On This Day – 17th November
A few months after the end of the Second World War, Russian side Dynamo Moscow embarked on a tour of Britain.
Dynamo played against Chelsea, Cardiff City, Arsenal and Glasgow Rangers. It was on this day back in 1945 that Cardiff City played the Russian giants.
Chelsea had drawn 3-3 with Dynamo four days earlier at Stamford Bridge. The official attendance was given as 74,996 but many more fans got in to the ground through unofficial means. There was a real sense of excitement about a foreign team coming to play in England and everyone wanted to watch the game.
Four days later, a crowd of 60,000 watched Dynamo at Ninian Park. They were treated to an eleven goal extravaganza. Unfortunately, the score was 10-1 to the visitors!
Cardiff City were in the Third Division at the time and football correspondents believed that they were probably an equal match for Dynamo. The match was broadcast on Radio Moscow and those in Russia would soon be delighted to hear their team scoring goals for fun in the Welsh capital. Konstantin Beskov scored four goals and both Achangelski and Bobrov scored a hat-trick.
Dynamo would then go back to London to play Arsenal at Tottenham’s home ground White Hart Lane. The match finished 4-3 to Dynamo but it was a farcical game from beginning to end, with the match being played in thick fog.
The final stop of the tour was Glasgow, where the opponents were Glasgow Rangers. The game ended 2-2.
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