Andrei Tikhonov - one of the legends of the Moscow “Spartak” of the 90s, the golden time for the red and white in the Russian championship. The midfielder and captain of many years has been the leader and symbol of the team for many years, for many he remains them now.
Early career
Andrei Tikhonov is a football player born in the suburbs in the small town of Korolev in 1970. At that time, the city was called the same as the westernmost regional center of Russia - Kaliningrad.
At the age of 9, our hero ends up in the local Vympel club under the guidance of coach Viktor Fomenko. He later plays on another local team, Labor Reserves.
When Tikhonov turns 18, he is drafted into the army. However, he does not get into the SKA system, like many athletes, but serves in the Krasnoyarsk Territory to guard the prison. Already in this position, he proves himself to be a responsible employee, and is promoted to the head of the guard.
Returning to civilian life, Andrew begins to work as a loader. Return to football, his wife persuades him, and for good reason. Since 1990, Andrei Tikhonov again - the footballer of the royal “Pennant”, speaking at the championship of the Moscow region.
In the camp of red and white
Tikhonov’s career goes up after an invitation to Moscow Spartak. The functionaries of the capital notice him during the red-white double game with Reutov's “Titan”, in which Andrei moved to 1992. An invitation to the main team comes from the head coach Oleg Romantsev.
Tikhonov begins to play in the second division for the backup team of Muscovites. In the first season, he becomes the top scorer, distinguishing himself 22 times in 23 matches. In one of the games, Andrey scores all 8 goals of his team, while managing not to implement a penalty. Even then it becomes clear that Tikhonov is a football player from God.
In the main team, Andrei will make his debut in the match for the Russian Cup with the capital “Dynamo” and is immediately celebrated with a goal scored. Since 1993, Tikhonov is already a stable player of the basic structure.
At first, Andrei played the position of striker, only in 1995 the head coach Oleg Romantsev transferred him to the left flank of midfield. As a result, it was this position that became the main one for him.
Tikhonov (footballer) became the captain and symbol of Spartak in the late 90s. By that time, as part of the red and white, he had won 8 titles of the Russian champion, twice became the owner of the Cup, 5 times won the Commonwealth Cup.
In 2000, the game and the functional state of the football player began to decline. At the initiative of Oleg Romantsev, the club broke up with Tikhonov. In total, Spartak spent 191 matches, scoring 68 goals.
Life without Spartak
In 2001, Tikhonov, a soccer player whose photo at that time did not leave the newspaper strips, became a player in Samara's “Wings of the Soviets”. The team immediately breaks out into the leaders of the Russian championship, as a result, finishes 5th and receives a ticket to Eurocups.
In 2004, Andrei transferred to Khimki, near Moscow, who were playing in the First Division at that moment. Then he returns to Samara for a short time, but in the end he accepts the advantageous offer of the Astana “Locomotive”. In this club, Tikhonov joins former teammates: Titov and Juran.
However, a long career in Kazakhstan did not work. Soon, due to financial problems and disagreements, all leaders left Astana, including Tikhonov. The footballer, whose biography was later again associated with Khimki near Moscow, spent 2010 in the First Division. He was a player of the main team, spent 29 matches in which he scored 2 goals and gave a dozen assists.
Back to Spartak
In 2011, Tikhonov unexpectedly returned to the camp of the red and white. To take part in the pre-season training, he was invited by
Valery Karpin, who at that time was the head coach. In the 2012 season, Tikhonov was declared for the main team.
In the same season, appeared on the field in the match of the quarter finals of the Russian Cup in the starting lineup with a captain's armband. Andrei Tikhonov is a football player who first appeared in a red-white T-shirt at the age of 40. He was also included in the application for the Europa League, but did not participate in official matches.
In September 2011, he held a farewell match for Spartak Moscow against the Wings of the Soviets team, to which he also devoted several years of his career. In that game, marked the assist on the Irish midfielder Aiden McGeady. During the break, he was replaced by the youngest player of that squad - 18-year-old Alexander Kozlov. So symbolically in “Spartacus” noted the change of generations.
In the coaching post
Andrei Tikhonov is a football player who completed his career in 2011, after which he concentrated on coaching. Previously, he already entered the headquarters of the Samara “Wings of the Soviets” as a playing coach.
In 2013, he received his own management team. She became the Schelkovo “Sparta”. Initially, it was a project of the sports channel "Russia-2", which was supposed to bring an unknown club into the grandees of national football in a few years. Such famous players as Dmitry Khlestov and Andrey Konovalov were sent to Tikhonov’s help. However, having won the Russian Cup among amateur teams, the club could not rise above the third division. The project failed.
Now Tikhonov - the head coach of the Krasnoyarsk “Yenisei”, speaking in the First Division.