Nikita Simonyan

Of Armenian descent, Nikita Simonyan took up football at an early age and spent his youth career with the Georgian FC Dinamo Sukhumi. As a senior he began with Krylya Sovetov Moscow in 1946 but, after that team disbanded in 1948, he signed with FC Spartak Moscow the following year. He made 233 appearances with the squad until his 1959 retirement and scored 133 goals, earning the title of Top League best goal scorer in 1949, 1950, and 1953. During that time, he won four league titles (1952, 1953, 1956, and 1958) and two Soviet Cups (1950 and 1958). Internationally, he earned 20 caps with the Soviet Union, including a gold medal-winning appearance at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was also with the team when they reached the quarterfinals of the 1958 World Cup.

Following his retirement from active competition, Simonyan became the manager of Spartak from 1960 through 1972, earning his team two league titles (1962 and 1969) and three Soviet Cups (1963, 1965, and 1971). He also managed FC Ararat Yerevan (1973-1974 and 1984-1985), the Soviet national team (1977-1979), and FC Chornomorets Odesa (1980-1981). He also held positions with the football federations of the Soviet Union and Russia. Among his many honors, he received the Olympic Order in Silver in 1996.