Marked for Dmitry Starodub
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Mar 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The medical room confirms 36 days on the sidelines for Bekkhan Aliev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
The numbers do not look good at Sevastopol
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fedor Petukhov and Sevastopol agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yury Yakunin and Sevastopol agree another 2 years.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Wages eat 104% of everything Sevastopol earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market21 Feb 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Feb 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Sevastopol
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Bekkhan Aliev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad14 Feb 2028
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market14 Feb 2028
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Arseniy Aristov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Sevastopol can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sevastopol may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Bely is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Dmitry Starodub
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Dmitry Starodub has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sevastopol have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Sevastopol
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Sevastopol is running low.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match1 Jan 2028
3 matches without a goal for Sevastopol
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bekkhan Aliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
7.10, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Sevastopol had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market27 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Redvan Osmanov for 17 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Sevastopol will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad27 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match25 Dec 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Boris Bely falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Boris Bely falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
7.40, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Sevastopol had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Pavel Klinov gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sevastopol told Pavel Klinov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 42. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Redvan Osmanov, 34, rolls back the years — 7.88
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces8 Nov 2027
The crowd has taken to Boris Bely
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Oct 2027
The wait goes on for Sevastopol
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match30 Oct 2027
The goals have deserted Sevastopol
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sevastopol can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match30 Oct 2027
Dinamo Stavropol left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Maxim Isaev gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages eat 97% of everything Sevastopol earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad1 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Oct 2027
Spartak Moscow ended it 0‑5. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
0-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match9 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad11 Oct 2027
No hiding place for Amet Dugu
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amet Dugu, and the manager let it.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Beaten 5 times, with 5 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A brace, and Redvan Osmanov takes the afternoon — 8.42
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Redvan Osmanov provided it, and the 8.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitry Starodub commits to Sevastopol for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Amet Dugu in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Oct 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Redvan Osmanov. 2‑0 against Astrakhan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match2 Oct 2027
The run at home goes on for Sevastopol
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Boris Bely falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Serafim Chekhlov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages eat 101% of everything Sevastopol earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
Zakhar Ushakov damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match25 Sep 2027
A 2-goal lead gone for Sevastopol
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Legion kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Sevastopol will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.40, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market27 Sep 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sevastopol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match25 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Sevastopol
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Redvan Osmanov, and the manager let it.
Match25 Sep 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Sep 2027
Zakhar Ushakov damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match18 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Sevastopol
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Maxim Vertiev is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad20 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandr Popov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Marked 7.16. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match18 Sep 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rubin Yalta defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Yury Maximov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yury Maximov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sevastopol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market30 Aug 2027
Boris Bely hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match28 Aug 2027
Still nobody has beaten Sevastopol
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Maxim Isaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
7.34, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Sevastopol had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Sevastopol now.
Market30 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Sevastopol will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lev Potapov and Sevastopol agree another 2 years.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandr Popov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Bekkhan Aliev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 7.68. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market9 Aug 2027
The name of Maxim Suprun keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sevastopol say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 36 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sevastopol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match31 Jul 2027
4 matches without a win for Sevastopol
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sevastopol are no longer polite ones.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lev Potapov commits to Sevastopol for another 2 years.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Maxim Isaev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sevastopol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Vladislav Kucheiko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market19 Jul 2027
Kvant are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Sevastopol will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market19 Jul 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aleksei Ushakov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market19 Jul 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sergey Baranovsky has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alexandr Popov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sevastopol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market14 Jun 2027
The name of Yury Maximov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sevastopol say nothing, which says plenty.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
The stands have heard the Artem Stepanovich talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Sevastopol would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 92 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Arseniy Aristov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Sevastopol can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Dmitry Starodub loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Dmitry Starodub's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Sevastopol pull $518.9K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 127 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 May 2027
Boris Bely hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Sevastopol boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom3 May 2027
90% of the income goes out in wages at Sevastopol
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ardijan Chilafi, and the manager let it.
Market3 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sevastopol, another week without a signature from Serafim Chekhlov.
Boardroom3 May 2027
$518.9K taken back off the Sevastopol table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Redvan Osmanov out for 134 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Bekkhan Aliev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ardijan Chilafi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sevastopol may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmitry Starodub and Sevastopol agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amet Dugu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Wages eat 92% of everything Sevastopol earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market1 Mar 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market1 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Stepanovich signs something — a contract at Sevastopol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad1 Mar 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sevastopol has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
Yury Maximov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amet Dugu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Pavel Klinov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Artem Stepanovich takes the afternoon — 8.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Artem Stepanovich provided it, and the 8.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market21 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sevastopol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Alexandr Popov at 20 — 8.06
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alexandr Popov did not need any: 8.06, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Boris Bely in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Amet Dugu
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Bekkhan Aliev out for 19 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Sevastopol's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sevastopol has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Maxim Vertiev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sevastopol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Artem Stepanovich and Sevastopol agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Stepanovich signs something — a contract at Sevastopol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Bekkhan Aliev out for 26 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Nov 2026
Bekkhan Aliev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sevastopol can pretend not to have heard.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Sevastopol's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sevastopol has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.91 for the rest of it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Bekkhan Aliev out for 33 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Sevastopol
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match21 Nov 2026
Nart left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Amet Dugu in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Bekkhan Aliev out for 47 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market9 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sevastopol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Sevastopol
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sevastopol are no longer polite ones.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a goal for Sevastopol
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stepanovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Bekkhan Aliev out for 54 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match31 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Sevastopol
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sevastopol can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Boris Bely was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match31 Oct 2026
Kuban Holding left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Sevastopol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amet Dugu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market2 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Bekkhan Aliev out for 68 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Oct 2026
Amet Dugu puts it in writing
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sevastopol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Spartak Nalchik, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Bekkhan Aliev out for 75 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sevastopol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sevastopol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match10 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Yury Maximov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sevastopol.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.84, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Sevastopol
12 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Aug 2026
Salyut ended it 0‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Krylya Sovetov 2, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market24 Aug 2026
Roman Denisov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KDV Tomsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
A cup hiding at Salyut leaves KDV Tomsk explaining themselves
0-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KDV Tomsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
Denis Nikonorov has left for Chertanovo in a $77.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market24 Aug 2026
Dmitry Starodub has left for Sevastopol in a $44.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Spartak Nalchik ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ardijan Chilafi gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ardijan Chilafi has just signed for Sevastopol, and for once the answer mattered.
Market24 Aug 2026
KDV Tomsk did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $44.0K for Dmitry Starodub, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ardijan Chilafi commits to Sevastopol for another 3 years.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Artem Stepanovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Dmitry Starodub was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Sevastopol had the best player on the pitch.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Nart will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and KDV Tomsk did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Dmitry Starodub has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Nikita Simdyankin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Sevastopol have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dmitry Starodub. The answer from KDV Tomsk has not changed — yet.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Artem Emelyanov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vladislav Maksimov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Match8 Aug 2026
Volna made KDV Tomsk work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Korotaev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 7.83. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikita Simdyankin and KDV Tomsk agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KDV Tomsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Legion have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Denis Nikonorov. The answer from KDV Tomsk has not changed — yet.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ural 2 left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at KDV Tomsk, another week without a signature from Roman Denisov.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
Dmitry Starodub is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at KDV Tomsk has been clear about where Dmitry Starodub stands, which is more than many ever get.