Stalinets

In 1935, at the site where the Lokomotiv Stadium resides today, an electric workers union decided to build a stadium which was named "Stalinets" or "Stalinist Stadium". At the time, Stalinets held about 30,000 spectators.^[5]

Development of Lokomotiv Stadium

After holding several matches, Stalinets was demolished to make way for a more modern stadium. Thus, Lokomotiv stadium was built. It was opened on 17 August 1966 with a capacity of 30,000 people.^[6] However, in the mid-1990s the capacity of the stadium was reduced by 6,000 to 24,000, as the wooden benches were replaced by plastic seats.^{[citation needed]}

The inaugural match played at Lokomotiv Stadium was between Lokomotiv Moscow and Dynamo Kiev. As years rolled on, Lokomotiv held several important matches such as Russian National team home matches, Lokomotiv matches and others. The stadium also played host to a European Cup Qualifier between FC Spartak Moscow and Swiss club FC Sion. The match finished 2-2; however, the Swiss club then had UEFA to measure the posts for compliance with international standards. Indeed, the size of the posts were shown to infringe international standards. Eventually, UEFA ordered a replay, which Spartak won 5-1.

Reconstruction

The Lokomotiv Moscow board felt that a new stadium would be the best option. The construction was backed by the Russian Transport Ministry. The new stadium held its first match on July 5, 2002.

On 5 August 2017, Lokomotiv announced that the stadium has been renamed to RZD Arena following a deal with Russian Railways.^[7]