Igor Anatolyevich Lediakhov (; born 22 May 1968) is a Russian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and a former player who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He played for almost a decade in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, mainly for

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

(eight years, amassing

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 106 games and 17 goals in four seasons), later embarking in a managerial career in his country. Lediakhov represented the CIS at

Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

at the 1994 World Cup.

Club career

Born in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Lediakhov started playing professionally with modest

FC SKA Rostov-on-Don FC SKA Rostov-on-Don () is a Russian association football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club's history includes becoming runners-up of the Soviet Top League in 1966 and winning the Soviet Cup in 1981. History \The club was founded on 27 Aug ...

. In 1990, he joined

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro (, ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club played its last season in the 2018–19 Ukrainian Amateur League. The club was owned by Ukrainian businessman Ihor Kolomoyskyi. In 2018, FC Dnipro was forced ...

. After impressing with FC Rotor Volgograd, Lediakhov was bought by

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

giants

FC Spartak Moscow FC Spartak Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet Top League, Soviet championships (second only to FC Dynamo Kyiv, Dynamo Kyiv) and 10 Russian Premier League, Russian champ ...

, being essential as the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

team conquered three consecutive league titles, which included the inaugural edition of the competition, as the player scored in double digits in two of the three seasons. In the 1994 summer, 26-year-old Lediakhov moved abroad, signing with Spain's

. Even though he netted nearly 50 overall goals for the club (17 in four

seasons) whilst showcasing good offensive skills, his eight-year-old stay in

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

was an inconsistent one, marred by irregular performances and disciplinary problems: he received a six-match ban after a 22 February 2000 match at

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

, after assaulting an opponent then repeatedly pushing

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

Téllez Sánchez after receiving his marching orders.Qué fue de... Lediakhov (What happened to...Lediakhov)
20 Minutos, 15 October 2008 At the club, he teamed up with compatriots Dmitri Cheryshev (five seasons),

Yuri Nikiforov Yuriy Valeryevich Nikiforov (alternate spelling Valeriovych; , ; born 16 September 1970) is a professional football coach and a former player who played mainly as a central defender. He is an assistant coach with the Russia national team. C ...

(two) and Alexei Kosolapov (one). Lediakhov also spent a few months in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(loaned by Sporting and coinciding with Paulo Futre), after which he returned – with the club now in the second level – having further disciplinary problems which led to a suspension. He eventually bought out his contract and retired in 2003 at the age of 35, after one season with

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

also in division two.

International career

Lediakhov gained 16 international

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for both the CIS and

, which he represented respectively at

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

(did not leave the bench) the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

(played one match, the 6–1 group stage routing of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Coaching career

In 2007, Lediakhov worked as sporting director at

FC Rostov FC Rostov () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena. History Soviet era (1930-199 ...

. On 6 June of the following year, he was assigned coaching duties at Spartak Moscow's youth teams. From August to September 2008, Lediakhov served as caretaker manager of the club, later working as assistant under both

Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...

and the Dane's successor,

Valery Karpin Valery Georgiyevich Karpin (; born 2 February 1969) is a Russian football manager and former player who manages the Russian national team and Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow. As a player, he was a midfielder and spent most of his car ...

. On 22 December 2009, he was appointed head coach of

FC Shinnik Yaroslavl FC Shinnik Yaroslavl () is a Russian football club, based in Yaroslavl. From 1957 to 1960 the team was called Khimik ( - "the chemist"). In 1961, the club became affiliated with the , accordingly changing its name and logo (a football inside a ...

, staying in charge for approximately five months. On 9 May 2011, he was announced as new

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

at FC Rotor Volgograd, for which he also acted as

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

. Lediakhov returned for a second spell as Spartak's assistant, on 6 September 2011. On 7 April 2018, he became the caretaker manager for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

FC Akhmat Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional Association football, football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League. His ...

following the resignation of Mikhail Galaktionov. On 22 May 2018, he was signed as Akhmat's manager on a permanent basis. He resigned from Akhmat on 2 September 2018. On 20 September 2018, he signed with

FC Baltika Kaliningrad FC Baltika () is a professional association football club based in Kaliningrad, Russia. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. History The club was founded on 22 December 1954 as ''Pishchevik Kaliningrad''. In ...

until the end of the 2018–19 season. He was dismissed by Baltika on 19 December 2018.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

* Russian League: 1992, 1993, 1994 * CIS Cup: 1992 * Russian Cup: 1994

References

External links

RussiaTeam biography and profile
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lediakhov, Igor 1968 births Living people Footballers from Sochi Soviet men's footballers Russian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Soviet Top League players Soviet First League players Russian Premier League players FC SKA Rostov-on-Don players FC Dnipro players FC Rotor Volgograd players FC Spartak Moscow players La Liga players Segunda División players Sporting de Gijón players SD Eibar footballers J1 League players Yokohama Flügels players Russia men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) UEFA Euro 1992 players 1994 FIFA World Cup players Russian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Russian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Russian football managers Russian Premier League managers FC Spartak Moscow managers FC Shinnik Yaroslavl managers FC Rotor Volgograd managers FC Akhmat Grozny managers FC Baltika Kaliningrad managers FC Taganrog players 20th-century Russian sportsmen