2020 is already a historic year for Rotor Volgograd. For the first time since 2004, the club will play in the elite division of Russian football. The coming season promises to be a very tough football year for the blue forces. Although Rotor has an experienced trainer, an ultramodern stadium, a large hinterland, and a loyal support base, Rotor can never keep up with the rest financially.
On May 15, the Executive Committee of the Russian Football Association bit the bullet: the Football National League (FNL) will not be finished. It was decided to grant the numbers one and two of the league, Rotor and Khimki, access to the Premier League. It was, therefore, a big party in Volgograd, because, for the first time in 16 years, the fans of the local pride can prepare themselves for matches against the big clubs from Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Krasnodar and Rubin Kazan.
Rotor was one of the best clubs in the country in the nineties and in the European competitions they played against clubs such as Lazio and Girondins Bordeaux, but the diptych with Manchester United in 1995 was more famous. In the former Stalingrad, it was 0-0 and at Old Trafford, it became 2-2, so that Rotor continued into the UEFA Cup because of the scored away goals. Manchester United, trained by Sir Alex Ferguson, already played with players such as Andy Cole, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, and Peter Schmeichel.
In 2004 Rotor disappeared from the highest level and a year later the club even lost its professional status. Particularly as a result of financial problems, Rotor has since failed to become relevant again.
Rotor is back now, but the worries are never far away in the Volgograd Arena. Rotor does not have a good football academy, the training facilities are poor and there are hardly any sponsors, not even a main sponsor.
As local authorities are increasingly reluctant to bolstering the Rotor coffers, rumours have been circulating that the club has to refrain from licensing for the Russian Premier League. However, soon that was denied and eventually, more than $7 million became available from the regional budgets. Finally, on June 18, Rotor successfully passed licensing for participation in the RPL.
Although Rotor is linked to players such as Solomon Kvirkvelia (Lokomotiv), Georgi Melkadze (Spartak), Jano Ananidze (free agent) and Gegam Kadimyan (Neman Grodno), the fans don’t have to expect stars to enter the Rotor squad, according to CEO Andrei Rechechinsky:
The budget for the upcoming season will be at FNL level. The club is looking for free agents, and rented players can also strengthen us.
Rechechinsky and his colleagues still have a lot of work to do. At the moment, Rotor’s squad for next season consists of only 13 players, including only 1 goalkeeper and 2 defenders. The question is to what extent Rotor Volgograd will be able to get the team at full fighting strength for the RPL with an FNL budget. Because it would be shameful if Rotor will relegate to the FNL again after just one season.
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