Aleksandr Shirko

Shirko started his professional career with Spartak Moscow, with whom he won six Russian Premier League titles, from 1996 to 2001, and become one of the top scorers of the UEFA Cup in the 1997/1998 season, before leaving for city-rivals Torpedo. In 2004 Shirko joined Shinnik Yaroslavl as part of a loan deal from Torpedo, but then extended his stay at the club by two years. In 2006 Aleksandr Shirko was involved in a fight with Shinnik fans, after a disappointing 1–6 defeat to Rostov. That accident earned him a ten-match ban. At the start of 2007, Shirko signed with Tom Tomsk, in club's attempt to replace Pavel Pogrebnyak, who left for Zenit Saint Petersburg. Shirko scored 78 goals in 281 Russian league matches. Shirko won the 1997–98 Russian Cup with Spartak and was awarded Master of Sports of Russia. During his professional career, Shirko earned six caps for Russia national football team from 1999 to 2001, scoring one goal in a 3–0 win over Faroe Islands in 2001.