Russian hockey knows numerous battles on the ice, mass fights and large-scale fights that take place during matches on the ice. As a rule, such conflicts do not go beyond the site and disappear immediately after the end of the meeting. Another thing is the clashes of fans who passionately support their favorite teams. In hockey, unlike in football, fierce and sometimes brutal clashes with fans are not so developed, and clashes in the stands have occurred only a few times in history. Therefore, each of these cases is immediately remembered. One of the biggest fan demonstrations in Russian hockey history took place on January 8, 2008, at the SKA-Spartak match.

During the New Year holidays, St. Petersburg club is occupied by the Russian figure skating championship. It is almost impossible to imagine such a situation now, but in the Super League this has happened to many teams. Barry Smith’s Wards had to relocate to SC Yubileiny, a much more modest old stadium. But no one paid much attention to this fact – there was no frenzied interest in the matches between SKA and Spartak, and therefore it should not have been difficult for the hosts to hold a meeting in unusual conditions.

In football, St. The relationship between the Petersburg and Moscow clubs is in a fundamentally different situation – Zenit and Spartak are formidable opponents. Who would have thought that football fans would attend a casual hockey game and stage a new confrontation there? But if you think about it, that was not surprising – it was January, the football season had paused, and the fans had nowhere to throw their accumulated emotions. And their selection fell into the match between Milos Rzhiga and Barry Smith.

The factor that fell into the hands of the football ultras was the temporary relocation of SKA to the Yubileiny sports complex. It turned out that the job of the security service at this stadium left much to be desired – the control at the entrance was extremely poor and superficial, and the police stationed near the stands was clearly insufficient to solve any problems that may arise. occurs after the meeting has started. It is quite possible that the Zenit and Spartak fan groups were aware of the above and deliberately chose this match as a goal for their match.

The match coincided with the tension prevailing in the stands: The first 40 minutes of the team were empty and the opponent could not score a goal. The anger on the ice was transferred to the fans at one point: In the second period, St. Petersburg fans threw a plastic chair at the red-white fans. It sits a little lower. This local attack was suppressed – the conflict did not turn into a massacre. However, the fuse had already blown and it was only a matter of time before the explosion occurred.

Not even three minutes had passed since the start of the last twenty-minute period, as seats and chairs flew towards the crowds from Moscow in large numbers, which, predictably, served as a catalyst for a large-scale massacre. SKA and Spartak hockey fans were unannounced witnesses. Even fireworks were used, entry to hockey matches is strictly prohibited. And security and police could not affect such a large clash of supporters, as their numbers were small.

In total, the fight lasted about 15 minutes – by the end of the fight, the match was already stopped, and SKA head coach Barry Smith decided to take his team to the locker room. Maxim Sushinsky and guest striker Alexei Akifiev took the initiative into their own hands and tried to impress the fighters with the help of a microphone and soothing speeches.

“It was a shock to me, it’s the first time I’ve done this in hockey, especially in St. I see you in St. Petersburg. After all, I was told to apply, I played here, but the fact that I went and not Maxim Rybin as captain is not looking for the underlying cause here, they thought my army past should help calm them down somehow. stands”said Akifyev.

The effect of the players’ intervention finally paid off. The fighting ended and riot police arrived and drove the most aggressive fans out of the stadium. 20 minutes after the start of the Bacchanalia, the match continued and ended in victory for the guests – 5 minutes before the end of the third period, Maxim Rybin threw the puck against Dmitry Yachanov and became the main hero of the meeting.

“It is a pity, it is a pity that such matches are in such a match, that the men go to the locker rooms, that the children have to watch such a fight. I do not like it. “I don’t know who started it, whether it’s our fans or the hosts, but it’s a pity, this shouldn’t happen on the sports field,” he said.– Spartak Milos Riha head coach said at the post-match press conference.

After a while, it turned out that local fans were the initiators of the collective fight. But the reason for such decisive action was the provocation of Spartak fans by about two hundred people – in the first period of football Zenit intensely made unpleasant cheers. And this fact once again confirms that the ultras did not come together to watch interesting hockey at that match.

The conflict could also continue outside the stadium: around 20 St. Petersburg fans wanted to reconcile with their opponents on the street. Because of this, law enforcement had to keep around 50 red-and-white fans in a tight cordon for about an hour after the end of the match.

“I can’t be one hundred percent sure but it seems to me that the fight was not started by Spartak fans. They say they are football hooligans who support Zenit, but they have nothing to do with SKA. There were big problems with the organization in the arena. I can give an example. After the end of the half, our team closed the door with a door. He was not immediately taken into the dressing room because he blocked it. The palace services believed that the filling machine should leave the ice first and only then Spartak had the right to go to the dressing room. I tried to prove that everything should be done the other way around, but it turned out to be useless. Riot in the match “Then I went upstairs, I saw 6-7 people, but by that time the fight had already happened. It seemed to me that the organizers of the match had shortcomings” – Said the first deputy general director of “Spartak” Mikhail Shulyakov.

As a result of the actions initiated by the league, the home teams, who could not provide the necessary security in the stadium, suffered as can be expected. SKA was fined 300 thousand rubles.