Andrey Tikhonov: footballer, sports career

Andrei Tikhonov is one of the legends of the Moscow "Spartacus" of the 90s, the golden time for red and white in the Russian championship. Midfielder and perennial captain for many years was the leader and symbol of the team, for many it remains to them even now.

At the beginning of a career

Andrei Tikhonov is a footballer born in Moscow, in the small town of Korolyov in 1970. At that time the city was called the same as the most western regional center of Russia, Kaliningrad.

At the age of 9 our hero gets to the local club "Vympel" under the head of coach Viktor Fomenko. Later, he plays in another local team, "Labor Reserves."

When Tikhonov turns 18, he is drafted into the army. However, he does not enter the SKA system, as many athletes do, but he serves in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in the prison guard. Already in this position, he manifests himself as a responsible employee, attends to the chief of the guard.

Returning to the citizen, Andrei begins to work as a loader. Back in football his wife persuades, and not in vain. Since 1990, again Tikhonov Andrew - footballer of the royal "Vympel", acting in the championship of the Moscow region.

In the camp of red and white

Career Tikhonov goes up after an invitation to Moscow's "Spartacus." The city functionaries notice him during the game of red-white double with Reutov's "Titan", to which by 1992 Andrei had moved. The invitation to the main team comes from the head coach Oleg Romantsev.

Tikhonov begins to perform in the second division for a duplicate of Muscovites. In the first season he becomes the top scorer, having distinguished himself 22 times in 23 games. In one of the games, Andrei scores all 8 goals of his team, having managed not to realize a penalty. Even then it becomes clear, Tikhonov is a football player from God.

In the main team, Andrey makes his debut in the match for the Russian Cup with the capital's Dynamo and immediately marked with a scored ball. Since 1993, Tikhonov is already a stable player of the basic composition.

At first, Andrei played the position of the striker, only in 1995 the head coach Oleg Romantsev transferred him to the left flank of midfield. As a result, it was this position that became its main one.

Captain and symbol of "Spartacus" Tikhonov (football player) becomes in the late 90's. By the time he joined the Red and White he won 8 titles of the champion of Russia, twice became the owner of the Cup, 5 times won the Commonwealth Cup.

In 2000, the game and the functional state of the player came down. On the initiative of Oleg Romantsev, the club parted with Tikhonov. In total, "Spartacus" spent 191 games, scoring 68 goals.

Life without "Spartacus"

In 2001, Tikhonov, a football player whose photo did not leave the newspaper pages at that time, became a player in Samara's Krylia Sovetov. The team immediately breaks into the leaders of the Russian championship, as a result, finishes 5th and gets a ticket to the European Cups.

In 2004, Andrew goes to the Moscow region "Khimki", speaking at the time in the First Division. Then he returns to Samara for a short time, but in the end he accepts the advantageous offer of Astana's Lokomotiv. In this club Tikhonov joins former clubmates: Titov and Yuran.

However, a long career in Kazakhstan did not work out. Soon, due to financial problems and disagreements, all leaders left Astana, including Tikhonov. Footballer, whose biography later was again connected with the Moscow region "Khimki", 2010 spent in the First Division. He was a basic player, spent 29 matches, in which he scored 2 goals and gave a half dozen assists.

Back to Spartak

In 2011, Tikhonov unexpectedly returns to the camp of red and white. To take part in the preseason meetings he was offered by Valery Karpin, who at that time held the post of head coach. In the 2012 season, Tikhonov was declared the main team.

In the same season appeared on the field in the match 1/4 finals of the Cup of Russia in the starting lineup with the captain's armband. Andrei Tikhonov is a football player who first appeared in a red and white T-shirt at the age of 40. Was also included in the application for the League of Europe, but did not participate in official matches.

In September 2011, held a farewell match for the Moscow "Spartak" against the team "Wings of the Soviets", which also devoted several years of his career. In that game, he was noted for assisting Irish midfielder Eiden McGeady. In the break was replaced by the youngest player of that composition - 18-year-old Alexander Kozlov. So symbolically in "Spartacus" noted the change of generations.

At the coaching post

Andrei Tikhonov - a footballer who finished his career in 2011, after that he concentrated on coaching. Earlier he was already a member of the Samara "Krylia Sovetov" in the role of playing coach.

In 2013 he received his own team in management. She became Schelkovskaya "Sparta". Initially, it was a project of the sports channel "Russia-2", which for several years supposed to bring an unknown club to the grandees of national football. To help Tikhonov were sent to such famous players as Dmitry Khlestov and Andrei Konovalov. However, having won the Russian Cup among amateur teams, he could not rise above the third division. The project failed.

Now Tikhonov is the head coach of Krasnoyarsk "Yenisei", acting in the First Division.