Zenit were founded in May 1925 as the football team of the Leningrad Metal Works. The team’s name was changed to Stalinets in 1936, and only became known as Zenit four years later. FC Zenit are the only Russian top flight team based in the city of St. Petersburg.
Independent analysts believe that 60% of St. Petersburg’s residents support the blue-white-sky blues, with more than 80% of the city’s inhabitants considering the team a symbol of the Northern capital.
Nielsen Sports conducted a global survey of football supporters in 15 different countries in 2016. Their results showed Zenit have a total audience of 15 million fans around the world.
Zenit have 30 honours to their name: USSR/Russian League Champions (1984, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024), USSR/Russian Cup (1944, 1999, 2010, 2016, 2020 and 2024) and Super Cup (1985, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024), Premier League Cup (2003), UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup (both 2008).