BC Avtodor Saratov

Avtodor Saratov (Russian: Автодор Саратов) is a Russian professional basketball club based in Saratov. It plays in the VTB United League as of the 2015-16 season.

It is renowned for helping produce promising players (see notable players) and the enthusiasm of its fans.

History

Establishment and growth (1960–1992)

Founded in 1960 as Spartak Saratov, the club took off when former player Vladimir Rodionov became its head coach in the 1982. The club was later by renamed new owner Rodionov into Avtodorozhnik (road engineer) - shortened to Avtodor in 1996 - in reference to a late benefactor.

Scaling the heights (1992–2004)

Joining the Russian League at its creation in 1992, the club competed with CSKA Moscow (being the first club to defeat them in the league) for national supremacy during the rest of the decade, finishing in second place four times between 1994 and 1999. It would even win the regular season in both 1997 and 1998, but lost both finals series against CSKA 2-3, and 1-3 respectively.

Saratov

Saratov (Russian: Сара́тов; IPA: [sɐˈratəf]) is a city and the administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River located upstream (north) of Volgograd. Population: 837,900 (2010 Census); 873,055 (2002 Census); 904,643 (1989 Census).

Etymology

The name Saratov may derive from the Turkic words Saryk Atov, which mean "hawks' island". Another version of the name origin is Sary Tau (Сары Тау), meaning "yellow mountain" in the Tatar language.

History

Uvek, a city of the Golden Horde, stood near the site of the modern city of Saratov from the mid-13th century until its destruction by Tamerlane in 1395. While the exact date of the foundation of modern Saratov is unknown, all plausible theories date it to ca. 1590, during the reign (1584-1598) of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, who constructed several settlements along the Volga River in order to secure the southeastern boundary of his state. Town status was granted to it in 1708.

By the 1800s, Saratov had grown to become an important shipping port on the Volga. The Ryazan-Ural Railroad reached Saratov in 1870. In 1896 (26 years later), the line crossed the Volga and continued its eastward expansion. A unique train-ferry, owned by the Ryazan-Ural railroad, provided the connection across the river between the two parts of the railroad for 39 years, before the construction of a railway bridge in 1935.

Saratov (disambiguation)

Saratov is a major city in southern Russia.

Saratov may also refer to:

See also