Soviet football player Zheludkov Yuri

Zheludkov Yuri is a former Soviet and Russian football player, who is best known for his performances for Zenit. His football career he finished back in 1996, now he turned 57 years old. Zheludkov Yuri acted as the central striker.

Carier start

Zheludkov Yuri was born on March 8, 1959 in the USSR in the city of Leningrad, where he began his sports career. Since childhood, he studied at a sports school, speaking for a local football team. When he was 21, Yura was invited to the football school "Smena", where he started his movement to the world of professional sports. As a result, he was in the Academy of Leningrad "Dynamo", for which he made his debut in 1976, when he was only 17 years old.

For three years the young football player spent in the team that played in the second division - he played 65 games, scoring 16 goals, after which he was noticed by a stronger club, namely Leningrad "Zenith", which is now one of the leading forces of football in Russia. However, in the USSR this club was far from the strongest, but still it had to be reckoned with. Therefore Zheludkov Yuri, of course, was very happy to go on raising - then he did not know yet what exactly this club would become his real home.

The heyday in "Zenith"

In 1980, the transfer of the player "Dinamo" SPb Zheludkov to Zenit was issued, where he immediately began to adapt to more serious conditions. Quite quickly, Yuri joined the new team and began to get into the starting lineup of the team. He experienced very much together with the club, in 1984 having achieved an excellent result: Zenit won the USSR championship, and also reached the Cup final of the USSR. It was the peak of a career that Zheludkov Yuri could climb.

Footballer, of course, attracted attention from other clubs - it even directly came out representatives of the German "Werder", who wanted to see him in their team. Zheludkov was already ready for the transition, collected things in order to start a new life, received permission from the leadership of the club. But already at the final stages, something went wrong somewhere, and the shuttle was blocked. It is assumed that the transition was banned by the Soviet Sport Committee itself. As a result, Yuri stayed in Leningrad and continued to play for his former club.

Football player spent in "Zenith" in general a very long time - nine years. He played 202 games, scoring 70 goals. And only in 1990 he went to Sweden, where he decided to try his hand abroad. As the goal of the experiment was chosen Swedish club "Ostersund", with which the player signed a contract for a year.

Moving to Sweden

Yuri Vladimirovich Zheludkov was already in quite an honorable age for a player - in 1990 he turned 31 years old. However, this did not prevent him to try his hand at another championship. But the success of this experience was unsuccessful - the striker came on the field in 16 games, not scoring a single goal, and eventually he returned to Zenit.

Return to the USSR

So, in 1991, Yuri Zheludkov returned to his homeland - Zenit accepted him joyfully, but the player did not want to stay long in the club. He understood that his age is far from being the same as playing at the same level, so he wanted to try himself in other championships. After playing a season in Zenit and scoring eight goals in 25 games, Zheludkov announced that he was moving to Israel, where he was waiting for a contract with Maccabi from the city of Netanya.

The game for "Maccabi"

In the new club striker spent only one season and almost did not appear on the field - he played only ten matches, in which he noted two goals. In 1992, Yuri was already 33 years old, and many players decide to finish his career at this point. But Zheludkov still wanted to play, despite his age. Therefore, he signed a contract with the Finnish club "Kaik", for which he played for another two years.

Performances in the club "KAIK"

After "Zenith" this period was the most successful for the Russian striker. For two seasons he managed to score 31 goals, remembering these fans of the Finnish club. Flesh until 1995, Yuri Vladimirovich played for the "CAC", and when his contract came to an end, he still did not hang the boots on the nail, deciding to win back another season. In 1996, he went to Armenia, where he spent one more season at the club "Kapan-81". And only after the end of the season, the 37-year-old player announced that he is completing the performances in professional football.

National team appearances

Despite the fact that during his stay at Zenit Zheludkov showed good results, he never received a call to the USSR national team. Only since 1983, he began to be called in the USSR Olympic team, as well as in the second USSR national team, but not a single time in the main national team.

Coach career

After the end of his career, Yury Zheludkov took a long break, during which he practically did not participate in football affairs. Only in 2006 he again returned to the sport, joining the coaching staff of the club "Petrotrest". As a result, he became the coach of this club, but he did not stay in office for too long. In 2007, Yuri Vladimirovich returned to his native Dynamo St. Petersburg, where he served as head coach for some time after the dismissal of Sergei Dmitriev. As a result, he signed a professional contract with him, and during the year Zheludkov coached the Dynamo.

However, he quickly realized that he was not going to succeed at the professional football career, so he stopped trying. But from football he did not leave - at the moment he is in the children's sports club "Zenit-84", where he is the football coach of the young men, who in the future can become pupils of the St. Petersburg "Zenith".