Professional Football Club CSKA (Russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб – ЦСКА, derived from the historical name 'Центральный спортивный клуб армии', English: Central Sports Club of the Army), commonly referred to as CSKA Moscow or CSKA Moskva outside of Russia, or simply as CSKA (pronounced [tsɛ ɛs ˈka]), is a Russian professional football club. It is based in Moscow, playing its home matches at the 30,000-capacity VEB Arena. It plays in red and blue colours, with various plain and striped patterns having been used.
Founded in 1911, CSKA is one of the oldest football clubs in Russia and it had its most successful period after World War II with five titles in six seasons. It won a total of 7 Soviet Top League championships and 5 Soviet Cups, including the double in the last season in 1991. The club has also won 6 Russian Premier League titles as well as 8 Russian Cups.
CSKA Moscow became the first club in Russia to win one of the European cup competitions, the UEFA Cup, after defeating Sporting CP in the final in Lisbon in 2005.
CSKA was the official team of the Soviet Army during the communist era. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union it has become privately owned. In 2012, the Ministry of Defence sold all of its shares (24,94%) to Bluecastle Enterprises Ltd, a conglomerate owning 100% of the club since then. On 13 December 2019, state-owned development corporation VEB.RF announced they will take control of over 75% of club shares that were used as collateral by previous owners for the VEB Arena financing. Russian businessman Roman Abramovich's Sibneft corporation was a leading sponsor of the club from 2004 to 2006.
Contents
History
Names
CSKA Moscow was founded in 1911 and, like many clubs in the former Soviet Union, has seen a number of name changes. From 1928 to 1950 the association was called CDKA Moscow (ЦДКА Москва). In 1951 its name was changed to CDSA Moscow (ЦДСА Москва). In 1957 the sports society was renamed again into CSK MO Moscow (ЦСК МО Москва). The current name of club's football department, PFC CSKA Moscow (ПФК ЦСКА Москва) has been used since 1994.
1911–22: Amateur Society of Skiing Sports (OLLS Moscow) (Russian: Общество Любителей Лыжного Спорта)
1923: Experimental & Demonstrational Playground of Military Education Association (OPPV) (Russian: Опытно-Показательная Площадка Всеобуча)
1924–27: Experimental & Demonstrational Playground of Military Administration (OPPV) (Russian: Опытно-Показательная Площадка Военведа)
1928–50: Sports Club of Central House of the Red Army (CDKA) (Russian: Спортивный Клуб Центрального Дома Красной Армии)
1951–56: Sports Club of Central House of the Soviet Army (CDSA) (Russian: Спортивный Клуб Центрального Дома Советской Армии)
1957–59: Central Sports Club of the Ministry of Defense (CSK MO) (Russian: Центральный Спортивный Клуб Министерства Обороны)
1960–: Central Sports Club of Army (CSKA) (Russian: Центральный Спортивный Клуб Армии)
Foundation and first successes
The history of CSKA football club began in 1911, when a football section was organized in the Amateur Society of Skiing Sports (OLLS).
After the 1917 season, part of the reserve OLLS team moved to the first. In 1921, the champion of the autumn Moscow championship (winner of Fulda Cup) was determined in the final match, in which teams OLLS and KFS took part. The KFS team won 6:0. In the 1922 season, OLLS players won the spring Moscow championship and took second place in the fall championship. In the same year, OLLS won KFS-Kolomyagi Cup, in the final of which, according to the regulations, the winners of the first and second leagues of the Moscow championship met, and Tosmen Cup, where the champions of Moscow and Petrograd met.
Soviet period
The club had its most successful period immediately after the end of the Second World War. At this time, one of the best players in its history and the best scorer in the history of the team, Grigory Fedotov, played for the club. The army men were runners-up in the first edition of the resumed Vysschaya Liga in 1945.
Three consecutive championship titles followed for the first time in league history, including club's first double in 1948. This year the army team won their second USSR Cup. In the semifinals, as a result of a replay, CDKA snatched victory from Dynamo Moscow, and in the final they defeated the current cup holders, Spartak. By that time the main army team became dubbed as the "Team of Lieutenants" (Russian: «Команда Лейтенантов»). After finishing second in 1949, in 1950, the army team became champions again, and in 1951, playing under the new name CDSA (Central House of the Soviet Army), they won a double again, winning both the championship and the cup. The history of the football department from this time is closely linked to the ice hockey department of the club, HC CSKA Moscow, because the leading players like Vsevolod Bobrov played both sports in parallel.
After successful times Olympic Games 1952 in Helsinki marked the beginning of the decline of CDSA Moscow. The club's players formed the core of the national team, which, after tough negotiations, joined FIFA shortly before the Olympic football tournament. Boris Arkadiev became the coach of both the national team and the army club. The first meeting between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in football is still amongst the most famous matches. On the political level, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and the Yugoslav leader Josip Tito split in 1948, which resulted in Yugoslavia being excluded from the Communist Information Bureau. Before the match, both Tito and Stalin sent telegrams to their national teams, which showed just how important it was for the two head of states. Yugoslavia led 5–1, but a Soviet comeback in the last 15 minutes resulted in a 5–5 draw. The match was replayed, Yugoslavia winning 3–1. The defeat to the archrivals hit Soviet football hard, especially CDSA and its players. After just three games played in the season, CDSA was forced to withdraw from the league and later disbanded. Furthermore, Boris Arkadiev was stripped of his Merited Master of Sports of the USSR title. For intelligence chief Lavrentiy Beria, the Olympic elimination was the perfect opportunity to eliminate the successful city rival. As head of the KGB, he was also honorary president of Dynamo Moscow - the main rival of CDSA.
Modern period
CSKA Moscow was one of the founding members of the newly formed Russian Top Division after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In the first six seasons, the team occupied the places in the middle of the table. In the 1998 season, the club was runner-up and in the next season finished third. In the following two seasons, CSKA Moscow again occupied places in the middle of the table. In the 2002 season, the team trained by Valery Gazzaev took second place again, winning the Russian Cup. In 2003, the team won its first championship in the history of the Russian Premier League. After that, the head coach Valery Gassayev was sacked surprisingly and the Portuguese coach Artur Jorge was signed as his successor. Under the new coach, the team could not build on the performances from the previous season. After falling to fifth place in July 2004, Arthur Jorge was sacked after only eight months at the helm of the club. After the return of Valery Gassaev, CSKA was able to save the season and become vice-champion.
In the 2004 season, after qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, the team finished third at the group stage and therefore took part in the UEFA Cup play-off. The UEFA Cup for CSKA began with a home match against Portugal's Benfica in the round of 32, which ended in a 2-0 victory for CSKA, in the away match CSKA drew 1-1. The next rival of CSKA was the Serbian club Partizan, the away match in Belgrade ended with a score of 1-1, and the home match in Krasnodar - 2-0 in favor of the red-blue team. In the next round, the army team defeated the French side Auxerre 4-0. Despite the 2-0 away defeat, CSKA was able to continue playing in the UEFA Cup. In the semifinals, CSKA's opponent was the Italian side Parma, after beating which (0-0, 3-0), the Muscovites reached the final.
Then, on May 18, 2005, the team became the first Russian team ever to win a European competition, the 2004-05 UEFA Cup at the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, winning Sporting 3-1. The team failed to consolidate their success, losing the UEFA Super Cup to English club Liverpool on 26 August 2005 at Stade Louis II, in Monaco. Nevertheless, this year, CSKA become the first Russian club to complete a treble after winning the second Russian championship title and the Russian Cup.
The team had qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League by winning the championship in 2005 and progressed to the group stage over MFK Ružomberok. At the group stage, CSKA finished in third place and qualified for the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup, but was eliminated there against the Israeli representative Maccabi Haifa. In the 2006 season, CSKA won domestic treble, as the team won all three national titles: the Premier League, the Russian Cup and the Russian Super Cup.
Stadium
CSKA had its own stadium called "Light-Athletic Football Complex CSKA" and abbreviated as LFK CSKA. Its capacity is very small for a club of its stature; no more than 4,600 spectators.
Between 1961 and 2000, CSKA played their home games at the Grigory Fedotov Stadium. In 2007, the Grigory Fedotov Stadium was demolished in 2007, and ground was broken on the club's new stadium Arena CSKA later the same year. During construction of their new stadium, CSKA played the majority of their games at the Arena Khimki and Luzhniki Stadium. After several delays in its construction, Arena CSKA was official opened on 10 September 2016.
On 28 February 2017, CSKA Moscow announced that they had sold the naming rights to the stadium to VEB.RF, with the stadium becoming the VEB Arena.
In 2018, CSKA decided to play its home UEFA Champions League matches at Luzhniki Stadium, instead of VEB Arena.
Honours
Domestic
Soviet Top League / Russian Premier League (First-tier)
Winners (13): 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1970, 1991, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16
Runners-up (13): 1938, 1945, 1949, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2022–23
Soviet First League / Russian National Football League (Second-tier)
Winners: 1986, 1989
Runners-up: 1985
Soviet Cup / Russian Cup
Winners (14): 1945, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1990–91, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2022–23, 2024–25
Runners-up (7): 1944, 1966–67, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2015–16
Soviet Super Cup / Russian Super Cup
Winners (8): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2025
Runners-up (5): 2003, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2023
All-Union CPCS Tournament / USSR Federation Cup / Russian Premier League Cup
Winners: 1952
European
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League
Winners: 2004–05
UEFA Super Cup
Runners-up: 2005
Non-official
Trofeo Villa de Gijón: 1
1994
Channel One Cup: 1
2007
Copa del Sol: 1
2010
La Manga Cup: 1
2013
League and Cup history
CSKA in European football
As of match played 10 December 2020
UEFA club coefficient ranking
As of 21 September 2023. Source: UEFA Coefficients
Football Club Elo ranking
As of 29 August 2024
Players
Current squad
As of 28 July 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Retired numbers
12 – Club supporters (the 12th man)
16 – Serhiy Perkhun, goalkeeper (2001) – posthumous honor
Notable players
Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for CSKA.
USSR/Russia
Europe
South America
Africa
Asia
Club officials
Coaching history
As of match played 24 July 2022
Supporters and rivalries
CSKA Moscow fans maintain good relations with the fans of Serbian Partizan, Greek PAOK FC, Bulgarian CSKA Sofia, Polish Widzew Łódź and Ruch Chorzów, Romanian CSA Steaua București, and fellow Russian fans of Dynamo Moscow.
The Club's main rival is Spartak Moscow.
Nickname
CSKA was nicknamed Horses because the first stadium was built on the old racecourse/hippodromo in Moscow. It was considered offensive, but later it was transformed into The Horses, and currently this nickname is used by players and fans as the name, along with other variants such as Army Men (Russian: армейцы) and Red-Blues (Russian: красно-синие).
Club records
Appearances
As of 1st June 2025
1Includes Russian Super Cup, Russian Premier League Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
Top goalscorers
As of 8 December 2024
1Includes Russian Super Cup, Russian Premier League Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
CSKA Women
CSKA's women's football team was founded in 1990 and competed in Soviet Championship's second level. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union that same year, it registered in the Russian Supreme Division, where it competed for two seasons before it folded.
Following the disbanding of Zorky Krasnogorsk near the end of the 2015 Top Division, FK Rossiyanka filled its vacancy for the next season and the new team was registered as CSKA in the 2016 championship. Its first game, a 1–1 draw against Chertanovo, coincided with the 93rd anniversary of the CSKA's first football match. CSKA ended the championship second-to-last, while Rossiyanka won its fifth title.
In July 2017, during the inter-season summer pause, it became a CSKA official section. Two months later the team won its first title after defeating Chertanovo 1–0 in the Russian Cup final.
In recent years CSKA Women won two Russian championships in a row, in 2019 and 2020 and made their debut in UEFA Women's Champions League.
FC CSKA-d Moscow and FC CSKA-2 Moscow
The reserves team played on the professional level as FC CSKA-d Moscow (Russian Second League in 1992–93, Russian Third League in 1994–97, Russian Second Division in 1998–00, in 1998–00 team was called FC CSKA-2 Moscow). A separate farm club called FC CSKA-2 Moscow played in the Soviet Second League in 1986–89, Soviet Second League B in 1990–91, Russian Second League in 1992–93 and Russian Third League in 1994. That latter team was called FC Chaika-CSKA-2 Moscow for one season in 1989.