Anatoli Zinchenko

Anatoli Alekseyevich Zinchenko (Russian: Анатолий Алексеевич Зинченко) (born 8 August 1949, in Stalinsk) is a retired Soviet football player and Russian coach. He is best known for being the first Soviet football player to play for a Western European professional club. His transfer to SK Rapid Wien was initiated by Austrian communist journalist Kurt Chastka. Because Soviet footballers were officially amateurs, he was formally employed as an equipment technician at the Soviet embassy while playing for Rapid, while his Rapid salary was sent over to the Soviet government.

Anatoli Zinchenko

Anatoli Zinchenko in 2019.
Personal information
Full name	Anatoli Alekseyevich Zinchenko
Date of birth	(1949-08-08) 8 August 1949
Place of birth	Stalinsk, USSR
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1967–1968	Traktor Volgograd	26	(4)
1968–1971	FC SKA Rostov-on-Don	68	(8)
1972–1975	Zenit Leningrad	99	(23)
1976–1978	Dynamo Leningrad	58	(23)
1979–1980	Zenit Leningrad	26	(2)
1980–1983	SK Rapid Wien	45	(6)
National team
1969–1973	USSR	3	(0)
Teams managed
?	Klimovets Leningrad
?	Krasny Treugolnik Leningrad
1986	Stroitel Cherepovets
1988–1989	Dynamo Leningrad
1990–1992	Zenit St. Petersburg (assistant)
1993	Zenit-2 St. Petersburg
1994	FC Erzi Petrozavodsk
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only