War and football: organizational and social problems of professional sport

Sports life during the Great Patriotic War remains a little-studied page of history. This is also true for football. Football, being the most spectacular and popular sport, remained an important sphere of social activity during the Great Patriotic War and as such was the object of attention of state and party bodies. The article analyzes key aspects of the history of football during the war using new archival materials: problems of adaptation of the football sector to military conditions in the summer and winter of 1941/1942; life strategies and practices of football players in maintaining their fitness; attempts by sports management to achieve the return of all-Union tournaments (the championship and cup of the country); problems of overcoming the consequences of the war in the big football sector.