BIOGRAPHY

This section contains a short summary of the book "Eduard Markarov" from the series "Idols of National Football" (480 pages, ISBN 978-5-9903790-1-5, Russian/Armenian). You can find the full text in the electronic version of the book.

Chapters 1-8

ARTEM MARKAROV

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

... Artem Markarov - football star of the Transcaucasus and the USSR - "gave the pass" to his son, Eduard, who continued the dynasty of scorers. Both somehow brought to our football a powerful "Brazilian" stream, which was born in the Armenian quarters of Baku. And in order to understand the phenomenon of the Markarovs, it is necessary to start our story with the birth of football in Baku, with a story about his "godfathers".

At the beginning of the twentieth century, many plants, factories and oil fields in Baku were owned by foreigners. The management and engineering staff of these enterprises also mainly consisted of the British, Germans, Norwegians ... They created their own football teams, where the local population was not allowed, considering it incapable of a complex kickball game.

The workers of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Kharkov, who arrived in Baku to work, brought the new English fun to the proletarian districts of the city.

This new sport began to rapidly gain popularity. The first football matches took place between spontaneously created teams, which, after the game, as a rule, disintegrated and almost never gathered again.

That distant time of the formation of Baku football, about barefoot boys of the same age, about patched and patched balls, the ups and downs of those unforgettable fights, was well described by football veteran V. Mishanov: “Then, of course, we had no idea what real football was. wastelands covered with pebbles, instead of a gate - a pile of stones or two posts.

We practiced shots on goal, corners, played connections, but all this was at the most primitive level. But what could not be taken away from us was self-giving. The law was the same for everyone: come to training - work for real, so that seven sweats come down.

Only in 1911 did the first permanent teams appear, competing in competitions in unchanged lineups. They were created mainly on a territorial basis and in educational institutions. In Armenikend, the teams "Stella" and "Druzhina, to sport" were stationed, on Kanitapinskaya (this part of the city, according to the memoirs of B. Butnik-Seversky, was erected by the Armenians, they lived here, traded in open shops, which is why the street received its Armenian sound) - "Sportsman" and "Askold", on Vladimirskaya Square (where until recently the hosiery and knitting factory - "Dunkin's factory" was located) - "Unitas", in Balakhani - "Balakhani circle of football players". The men's gymnasiums of the city were represented by teams - "Adamovtsy", "White", "Centurion", and the commercial school - "Progress".

The matches were mainly held on a wasteland near the Armenian cemetery, on Vladimirskaya Square, on Birzhevaya Square (26 Baku commissars), on the Soldiers' Bazaar (S. Armenikende, on the square near the 19th infirmary (hospital named after Semashko).

These matches were judged by the most authoritative team captains: A. Adamov (First Men's Gymnasium), D. Loginov ("Athlete"), D. Lyulka ("Squad, to sport!"), G. Rul ("Stella"), P. Parsadanov ("Unitas", "Falcon") and others.

Paruyr Parsadanovich Parsadanov (1897-1970) is one of the pioneers of football in Baku. He began to play organized football in 1911 in the Sportsman team, which included in 1913-15. became the champion of the city (in 1911-12, the best team in Baku was the "British Club", for which only the British played). Simultaneously with performances for "Sportsman" Parsadanov organizes a football club in one of the gymnasiums. Football players from other educational institutions join them and a new team, Unitas, is being created. In 1915, the team was transformed into the Sokol football club, which Baku residents called the Red Falcon because of their red shirts. Paruyr Parsadanov was her permanent captain and right back.

In 1913, Parsadanov was a participant in the tournament of three Armenian teams, held in Shusha. The team of “dacha dwellers-Baku residents” then outplayed the national team of Shushi – 8:0 and “dacha residents-Tiflis” with a score of 3:0.

In 1917, the Parsadan "Sokol" in Tiflis lost in a friendly match (1: 2) to the local team "Slet". Two years later, "Sokol" in Baku outplayed the Georgian team of the city of Surama with a score of 6: 2, which included several of the strongest football players in Tiflis. In the same year, the Baku team, for which Parsadanov played, defeated the Batum team with a score of 5:0.

With the establishment of Soviet power in Baku, the football life of the city also resumed. At the end of September 1920, at the initiative of the Unitas club, recreated on the basis of the Sokol circle, a meeting of representatives of the city's football organizations was held. It elected a committee to recreate the Baku Football League.

The strongest teams in the city in the early 1920s were "Unitas", the Balakhani working club "Progress", the gymnastic society "Sokol" (not to be confused with the former football club of the same name), the collective of the Zavokzalny working club "Askold" (hereinafter - "Zheldor" , Lokomotiv, from where the football path of Artem Markarov and Georgy Andriasyan began) and the Bayil Workers' Club.

In the 1920s Baku teams had no equal in the Caucasus. They won four years in a row (1923-26) at the Transcaucasian Komsomol Olympiads and twice became champions at the first championships of Transcaucasia (1926-27).

In those years, the Baku team successfully played with various teams of republics, cities, departments. The most notable were the victories over the national teams of Abkhazia (4:0), Tiflis (3:1, 2:1), Transcaucasian "Dinamo" (2:0).

The Baku team included several of our compatriots - Georgy Ter-Akopov, Vladimir Parsada-nov (younger brother of Paruyr Parsadanov), Benik Sarkisov. But the basis of the national team was Progress football players - Vladimir Makagonov, the Eliseev brothers, Konstantin Kitaev, Alexander Gnezdov, Konstantin Kuznetsov (father of the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Yuri Kuznetsov). In 1926, Progres players outplayed Dynamo Moscow (3:1), Dynamo Vladikavkaz (6:0) and the Zakavka-zya team (3:2), which was preparing for an international tournament in Scandinavia. Two games of "Balakhani" with the strongest team of the Union - "Metalist" Kharkiv (0:2, 4:2) were held in an equal fight.

Several successful matches were held by Progress the following year: with the Tiflis team (1:0) and with the Dinamo team of this city (1:0, 3:0, 1:2).

- What were the characteristics of the first years of football development in Baku? asked Paruyr Parsadanov. - First of all, the huge enthusiasm of the then small army of football fans. These would be people who are devoted to the sport and do not associate any personal benefits with it. On the contrary, they had a hard time. They built a new life, found time for the construction of sports facilities, for training. As a rule, they bought uniforms and sports equipment at their own expense, which was not so easy to find in those years. And they had to play in difficult conditions.

Most of the matches were held in those years on the square of the Soldier's Bazaar. There were no stands here, and the spectators were in a dense ring around the dusty, littered with fine gravel field.

Baku football players played their first international match in 1926. The Iranian national team came to measure their strength. Paruyr Parsadanov, as the most authoritative and titled football player, was entrusted with refereeing this match.

In 1934, P. Parsadanov, the first of Baku residents (and among Armenians), was awarded the title of judge of the All-Union category. He also became the first Bakuvian and Armenian who was awarded the high title of Honored Master of Sports in football (in 1947).

In 1930, the Transcaucasian Physical Education Institute was opened in Baku. Paruyr Parsadanovic became its first rector. For many years he was the main football functionary of the republic, headed the football department (section) of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports. But the main merit of the founder of Baku football is his most active participation in the formation and rise of the best Armenian team of the thirties - Baku "Temp", which will be discussed in subsequent chapters.

CHAPTER 2

1926 "Zheldor" (Baku)

1930 Dynamo (Nalchik, Pyatigorsk)

At the end of the nineteenth century, due to the oil and industrial boom in Baku, tens of thousands of Armenians from all over historical Armenia were drawn to work. Mostly they moved from the Transcaucasian provinces of the Russian Empire, and after the Armenian pogroms in Western Armenia, perpetrated by Turkish monsters, quarters of refugees appeared in the city of "black gold" (Baku residents, immigrants from Eastern Armenia, called them "Hayastanians") from Van, Erzerum, Bitlis...

The geographical palette of these resettlements can be easily traced on the example of the football players of Yerevan "Ararat" ("Spartak", "Dynamo"), who were born in Baku. Artyom and Eduard Markarovs, Rudolf Avanesyan and Arkady Harutyunyan came from Kapan, Artashes Amirjanov and Sed-vald Babayan, Sergey Melkumov and Alexander Mirzoyan came from Karabakh...

Gayk and Arkady Andriasyanov had Nakhichevan roots, Sergei Pogosyan and Yuri Padiev had Madrasin (Shemakhi), Semyon Israelyan had Getashen (Gardman), and Nikolai Kazaryan had Zakatal roots. And Sergey Zatikyan's father was from Kars.

... Not far from the city of Kapan in the Syunik region, there is the village of Shervenets, the family nest of the Markarovs (the house with the shuttered shutters is still preserved). At the end of the 19th century, the "gold rush" reached this Zangezur village. The youth dreamed about Baku. This city became their cherished dream. Everyone aspired there for the realization of their dreams and plans. Future owners of enterprises and proletarians hurried to Baku, those who wanted to continue their studies or somehow earn a living.

Agalar Markarov, with a group of friends and relatives, rushed to this "cherished world" in order to profitably attach his small capital earned in the mountains of Zangezur.

Agalar and his friends quickly realized that the heat and humidity meant sweat; wind means dust and dirt. We need to build baths. The affairs of the newly minted businessmen went uphill. Now it was possible to think about the future family. His betrothed, Piryuza, was waiting in Shervenats. The wedding was played on a grand scale—everyone should have seen what Agalar had become in Baku. He settled his young wife in his own house in the Zavok-zalny district of Baku. Soon, a girl was born to the happy newlyweds, who was named Siranush. Then in 1907 they had a boy - the future great football player, the founder of the football dynasty - Artem Markarov.

History did not leave Artyom a chance to continue his father’s business, since after the fall of the Russian Empire, the Turkish occupation and massacre in Baku followed, the two-year rule of the Musavatists and, finally, the establishment of Soviet power, which deprived Agalar Markarov of his beloved business, real estate and savings.

After the Bolsheviks came to power, a sports football boom began throughout the country. Stadiums were built on wastelands. One of these wastelands, 50 by 50 meters, was located on the 6th Zavokzalnaya Street, not far from the Markarovs' house. The wasteland was loudly called the stadium, and the stadium - "Dzhabrovka". Not far away, in the area between the 4th and 5th Kanitapa streets, there was another wasteland, which was nicknamed "Ardagan". Who and why called these small wastelands so, no one remembers. Teams from different regions of Baku came here for friendly games. On these wastelands, young men began to play, who then played in the best teams of Baku, Yerevan, Tbilisi and Moscow. "Dzhabrovka" and "Ardagan" did not recognize exceptions to the rules. They played in teams of eleven against eleven. In order to score on such a patch, it was necessary to have good possession of the ball. Dzhabrovka, a football field popular with Baku boys in the 1920s and 1930s, is associated with Artyom Markarov's acquaintance with his favorite game. Here, in numerous football battles, he trampled, to the chagrin of his parents, more than one pair of shoes. But he learned to circle several opponents at once, dashing dashing to the gate, despite the bruises and bruises, hitting the target accurately.

Football battles in Baku were held at the "stadiums" in Chemberekend (next to the Armenian cemetery), and at the Soldiers' Bazaar, and on Petrovsky Square.

Artem began to play organized football in the teams of railway workers, which is not surprising, since most of the inhabitants of the Zavokzalny district of the city worked at the depot. Already in 1926, Artem Markarov defended the honor of the first team of "Zheldor", playing in the championship of Baku.

About one of the Zheldor matches of that period: I learned from the story of my grandfather. (REMOVE)

“It seems that they played with Dynamo, and the score was a draw, when Georgy Andriasyan took possession of the ball in his half of the field. With a powerful jerk, he bypassed two opponents, played a wall with a partner and ended up with the ball in place of the right insider. A pass to Artem followed. Markarov, and Zheldor's center forward threw the ball between the legs of the Dynamo defender, circled the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into the empty gate!"

Brilliantly played combination and no less beautiful goal. And what a pity that in those days the press did not always describe in detail the course of matches, and football statistics could be counted on the fingers. In 1927, Markarov, as part of Zheldor, played several friendly matches in various cities of the Union, and at the All-Union Trade Union Competitions he played for the Baku national team.

At the end of the 1920s, the undisputed leadership of "Progress" in the championships of Baku was shaken. He competed with "Zheldor" and "Dynamo", formed from the players of the team of the Bailov Workers' Club. The basis of the Dynamo team, as well as "Progress", were the Slavs - Ikonnikov, Korotkov, Kalinin, Sorokin, the Nekhezin brothers. The championship of the city in 1929 began in the fall, and ended in the spring of the 30th. For the first time, Dynamo won the championship title. The second place went to "Progress", and the third place was Markarov's team - "Zheldor".

"Dynamo" will be the best football team in the city for another three years, until the "Armenian" team "Temp" appears. Hayk Andriasyan started his football career at Dynamo. He played in it before moving in 1937 to the Moscow Lokomotiv. The honor of the Dynamo team in those years was also defended by Gurgen Danielyan, and a little later by Artem Falyan and Ashot Abramov.

In the championship of the 1930s, the Stroitel team, whose leaders were Artashes Amirjanov and Aram Stepanyan, attracted attention.

Bosom friends Artem Markarov and Artashes Amirdzhanov began their long-term joint glorious path in the teams of ... Nalchik and Pyatigorsk "Dynamo".

In the early 30s, the Pyatigorsk team was considered one of the best in the Union. In addition to Markarov and Amirdzhanov, two more of our compatriots played in it - goalkeeper Ayvazyan and midfielder Babayan. Pyatigorsk at that time outplayed several teams from Moscow, Minsk, Kadievka, Tashkent, Krasnodar, Erivan, Makhachkala. “I saw a lot of interesting football matches this year at the Evdokimov Stadium. And not a single team left Pyatigorsk as a winner,” wrote a correspondent for the local newspaper Garelin. turned into one of the strongest in the Union, but his place was not determined, and a meeting with a large team of the Union scale was required.

On October 23 and 24, such meetings took place: on the green field of the stadium, the second team of Moscow played with Pyatigorsk. It included the strongest players of the Union: goalkeeper Granatkin, defense - Spitsyn and Savanov, midfield - Maslov, Zhukov and Pavlov, attack - Orlov, Popov, Semenov, Terenkov and Semichastny.

… The game started at a brisk pace. Moscow, after the second hit on the ball, goes into a fast attack. The ball is quickly passed with a short pass, "served" by the head and does not pass even 2 minutes, as the right edge of Moscow - Orlov scores the first goal with an excellent top jester. Aivazov, who did not expect the ball from such a distance, makes a late jump.

... At the 14th minute, having successfully taken away the ball, the center back of the Pyatigorsk team - Markarov circles the midfield of Moscow and beautifully passes it to Motlokhov. Game at the gates of Moscow. Covered by two players, Motlokhov "cuts through" the ball to the right edge of Prokhorenko, who breaks forward and, circling the defenders, hits the goal from two meters. Goal!

... At the 38th minute, the center forward of Pyatigorsk - Motlokhov, after a beautiful combination, hits the goal from a distance of 20 meters. Goalkeeper Granatkin makes a jump, but too late: the ball is in the net.

... The Muscovites start the second half of the game with a desire to achieve a draw ... On the 7th minute, having broken through the defense line, Moscow leveled the score with a strong jester ... the referee's whistle fixes the match score - 2:2.

The next day the weather changed dramatically. Rain and fog spoiled the field. The wind made the game much more difficult. Having mastered the tactics of the Muscovites, the Pyatigorsk team “leads” the game all the time without releasing the ball. Markarov plays excellently, clearly linking defense with attack.

The first half ends with the score 1:0 in favor of Pyatigorsk.

Muscovites, who did not expect serious resistance, were discouraged and significantly slowed down the pace of the game. However, they manage, using a defense miss, to score one ball into the gates of Pyatigorsk. The climax of the match is coming. Pyatigorsk is fighting for victory. Moscow moves to active defense, pulling the entire five of the attack onto its half. The jesters follow one after another. 14 minutes before the end of the game, the ball is sent with a strong blow to the post. Granatkin did not have time to take him, and Shlyapin finished him off with an accurate blow into the goal. There is excitement in the stands. Moscow changes tactics with lightning speed and throws all its strength into evening the score. This fails, and the ball again goes to the Pyatigorsk attackers.

The game ends with a score of 2:1 in favor of Pyatigorsk."

Markarov and Amirdzhanov ended the season on ... ice rinks, where they honed their skills in bandy (bandy). This winter sport is often called the brother of football. And this is no coincidence. They have a lot in common: the placement and number of players on the court, the size of the field, the rules of the game. In the 30s and 40s, it was customary to play bandy at the end of the football season. A number of great football players have glorified themselves in hockey: Yakushin, Trofimov, Bobrov, Granatkin, Solovyov, Blinkov, Ilyin, Maslov ...

But the sport, outlandish for southerners, could not keep Markarov and Amirdzhanov in Pyatigorsk. They were drawn to Baku, where the "Armenian miracle team" was being created.

CHAPTER 3

1932 - 1934 "Temp" (Baku)

I saw Baku football players for the first time in 1935. Then the Baku national team was separated from the title of USSR champion by one game. The team needed to win against the Moscow team, and then it became the winner of the championship. The Baku team did not win the match, but gained prestige for Baku football.

Konstantin Yesenin

In 1931, under the Union of Builders of Azerbaijan (ASPS), an initiative group headed by Ashot Markarov (chairman of the Council of the Bureau of Physical Education under the ASPS) created the football team "Temp". Sargis Baghdasaryan was elected the chairman of the society of the same name, and the team was coached by Paruyr Parsadanov Parsadanov and Gurgen Soghomon Danielyan.

A few words about the permanent head of the "Temp" team Gurgen Danielyan. His father comes from the village of Khunashen in the Martuni region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He himself graduated from the Armenian school No. 10 in Baku. From the age of sixteen he began playing football in the Vulkan team, and then in Dynamo. Member of the Spartakiad: trade unions of Transcaucasia (1925, Baku), the Dynamo Society of Transcaucasia (1926, Kutaisi), Transcaucasian republics (1928, Tbilisi). From 1931 to 1940 he was the head of the Temp football team, and in 1946-50. - "Oilman". For many years, Gurgen Soghomonovich was the director of the Baku Republican Stadium. From 1991 to 1994 he worked as an inspector at the Armenian Football Federation.

But back to Tempo. In the first year of its creation, the team played in the Baku Championship in the second group. Her debut was successful, and the team got the right to play in the first group. A year later, "Temp" became the champion of the city. In addition to the leadership of the team, Armenians also made up the majority among the players - Markarov, Sarkisov, Amirdzhanov, Petrosyan, Agadzhanov, Mikaelyan, Khanaferov, Stepanov, Oganov. Russian Ikonnikov, Shibaev, Busalaev and Azerbaijani Agaev also played in the team. Beginning in 1933, the players of "Tempe" were already the backbone of the Baku team. In 1933, the Baku national team became the winner of the Three Stokers of the USSR tournament, beating the teams of Donbass - 4:0, 6:0 and Grozny - 9:1.

In July 1934, the All-Union Spartakiad "Coal, Oil and Metal" was held in the Donbass, in the football tournament of which, together with Baku residents, the home team, Krivoy Rog residents, Muscovites, Grozny residents, Kuzbass residents and others took part. Markarov and his comrades defeated all rivals, but having reached the final, they lost to the well-known team of the Moscow plant "Hammer and Sickle" at that time.

In 1935, the title of champion of the Soviet Union was contested by teams from six cities: Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kyiv, Baku, and Tiflis. I will tell you about this championship in more detail, since never before, even in the "bronze" year of 1966, Baku residents had no such chances to become the champion of the Soviet Union.

The experienced organizer and football referee Georgiy Ilyich Feponov, invited from Leningrad, coached Baku residents.

The Baku team played the first game of the championship on June 30 in Baku at the Dynamo stadium. Their rivals, the Tiflis team, were also trained by Mikhail Pavlovich Butusov from Leningrad.

Before the game, journalists met with the captains of the teams. The captain of Baku residents Artem Markarov was frank in a conversation with them: "The Baku national football team for the first time participates in all-Union competitions, 1st class

CHAPTER 4

1935- 1937 "Temp" (Baku)

Team of Transcaucasia

Artem Markarov is among the top ten forwards of the USSR

Markarov never competed with the "iron leg" of Sorokin and Kulovits, Nekhezin and Mikaelyan, Turkiy and Smagin. But his accuracy was amazing, the game was extremely prudent, smart. Such a classic he entered the history of football in Transcaucasia and was the main leading player, repeatedly defending the sporting honor of the republic, not only in our country, but also abroad. This is how I knew Artem Agalarovich, because I often played against him. It was difficult for us in defense, he would definitely slip away from custody, he would definitely get closer to the goal, he would definitely open an account.

V. Matyushkin

The fact that the authority of Transcaucasian football has grown over the past few years was also evidenced by the invitation of the Transcaucasian team to tour Scandinavia.

Due to the delay in the telegram from the VSFC (All-Union Council of Physical Culture) of the USSR, the Transcaucasian team, in order to avoid disrupting the trip abroad, was compiled and sent to Moscow within 24 hours.

For a number of years, the football team of Transcaucasia was formed as needed in connection with some unexpectedly appointed game, and, as a rule, the meetings were not preceded by the preparation that was so necessary for the national teams, and the team was assembled at best in a few days. It even happened that the partners, from whom they expected high class and greater teamwork, did not even know each other properly before the game. It is quite clear that such a "fire" organization could not lead to good results and brought defeat to the team. The loss of the national team to Moscow and Moscow "Dynamo" before the trip to Scandinavia is caused by "an old disease". But on the other hand, the team played well in these matches and subsequently brilliantly played games abroad.

The Transcaucasian team included: Dorokhov, Anikin, Bolotin, Panin, Abashidze, Shavgulidze, Berdze-nishvili, Markarov, Amirdzhanov, Petrosyan, Reich, Patsevich and Makagonov. The Transcaucasian team was truly international: four Russians, three Georgians and three Armenians, a German, a Jew and a Greek.

The southerners played their first game on August 30 in Gothenburg (Sweden), where they took part in an anti-fascist rally. The match with the strongest club in Scandinavia, the local Gorda, took place with a clear advantage of our players, but ended in a draw with a score of 3:3.

The second meeting against the combined working team of Eastern Norway - the sports workers' union "AIF" - ended in a major victory for the Transcaucasians - 8:0.

The team from the south was beaten by the southerners 2-0 in Oslo on 8 September.

The next stage is a small working town - Moss, where the match with the working team ended in a draw 1:1, then the city of Lilienstrahn and a victory over the local team with a score of 2:1.

Then the victorious path of the Transcaucasians continued in Denmark. On September 15, at the best stadium in Copenhagen, the ZSFSR team beat the Danish team with a score of 1:0.

The last meeting before returning home was played in Helsingfors (Helsinki) with the national working team of Finland and ended in a draw - 1:1.

One of the heroes of that historic tour, Suren Petrosyan, many years later recalled: “This trip was preceded by a friendly game of Transcaucasians in Moscow with Dynamo. Sergei Ilyin shone in those years with Dynamo. Before the game, I get the task to keep Ilyin in. We lost the match, but my ward did not excel in it even once.

And then we went to Scandinavia. The most memorable was the draw in Gothenburg with the professional club "Gorda" - 3:3. The difficulty of that meeting for us was that the opponents had already mastered the progressive "double-ve" system at that time. We played, as was customary, "five in a line." After that match, one of the Swedish newspapers wrote: "The impressions of the football shown by the guests will be enough for our public for ten years ahead."

The return of the Transcaucasians home was triumphant. Local newspapers sang their praises. Among the chorus of praise, there was an article by the famous Tbilisi coach Assir Galperin in "Dawn of the East", which warned against possible "dizziness from success". I will give a fragment of this article, written in the spirit of the times - in Bolshevik style: "The representative of the Soviet team (which included the team of Transcaucasia) comrade Frumin called the victory of Transcaucasia over the strongest football team" AIF "brilliant and, among other things, said that this Transcaucasia has surpassed itself in game. It seems to us that it will not be a mistake if we correct Comrade Frumin and say that the team has not surpassed itself, but has found itself. The combined team of Transcaucasia, with good preparation, should bring victories.

However, you need to warn the team against possible "dizziness from success." Then reconsider the composition and, if necessary, do not hesitate to replace weak players, "regardless of the faces." One even the most deserved surname cannot be won. Then it is necessary to convince each of the participants that there can be no irreplaceable players in the team, that everyone who violates discipline and the established order will place himself outside the ranks of the team. Being a member of the Transcaucasian team is a great honor, not everyone deserves it. To justify this honor is a difficult task that requires serious work on oneself ... "

On March 26, 1936, at a meeting of the Presidium of the All-Russian Football Federation, a resolution that was historic for Soviet football was adopted. The Presidium recognized as desirable "the organization of demonstration teams of masters from separate teams of sports societies and factories." The Krasny Sport newspaper reported - "... it is planned to create in different cities of the USSR from 12 to 16 demonstration teams of masters. In the coming days, the sports and refereeing committee of the All-Russian Sports Committee of the USSR will outline the cities and teams in which these teams will be created, and a list This year, between the exemplary teams of the masters, a football championship will be held in a round-robin system, in two rounds, the spring one from the second half of May to the end of June and the autumn one from the end of August to the beginning of October. Between the first and second rounds of the USSR championship - from mid-July to mid-August, it was decided to hold an open competition for teams of teams for the USSR Cup according to the so-called Olympic system"

But the original decision on the championship of the USSR was changed. It was decided in 1936 to hold two independent championships: spring and autumn in four groups in one round.

Group "A", where the championship title was played, included 7 teams, group "B" - 8, group "C" - 8, group "G" - 5.

Who and how "scheduled cities and teams" in the sports and refereeing committee of the All-Russian Sports Committee of the USSR remains a mystery, since teams from Kharkov, Baku and Tbilisi were not included in group "A". Dynamo players from Tbilisi and Kharkov were "made happy" with group "B", while Baku residents were sent to group "C". And this is despite the fact that in the last championship of the USSR, the Baku team was higher than the Tbilisi team in the final table.

One way or another, it was necessary to prepare for the upcoming football championship of the Union.

A well-known football player and coach Vladimir G. Blinkov was invited from Moscow to help Paruyr Parsadanov and Gurgen Danielyan. He worked at Tempe until September 1938.

The pre-season training was carried out by the Baku team in Armenia. The training camp in Yerevan was fruitful. Several control matches were played with local teams.

One of such matches was played by the Baku team in Leninakan with the local Tekstilshchik. Here is how the arrival of the famous "Temp" in this city is described by the striker of the Yerevan "Dynamo" of the 40-50s I. Mkrtchyan: "On that day, a festive mood reigned throughout the city, especially in the area of" textile workers ". In those years, in the team" Temp" was played by many Armenians, with some of whom I was lucky to play together in 1946-47: Artem Falyan ("Cannon"), who later was the head coach of "Ararat"; Artash Amirjanov and Artem Markarov (father of Eduard Markarov ), who later played in Yerevan "Spartak", and then in "Dynamo". Oganov ("Steam Engine") also played in "Tempe". The field of war Oganov worked in Yerevan as the chairman of the "Spartak" society, and then as deputy chairman of the Sports Committee Armenian SSR.

Despite the fact that the “textile workers” lost this game, they learned a lot from the players of “Tempo”, because this team was the national team of a large industrial city. We, young football players, have also learned a lot from them."

Returning home, Baku residents made a stop in Tbilisi, where they played three matches with the best teams in the city over four days.

In the first meeting, the Baku team won against the team of the ZII (Transcaucasian Industrial Institute) - 5:2. The next day, Tbilisi newspapers noted the excellent game of the guests, but knowing the defense of the "builders" in their performance in February 1936 against the city's national team (then the "builders" lost with a score of 3: 0), no one could imagine that a short training camp in Yerevan can give such good results. Baku demonstrated the high class and solidity of the team.

In the second match, the Baku team met with Lokomotiv, reinforced by several players from the Tbilisi national team. A. Halperin wrote in the newspaper "Dawn of the East": "Despite the fact that the match ended in a draw, the Baku team showed their superiority in this match. Two systems of play were clearly demonstrated in this match. The Lokomotiv team demonstrated its unjustified On the other hand, the “builders” team showed an effective, completely correct longitudinal pass of the ball with a change of places in the attack line.

Comrade Markarov showed himself to be a great master of such a game, who brought balls to his partners on a "plate" ...

Tbilisi team player Comrade Shota Shavgulidze (Dynamo) played for Lokomotiv, who showed a rough but excellent game and saved Lokomotiv from defeat.

10,000 spectators gathered for the next game between Baku and Dynamo, which took place on Sunday, May 6. The honor of the hosts was at stake and, of course, the match ended 1-0 in favor of Dynamo. The goal was scored from a penalty kick. The practice of 11-meter shots was already well practiced by the Tbilisi team. Three months later, the outcome of the meeting of these teams in the USSR Cup was decided by two similar penalties against the Baku team. But more about this match later.

On May 30, the "Azerbaijani Sportsman" newspaper, on the eve of the all-Baku Spartakiad, published photographs of the ten most "notable football players of Baku". Two of them represented the Dynamo team, and eight were the builders, including six of our compatriots headed by Markarov.

The Union Championship of 1936 (spring) in group "B" started on May 24 and lasted exactly one month. In three games at home and four away, the Baku team scored four wins, two losses and one draw and took second place, which gave them the right to play in group B in the autumn championship of the country. Major victories were won over Kharkiv "Spartak" - 6:2 and "coal miners" from Stalino (Donbass team) - 5:0. The last meeting took place in Gorlovka. The excellent game of the southerners was reflected in the notes of local newspapers telling about this match: "The spectators warmly welcomed the Baku football players. Their team, which mainly consisted of Armenians, showed a high class of play with an energetic attack and a skillful, precisely calculated pass. They were especially good" edge of the "Baku team".

In July, the first draw of the USSR Cup started. In the 1/32 finals, the Baku team in Krivoy Rog outplayed the local Dynamo with a score of 5:2. At 1/16 they were waiting for their old friends-rivals - Dinamo Tbilisi. The match was held in Tbilisi on the third of August. The Baku team played in the same line-up as in the match with Kriy Rog: Makagonov, Korotkov, Mikaelyan, Shibaev, Petrosyan, Babayan, Oganyan, Stepanyan, Markarov, Amirdzhanov, Sarkisov. Already in the ninth minute of the game, Aram Stepanyan (Stepanov) opens the scoring. But after eight minutes, the first 11-meter kick is assigned to the gates of Baku residents. The teams went to the break with the score 1:1. In the second half, on the 67th minute, the referee of the meeting, Muscovite Ryabokon, appoints another 11-meter kick to the gates of Baku. Tbilisi leads 2:1. It seems that the fate of the match is decided. But Baku residents do not give up, and in the last minute of the second half, after an excellent pass by Markarov, Amirjanov equalizes the score - 2:2. Additional time is assigned. And three minutes later Mikhail Aslamazov from Tbilisi managed to pass the decisive ball into the gates of his Baku compatriots - 3:2.

On September 3, the autumn championship of the Soviet Union started. As expected, the Baku team performed well in it and ended up in second place in the final standings, losing only one point to the winner - the Moscow team "SiM" (in a personal meeting, "Temp" outplayed the Muscovites with a score of 2:1). The Baku team lost this point in Leningrad, having played with the local Spartak in a draw - 1:1. In the game with the Muscovites, the southerners conceded a goal again from the 11-meter mark, and the return ball was held by Markarov. This lost point did not allow "Tempo" to fight for the title of USSR champion in group "A" the next year.

The season of 1936 "Temp" ended with a victory in the autumn all-Baku draw, gaining 13 points out of 15 possible. The champions were: Makagonov, Mikaelyan, Petrosyan, Korotkov, Shibaev, Babayan, Ogaja-nyan, Yengibaryan, Markarov, Oganyan, Stepanyan, Amirdzhanov, Khanaferyan, Sarkisyan, Arakelyan. At the end of the season, Ikonnikov, Reich, Patsevich joined the team from Dynamo.

In April 1937, four Baku teams - "Temp", "Neftchik", "Dinamo" and "Lokomotiv", preparing to play in the USSR Cup, played a number of control matches. Stubborn resistance to "Tempo" was rendered in these matches by "Oilman", which was based on former players of the famous "Progress". The attack of the team was led by Konstantin Kitaev, whose brother and wife told me a lot about the "childish" years of Baku football (Konstintin Kitaev died in World War II).

That game in April 1937 "Temp" won with great difficulty - 2:1. Then the second match took place and, despite the fact that the oil workers were reinforced by players from other teams, Markarov and his comrades inflicted a crushing defeat on them - 5: 1.

On May 23, the USSR Cup took off. In the 1/64 finals "Temp" in Yerevan outplayed the local team "Builder" with a score of 5:1. In 1/32 Baku team again had to play on the road. Their rival was the well-known Tbilisi Lokomotiv. Playing away, and even more so in Tbilisi, is always difficult, and as a result - a loss with a score of 1:3.

But in the Union Championship, the team did well. As in the past year, only a point separated the winner of group "B" "Temp". The team was in third place and received the right to enter the country's football elite.

CHAPTER 5

1938-1939 "Temp"

We each had our favorite on the team. Some have permanent Dynamo captain Viktor Patsevich, others have Artem Markarov.

Tofig Bakhramov

Akinsky's "Temp" seemed to me to be the most worthy, but the most unfortunate team in the world.

Alexander Kiknadze

"Tempo" tempo temperamentally.

From the "chants" of the fans

So, in 1938, "Temp" got the right to fight for the title of champion of the USSR and the challenge banner of the All-Union Committee. Sports leaders of Baku decided to strengthen the team with the best players in the city. The "Armenian" "Temp" was replenished with Slavic brothers: Kuznetsov, Belyaev, Orlov, Nifontov, Gudkov and Shi-kin.

The first pancake usually comes out lumpy. The first match of "Tempo" in the Soyuz championship was no exception. The unexpected loss of Baku residents (0:2) at the native stadium to the Rostov "Dynamo" marred the celebration of the football holiday. So I'll be happy to talk about the team's second game.

On May 17, at the Dynamo stadium, once located (the stadium was demolished in the 50s and a vast square was first laid out in its place, and then a hotel was built) not far from Baku Bay, Temp hosted the Stalingrad Tractor. The two opposite stands of the stadium, designed for three thousand spectators, were overcrowded. Over five thousand spectators watched the game. From the very first minutes, "Temp" led the attack on the gates of the guests, and already in the second minute Belyaev did not use a good pass from Amirdzhanov. A couple of minutes after the lightning-fast combination started by Markarov, the ball from Stepanyan's foot goes to the top corner, but ... Traktor's goalkeeper Usov takes it with a brilliant throw. This match was well described by the correspondent of "Athlete": "The midfield plays very well in the Temp team, which keeps up with the ball everywhere and accurately serves it to the attackers. Temp continues to attack. In the 13th minute, Markarov makes a pass to left flank Amirdzhanov bypasses the defense and passes the ball to a free Sarkisov, who sends it wide of the goal.

At the 17th minute, Usov brilliantly takes the ball from Amirdzhanov. At the 23rd minute, Sarkisov again misses the opportunity to open an account. The pressure of "Tempo" does not weaken, but all the blows of the attack do not reach the goal.

On the 28th minute, Stepanyan receives the ball from Belyaev and shoots wide of the goal. At the 31st minute, Amirdzhanov did not use the dangerous position at the gates of Traktor, who sent the ball above the gate.

The energetic game of the people of Baku is giving the first results. In the 37th minute, Sarkisov successfully passes along the edge and passes the ball to the center. Belyaev, who came running to the stormy applause of the audience, scores the first goal for the guests.

... After the break, the Baku team immediately transferred the game to the side of the Stalingrad team. Amirdzhanov has the ball. He quickly moves it to the right edge. The confusion of the guests' defense gives Belyaev the opportunity to come forward and score the second goal with an accurate blow into the left corner of the goal.

... After an unsuccessful collision, Stepanyan leaves the field and is replaced by Khanaferyan. At the 14th minute at the gates of Stalingrad, a dangerous situation. Amirjanov, having bypassed the defense of the guests with the ball, is left alone with the goalkeeper Usov, who ran out of the goal, but, getting excited, beats past the empty goal.

In the future, despite the active actions in the attack of the Stalingraders, the reliable play of the Baku defense and their goalkeeper Makagonov made it possible to bring the game to victory. The game ended with a convincing victory for "Temp" with a score of 2:0. Unfortunately, then the Baku team lost points in matches with obvious outsiders. In the game with the Moscow team "Wings of the Soviets", the Baku team led with a score of 2:0, did not convert the 11-meter throw and tied - 2:2. In Leningrad, in the game with the local "Spartak", the Baku team again had a big advantage, but once again they did not use the 11-meter (Kuznetsov), and as a result, again a draw - 0:0. "Athlete" wrote: ". If Makagonov played accurately enough, then this cannot be said about the defenders of Mikaelyan and Kuznetsov. They did an excellent job with the attack of the enemy, but when they passed the ball they sinned with strong blows, without a specific direction ... Orlov in the place of the left midfielder was impeccable "we think he's a midfield player, not an attacker. It's not clear why such a strong midfield center like Petrosyan plays a third defender? With his natural gifts, he could do much more with the right choice of place. Satisfactorily played Agadzhanyan: With respect to the attack in this game, it is difficult to single out anyone other than Amirdzhanov and Markarov, who played conscientiously. Stepanyan was inaccurate. Belyaev and Agayev played mediocre and without special tactics. Sargsyan was also weak.

This game convinced that Amirdzhanov plays more on the edge than inside. In this meeting, "Temp" again failed to use a penalty. Due to the inability to punch the ball, they lost many points in the championship. It is necessary in the near future to single out one of the players who has sufficiently developed this shot.

The unpredictability of Baku residents was clearly manifested in the three games of "Tempo" in Moscow. If two draws with a score of 2:2 with "Stalinets" and especially with "Dynamo" can be attributed to the team's asset, then the defeat from the notorious outsider of the Moscow "Burevestnik" with a score of 0:1 cannot be called anything other than a sensation.

About the next game of Baku residents with the Leningrad "Zenith" a special conversation. The match took place on June 23 at the Leningrad Lenin Stadium on Petrovsky Island. The game was preceded by a rally dedicated to the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, and gymnastic performances by students of the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Culture and the College of Physical Education.

The following was written in the program for the match about Tempe: “The fight for the 1937 football championship in group B was interesting and stubborn throughout the calendar. And in this “battle” of teams that are not inferior in class to the teams of group A ", the first violin was played by the Baku "Temp".

The name of the Baku team, I must say, corresponds to its game. The frantic pressure with which Temp falls on its opponents is familiar to our Spartak, our Stalinets, and the eternal rival of the Baku team - Rostov Dynamo and Moscow Torpedo. None of them could withstand the onslaught of the temperamental southerners, all these teams left the field defeated.

The position of today's opponents of “Zenith” is not so bad – 8 points out of 8 games. True, it should be noted that "Tempo" plays unevenly. Losses to the Moscow Burevestnik and at home to the Rostov Dynamo significantly delayed the advancement of Tempo in the USSR championship points table. In the future, our guests achieved great success in the match with last year's champion of the country - Moscow "Dynamo" (2:2), but after that they hardly tied with the same result with the obviously weakest team "Stalinets" of Moscow.

Inconsistency in the game is very typical for Baku residents this season. However, from their match with "Zenith", the swiftness of which is not inferior to the assertiveness of "Tempo", we still expect a tense and exciting fight."

The festive mood was transferred to the Tempe players, and they showed an excellent game, beating Zenit with a score of 1:0. But Baku residents did not rejoice for long. Residents of Leningrad, citing poor refereeing, protested the result of the meeting. Football functionaries in Moscow accepted the protest. The teams were to have a replay, but the offended Bakuvians did not show up for it, and a defeat was counted to them. Prejudice against southerners was obvious. In the championships of the USSR, a great many protests were filed, but only a few of them were satisfied.

As it usually happens before the start of the new season, in 1938 the functionaries prepared to resolutely punish violators and rude people to the fullest extent of the law, up to imprisonment (in paragraph 17 of the Regulations on the draw, this was stated as follows: "In the case of rude, malicious game - are held criminally liable"). Of course, they were not going to plant anyone, although there were many reasons for this. Here is one example. After the match "Burevestnik" - "Stakhanovets" the players of the Moscow team beat the captain of "Stakhanovets" Bikezin right on the field. Officials limited themselves to disqualifying two fighters until the end of the season. Due to the confusion in the football economy, the players expelled from the field appeared on the field in the next game as if nothing had happened. So it was with the Leningrader Fedorov, the Kievan Kalach, the Muscovite Ponomarev ...

Spectators in some cities also showed excessive aggressiveness. Here, the stadiums in Kharkov, Lokomotiv in Moscow, the Rostov stadium named after Stalin, where spectators threw stones at the players of the Moscow Torpedo, managed to “distinguish themselves”. These were not isolated cases, and football functionaries did not dare to disqualify at least one stadium.

It was written in black and white in the drawing regulations that the teams that took the last two places leave group "A". Most of the teams did not claim the title of Union champion. Their main task was not to fall below the saving 24th place. But after the championship "passed over the equator", football officials decided that not two teams, but 14 (!), would leave group "A". But they announced this only in mid-July, when many teams had already played more than half of all matches!

Now let's think about it. Did “Tempo” in such an environment of football chaos have a chance to keep a place in group “A”? I think that I will not be mistaken if I say - none.

Even two points taken away in the match with Zenit would allow Tempo to rise four steps higher in the final table and take 15th place, and so - 19th and - goodbye, the elite of Soviet football.

But the "miracles" arranged by the All-Union Committee did not stop there. At the beginning of the 1939 season, one of the 14 drowned men, the Leningrad Electric, was "revitalized", and after two rounds of the new championship had passed, another Leningrad team, the Stalinets, received the status of a "returner". The chronicler of Soviet football Aksel Vartanyan wrote very well about this: “Who can count how many times the rules written in the Regulations were violated? If at the same time you manage to count all the records set in 1938, you would be very grateful. ! — as in 1938".

If the conversation went about records, then one cannot fail to mention one more set in this championship by the Tbilisi Lokomotiv. In 25 games, the team took 21 penalties, that is, in almost every match, a 11-meter penalty! Amazing record, isn't it?

Remembering the championship of the 38th year, it is impossible not to mention the Armenian judges, about the clear refereeing of which the same Aksel Vartanyan wrote interestingly: “The torpedo players finished the match with the Tbilisi “Locomotive” without three players. The “co-author” of this record was Paruyr Parsadanov from Baku - the only Soviet referee who dared to remove three players from one team (moreover, two already in the first half), which was also the owner of the field! That's how fearless our referees were."

“Emotions were overflowing (this is about the Dynamo (Tbilisi) - Metallurg (Moscow) match. - A.G.) referee Ashot Arakelov was forced to remove one player from each team from the field and appoint three penalties. By the middle of the second half, the Muscovites were leading 2: 0. But the striker of Tbilisi, Mikhail Berdzenishvili, decided not to subject the Spartak team to new tests (the fact is that if the Muscovites won in this meeting, they scored an equal number of points with their countrymen from " Spartak", and there would have been a replay for the title of champion of the USSR. - A.G.). First, he clearly converted two penalties, and then, to be sure, scored the third goal, depriving Metallurg of any hope. Desperate Muscovites protested the match, accusing Arakelov of all grave sins.On November 6, Spartak became the champion for the second time.But he found out about it a few days later, when the protest of Metallurg was rejected.

“On May 22, in Tbilisi, the local Lokomotiv hosted Wings of the Soviets. The Muscovites achieved a significant advantage and led 3-0 a quarter of an hour before the end. But the hosts scored one goal, then another. There were still five minutes to play and , having felt that it was possible to save the game, they all in a crowd fell on the gates of the "Wings". They fought back as best they could and kept the winning score. But the referee of the meeting, Mirangulyan from Yerevan did not give a whistle. The 90th minute, the 91st , 92nd, 93rd... It became clear that the game would go on until the goal, but there was still no goal.Suddenly, one of the Lokomotiv players collapsed in the penalty area "Mirangulyan immediately awarded a penalty. 3:3. Muscovites protested the meeting. The referee was suspended until the end of the season, the protest was satisfied, but the matter never came to a replay."

Finally, it was the turn of the story about the 1938 USSR Cup.

In the 1/32 finals, the opponent of "Tempo" was chosen by lot, the Stalingrad team "Tractor", which had just been beaten in the championship. The Volzhans, remembering the strength of the Baku people, refused to fight. But the Baku residents did not manage to avoid meeting with the Stalingraders, since already in 1/16 they now got Dynamo from the city of the "father of peoples" as rivals. The main and added time of this match, taking place in Stalingrad, ended in a draw - 0:0. The next day the match continued, and the Baku team nevertheless proved that it was not for nothing that they played in Group A. "Temp" won with a score of 1:0 and reached the 1/8 finals of the Cup, where they were waiting for the strongest team of the Union, the champion and winner of the Cup of the country - Moscow "Spartak". Memories of this match were left by the famous striker of "Tempa" Artashes Minasovich Amirdzhanov: "It was a legendary match of the 1/8 finals of the USSR Cup in 1938. Moscow" Spartak "is the champion of the country, located at the zenith of glory and playing at home, could not do anything with us. In the way of the famous Spartak forwards Glazkov, Stepanov, Semenov, Sokolov, our goalkeeper Valentin Makagonov stood like an impenetrable wall. Pavel Reich, Georgy Korotkov, Artem Markarov, in a word, the whole team played excellently. after the break, our defender Fedor Nifontov was removed from the field, and we were left with ten men, the regular time ended in a draw - 0: 0. And only in the second half of extra time did Spartak manage to score the winning goal.

"Tempo" lived up to its name. This is a fast and technical team that put up a worthy resistance to the champion, "wrote one of the capital's newspapers. For an excellent game in the USSR Cup, the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Construction Workers awarded the Tempa players, but the best gift for them was a warm welcome from the fans in hometown.

CHAPTER 6

1939 -1940 "Temp" ("Builder of the South")

1941-1945 Dynamo (Baku)

1942 - Eduard Markarov was born

1943 - Artem Markarov was awarded the title of "Master of Sports of the USSR"

The versatile and virtuoso player Artem Agalarovich Markarov left a deep mark on our football.

Georgy Poghosyan

Time colors the memories of the past in some of its own tones, but even now I cannot forget the quiet joy that Artem Markarov's game brought.

Alexander Alexandrov

Artem Markarov is an unusually gifted forward, a quiet and laconic person in life.

Alexander Kiknadze

The struggle for the USSR Cup in 1939 began in Kyiv, where in the 1/32 finals he managed to defeat the local Lokomotiv. On the first day, due to the onset of darkness, the match was not played, and the next day, the Baku team brought the game to a victory -1:0.

In 1/16, "Temp" defeated their countrymen from "Locomotive" with a score of 7:0.

In 1/8, Baku players played in Kharkov with the local Dynamo. The main time of the match ended in a draw - 1:1, and the onset of darkness did not allow to play in extra time (there were no lighting in the stadiums at that time). The next day, as in Kyiv, the Baku team did not miss their chance, beating the Kharkiv team with a score of 2:1.

In the quarterfinals, "Tempu" got a weaker opponent - Tashkent "Dynamo". The game was played on a neutral field in Moscow. Having relaxed, the people of Baku suffered a humiliating defeat (1:2). Their old disease, unpredictability, had taken its toll. It's a pity, because in case of winning "Temp" would have played in the semi-final with more than once beaten Leningrad "Stalinets", and then a new duel with Moscow "Spartak", but in the final.

The return of “Tempo” to group “B” was not remembered by anything remarkable, with the exception, perhaps, of the first meeting in the USSR championship with the Yerevan “Spartak”, the attacks of which were led by the former Baku resident Hayk Andriasyan, who had transferred from the Moscow “Locomotive”. This game of fraternal teams (in the 30s they were such) was held in Baku on October 18 at the Dynamo stadium and ended with the victory of Baku residents - 2:0. Markarov opened the scoring in the match, and in the second half Belyaev consolidated the team's success.

I would like to write about one match, or rather, one goal. My grandfather, Khazizyan Stepan Kirillovich, a great football connoisseur, many years ago told me how in the 1939 USSR championship match between Tempo and Moscow Stalinets, Artem Markarov scored a goal, circling half the opponent’s team. I found confirmation of this later in the old files of Baku newspapers. Such "tricks" Artem Markarov often did. Alexander Kiknadze, the first correspondent of Soviet Sport in Baku, repeatedly recalled one of them: “Once in a match with the Leningrad Electric, it was, if my memory serves me, on May 5, 1940, Markarov circled three defenders and the goalkeeper and stopped the ball on the goal line. Becky and the goalkeeper were numb, and Markarov was waiting - his foot on the ball, his arms at his sides. And only then (when the goalkeeper tried to crawl towards him like a snake), as if suddenly remembering something, he sent a light blow ball into the net.

In the 1940 Union championship, "Temp" changed its sign and became known as "Builder of the South". From the name change, the team's game has not changed. Baku team held the championship confidently and took the third place in class "B". But the road to group "A" was ordered to Baku residents. Instead of them, for some reason, "invitation cards" were given to the teams of Kharkov, Odessa and Minsk, who took places from 4th to 6th in the standings?! This is how correspondents of Baku newspapers reviewed the last matches of the championship: “In the meeting between Stroitel and Dynamo Minsk, the beginning of the game did not bode well for Baku. For 15-20 minutes, the initiative in the game was on the side of Minsk, who scored one goal only at the end of the first half Markarov managed to level the score. went into the hands of the goalkeeper.

30 seconds before the end of the game, Orlov's breakthrough follows, a serve to the goal, the goalkeeper hits the ball, but Stepanyan, who has arrived in time, makes the score 2:1 in favor of the "Builder".

It should be noted the rough, unlawful play of the Dynamo team (grabbing clothes, pushing in the back, etc.) and the ugly hooligan behavior of a number of players towards the referee (insulting, spitting in his direction). 80-90 percent of the free kicks were given towards the Dynamo team, poorly judged by Terekhov (Moscow).

The meeting with the Burevestnik team (Moscow) promised to be interesting. A large number of spectators came to watch the match, but the first minutes of the game disappointed them.

The Baku fan has not seen anything like this for several years. The field resembled an arena where the Muscovites "hunted" for the players of the "Builder", who, unable to bear it, began to occasionally answer the same. Referee Skolznev failed to stop the rough actions in time, which clearly encouraged the game to continue in the same spirit. As a result, everything ended in a draw - 1:1.

The last meeting with "Torpedo" (Gorky) decided whether the Baku team would contest the second place in the group in the next match or give it to "Spartak". The stadium is packed as usual. Who will referee this match? A question that interested all viewers. The game started. The spectators, who had “worn out” in the previous match, zealously followed the game and the actions of the referee Balashov (Moscow).

Baku players play assertively and very often go to the gates of the Gorky team, creating dangerous chances. One combination is followed by another. And now Amirdzhanov gives the ball to Markarov, the one to Belyaev, who sends the ball into the corner of the net, opposite to the goalkeeper's throw.

In the second half, from the very beginning, the preponderance was on the side of the Torpedo team. The ball often stays in the half of the "Builder", but individual breakthroughs of the Baku team are very dangerous. In one of these breakthroughs, Amirdzhanov was left alone with the goalkeeper, but he was knocked down by a defender, and the referee appointed an 11-meter kick, which Belyaev clearly punches.

In the future, "Torpedo" spends the whole game on the half of the Baku team, but they fail to realize the advantage. The referee fixes the victory of "Builder" 2:0".

In the USSR Cup, the lot chose Moscow Burevestnik (1/8 finals) as rivals for the Baku team, but due to the protracted national championship, there was no time left for cup games, and not a single match was played.

This year, the bachelor life of Artem Markarov came to an end. He met his future wife in a swimming pool, where Berta Fradkina, a student of the Industrial Institute and a candidate for the Baku swimming team, came to train. The cult of pilots, football players and artists in the country of the Soviets of the pre-war period was generally accepted. Love and respect for them in those years could be compared, perhaps, only with the love for astronauts in the 60s. On the other hand, to marry the daughter of Grigory Fradkin, a well-known oil industry engineer in Baku, meant making a good match.

The couple lived together for twenty-four happy years. Great love gave birth to two wonderful children who glorified the name of the Markarovs far, far beyond the borders of their native city.

On June 20, 1942, the first-born appeared in the family - the future football star Eduard Markarov. Three years later, a second child was to be born, but fate was pleased to dispose otherwise.

Three-year-old Edik developed croup as a result of a severe cold. The child began to choke. The situation was critical, surgical intervention was required - tracheotomy. Suddenly, a cat appeared in the ward where Edik and his mother were. From delight and surprise, the child exclaimed: "Ah, mother, kitty!" - He got up on the bed. From positive stress, breathing became free, the croup disappeared. But even in the old days they said that happiness and unhappiness ride on the same runner. From sudden joy, Berta Grigorievna lost consciousness, and as a result of the fall, a miscarriage occurred. In the first minutes, Artem Agalarovich did not know whether to rejoice at the salvation of Edik or grieve over what had happened. “If you don’t know sorrow, you won’t know joy,” says the proverb. Life took its toll, and the family began to believe that God himself had ordered their fate.

Complete happiness came to the family after the birth of a girl, the future star of the Soviet volleyball Irina Markarova. The Markarov family was famous for its solidarity, insane love for each other. And now, when the parents are no longer alive, and the sister and brother live in different states, this love for each other has not weakened.

But back to football. The 1940 season was the last for the illustrious team, which had admirers in all corners of the Union. "Temp" ("Builder") was disbanded in connection with the liquidation of the DSO "Builder of the South". Most of the team's players moved to Dynamo. Returned from Yerevan to his native club and Hayk Andriasyan. For the first time, Artem Markarov and Hayk Andriasyan appeared on the football field as partners. Looking through the Baku newspapers of the pre-war years, I came across several information concerning the preparation for the season of the Baku Dynamo. Here is one of them - about a friendly match between Dynamo and Neftchik, which took place on April 4, 1941 at the Dynamo stadium crowded with spectators: "The first 20 minutes of the game the ball is alternately at both gates. and Agayeva create tense moments. In the middle of the first half, Dynamo's Andriasyan opens the scoring." Dynamo won this game with a score of 5:3. One of the goals against the oil workers was scored by Agaev with the help of Markarov, and the final goal with a score of 4:3 was scored by Patsevich from the penalty spot.

On June 22, 1941, a match between Dynamo and Moscow "Torpedo" was to take place in Baku. But this meeting did not take place: on the same day, many football players went to the front - Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Teammates Markarova-Stepanyan and Agaev gave their lives in the battles for the Motherland.

In 1942, football life (although the war was still going on) in the city resumed. Due to departmental affiliation (MVD), most of the Dynamo players remained in the city and performed rear work. The teams of Ordzhonikidze, Nalchik, Grozny, Leningrad began to come to Baku for friendly matches ...

Experienced football fans in Yerevan remember well the arrival of the Baku team in 1942, in which they saw Markarov, Amirjanov, Andriasyan, Kakosyan ... That meeting, despite the impressive line-up of Baku residents, was won by the Yerevan team with a score of 1:0. During the war years, Armenian and Baku football players would fight more than once on the football fields under the flags of the national teams of the republics (the Transcaucasian Games were held in 1943 in Yerevan) and clubs.

In 1943, the first football match in the war years was held in Baku: "Spartak" - "Dynamo". Before the game, the question arose - how to staff the teams? After all, most of the players at the front.

The Spartacists found themselves in a particularly difficult position. They had to put up a youth squad. Of course, the team of Markarov and Patsevich won the game, but the 19-year-old Spartak goalkeeper Vladimir Karmaev, a 19-year-old Spartak goalkeeper, was recognized as the hero of the match.

I note that this game was attended by the Chairman of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of the USSR A. Snegov.

In 1943, for successful long-term performances in All-Union competitions, Artem Markarov, Artashes Amirjanov and Viktor Patsevich were the first of the Baku football players to be awarded the honorary title of "Master of Sports of the USSR".

In 1944, the territory of the Soviet Union was cleared of the "brown plague". It was decided to hold All-Union competitions for the USSR Cup. Preparing for these competitions, Baku residents held several control games. One of them in Yerevan with local teammates ended in a goalless draw. In the 1/16 finals Baku "Dynamo" met with their Rostov teammates, who this time played under the banner of the Taganrog "Zenith". The game was held in Rostov and ended with a convincing victory for the Baku team - 5:1. The next rival of the Baku team was Dynamo Tbilisi. Georgian athletes, who had lost a friendly match to the Baku team shortly before, arrived in a combat squad led by Paichadze and Dzhedzhelava. It was said that the guests were so sure of their victory that they bought train tickets to Leningrad in advance (the future opponent was already known). But the tickets had to be returned. On that day, August 6, the Dynamo stadium could not accommodate everyone. Baku Dynamo in that cup match flashed high technique, speed, and most importantly - the will to win. Artem Markarov, Pyotr Klintsov, Artashes Amirdzhanov, Viktor Patsevich and Fyodor Vorobyov played superbly.

The match was held in an exceptionally interesting and sharp struggle. In the first half of the game, Amirjanov made the guests start from the center with a brilliant shot from 25 meters. Shortly after the break, the young striker of the Baku team Korolyov doubled the result at the suggestion of Markarov. The Tbilisians responded with a swift counter-offensive, but they were able to "wet" the score only a few minutes before the end. Baku residents won a well-deserved victory with a score of 2:1.

The quarter-final match in "northern Palmyra" ended with the victory of the future owner of the USSR Cup - "Zenith" with a score of - 1:0.

The start of the first post-war USSR championship in the second group, where Dynamo Baku was supposed to play, was scheduled for May 31. Before that, Baku residents held several tentative matches, one of them was witnessed by the correspondent of the Baku newspaper E. Khachiyan: "At the invitation of the Committee of Physical Culture and Sports, the team of the Tbilisi House of the Red Army arrived in Baku, which has victories over the strongest teams in the country - Tbilisi Dynamo" , Stalingrad "Tractor" and others.

At 6:15 pm on May 14, Tbilisi football players enter the football field, followed by the football players of the Sports Order of Lenin of the Dynamo Society (Baku). The game started at an exceptionally fast pace. On the fifth minute, the right midfielder Falyan (Baku) passes the ball to the left winger Kuznetsov with an accurate blow. Followed by a shot at the opponent's goal. Tbilisi goalkeeper V.Ikonnikov (former Bakuvian. - A.G.) failed to keep the ball.

Guests start the game from the center. They create several dangerous moments at the Baku gates. The situation is saved by Devlyashev, Petrosyan, Klintsov, Patsevich. But here is the ball from Markarov (Baku). He beautifully circles three players from the Tbilisi team one after another and passes the ball to Korolev, who runs from the left, who immediately scores the second goal.

Before the applause subsided, Vorobyov scored the third goal against the guests. Soon, the Tbilisians also manage to score a return ball into the gates of Baku.

In the second half Viktor Patsevich hits the 11-meter kick. The strike was made with exceptional force and precision. The goalkeeper's attempt to take the ball was unsuccessful. The score is 4:1 in favor of Baku residents.

The further process of the game, which is very interesting, did not change the result.

The meeting was exceptionally clear by the judge of the All-Union category Comrade. A. Arakelov".

Arakelov Ashot Dzhangirovich - Honored Trainer of the USSR, judge of the All-Union category, holder of the Honorary Judicial Badge. For many years he worked as an executive secretary and head coach of the Football Federation of Armenia, was the head of the Ararat team. For more than 10 years he was a member of the Council of the Football Federation of the USSR (1959-70). Ashot Dzhangirovich played a big role in the development of mass football in Baku and Armenia, did a lot for the training of referees in the republics of Transcaucasia.

In the championship of 1945 Baku "Dinamo" did not show itself in any way. In the final table, Baku residents took 14th place. The best club in Baku never sank so low in the USSR championships.

Baku team started in the championship in Yerevan on May 3rd. From the very first minutes of the meeting, the initiative was taken by the home team, who brought down large forces on the gates of the guests. But the defense of the Baku people acted clearly, and their counterattacks were dangerous. In one of these attacks, taking advantage of the mistake of the defender of Yerevan Ashot Khachatryan, Artem Markarov opened the scoring of the match. But after a few minutes, the Yerevanians equalized the score. This was done by the captain of the hosts Hayk Andriasyan (he returned to Yerevan again in 1943) with a magnificent long-range shot from 30 meters. In the future, despite all the efforts of the opponents, the score did not change - 1:1.

Summing up the results of the championship, Alexander Kiknadze wrote: “The players of Dynamo Baku started the games in the USSR championship in the second group with a series of draws. After returning to Baku, she won three matches in a row.

The first half of the match "Wings of the Soviets" (Molotov) - "Dynamo" (Baku), held on September 5, was held with an undeniable advantage of the Baku team. They often attacked the gates of the guests, but the long-standing illness of the forwards - the inability to quickly navigate the opponent's penalty area and score a goal - for a long time did not make it possible to open an account. And this could be done in the seventh minute by the right winger Ghazaryan, in the 10th minute by Korolev and twice Abrahamyan. In the middle of the first half, referee Koltunov (Leningrad) assigns an 11-meter kick to the goal of "Wings of the Soviets". Penalties in the Baku team are always successfully implemented by the master of sports Patsevich. But a few minutes before that, he was shot down and replaced by Smirnov. Fallan approaches the ball. He hits sharply and irresistibly - into the corner of the goal. Score 1:0 in favor of Dynamo.

For a while, the initiative passes to the guests. They attack mainly with the right wing. Their attacks are more thought out and give the players of the Baku defense a lot of anxiety. Strongly beaten by Mikhailov (“Wings of the Soviets”), goalkeeper Devlyashev perfectly took the ball into the top corner of the goal.

In the second half, the picture changes. Guests are making every effort to recoup. One attack is replaced by another, but they do not reach the goal. The defensive lines of the Baku team, and especially Petrosyan, Klintsov and Falyan, successfully fend off these attacks, Devlyashev also plays well. At one of the dangerous moments, Devlyashev boldly threw himself on the ball and got injured. The place at the gate is taken by Makagonov.

When 4 minutes were left before the end of the game, the Baku team managed to successfully play a combination and bring the ball close to the opponent's goal. But this outbreak (in the second half, the Dynamo defended almost all the time) ended in vain. Korolev, left face to face with the goalkeeper, managed to shoot past. With a score of 1:0, this tense match ended. Dynamo victory was given with great difficulty. In the score 1:0, the attacking players are to blame (of which Markarov distinguished himself with a thoughtful game and accurate passes of the ball), who did not use many opportunities to increase the score in this match.

The team pleased with a single purposeful will to win. And the Dynamo players could not boast of this before."

In the USSR Cup, in the 1/16 finals, the Baku team hosted the Sverdlovsk "Zenith" at home. This game was remembered by many as a kind of benefit performance of Artem Markarov, who scored a goal and showed a virtuoso game. To avoid accusations of glorifying Artem Markarov, I turn to dry newspaper notes: "The harsh rules of the USSR Football Cup gave great interest to the match of the Dynamo Baku team with the Sverdlovsk Zenit. The first half of the game did not give a result However, during the next 45 minutes, the Baku team scored two goals against the guests, not letting a single one in. The first goal was scored by S. Smirnov, the second - by A. Markarov.

The match was very tense. Of the Baku residents, the heroes of the game were goalkeeper V. Devlyashev, defender S. Petro-syan and forward A. Markarov. Devlyashev, as in the previous match, took two very dangerous balls for Dynamo. Petrosyan did an excellent job as a defender. His passes of the ball are always accurate, it would not hurt to learn from him the attacking players Korolev and Ghazaryan.

A ball of rare beauty was scored against Zenit in the last minute by Markarov.

Some football fans remember the match for the championship of the USSR in 1939 between the teams of the Moscow "Stalints" and the Baku "Temp". In this meeting, Markarov scored a goal, circling three defenders and approaching the goalkeeper by 3-4 meters. Roughly the same thing happened in the reporting match. And this time Markarov circled several Zenit players and doubled the score with a strong blow. A few seconds later the referee blew the final whistle. The audience applauded Markarov's virtuoso performance for a long time."

The 1/8 final match with Alma-Ata "Dynamo" was held in Krasnodar. The Baku team lost 1:2 to a team they hadn't even heard of. The tradition of losing to weak opponents continued.

For many years, Dynamo has been the flagship of Baku, and, therefore, of the republican football. Dynamo set the tone not only in football, but in the entire sports life of the city. No other society in those years had such a sports base as Dynamo. In the center of the city there was a stadium, playgrounds and the building of the society itself. Sports life here did not die out even in the evening hours. Even during training, a lot of fans gathered in the stands of the stadium. Admirers of the filigree technique of Markarov and the cannon strikes of Patsevich and Falyan came to the training sessions of their favorite team from all over the city. For a long time, legends were made about Patsevich, which told about his "deadly" blow. As for the future honored coach of the USSR Artem Falyan, he was nicknamed "The Gun" for his super-powerful blow.

This trio of wonderful football players at the beginning of 1946 headed the examination board for admission to the ranks of young Dynamo players. Those wishing to wear a T-shirt with the magic letter "D" were more than enough. Among these boys was my future father-in-law, Ernest Petrosyan, from whom I learned the details of this selection.

Devotion to football among the Dynamo was so fanatical that it sometimes manifested itself in extravagant forms. In those years, tattoos depicting celebrities of the time came into fashion in the Soviet Union. So, on the forearm of Ernest Petrosyan, his famous Moscow teammate Konstantin Beskov was depicted.

In the forties there were no junior and youth teams in Baku equal to Dynamo. Alik Musaelyan, Oleg Mkrtychev (both then briefly played in Dynamo Yerevan), Ernest Baba-khanyan, Anatoly Paramoshkin, Manoli Pavlidi, Mikhail Sarkisov (later became the honored volleyball coach of the republic) played for the club. In fairness, it should be noted that at first the Dynamo players were often outplayed by the Spartak team trained by Benik Sargsyan and then Ashot Abrahamyan. Alik Mammadov, Yuri Samvelyan, Konstantin Kachanov then played in Spartak, then Sedvald Babayan (in the 60s the captain of the Yerevan Ararat), Alexei Balayan (a judge of the All-Union category), Arnold Musaelyan, Zurab Mikuchadze, Yuri Chistokhvalov and Alexander Grigoryan (People's Artist and Laureate of the State Prize of Armenia, Honored Art Worker of Russia, Artistic Director of the State Russian Drama Theater in Yerevan).

CHAPTER 7

1946 Spartak (Yerevan)

1946-1947 Dynamo (Yerevan)

Artem Markarov - Champion of the Republic of Armenia in 1946

Artem Markarov - winner of the Armenian Cup in 1946

Artem Markarov - Champion of the Republic of Armenia in 1947

Artem Markarov - winner of the Armenian Cup in 1947

Artem Markarov stood out in our team. He possessed a fantastic technique, saw the field perfectly, was our "conductor". With his passes he made us run, open up. And he was a personal person. I think that in those years Markarov and Paichadze were the best players in the Transcaucasus.

Hakob Chalikyan

There were a lot of good players on the team. But I would especially note Artem Markarov. An honest, highly cultured person, he was correct on the football field. He was distinguished by strong technique and tactics. Among us, perhaps, he was the coolest player.

Ilyich Mkrtchyan

The football season of 1946 in Yerevan began with the "Baku landing". Goalkeeper Vasily Devlyashev and defender Pyotr Klintsov moved to Dynamo. Artem Markarov, Artashes Amirjanov, Ashot Abramov, Artem Falyan and Vladimir Khanaferyan were invited to Spartak. This "Spartak" five, on the instructions of the Chairman of the Sports Committee of Armenia Grigory Simonyan, was "lured" to Yerevan by the captain and goal-keeper of "Spartak" Gazaros Teknejyan. Settled recruits in the best hotel in Yerevan - "Intourist". They were given new uniforms and... coupons for extra rations (the time was post-war, hungry). They ate at the expense of the Sports Committee.

The start of the Union Championship in the second group, where Dynamo Yerevan played, was scheduled for May 9. In the third group, Yerevan "Spartak" and Leninakan's "Dynamo" were supposed to join the fight. Before the start of the championship, it was decided to hold a meeting between the eternal opponents - Dynamo and Spartak. The Dynamo stadium was overcrowded, many football fans were left behind. The match was attended by the party and Soviet leadership of the republic.

From the very first minutes, a tough struggle ensued, at times turning into outright rudeness. There were small local skirmishes. In the middle of the second half, three players were removed from Dynamo for rudeness, and two from Spartak. A few minutes before the end of the match, with the score 3:2 in favor of Dynamo, the defender of this club, Nikolai Bogatello, was seriously injured. It was no longer possible to replace him (at that time only one replacement was allowed) and the game had to be interrupted. The next day, football leaders and players of both teams were summoned to the city committee of the party. Work was carried out with them, and after a week the second game was correct and gave everyone aesthetic pleasure. The forces of the teams were approximately equal, which was reflected in the final result of the match - 1:1. The sports management decided to strengthen Dynamo with the best players of Spartak. Before the second round of the Union Championship, Hakob Chalikyan and five Baku residents moved to Dynamo. But not all of them managed to gain a foothold in the team. Falyan and Khanaferyan returned to Baku. At the end of the season they were joined by Devlyashev (played 24 games for the team), Klintsov (10 games) and Abramov (3 games). Markarov and Amirjanov remained in Yerevan.

With the appearance in the team of Markarov, the playing style of the Yerevan residents changed, became more combinational, meaningful. Masterfully mastering the art of passing, he forced his comrades to run, to open up more. At that time, it was customary to dribble the ball with the inside of the foot, and Markarov led and made passes with the outside, having no idea that this was characteristic only of the magicians of the leather ball.

In November, after the completion of the national championship, the leaders of Dynamo Yerevan and Tbilisi agreed to hold two friendly matches in Yerevan. For experienced Markarov, Amirjanov, Andriasyan, the meeting with the Tbilisi players was familiar, but for the majority of Yerevan footballers, the game against Paichadze, Dzhedzhelava, Gogoberidze, Antadze, Berdzenishvili, Panyukov became a good school. In view of the fact that Devlyashev left and the Yerevan team was left without a goalkeeper, Harutyun Kelejyan was summoned from the Tbilisi ODO especially for these two games. The first game, which was judged by Yerevan's head coach Mikhail Sushkov, was won by Tbilisi - 2:0, and in the second game Dynamo Yerevan took revenge - 4:1 (Martirosyan from Yerevan judged the match). The gentlemanly play of the teams was noted by both the Armenian and Georgian press.

Even after the first meeting, despite the defeat of Yerevan, the head coach of Tbilisi Andro Zhordaniya told Mikhail Sushkov: “Your guys are playing great! You know, they just have to wait for the stars in the sky to turn a little. guys, believe me, they will wait for a lucky horoscope. They will definitely enter the class "A" and still show themselves.

Jordania was right. Two years later, the residents of Yerevan won the right to play in the "A" class.

Merited Master of Sports Mikhail Pavlovich Sushkov left wonderful memories of this time: “Never and nowhere have I received such pleasure from work as here in Yerevan. The industriousness of these guys was amazing. "the most people I've ever worked with who were willing to do general physical training. After class, they were always tormented by the feeling that they hadn't done enough. Call them to practice at night and they'd be happy to run. I once said to myself It is enough to look at the blooming garden, which this nation has grown literally on bare stones.

… The internal discipline of my Yerevan students gave the team a rare discipline. I didn't know this problem here. If there was any concern on this score, it was only to remain on the level yourself.

And there was one more thing that evoked sympathy in me: modesty. It sparkled, sparkled everywhere, manifested itself in any expression. In respect, reverence for elders, in punctuality, diligence, in views on ourselves. I believe that this property is also a product of great diligence. They are accustomed to reap the benefits only if they put in the work. And they do not appreciate those that are given easily, without effort. Therefore, many of the virtues given to them by nature were sometimes looked at with a touch of slight irony.

Strange: working in the "cognac" region, for the first time I encountered a complete absence of the so-called regime problem. I don’t remember a case when someone came to a training session, not to mention a game, with eyes that expressed a hangover weakness, trembling fingers, “it is not known” where the signs of shortness of breath came from. I just forgot what it could be.

... Hot, temperamental, proud people are born under the hot sun of Armenia, with a heightened sense of their own dignity, honor, with a reverent attitude towards the threshold of their own home and with an increased demand for the concept of solidarity.

In that memorable year for Sushkov, for the first time in Yerevan, a photo postcard was issued with the image of the leaders and football players of the team. The main line-up of the team was as follows: Devlyashev, Andriasyan, Kakosyan, Kapidi (Pilipenko), Karamatazyan, Zastukhov, Haykyan, Amirjanyan, Durgaryan, Markaryan, Chalikyan.

In winter, on the initiative of Zastukhov and Pilipenko, Dynamo football players created a hockey (bandy) team that played on equal terms with the best teams in the city of Leninakan, the recognized center of bandy in the republic. Artem Markarov also indulged in winter fun, having received the first skills of this game back in Pyatigorsk.

Dynamo Yerevan began the season of 1947 with a new mentor (Muscovite Viktor Grechishnikov) and football numbers on their backs (before that, the players played "unnumbered"). Markarov got eight .. Center forward Nikolai Malakhov was invited from the Tbilisi ODO. Young Sergey Zatikyan, Ilyich Mkrtchyan and Armenak Dur-garyan joined the team.

“I was well received in the team. And the highly experienced Hayk Andriasyan, Artem Markarov and Artashes Amirdzhanov even took care of me at first,” recalls the famous goalkeeper Sergey Zatikyan. “I owe a lot to them, especially Markarov. every morning he woke me up and took me to exercise. I stood at the goal, and Artem and Artashes kicked at them. Balls were served to us by their sons - Edik and Zhorik. I was amazed by Artem's ball possession technique, his tactically competent game. Despite his short stature, he also won air duels due to his jumping ability. "

Fathers took Edik and Zhorik with them not only to training, but also to official matches of their native team. Dynamo Yerevan football uniforms were specially tailored to their size, and they played with the ball in the sector outside the goal in it. Often they, and not the masters of football, found themselves in the center of attention of the overcrowded stands of Yerevan stadiums. Several photographs have been preserved, in which little Edik is captured in this football uniform. All of them are dated November 7, 1947 and were made after the parade in front of the building of the Dynamo society, which was located on the first floor of the current national security building (former KGB).

One of these photographs is considered a priceless relic in the Markarov family. It depicts the father God-created by Edward ("On the field and in life, I always strive to be like my father.") And he, a five-year-old boy. Father and son, having carelessly put their feet on the ball, of course, could not even imagine (although Artem Agalarovich may have dreamed about it) that in fifteen years Eduard Markarov would become the top scorer of the Soviet Union, they would talk about him loudly in the football world and will be called one of the most skillful masters of attack.

This is how the “Soviet Pele” began his long and glorious football career in Yerevan.

Little Edik in those years left a memory of himself not only on the football fields, but also at ... the rehearsals of Sergo Ambartsumyan. The famous weightlifter was preparing for the parade of athletes in Moscow. On outstretched arms, he carried a huge barbell with two balls. When the balls opened, two teams of little football players ran out and started playing football. Four young Dinamovites were sitting in one ball, Edik was among them. In the other - in "Spartak" - the future famous long jumper Igor Ter-Hovhannisyan, whose father, Aram Ter-Hovhannisyan, trained Armenian athletes in those years.

1947 began for Artem Markarov with a happy event. On March 26, a daughter, Irina, was born, who in the 60s glorified the name of the Markarovs on volleyball courts.

The first matches of the national championship and the USSR Cup gave hope to numerous admirers of the Yerevan team. The teams of Baku, Rostov, Tbilisi were defeated. Perhaps the most beautiful and exciting was the cup match in Baku with "Neftchinik". The hosts of the field were twice ahead in the score 1:0, 2:1, but "in the future, a noticeable advantage of the guests began to emerge," wrote one of the local newspapers. "It was they who, one after the other, scored two goals against the Baku team. The rivalry ended with the victory of the Yerevan team with a score of 3: 2."

Yerevan "Dynamo" finished the first round in the Transcaucasian zone of the Union Championship in the first place. The team played the first match of the second round in Yerevan with Wings from Tbilisi. The match turned out to be a passing one and ended with the defeat of the guests - 7:1. Two days later, the second game of these teams took place, in which self-confidence ruined the residents of Yerevan. Already in the first minute, after a cross from the flank, the ball hits Gurgen Mkrtumyan from Tbilisi (two years later he will move to Dynamo Yerevan) and flies into the Yerevan goal net. The score did not change until the end of the game. The loss of these two points at the end of the championship turned out to be fatal for the residents of Yerevan.

The main struggle for the first place in the zone was between Dynamo Yerevan and Tbilisi ODO and Lokomotiv teams, which had 17 points each two rounds before the end. The Yerevan team in Tbilisi with the railway workers scored three points and ended up in the final standings in second place, as the Tbilisi army team did not miss their chance and won the last two games against Krylia. At the end of the championship, the residents of Yerevan, who had been leading the whole season, did not have enough “physics”. The team was age-old (average age - over 30 years). On this occasion, critical materials appeared in local and central newspapers. Grigory Tinovitsky's article "Are there any football players in Armenia?" published in "Soviet Sport" had a great resonance.

Having undergone a landslide obstruction, the local football leadership headed for a large-scale generational change. Several football aces were forced to leave the team, including forty-year-old Artem Markarov and Artashes Amirjanov. Left without a livelihood and the promised apartments, they returned to Baku with their families. The painful parting with Yerevan is deeply embedded in the soul of Artem Markarov. And when, in fifteen years, Edik will be invited to Yerevan, he will be categorically against it.

CHAPTER 8

1947–1953 "Oilman" (Baku)

1953 Team of Karabakh (Stepanakert)

1954–1957 Lokomotiv (Baku)

1959 - 1960 Spartak (Nalchink)

I was lucky to perform in 1948-49 in tandem with Markarov. It was sheer pleasure. Artem Agalarovich was the standard of a classic midfielder, in terms of the style of play he was very similar to Viktor Panyukov. Later, speaking for Dynamo Moscow and the USSR national team, I came to the conclusion that he was in no way inferior to the best midfielders in the country.

Alekper Mammadov, Honored Master of Sports

For the first time in many years, the paths of the friends parted ways. Artem Markarov continued his football career at Neftyanik, and Artashes Amirjanov continued at Dynamo Baku. In a year, Amirjanov will part with big football. However, to say that then, in 1948, he left football forever, it would be wrong. For, having come to the factory. Lieutenant Schmidt (former Ter-Gukasov plant), Artashes Minasovich played and coached the team of this enterprise for many years.

That year, Dynamo in the southern zone of the second group of the Union Championship was in seventh place, and Neftyanik with Markarov took fourth place in the standings. In the first place was the former club of Artem Agalarovich - Dynamo Yerevan. Interestingly, both matches between Markarov's native teams - Dynamo Yerevan and Neftyanik Baku - ended in a draw - 0:0 and 1:1.

"Oilman" was organized in 1946 on the basis of the football team "Labor Reserves", which made people talk about themselves back in 1944. Apres Khachaturyan, Aziz Talyshinsky, Khlystov, Karmaev started their football path in the team, which was then coached by the Honored Master of Sports, the famous striker of the USSR and Moscow national teams Alexei Shaposhnikov...

At the end of the 1948 season, by decision of the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports, the first group of the USSR championship was expanded to eighteen teams. Among the debutants was "Neftyanik". Naturally, the leading players of Dynamo also joined the trade union team.

If earlier the composition of the best Baku teams ("Zheldor", "Progress", "Temp", "Builder of the South") consisted mainly of Armenians and Russians, now it was very multinational: there were also Armenians Artem Markarov, Artem Falyan , Teymur Arzumanov, Grigory Zhamkochyan, Suren Atabekov, Georgy Atayan, Oleg Mkrtychev, Sergey Kalashyan, Semyon Israelyan; and Russians Naum Naumtsev, Valentin Khlystov, Nikolai Rasskazov, Vladimir Ustinov, Evgeny Shagarov, Ivan Sherekhov, Vladimir Karmaev, Viktor Anoshkin, Evgeny Zharikov; and Dagestanis Alekper Mamedov and Tavakkul Huseynov; and Georgians Isai Abramashvili and Victor Magaltadze; and Ukrainian Viktor Shevchenko and even Greek Manoli Pavlidi ...

In those days, each team of craftsmen had their own shoemaker. Shoemaker Mikhail Marutyan was a shoemaker in Neftyanik, a wizard in his field, who was repeatedly asked for help by such stars of Soviet football as Bobrov, Krizhevsky, Ponomarev, Beskov, Kuznetsov.

Artem Markarov spent the entire pre-season training with the team. Having successfully played in several control matches, he apparently felt that it was becoming more and more difficult to compete with the young. Years affected, after all, but still 42. And this is a respectable age for a football player. Can you imagine that a 42-year-old footballer would play in the current teams of the major league of the championship of Armenia or Russia?!

The famous athlete could not exist without football and continued his career as a playing coach of the team of the factory named after. Budyonny. Wards of Markarov became champions of the republican society "Neftyanik" (1950-52) and won the Cup of the Republic twice! In October 1952, the final tournament of the TsSDSO "Neftyanik" took place in Moscow. Markarov's team turned out to be the best here too.

The next year, we already see the indefatigable Markarov in Stepanakert, where he led the Karabakh team. As you know, the first intercity football tournament on Armenian soil was held in 1913 in the then capital of the Karabakh region, the city of Shusha. Until now, old-timers-Shu-Shins (100-year-old men and women are not uncommon in this high-mountainous-fabulous region) recall the vicissitudes of those matches and point to the "dzidirduz" clearing where they took place.

Many excellent football players who played in the teams of masters in Yerevan and Baku were brought up by the Karabakh region, but they did not manage to create their own strong team.

Before the arrival of Markarov, the Karabakh team only once managed to get into the final of the Cup of the Republic. Then, in 1946, their rival in the decisive duel was a strong team of Baku "Sparta-k", headed by Benik Sarkisov. The match was held in Baku at the Dynamo stadium. Long before the start of the game, the southern tribune was filled with guests from Stepanakert and residents of Armenikend who sympathized with them. Neftyanik's goalkeeper Temik Arzumanov, who was very worried about his relatives and fellow countrymen who played in the Karabakh team, supervised the actions of this tribune.

"Tiger in a cage" - this is how the Baku torsida called Arzumanov for fearlessness. Using excellent physical data, Temik performed well on the exits, played great in the penalty area. In the pre-season preparatory period of 1947, he spent three months in the Yerevan Dynamo. Unfortunately, he failed to gain a foothold in the first team, and he returned to Neftyanik.

But back to the final game. Five minutes before the end of regular time, with the score 0:0, the Karabakh team got the right to a 11-meter kick. For some reason, the central defender of the guests, by the name of Batya (foreman of the Stepanakert garrison), decided to break through it. The ball after his strike flew above the gate and was outside the stadium. But, as one of the banal clichés of football journalism says, “if you don’t score, they will score for you.” At the last minute, Spartak scored a very dubious goal and left the guests without the coveted trophy.

Four years later, in 1950, under the flag of the Stepanakert Dynamo, the Karabakh people took part in the USSR Cup for the first time. In the first match (it took place in Baku) they lost with a score of 0:2 to Odessa "Pishchevik" and dropped out of the draw.

For the second time, the Karabakh team reached the final of the Cup of the Republic in 1953 under Markarov. On the way to the decisive duel with Dynamo Baku, Markarov's wards defeated all rivals, but in the final they were forced to yield to the more eminent ones - 0:3.

The next year, Artem Agalarovich returns to Baku, plays and coaches Lokomotiv. In 1956, the railway team became the winner of the Baku Spartakiad. At the end of 1957, Artem Markarov "finally" calmed down and hung up his boots. And this is 50 years old! Involuntarily, a comparison comes to mind with the legendary English striker Stanley Matthews, who finished at 42 years of playing for the national team, and at 50 - for the club. I understand that the values are incommensurable, but if we consider that Neftyanik and Dynamo Yerevan were actually the national teams of their republics (at the present time, national teams playing in the qualifying matches of the European and World Championships), then, like Matthews, Markarov stopped playing for the national team at the age of 42. Until the age of 50, Artem Agalarovich played in Lokomotiv Baku, and Stanley Matthews played in Stoke City. To reinforce my position on this issue, I will call on the help of the famous journalist and publicist Alexander Kiknadze: “Artem Markarov was a first-class forward, he was a member of the Transcaucasian team, participated in international matches that were infrequent at that time, traveled to Scandinavia. It was not his fault that he played in the middle team - he served her faithfully; how many matches were there in which he showed what a forward is capable of, who owns the secret of feint and knows how to see the field.

Well, God bless them with these comparisons. Artem Agalarovich was a modest person and never stuck out his "I". In this respect (and not only in this), his son Edward is an exact copy of his father.

Here are just some of the statements of players, sports journalists, fans - people who knew Markarov's father and son well:

“Rejecting the purely external similarity of these two masters, I involuntarily catch myself thinking that Markarov the father and Markarov the son are strikingly similar on the field: almost the same gait, the ability to “read the game from a sheet”, extraordinary improvisation and filigree pass ".

"... And today I look at the son of Artem Markarov. How much Edik adopted from his father: technique and speed, feint and stroke."

“I remember the day when Markarov was congratulated on the birth of his son. What can you wish a good football player when his son is born? Grow a real athlete out of him.

After the war, Artem Markarov came to the stadium with a little boy. It seemed to set the father up. He played diligently, still devoted himself entirely to football and spent 90 minutes on the field with purely youthful indefatigability. And ten years later I saw his son on the field for the first time. Edward inherited from his father a lot that so quickly made his name noticeable.

"Artem Markarov was a man of the highest standard. He didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't use foul language. In everyday life and on the football field he was very polite. Edik is an exact copy of Artem, his blood."

“Veteran fans remember the bright game of Markarov the father. Smart, technical, prudent. In the teams of Baku's Tempo, Yerevan's Dynamo, in the Transcaucasian team.

And now, watching the actions of Markarov-son, you notice that he has a lot in common with his father. This, for example, applies to dribbling, which his son, perhaps, is even more perfect. But Edik still does not have the combinational instinct, the ability to "lead" the game, which Artem Markarov was so famous for. It comes with years, with experience. And it will come!"

“In the way of playing, the younger Markarov resembled his father. He also owned the ball, chose the same place, also felt the distance between himself and the defender and owned the same set of various tricks that helped him, without repeating, beat the guardians. And Markarov somehow with a special "panoramic" vision he saw everything that happens on the field. He touched the ball and almost never gave it a look. Eyes were needed for something else: to know who and how to outwit, because to this simple task

EDWARD MARKAROV

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