Dinamo Moscow Dinamo Moscow, founded in 1923 on the initiative of Felix Dzerzhinsky, creator of the Soviet political police, served from its very inception as the sporting arm of the state security apparatus — first the GPU, later the NKVD and KGB. This unique identity set the club apart from its Moscow rivals: army-affiliated CSKA and trade-union-backed Spartak, while the team's patron during the Stalin era was none other than Lavrentiy Beria himself.
The club's most famous product is goalkeeper Lev Yashin, the only keeper in history to win the Ballon d'Or (1963), who spent his entire career (1950–1970) at Dinamo. It was during that golden era, in 1972, that Dinamo reached the European Cup Winners' Cup final, losing 2–3 to Scotland's Rangers in Barcelona.
Home matches are played at a stadium officially named after Lev Yashin, built on the site of the historic Central Dynamo Stadium. The club's honours include 11 Soviet championships and six domestic cups.