[citation needed] The team grew, building a stadium, supporting itself from ticket sales and playing matches across the Russian SFSR.

The team changed sponsors repeatedly over the following years as it competed with Dinamo Moscow, whose 35,000 seat Dynamo Stadium lay close by.

[citation needed] As a high-profile sportsman, Starostin came into close contact with Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) who already had a strong influence on sport and wanted to extend it.

The Starostins played for the red-whites in the 1930s but right before World War II they were subjected to repression as the leaders of the most hated[clarification needed] team by the state authorities.

Elder brother Nikolai Starostin wrote in his books that he had survived in the State Prison System due to his participation in football and with Spartak (after the political rehabilitation, in 1954, he would later return to the team as the squad's manager).

It was inspired by the Italian novel Spartaco, written by Raffaello Giovagnoli, and means Spartacus ("Spartak" in Russian), a gladiator-slave who led a rebellion against Rome.

[citation needed] Czechoslovak manager Antonin Fivebr is credited as the first head coach of Spartak, though he worked as a consultant in several clubs simultaneously.

When the Soviet national team won gold medals at the Melbourne Olympics, it consisted largely of Spartak players.

[citation needed] On 20 October 1982, disaster struck during the UEFA Cup match between Spartak and Dutch club HFC Haarlem.

The next season, Spartak reached the European Cup semi-final, consequently eliminating Napoli on penalties and Real Madrid (with 3–1 away victory), but losing to Marseille.

In the newly created Russian league, Spartak, led by coach and president Oleg Romantsev, dominated and won all but one title between 1992 and 2001.

The two were soon embroiled in a row that would continue until Romantsev was sacked in 2003 with the club suffering several sub-par seasons until Chervichenko finally sold his stock in 2004.

The new ownership made a number of front office changes with the aim of returning the team to the top of the Russian Premier League.

[citation needed] Following a mixed start to the 2006 season and public criticism from Dmitry Alenichev, the team's captain and one of its most experienced players, Starkovs left his position to Vladimir Fedotov.

[citation needed] In the 2012–13 season, Spartak qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League group stage and finished last after disappointing performances against FC Barcelona, Celtic and Benfica.

In the league, Spartak finished in fourth place while in the cup it was eliminated in the round of 16 by FC Rostov 0–0 (3–5 p), completing a disappointing season.

[citation needed] By the beginning of the 2016–17 season, under ex-Juventus manager Massimo Carrera, Spartak had acquired a squad consisting of foreign talents such as Quincy Promes, Fernando, Zé Luís, Lorenzo Melgarejo and Russians such as Denis Glushakov, Roman Zobnin and Ilya Kutepov.

Spartak won the 2016–17 Russian Premier League with the squad, winning most derbies and ultimately finishing with a difference of 7 points.

[21] As of 22 September 2023, Source: [1] Notes The team is usually called "red-and-whites," but among the fans "The Meat" (Russian: "Мясо", "Myaso") is a very popular nickname.

Matches against Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg attract thousands of people as well, almost always resulting in packed stadia.

Since the mid-2000s the supporters of Spartak maintain brotherhood relations with Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) and Olympiacos ultras – a friendship based on common Orthodox faith and same club colours.

The project involved the main arena of 42,000 people with natural lawn, sports, and an entertainment hall for tennis, handball, basketball and volleyball for 12,000 spectators.

The opening match at the new stadium took place on 5 September 2014, when Spartak drew with the Serbian side Red Star Belgrade (1-1).