournament. After a hard-fought competition, the Kharkiv team was crowned Ukrainian champion, defeating the Odessa team 2–0 in the final.
In 1922, the Kharkiv team visited its rivals and won all of its matches against the teams from Mykolaiv and Odesa, thereby confirming its superiority. That same year, 1922, our city’s team participated in the first official USSR football championship, held in Moscow. However, in the decisive match, our city’s team lost to the Moscow team by a score of 0–8. The recollections of Nikolai Krotov, who witnessed those events firsthand, are extremely valuable to us.
“This defeat was a severe blow to the prestige and pride of the team and all football fans in the city and the republic. At the same time, this blow served as a signal for the necessary restructuring.” He writes that, although our city’s best players did not participate in this championship for various reasons, the Kharkiv team still made it to the final. In 1923, our city’s team lost again to the Muscovites by a score of 0–4. However, later that same year, having recovered from the defeat, they beat the capital’s team 1–0 and the Leningrad team 2–1.
Nikolai Krotov goes on to write:
The Kharkiv team is gradually gaining strength and competitive experience by playing against the country’s strongest teams. Over the course of four years, from 1921 to 1924, the Kharkiv team consistently took first place in national competitions and retained its title as champion of Ukraine.
In 1924, our city’s team participated in the All-Union Spartakiad in Moscow, where the strongest football teams in the USSR gathered. The teams from Kharkiv and Leningrad advanced to the final. Here is how Nikolai Krotov describes the game:
The final match between the Leningrad and Kharkiv national teams was held at the OTV Stadium in Sokolniki. After a very tense and hard-fought battle, the first half ended with a score of 1–1. In the second half, the Kharkiv team scored a second goal against Leningrad, and that second goal proved to be the decisive one. The match ended with a well-deserved 2–1 victory for Kharkiv, earning the team the honorary title of USSR champion for the period from 1924 to 1928.
The author also recalls other victories by our city’s team, noting with pride that
Kharkiv football players were selected for the Soviet Union national team. Or the Kharkiv team’s 1926 tour of Austria’s major cities, during which our fellow townspeople won every game. Nikolai Fedorovich also touches on Kharkiv’s sporting life.
During those years, football fans in Kharkiv witnessed some truly exciting matches between our national team and teams from Germany, Finland, Latvia, Austria, France, England, Turkey, and other countries—all of which invariably ended in victory for the Kharkiv team.
At the 1928 All-Union Spartakiada in Moscow, our national team crushed the Uruguayan team 7–1 in the semifinals. However, in the final, after a hard-fought match, they ultimately lost to the Moscow team by a narrow margin of 1–0.
Nikolai Krotov also focuses on the victories of the 1930s.
In 1936, the city teams were disbanded, and professional teams began competing. Nikolai Krotov concludes his brief description of the Kharkiv football team as follows:
The contributions of the young people of the 1920s were immense. After all, they were, in essence, the organizers and direct participants in the establishment and development of football in the city and throughout Ukraine… Their names should be immortalized in sports history.
Although, in my opinion, it’s not just about sports. After all, both Nikolai Krotov and his records, and the Kharkiv national team of the 1920s and 1930s, with all its victories and defeats, are an integral part of our city’s history—a past we could talk about endlessly.
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