The first stadium was built here in 1925, and the project of its construction was developed by a Czech football player who once played in the "Sport" team, Alois Vejvoda. Eight years later, the stadium was reconstructed, the concrete track was eliminated and wooden stands were installed, which could accommodate up to 25,000 spectators. The opening of the renovated stadium was marked by a match between the two national teams of the USSR, which was won by the second team with a score of 2:0. The stadium was named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Ave a couple of weeks later, the first international meeting took place at the stadium — the match of the Leningrad and Turkey national teams. He was remembered for a long time by Leningrad football fans by the fact that after the defeat by Leningrad football players with a score of 2:1, the Turks began to challenge the decision of the referee who did not count the goal scored by the Turkish national team in the first half from offside. The leaders of the Leningrad national team decided not to contradict the guests and recognized the draw result 2:2, which was recorded in the protocol of the game.During the years of the Great Patriotic War and the siege of Leningrad, the Lenin Stadium had to endure almost complete destruction. Part of the stands was destroyed by shells and burned down, and the remaining wooden structures were dismantled by the Leningraders for firewood. Only the bowl of the stadium, made of concrete, remained untouched.The reconstruction and restoration of the Lenin Stadium began only in the late 1950s under the direction of architects Nikolai Baranov, Oleg Guryev and Viktor Fromzel. According to the project, a roof with an area of 26,000 square meters was to be built over the stadium field. At that time, such a structure was completely unique for stadiums and was never erected.

The rebuilt stadium had a larger capacity — 33,000 spectators. An athletics track with a modern synthetic coating was also installed, which contributed to the development of maximum speed by athletes. Due to this, the stadium became the leading athletics center in the Soviet Union. In addition, rugby and field hockey matches were regularly held at the stadium.The Petrovsky Stadium received its current name in 1992, and in the next few years some repairs were carried out and electric heating of the field was installed. Since 1995, Petrovsky has been completely taken over by Zenit St. Petersburg football club. Not so long ago, Zenit's main team changed its home stadium and now plays at Gazprom Arena. Now Zenit-2 matches are taking place at Petrovsky Stadium.In addition to holding sports matches and competitions, rock festivals and concerts of world and domestic rock and pop stars are regularly held at Petrovsky. So, in 2012, the world-famous Red Hot Chili Peppers team performed at the stadium.