Stepanov Vadim Nikolaevich is a famous Soviet footballer who played as a defender. He is considered one of the first universal footballers. Master of Sports of the Soviet Union.
Biography
The future footballer was born in April 1936 on the fifth in the small Soviet town of Biysk, which is located in the Altai Territory. From early childhood, he experienced a craving for sports and was engaged in all kinds of sections. But over time, a talented guy discovered football, from that moment his whole life turned upside down. Now he simply could not imagine life without a leather ball.
Career
Stepanov began to take his first steps in his football career in his hometown. He made his debut in the football team of the same name "Biysk" at the age of sixteen. After three productive years, the athlete moved to another Siberian city - Irkutsk, where he began to play for the local semi-professional club "Energy".
In 1957 he was drafted into the army. Vadim was lucky, the military command saw the talents of a promising footballer, and instead of the usual service he got a place in the army club "SKVO" from the city of Chita. Stepanov was a versatile footballer, but preferred to play on defense. The leadership of the army club decided to experiment, and he was transferred to the position of a striker. It paid off. Stepanov regularly scored goals important for the team.
Two years later, Vadim returned to Irkutsk, where he joined the semi-professional Mashinostroitel team, but did not stay here for a long time. Having played only one season and scoring five goals, Stepanov decided to move away from football a little. No one really knows what the talented football player has been doing for four years.
In 1960, a significant event took place in the fate of Stepanov. Football club "Kairat" from the Kazakhstan SSR in the class "A" group (the same as the top league today). Before the start of the season, the head coach of the team decided to hire several new players to strengthen him, and Vadim Stepanov was added to his list.
The versatile footballer again took up the position of a defender on the field and quite quickly got used to it, became the real leader of the team. For seven years he was an indispensable player, regularly appeared on the field and even received the captain's armband. In 246 matches he scored 32 goals, which is quite a high figure for a defender. Unfortunately for football fans and Stepanov himself, a dizzying career had negative consequences. He began to regularly violate the sports regime, became addicted to alcohol. For systematic absenteeism from training, he was expelled from the team and for some time was left without work. In 1968 he joined the Kazakhstani club "ADK", but even there he lasted only one year.
Death
After that, Stepanov went all out, and as a result, he even served time for parasitism. The life of the famous Soviet football player was cut short on the second day of 1973. At the age of 36, Vadim died of a heart attack. In his personal life, Vadim did not work out, and the young man died alone.
