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The Rostov Arena ahead of Iceland vs Croatia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup | JukoFF

Rostov-on-Don was an unsurprising pick as a World Cup host city. One of Russia’s top ten most populous, with a strategic southern location, and a footballing history stretching back to before World War II. The city’s brand new stadium, the Rostov Arena, officially opened just a month before the start of the tournament, as Rostov took on FC Ural in a Russian Premier League match. During the World Cup, the city hosted five matches, four from the group stages and one knockout stage match.

Despite Mexico, Brazil and eventual finalists Croatia visiting during the group stages, the games were not overly thrilling in any sense. However, the knockout round match between Belgium and Japan was arguably one of the games of the tournament – a thrilling, end to end affair settled in the dying seconds.

One of the viral stories of the tournament originated at the tournament, with Brazilian fan Tomer Savoia becoming a national sensation after exclaiming “Russia is f***ing awesome” in Russian, to the delight of the locals filming it on their phones. He would go on to appear on Russian TV numerous times before the end of the tournament.

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Stadium Legacy

One year on from the World Cup, the Rostov Arena remains one of the highlights of Russia’s World Cup legacy. Excluding St. Petersburg, which had historically had large attendances and was always expected to go forward, Rostov’s post World Cup attendances have been the best of all the stadia used in the tournament.

According to figures collected by statistician Stanislav Chudin, Rostov’s average attendance averaged just under 31,000 (71% capacity) for the 2018/19 RPL season, making it one of only two WC stadia, along with the Gazprom Arena (formerly Krestovsky Stadium) in St. Petersburg, to average over 50% capacity for the entire season. The largest attendance of the season came late on in the season, as Spartak Moscow came to town, with a near-sellout 41,000 in the stands, filling out at 95% capacity.

Rostov season ticket holder Viktoria Petrovskaya believes the World Cup has had a big impact on attendances:

After the World Cup, the city began to follow football even more. The tournament was over, but people wanted to continue the holiday. Many began to attend matches of Rostov thanks to the opening of the new stadium before the beginning of the Premier League season.

The stadium’s electric atmosphere helped Rostov bounce back into the top half of the league again, and the future seems bright for football in the city. Having played in the Champions League in 2016, Rostov underwent some tough seasons of late, but this year, they were challenging for Europe once again until some poor form in the run in which saw them drop out of the European race.

Rostov themselves had viral moments to pair with the aforementioned Savoia, with their social media team taking advantage of two fans celebrating a goal with a rug. Launching a one-off kit in the design of said rug achieved international recognition. Their presence on Twitter has highlighted a signal of intent to raise their profile in Russia and abroad.

Over 40,000 supporters packed into the Rostov Arena to watch FC Rostov vs Rubin Kazan.



We will never get tired of seeing these huge, post World Cup attendances 😍



Oh and yes, the rug was back. pic.twitter.com/fOkqGC6YzF — Russian Football News (@RusFootballNews) September 1, 2018

Higher up, the board made it clear that they want the team to progress. There have been decent levels of investment in the playing squad, primarily on young players to help the team long term, or to turn a quick profit. If performances on the pitch under Valeriy Karpin can become a bit more consistent, there’s hope that the Rostov Arena will have a stable, long term future, particularly if they can get back into Europe.

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Life After Football

The selection of Rostov as one of the host cities spurred development in the build-up to the tournament. A brand new airport facilitated the foreign arrivals, roads were repaired, particularly in the centre of the city, and of course, a brand new football stadium.

The Rostov Arena’s location on the south side of the River Don means fans have a longer commute compared to the days of watching Rostov at the old Olimp-2. During the World Cup, host cities offered free shuttle buses for fans, to get to the stadia from the city centres. In Rostov, this continued for RPL games.

While Sochi remains the main attraction in the Russian south for foreign visitors, Petrovskaya says the quality of life changed for the better in Rostov.

Life is back to normal. There are no more Brazilian carnivals, Icelandic Vikings and other bright characters on the streets. But after the World Cup, repaired roads and new bus stops remain. In this respect, the quality of life in Rostov increased since the tournament.

The area around the stadium, on the banks of the Don, witnessed numerous improvements ahead of the tournament, and now a new promenade with open leisure spaces is a popular place for locals to relax and enjoy the pleasant weather.

The new Levoberezhny Park, on the banks of the River Don, and with the Rostov Arena alongside | https://sdelanounas.ru

Culturally, Rostov is unlikely to be massively affected going forward. It will likely follow the national trend of younger generations learning English and being more progressive but the World Cup’s lasting impact in the city is likely to be football, with the only foreign visitors in the future likely to be from former Soviet states, or football fans if Rostov plays in Europe.

The World Cup generated interest in football, and that is reflected in the attendances seen last season. FC Rostov’s recent performances and the addition of the new stadium along with the buzz of the tournament has fired up fans in the city. Local third-tier side Chayka Peschanokopskoye, recently sealed promotion to the FNL, just one division below the Russian Premier League. Despite being based a couple of hours outside Rostov, they are set to also use the stadium for their home matches next season.

Considering the games are not being played in the Chayka’s hometown, the question remains if the newly promoted FNL side will benefit from the footballing interest in Rostov, particularly when it comes to attendances.

However, one trend in World Cup cities is the change in Russian opinion on foreigners. According to Petrovskaya, there were lots of concerns before the tournament began.

The people of Rostov were very wary of the World Cup. Many of my friends wanted to leave the city during the tournament since they were afraid of football fans. People thought that there be a lot of ultras who would arrange riots and fights on the streets. However, the residents of Rostov fell in love with the football fans who came, and I think the visitors to our city saw that we were kind, open and very welcoming.

As previously alluded to, Rostov witnessed some of the tournaments most viral fan moments, with a video of Iceland’s fans doing their viking clap in the Rostov Fan Fest making rounds during the tournament, adding to the furore around Tomer Savoia. If FC Rostov continue on their upward path, it may not be long before foreign fans are again dancing in the streets.

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The Future

The future of Rostov appears to be heavily focused on sport. Already, FC Rostov received increased funding to reach the heights of European football again, to feed the hunger of the fans who turn out in great numbers every week.

However, Rostov also has a number of teams competing in sports such as ice hockey, basketball, and most notably handball. Rostov-Don, the women’s handball club of the city, recently finished as runners up in the EHF Champions League, giving them star status in their sport. As a result, the city plans to build a new handball arena.

In addition, with 2.4bn rubles assigned for sport, there are plans for a new ice rink, two indoor football pitches and two stadiums with athletics tracks and synthetic pitches. Rostov is looking to broaden it’s horizons too, with the city applying to host the 2022 European Rowing Championships, having also hosted the Russian Power Boating Championships in 2019.

It is not only sports that are being focused on, and it was recently announced that the transport infrastructure of Rostov would be upgraded with either a metro or an improved tram system. The city’s current system is old and archaic, and while the bus system has seen huge improvements in quality thanks to the World Cup, adding a metro would be a huge step forward for Rostov.

It is clear that the authorities see sport as Rostov’s future. The free shuttle buses to and from the stadium provided incentives to get fans to attend the matches. Pensioners get 50% off tickets, anyone who attends the Rostov reserve team matches the day before getting 50% off tickets, and children under the age of 13 get into the stadium for free, creating a family-friendly and vibrant atmosphere.

The new areas around the stadium did not go to waste either with entertainment and family events are held in the spaces outside the stadium, encouraging people to come to the stadium hours before kick off.

It is encouraging to see and hear positive reports about life in the city, and from an observatory perspective, it is clear to see that the Rostov Arena is a huge hit, and that is down to the World Cup. Of all the host cities for the tournament – not just in Russia – there is no doubt that Rostov is one of the biggest recent World Cup success stories in terms of sporting legacy.