What football fan, especially the fan of Moscow Spartak, does not know who the Starostin brothers are? The name of these famous football players once boomed throughout the Union, but, unfortunately, their fame is associated not only with sports achievements, but also with political persecution. In general, such a phenomenon of four famous brothers of football players is probably the only one in our country. Let's find out in detail who the Starostins are. The biography and football career of each of them will be the subject of our consideration.
Genus origin
The Starostin brothers belonged to the family of hereditary huntsmen-huntsmen. Their ancestors came from the Pskov province. The main purpose of their hunt was a bear, a fox, a wolf, a hollow, a corral, a woodcock, and a snipe. In addition to hunting, they were engaged in the cultivation of hunting dogs. Some of them even received champion titles in various competitions.
In particular, the father of the family - Peter Ivanovich Starostin, was a ranger of the Imperial Hunting Society. The mother was a peasant Alexandra Stepanovna.
Birth and childhood
From the Pskov province, the family moved to Moscow. It was there that all the Starostin brothers were born. The eldest of them, Nikolai, was born in February 1902, in the Presnya district of Moscow.
In winter, the family lived in Moscow, and in summer in the village of Pogost, in the Pereyaslavsky district of Vladimir province, in the homeland of Alexandra Starostina. Now these territories belong to the Yaroslavl region. It was there, in August 1903, the second son Alexander was born in the family.
During her next stay in Moscow, in October 1906, Alexander Starostin gave birth to her third son, Andrei. His godfather was the textile manufacturer A.N. Gribov, who was connected by a joint hunt with Peter Starostin.
The youngest of the brothers, Peter, was born in Pogost, like Alexander. This solemn event took place in August 1909.
It is noteworthy that two of the Starostin brothers were born in Moscow, and two more - in Pogost.
Although most of the time the children spent in the second capital of the empire, which Moscow was then considered to be, nevertheless, their fond memories are connected with the village of Pereyaslavsky district. Children participated in hayfields and sowing, and did so of their own free will, without coercion by adults. Naturally, the brothers loved hunting.
From early childhood, the Starostin brothers were involved in various sports: table tennis, skiing, athletics, boxing and, of course, hockey and football. In addition, Andrew loved to follow the competitions that took place at the Hippodrome.
After the revolution of 1917, the family went hungry and had to move to the village. Soon, in 1920, the father of the family, Peter Starostin, died of typhus. After that, an adult life began for the brothers.
Hard times
After the death of his father, the main burden of providing for the family fell on the shoulders of the eldest of the brothers - Nikolai, who by that time was 18 years old. He played hockey in the winter and football in the summer, playing for the team of the Russian Gymnasium Society (RGO) since 1917. A year later, his second brother Alexander began to play in it.
So the brothers of Starostin came to the big sport - football players, whose name became famous throughout the country.
Andrei also moved to Moscow, and began to earn a living in the repair shop of the MOZO, working as an assistant locksmith.
The predecessors of Spartak
In 1922, after the merger of the Russian Geographical Society with the Society for Physical Education (FEV), on the initiative of the famous football player and sports functionary Ivan Artemyev, a new team was formed - the ISS (Moscow Sports Club of the Krasnopresnensky District), where Nikolai, Alexander and Andrey joined them. It was this team that became the forerunner of the famous Moscow Spartak.
The all-Union club championship was not then, so the club participated in the championship of Moscow. In the first season, he was forced to start in the “B” class of the city championship, but immediately won first place in the spring and autumn competitions, thus gaining the right to play in “A” class.
In 1923, the Starostin Brothers football club was renamed Krasnaya Presnya. In class “A” the collective, in which three brothers played, performed more than successfully, taking first place in the capital’s championship.
In the future, the name of the team has undergone changes more than once. In 1926 - 1930 it was called "Food Workers", and from 1931 to 1934 - "Promooperation". This name change was due to the fact that after the reorganization of domestic football in 1926, clubs were allowed to connect sponsors to financing. They for the Starostin team were various food manufacturers. Nikolay had to personally participate in the search for sponsors.
At this time, the youngest brother Peter entered the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology at the Silicate Faculty. But in 1931 he was forced to drop out of school due to family circumstances, and joined the other brothers, who at that time played for the Promcooperation club.
In 1932, all four brothers moved from Promcooperation to the Dukat team, sponsored by the eponymous tobacco factory. However, given that both teams were under the authority of the Union of Food Workers, it can be said that the transition of the leading players from Promcooperation to Dukat was an intra-club movement. In 1933, the team took second place in the championship of Moscow.
In 1934, Starostins again returned to Promcooperation, which immediately won the city championship. In total, from 1923 to 1935, the clubs the brothers played for became champions of Moscow four times. In addition, the brothers acted in the national teams of the USSR and Moscow, whose captains in the 30s became respectively Nikolai and Alexander. As part of the Moscow team, they repeatedly became champions of the RSFSR and the USSR in football.
Spartak Education
In 1935, the All-Union Komsomol leader Alexander Kosarev, on the basis of the Promcooperation club, forms the Spartak sports and athletic partnership. One of his main assistants in the organization of the club was Nikolai Starostin. It was he who coined the name of the collective, noting the strength, courage and will to win the leader of the uprising. Nikolay became the first head of the club, and Alexander became the captain.
In this football club, all the Starostin brothers continued their sports career. Spartak has become a real home for them.
Further career
In 1936, a completely new organization of football competitions was introduced in the country. The Championship and USSR Cup among club teams begins to be held. In the first spring draw of the championship “Spartak” took only the third, but already in the autumn championship the team of the Starostin brothers won, pushing the spring champion of Moscow “Dynamo” to second place.
In the 1937 championship, the leaders switched places again, but in 1938 Spartak won not only the championship, but also the Cup of the country. The club repeats its double success next season. In the last pre-war championship, Spartak took third place, losing the first two lines of the standings to the Dynamo of Moscow and Tbilisi.
As we see, from the first championships there has been a sharp rivalry between the Spartak and Dynamo clubs, which lasted almost the entire period of the existence of the Soviet championship. If Spartak was essentially a public organization, then Dynamo was under the tutelage of the NKVD, headed by Lavrenty Beria, who really did not like the success of his opponent. In the future, it is this fact that will have a negative role in the fate of the Starostin brothers.
Repression
The beginning of repressions against club functionaries was laid back in 1938, when one of the founders of Spartak and the head of the Komsomol movement Alexander Kosarev were arrested. He was shot by sentence in 1939.
In the spring of 1942, Beria announced to Stalin that the Starostin brothers were traitors. They are accused of a series of crimes against the motherland, including espionage in favor of Nazi Germany, with which the war was then going on. The case of the Starostin brothers first went through the article “terror”, then “theft”. The verdict was pronounced for anti-Soviet propaganda, and they were acquitted of treason. Nevertheless, the Starostin brothers and collaboration in the USSR became synonymous for a long time. Five other Spartak functionaries were also convicted.
The sentence for the Starostins was a ten-year stay in the camps, as well as a subsequent five-year defeat in rights with confiscation of all property.
Brothers served their sentences in different places. Moreover, while in custody, Nikolay Starostin was involved in coaching at Dynamo (Ukhta), Dynamo (Komsomolsk-on-Amur), Dynamo (Alma-Ata) and Lokomotiv (Alma-Ata). Alexander at the same time coached Dynamo (Perm), and Andrei coached Dynamo (Norilsk).
After the death of Stalin and the shooting of Beria in 1953, the Starostin brothers were acquitted, and all restrictions were lifted from them.
After rehabilitation
After the Starostin brothers were rehabilitated, they continued to work as football functionaries. Already in 1955, Nikolai Starostin became the head of Spartak, and remained in this position until 1996. In 1979 - 1980, he was also the head of the USSR national football team.
Alexander Starostin from 1956 to 1967 was chairman of the Football Federation of the RSFSR, and from 1968 to 1976 he worked as a deputy.
Andrei Starostin from 1960 to 1964, and also from 1968 to 1970, served as head of the USSR national football team. In addition, he worked in other important posts, for example, was deputy chairman of the USSR Football Federation.
Leaving life
The first of the brothers died Alexander Starostin in 1981, when he was 78 years old. In 1987, at the age of 80, Andrei Starostin passed away. The youngest of the Starostins - Peter, died in 1993, reaching the age of 83 years. The last of his life left Nikolai Starostin. He died in 1996 when he was 93 years old.
As you can see, despite the difficult life, the persecution and repression, all the Starostin brothers survived to old age.
Children
All the Starostin brothers had children. But Nikolai, Alexander and Andrei had daughters, and only Peter had a son.
It was Andrei Petrovich who was born in 1937 that can be considered a successor along the male line of the Starostin family. He also tried himself in football, but realized that he did not play well enough for Spartak-level teams, and so he devoted his life to science. He graduated from school and institute with honors, acquiring an engineering specialty. He achieved the position of Director General of SKB THM.
Interesting Facts
The eldest of the brothers, Nikolai, died the very last.
In 2014, a monument to the Starostin brothers was unveiled at the Spartak Stadium.
One of the charges of the Starostin brothers was mediation of bribery, but the court acquitted them on this point.
