There are players who are respected even by the fans of their fiercest rivals. Fyodor Cherenkov was one of them. He was a legend at Spartak Moscow. His farewell match was held at Dynamo Stadium with 35,000 people in the stands. In this match Spartak played against Italy’s Parma, which had to reschedule a national championship match in order to be in Moscow.

Fyodor Cherenkov received an expensive red SUV after the farewell match, but soon sold it, saying that he was embarrassed to drive around in a car like this.

After Spartak’s match against Aston Villa in 1983, the Birmingham club was eager to have Cherenkov at all costs, but he declined their offer. He later explained his choice by saying that there was no Spartak in Birmingham. Later when Cherenkov and his friend Sergei Radionov, who is now Spartak’s Director General, left for France’s Red Star FC, the two of them played under a single contract. However, Cherenkov returned to Spartak after only six months abroad.