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Fútbol en el país de los sóviets
El fútbol ruso surgió, en las postrimerías del siglo XIX, a cobijo del contexto sociopolítico de un país entre el declive imperial y la revolución proletaria en ciernes. Unos hechos que condicionaron no solo la historia de la humanidad, sino también la implantación, extensión y evolución de esta disciplina deportiva, tanto en la Rusia imperial como, posteriormente, en el país de los sóviets. En aquellos inicios, este deporte era un simple entretenimiento restringido a la aristocracia local y a la colonia extranjera y no fue hasta la transformación que sufrió a raíz de la Revolución de Octubre cuando aconteció verdaderamente un fenómeno de masas vinculado a las clases populares. ¿Cómo se produjo esta metamorfosis? ¿Qué pasó para que aquellos que reprobaban la práctica de este deporte acabaran instrumentalizándolo en beneficio propio? ¿Qué incidencia tuvo la Revolución Rusa en el fútbol? ¿Los clubes eran entidades politizadas antes del triunfo bolchevique? ¿Cómo se convirtió un juego burgués en el pasatiempo predilecto de la clase obrera soviética?
196 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
9 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Carles Viñas
15 books9 followersCarles Viñas i Gràcia (Barcelona, 1972) és un historiador, escriptor, professor universitari i excantant català, doctor en Història Contemporània per la Universitat de Barcelona. Especialista en subcultures urbanes, ha publicat àmpliament sobre el tema dels caps rapats i ultres del futbol. És membre del Grup de Recerca en Estats, Nacions i Sobiranies de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra i de l'Estanding Group on Extremism and Democracy (European Consortium for Political Research).
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 28, 2021
Aunque el libro por el título parezca que habla del fútbol de toda la URSS se centra especialmente en la época zarista y hasta antes de la II GM, después da pinceladas de como fue evolucionando a grandes rasgos. En él se explica como fue visto el fútbol al principio, como un deporte foráneo y elitista, también la importancia en la rusificación que jugó el fútbol y el deporte en general además de como sirvió de herramienta diplomática. Cuenta curiosidades como la mitificación de la figura del portero como "última línea" ante el enemigo o como surgen las grandes rivalidades del fútbol ruso. Ameno de leer aunque hay momentos en los que si no conoces el fútbol ruso abruman un poco los nombres que van apareciendo a lo largo del libro.
October 24, 2022
Whilst an interesting book and had moments where it sparked genuine intrigue in me. I unfortunately found it not for me. I found it quite hard to follow in terms of the flow and rhythm of each sentence, paragraph and page. I love football books which contain context, background, history and politics, but this felt like more an academic piece, particularly with the fact that nearly every page contained 2/3 of references. At times it felt like I was reading a Wikipedia article.
I was quite excited for this book when I saw it announced, but unfortunately it has disappointed me and is not to my taste. That is in no way to discredit the author, but it personally did not engage me. It may however for others. Still interesting, but just lacked that spark
I was quite excited for this book when I saw it announced, but unfortunately it has disappointed me and is not to my taste. That is in no way to discredit the author, but it personally did not engage me. It may however for others. Still interesting, but just lacked that spark
December 16, 2023
We don’t often think about football as a site of revolutionary struggle – at least not on the left, where in recent years it has more often been associated with fascist and other forms of hard right organising. Yet as Carles Viñas shows in this engaging, highly readable, short book football finished up being a significant site of social and political practice in the years around the Russian revolution and the early Soviet Union. Yet it is not a straightforward football-built-the-revolution fantasy. Instead Viñas shows that the new state’s revolutionary leadership was a reluctant engager with football, viewed it with suspicion, and yet found that it was a useful tool.
Viñas takes his case through three broad chronological stages, exploring the game’s development in late Imperial Russia, arriving with British (mainly northern English and Scottish) industrialists. Many of these were managers brought in to help modernise the Tsarist economy in the wake of the economic crisis resulting from events such as the Crimean War and the social transformations linked to the abolition of serfdom that crisis provoked. During this era, to a large degree, the game was a migrant’s game – with many British and other foreign players and with clubs and other organisations controlled by those same upper middle class groups.
Drawing on a combination of already published material and some original evidence, Viñas shows how the revolutionary forces tended to view the game with suspicion – both for its class associations and for the fear that it would distract workers from the struggle, a fear no doubt sustained by the ways some employers encouraged teams with precisely this goal. Yet, Viñas also points to the growing presence of Russians in the game, in its strongholds in Moscow and especially St Petersburg, while also noting the growth of the game in other regions – Ukraine, Belorussia, and central Russia.
As his narrative develops, Viñas keeps hold of his balance between local, national, and international forces, noting that a key moment of change was the outbreak of World War One and with it the return of many of the British industrial workers to sign up for their home armed forces. An outcome of this was that Russian football nationalised – that is Russians, mainly middle class, filled the posts left by the British and other nationals. While the game became Russian run it retained its sense of class exclusion, so that there developed alongside the official leagues a partly organised ‘wild’ football where working class teams played independent of the official game. Even so, there still developed a popular following for the game, even as the war continued.
It is in the second half of the book that this begins to change, as Viñas shifts his focus to the revolutionary era, reading the ways various political forces engaged with the game during the revolution and civil war. More significant is the post-civil war era of nation/state building, where the popularity of football and other sports made it unavoidable, as the new Bolshevik regime sought to bring the game in class structures (factory and other occupation- and work-based teams for instance became very important). At the same time the analysis draws out the tensions in the early Soviet era between health, fitness, sport for health and sport for military training, and physical culture. Viñas also pays close attention to the ways that football helped undermine the Soviet Union’s isolation, and the way the USSR managed to circumvent FIFA restrictions on internationally representative play with non-FIFA members (the USSR did not join until after WW2) highlighting a clear form of sports diplomacy.
Viñas balances narrative, biography, and historical and political analysis (although for some readers his occasional very long footnotes might be distracting) to build a sharply insightful without being burdensome piece of politically informed sports history, although it sits uncomfortably between the scholarly and popular (to the extent those distinctions have meaning in history writing). It’s a largely synthetic analysis drawing primarily but not exclusively on other scholarly literature, making for a good introduction to the issues, with a useful bibliography for those who want to read more. This makes it all the more valuable.
Viñas takes his case through three broad chronological stages, exploring the game’s development in late Imperial Russia, arriving with British (mainly northern English and Scottish) industrialists. Many of these were managers brought in to help modernise the Tsarist economy in the wake of the economic crisis resulting from events such as the Crimean War and the social transformations linked to the abolition of serfdom that crisis provoked. During this era, to a large degree, the game was a migrant’s game – with many British and other foreign players and with clubs and other organisations controlled by those same upper middle class groups.
Drawing on a combination of already published material and some original evidence, Viñas shows how the revolutionary forces tended to view the game with suspicion – both for its class associations and for the fear that it would distract workers from the struggle, a fear no doubt sustained by the ways some employers encouraged teams with precisely this goal. Yet, Viñas also points to the growing presence of Russians in the game, in its strongholds in Moscow and especially St Petersburg, while also noting the growth of the game in other regions – Ukraine, Belorussia, and central Russia.
As his narrative develops, Viñas keeps hold of his balance between local, national, and international forces, noting that a key moment of change was the outbreak of World War One and with it the return of many of the British industrial workers to sign up for their home armed forces. An outcome of this was that Russian football nationalised – that is Russians, mainly middle class, filled the posts left by the British and other nationals. While the game became Russian run it retained its sense of class exclusion, so that there developed alongside the official leagues a partly organised ‘wild’ football where working class teams played independent of the official game. Even so, there still developed a popular following for the game, even as the war continued.
It is in the second half of the book that this begins to change, as Viñas shifts his focus to the revolutionary era, reading the ways various political forces engaged with the game during the revolution and civil war. More significant is the post-civil war era of nation/state building, where the popularity of football and other sports made it unavoidable, as the new Bolshevik regime sought to bring the game in class structures (factory and other occupation- and work-based teams for instance became very important). At the same time the analysis draws out the tensions in the early Soviet era between health, fitness, sport for health and sport for military training, and physical culture. Viñas also pays close attention to the ways that football helped undermine the Soviet Union’s isolation, and the way the USSR managed to circumvent FIFA restrictions on internationally representative play with non-FIFA members (the USSR did not join until after WW2) highlighting a clear form of sports diplomacy.
Viñas balances narrative, biography, and historical and political analysis (although for some readers his occasional very long footnotes might be distracting) to build a sharply insightful without being burdensome piece of politically informed sports history, although it sits uncomfortably between the scholarly and popular (to the extent those distinctions have meaning in history writing). It’s a largely synthetic analysis drawing primarily but not exclusively on other scholarly literature, making for a good introduction to the issues, with a useful bibliography for those who want to read more. This makes it all the more valuable.
October 9, 2025
I think 3 stars is about right. for what you get it is well written and interesting and certainly what I was looking for, there's just nowhere near enough! maybe half at max deals with the actual USSR. The First half is the build up under Tsardom, which isn't bad but I think the author should have included a study across the whole existence of the USSR to really present football in the land of Soviets effectively.
February 20, 2023
Sport has always been political. From the Greek Olympics to modern sport unions to military flyovers. But some have been more intrinsically tied to the proletariat. Football for example was a creation of the preindustrial spirit, untainted by capitalist production, as aspects of mediation constructed by the proletariat to respond to historical processes of capitalist dislocation and alienation.
In Tsarist Russia, as Carles Viñas describes, football was brought by English, Scottish, and German capitalists and promoted as such. As it was seen to be a distraction from vodka drinking and revolutionary zeal, a way to promote the productive forces of workers. It became a bourgeois sport of the rich and foreign as Tsarist authorities often pushed against the proliferation of worker-owned clubs as they showed a level of self organization. Even with trade union and left-wing viewing it as a distraction from a growing political consciousness and Tsarist’s fearful of proletarian joy and organization, football was quickly becoming the proletariat’s sport.
Things did changed under the Bolsheviks. In Lenin’s eyes “sport could make a significant contribution to forming communist society’s full individual and aid in women’s emancipation.” Not to say Bolsheviks were for the capitalist facets of completion and commercialization of spectacle but rather for the internationalist fraternization and healthy pleasure of football.
Football was then to have played a tertiary but important role in the health and hygiene of the Red Army’s defense of the revolution against foreign and monarchist reactionaries. Then, football was used to break the international diplomatic blockade imposed on the USSR, with friendly matches in the Baltics and farther. It was amongst these triumphs that you drove Lev Yashin (the greatest goalkeeper of all-time) and the 1960 Euro Winners to their successes.
Viñas writes a fun book that intersects both Soviet and footballing history. It is definitely a niche topic, but this my 2nd of his books that I found to be very well researched and written.
In Tsarist Russia, as Carles Viñas describes, football was brought by English, Scottish, and German capitalists and promoted as such. As it was seen to be a distraction from vodka drinking and revolutionary zeal, a way to promote the productive forces of workers. It became a bourgeois sport of the rich and foreign as Tsarist authorities often pushed against the proliferation of worker-owned clubs as they showed a level of self organization. Even with trade union and left-wing viewing it as a distraction from a growing political consciousness and Tsarist’s fearful of proletarian joy and organization, football was quickly becoming the proletariat’s sport.
Things did changed under the Bolsheviks. In Lenin’s eyes “sport could make a significant contribution to forming communist society’s full individual and aid in women’s emancipation.” Not to say Bolsheviks were for the capitalist facets of completion and commercialization of spectacle but rather for the internationalist fraternization and healthy pleasure of football.
Football was then to have played a tertiary but important role in the health and hygiene of the Red Army’s defense of the revolution against foreign and monarchist reactionaries. Then, football was used to break the international diplomatic blockade imposed on the USSR, with friendly matches in the Baltics and farther. It was amongst these triumphs that you drove Lev Yashin (the greatest goalkeeper of all-time) and the 1960 Euro Winners to their successes.
Viñas writes a fun book that intersects both Soviet and footballing history. It is definitely a niche topic, but this my 2nd of his books that I found to be very well researched and written.
February 12, 2025
Un llibre que recomano especialment per observar a grans traces el paper i ús del futbol en la fi de l'Imperi tsarista i la construcció del que serà la Unió Soviètica i perquè, partint de l'esport més popular del món, ens permet entendre que aquest fenòmen de masses és més que un esport.
Tot i això, és un llibre bastant curt, fet que també permet introduir-nos aquest tema al públic general, a vegades el sistema de citació dificulta una lectura àgil, ja que l'extensió d'algunes a vegades és excessiva i podria haver-se inserit directament en la narració. També cal ressaltar que, tot i que considero interessant i encertada la tesi que s'exposa, el final és bastant abrupte i sintetitza massa l'evolució del futbol en la consolidació de l'URSS, obviant per exemple el paper que tindrà com a aglutinador social de les minories nacionals i culturals a partir d'equips.
Tot i això, és un llibre bastant curt, fet que també permet introduir-nos aquest tema al públic general, a vegades el sistema de citació dificulta una lectura àgil, ja que l'extensió d'algunes a vegades és excessiva i podria haver-se inserit directament en la narració. També cal ressaltar que, tot i que considero interessant i encertada la tesi que s'exposa, el final és bastant abrupte i sintetitza massa l'evolució del futbol en la consolidació de l'URSS, obviant per exemple el paper que tindrà com a aglutinador social de les minories nacionals i culturals a partir d'equips.
January 17, 2024
A very utilitarian read.
Sometimes it feels like reading a court transcript, and is a bit dry. The citations also get out of hand (often taking over ½ of multiple pages), but that is where a lot of the most interesting bits of information can be found.
Overall it is a pretty useful and quick read on the approach of sport by the soviet republics early and throughout the soviet period. A great springboard into further studies.
The translation may have something to do with how the book reads.
Sometimes it feels like reading a court transcript, and is a bit dry. The citations also get out of hand (often taking over ½ of multiple pages), but that is where a lot of the most interesting bits of information can be found.
Overall it is a pretty useful and quick read on the approach of sport by the soviet republics early and throughout the soviet period. A great springboard into further studies.
The translation may have something to do with how the book reads.
July 13, 2020
El contenido del libro es muy interesante para conocer el origen del fútbol en Rusia. Esperaba más espacio para el fútbol soviético, su desarrollo a lo largo de todo el siglo XX.
February 8, 2021
Per llegir poc a poc
October 14, 2022
It does seem ironic to me that of all the British books about the birth of a British sport I could have chosen, the first 'birth of football' book I've ever read is this one (and a Spanish one in translation, what's more) about the Soviet game – and especially at a time when Putin's invasion of Ukraine means there is no domestic game for him and his type to worry about. But the Brits are certainly here, for the beautiful game was introduced to Russian and Ukrainian shores by Brits – coming up with a kickabout among sailors at Odesa docks, perhaps, or trying to rustle up interest in a factory team in the case of several ex-pat Brits, Lancastrian people in the wool export and textiles industries under the last Tsar.
This shows all that, and guides us nicely through the early years of the game, with the formation of different bodies and leagues, before hitting the great reset of both people and personnel and governance that happened with WW1 and the Revolutions of 1917. Upon which things get a little woollier, as the characters involved had to work out how to politicise the sport – was it an ideal means to make sure soldiers were war-fit, or was it just a bourgeois construct, and far too competitive to live under socialism?
As it is we stop almost at the beginning of some people's interest – the birth of all the big, industry-tied squads we've all heard of, Dinamo this and CSKA that (the police, and the army, sides respectively). But before then this shows a unique history for the sport, in showing us a country that could not compete internationally for political reasons, and one still unsure back then about how much sport was good for an audience to watch. Paying and transferring such allegedly amateur sportsmen was a hot potato, too. With an eye to not overstaying its welcome, this wraps the socio-politics and sporting history up quite nicely, and is probably not a story you've encountered elsewhere. My copy wasn't quite finished, but I think four stars was about right.
This shows all that, and guides us nicely through the early years of the game, with the formation of different bodies and leagues, before hitting the great reset of both people and personnel and governance that happened with WW1 and the Revolutions of 1917. Upon which things get a little woollier, as the characters involved had to work out how to politicise the sport – was it an ideal means to make sure soldiers were war-fit, or was it just a bourgeois construct, and far too competitive to live under socialism?
As it is we stop almost at the beginning of some people's interest – the birth of all the big, industry-tied squads we've all heard of, Dinamo this and CSKA that (the police, and the army, sides respectively). But before then this shows a unique history for the sport, in showing us a country that could not compete internationally for political reasons, and one still unsure back then about how much sport was good for an audience to watch. Paying and transferring such allegedly amateur sportsmen was a hot potato, too. With an eye to not overstaying its welcome, this wraps the socio-politics and sporting history up quite nicely, and is probably not a story you've encountered elsewhere. My copy wasn't quite finished, but I think four stars was about right.
October 24, 2024
Breve pero interesante y ameno recorrido por los primeros años del fútbol en la Rusia Zarista y la Unión Soviética. A pesar del título, el libro se centra más en cómo llegó el fútbol a San Petersburgo y Moscú de la mano de empresarios británicos, franceses y alemanes que crearon los primeros clubs de este deporte que a finales del XIX y principios del XX estaba reservado para las élites burguesas. Explica las consecuencias de la guerra mundial y la revolución rusa en la evolución del fútbol en Rusia hasta convertirse en el deporte de masas más popular y la creación y aparición de los grandes clubs soviéticos que en las décadas de los 60-80 imponían mucho respeto en Europa, los CSKA, Spartak, Dinamo, Lokomotiv etc.
El libro no se aventura más allá de los años 30, eche de menos un recorrido por las décadas posteriores cuando la selección de las famosas siglas CCCP en el pecho era una potencia temida en todos los torneos internacionales y que siempre acababa chocando contra unos arbitrajes escandalosos sobre todo en los torneos de la FIFA, aunque también en los de la UEFA tras haberse proclamado campeones de la primera Eurocopa de Naciones.
El libro no se aventura más allá de los años 30, eche de menos un recorrido por las décadas posteriores cuando la selección de las famosas siglas CCCP en el pecho era una potencia temida en todos los torneos internacionales y que siempre acababa chocando contra unos arbitrajes escandalosos sobre todo en los torneos de la FIFA, aunque también en los de la UEFA tras haberse proclamado campeones de la primera Eurocopa de Naciones.
March 11, 2025
This book is about two of my favourite things and so I was coming into it with high expectations, and while it was still interesting there was some downsides.
It feels a bit short for the topic it’s trying to cover, but also spends a lot of time on the context of football first developing therefore missing out on lots of post WWII history (although there are many books out there for this). I will say the early parts of the book were interesting in their dissection of pre-soviet society to see how it would interact with football when it arrived there.
There was a heavy focus on the state apparatus involved in the sports, which I enjoyed as it was interesting to find out more about the relationship the party had with sports.
I understand this was a translation but it felt a bit lost/aimless at times, things sometimes being repeated or alternatively glossed over where there could have been elaboration.
But still good history in here with lots to unpack and it has made me want to research more and Carles clearly knows their stuff and has taken care to show the research with detailed footnotes.
It feels a bit short for the topic it’s trying to cover, but also spends a lot of time on the context of football first developing therefore missing out on lots of post WWII history (although there are many books out there for this). I will say the early parts of the book were interesting in their dissection of pre-soviet society to see how it would interact with football when it arrived there.
There was a heavy focus on the state apparatus involved in the sports, which I enjoyed as it was interesting to find out more about the relationship the party had with sports.
I understand this was a translation but it felt a bit lost/aimless at times, things sometimes being repeated or alternatively glossed over where there could have been elaboration.
But still good history in here with lots to unpack and it has made me want to research more and Carles clearly knows their stuff and has taken care to show the research with detailed footnotes.
December 29, 2023
This excellent short book by @CarlesVinyas about the history of football in Russia details the sport’s development from Tsarist times through to the 1917 revolution and then Stalinist rule. Football in the land of the Soviets shows how the sport was feared by the Tsarist ruling class as an organiser of workers and then highlights how it was used to spread the word of the socialist revolution around the world. It’s an excellent antidote to the idea that sport and politics don’t mix and illustrates how what was originally seen as a ‘bourgeois deviation’ became the collective passion of the Soviet working class. It’s a must-read if you are interested in football and/or politics and a fascinating account.
December 14, 2024
(3.5 stars) Slightly misleading title, about half of the book is on football in Tsarist Russia, and the remaining pages on the Soviet period only go through the Leninist era. This is quite disappointing as I felt this was getting into a topic that was actually very interesting, and the links between physical exercise and good citizenship and the implementation of more sport for healthcare seemed like topics that you could get a lot out of. Of course, with history you are only limited to the sources you have, but I find it difficult to believe that there are not more sources out there regarding football in the Soviet Union. I feel like so much more could be said and this was hardly developed at all. A massive shame, the subject has a lot of potential.
January 21, 2023
This is a good overview of Soviet football during the early years and through the October Revolution. It's quite short but gives plenty of info...although it isn't always the clearest to follow, there can be a bit of "listing stuff out" too.
My biggest issue is its claim that Lancashire is in the North East!!!
My biggest issue is its claim that Lancashire is in the North East!!!
August 19, 2024
Reads more like a scholarly article than a book to be honest, it would have benefited from a tighter narrative and less meandering, at times it’s really just listing people or events. There might have been some issues with the translation?
December 31, 2025
Much less about football than a social history of sport in Russia. Ultimately, a tinned history of Russian social change, albeit a relatively interesting lens through which to observe that history. Nonetheless, the material with with Vinas has concerned themself can be better covered elsewhere.
December 26, 2023
Interesting on pre-Soviet era football but frustratingly little after that
September 3, 2025
Història de la introducció del futbol i el seu desenvolupament arran de la revolució russa.
Un bon treball històric.
Un bon treball històric.
September 11, 2025
It was a bit too short but it was interesting
Read
May 11, 2023De la mano de Tigre de Paper, Futbol al país dels soviets, en catalán, debutaba en las librerías hace algo más de un año. Así lo destacábamos en estas páginas; y así lo volvemos a hacer ahora que la editorial navarra Txalaparta ha tenido a bien traducirlo al español. Explosivo cóctel de fútbol, historia y política, Fútbol en el país de los sóviets está escrito por el historiador y colaborador de Panenka Carles Viñas, y en su edición más reciente cuenta con una novedad en forma de prólogo. Al de Toni Padilla se le suma el del periodista Beñat Zarrabeitia, que hace hincapié en uno de los ejes que vertebran el libro: por qué un país tan dominante en cualquier disciplina olímpica, convirtió el fútbol en su deporte más popular. La respuesta está en lo bien que funciona el balón como herramienta revolucionaria.
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Puedes encontrar esta review en el #Panenka97. Disponible en
tienda.panenka.org.
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Puedes encontrar esta review en el #Panenka97. Disponible en
tienda.panenka.org.
May 1, 2023
Centoquarantacinque pagine di un saggio insipido di Carles Vinas, docente di Storia contemporanea all'Università di Barcellona, che potrebbero essere tranquillamente ridotte a un paio. Che sarebbero sufficienti a spiegare il rapporto tra cultura fisica e potere e, in maniera più specifica, tra calcio e potere nell'ultima decade del diciannovesimo secolo nei primi trent'anni del ventesimo.
Con particolare riguardo all Russia zarista.
Chi si aspettasse, come me, qualcosa di più strettamente calcistico rimarrà deluso: tutto si conclude nella prima metà degli anni trenta. Il mitico "Ragno Nero" Lev Jashin viene citato una sola volta. Del resto la sua leggendaria carriera comincerà nel 1949.
Rimane la splendida copertina.
Con particolare riguardo all Russia zarista.
Chi si aspettasse, come me, qualcosa di più strettamente calcistico rimarrà deluso: tutto si conclude nella prima metà degli anni trenta. Il mitico "Ragno Nero" Lev Jashin viene citato una sola volta. Del resto la sua leggendaria carriera comincerà nel 1949.
Rimane la splendida copertina.
March 31, 2022
La relació que ha tingut el futbol a Rússia. Els seus origens i com evoluciona aquest esport durant tot el segle XX. Sincerement t'ha d'agradar més la història que el futbol perquè t'enganxi el llibre. Algun tram és espès, ja que costa de relacionar-ho tot amb tants noms que surten.
July 5, 2019
Interessant la relació entre futbol, classes socials i política. Pel meu gust hi ha un excés de noms propis.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews