Zenit football club was established in May, 1925. At first the team was a part of the Leningrad Metal Plant in the name of Stalin. The club carried the name Stalinets from 1936 to 1940, when the club got its current name – Zenit. FC Zenit is the only team in the Russian Premier League representing St. Petersburg. According to estimates made by independent analysts, more than 60% of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg support the team, while 80% of the city’s inhabitants think that the club is a symbol of Russia’s northern capital. According to research conducted at the end of 2008, Zenit is one of the ten most popular clubs in Europe, and is also the most popular club from the post-Soviet space.