Vacation postponed. Lokomotiv wanted to deprive the trophy

Officials prevented the award of the “railway workers” with the first USSR Cup.

About the date of birth of one of the most popular metropolitan football clubs – the Moscow “Locomotive” – ​​disputes have been going on for more than one year. Even the club’s website in the dedicated section mentions that there is still no definitive clarity on this issue. At the moment, it is believed that the first match played by the Kazanka club on July 23, 1922 should be taken as a starting point. Lokomotiv is considered the successor of this team, so by the next birthday of the team it will not be superfluous to recall one of the most glorious and at the same time strange pages in its history.

Way to success

On the way to the USSR Cup final, Muscovites consistently beat Dynamo Kungur and Kharkiv, Spartak Leningrad, another Kharkiv club – Hammer and Sickle, as well as the strongest team at that time from the city on the Neva – Krasnaya Zarya. And only in the decisive match on the way of the “railway workers” did the team, known to football fans to this day – the flagship of Georgian football of the Soviet era – Dynamo Tbilisi meet.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the path to the final was easy for the capital club. In the same match for the trophy, Alexei Stolyarov’s team scored two unanswered goals against Alexander Dorokhov in the first half and managed to keep the lead. Triumph? There was not. Although the winners were personally congratulated by the legendary driver Valery Chkalov, whose popularity at that time simply turned over, the cup itself was not awarded to the team. The fact is that the first champions of the country – Dynamo Moscow – toured Czechoslovakia, for this reason they did not take part in the Cup. And the Lokomotiv players were told that to respect sporting principles they would have to play one more game with the blue-and-whites. There was no limit to the amazement of the “railway workers”, but at that time it was not accepted to discuss such decisions, and even more so – to try to dispute them.

justice triumphs

Surprisingly, the situation eventually resolved itself. It is not known who at the top of the power stood up for Lokomotiv, but soon the Trade Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports published a resolution stating:

“By decision of the All-Union Committee on Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, the match between the teams of Moscow Dynamo and Moscow Lokomotiv was canceled. Taking into account that the team of the Moscow company “Locomotive”, participated in the calendar among 96 teams, had 6 meetings, in which, including the final, it was the winner, the challenge prize “USSR Cup” in 1936 is awarded to the team of the Moscow company “Locomotive”.

As a result, the trophy was awarded to the “railway workers” before the first match of the autumn championship of the same year.

Three years later, an even more anecdotal situation occurred in the USSR Cup, when Spartak was forced to replay the semi-final after the final. So such bureaucratic incidents in the youth era of Soviet football happened more than once. But one way or another, Lokomotiv forever remained in history as the first cup winner of the country. And fans of the club can proudly remind fans of other teams about it.

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