Football legend Nikita Simonyan passes away 

ArmInfo.  Nikita Simonyan, Spartak Moscow's top scorer, a four-time USSR champion as a player, and a two-time champion as the team's head coach, has passed away. He celebrated his 99th birthday on October 12. Two days earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded him the title Hero of Labor for his significant contribution to the development and popularization of  Russian football.

Alexander Mirzoyan, President of the Russian Football Veterans Union,  announced the death of the Soviet football legend to Russian media.  "Nikita Pavlovich felt ill on November 20 and was hospitalized. He  passed away today," he said.

Nikita Simonyan coached Yerevan's Ararat from 1973 to 1974, winning  the USSR championship and the USSR Cup. He also worked at Ararat from  1984 to 1985. According to open sources, Simonyan played 285 matches  in the Soviet championship, scoring 145 goals. He won the Soviet  championship with Spartak in 1952, 1953, 1956, and 1958, and the  Soviet Cup in 1950 and 1958. Simonyan is the all-time leading scorer  for the Red-Whites, with 160 goals.