FC Dynamo Kyiv
FC Dynamo Kyiv
FC Dynamo Kyiv - Ukrainian soccer club of Kiev. One of two clubs (along with Dynamo Moscow), participated in all the USSR championships in the top division. The club was created May 13, 1927. The first recorded game took place on July 17, 1928 against the Odessa "Dinamo" (2:2).
The first championship of the independent Ukraine came as a sharp disappointment for FC Dynamo. With just one away match lost, the White-Blues looked clear favorites to take the title. The debut goal in the competition came from Yuriy Hritsyn in the match against Metalist in the 3rd minute. The team easily made it to the final, yet to be beaten in Lviv by Tavriya Simferopol 0:1. In the final match the Kyiv team lined up as following: Martinenkas, Luzhnyy, Bezsmertnyy, (Matveev, 55), Aleksanenkov, Shmatovalenko, Kovalets, Yuriy Moroz, Zayets, Salenko, Betsa, Sharan (Hritsyna, 75).
In the Euro Cup, however, the club went down to two bitter defeats by the Belgian Anderlecht.
The summer of 1993 found the club on the brink of bankruptcy. The White-Blues received new President Hryhoriy Surkis at the helm. Not only did the famous business man rescue the club, but he also commenced to update the infrastructure: the European-standard training center and Dynamo school are few to name.
The team was able to corner the championship title for quite a spell. With eight victories in a row, Dynamo players made up the backbone of the national team. Former junior soccer players now grew into key players, Oleksandr Shovkovskyy, Vladyslav Vashchuk, Yuriy Dmytrulin and Andriy Shevchenko being among them. The management also made a decision on some overseas transfers: Yuriy Kalitvintsev (moved from Moscow on crutches! to later become the team’s leader and to acquire Ukrainian citizenship), the Belorussian pair of Valentin Belkevich and Aleksandr Hatskevich.
Yet the major “transfer” took place in the 1996/97 season when Valeriy Lobanovskyy returned to his native squad from the Middle East. Not only did the remarkable coach continue the championship streak, but also transformed his team into a European-level club. The White-Blues got their victories over Real, Barselona, Arsenal and made it to the Champions League quarterfinals and semifinals. Despite a complete advantage in a home encounter, the team conceded to Bayern.
After the squad’s best season in its modern history, Andriy Shevchenko abandoned the club to move to Milan. The next players to travel to Western clubs became Serhiy Rebrov and Kaha Kaladze.
The day of May 13, 2002 became a mourning day nationwide. In a Zaporizhya hospital, Valeriy Lobanovskyy passed away. Dynamo entered a new era…
… Entered with losing the championship title. As the national competition was drawing to its end, the team conceded to their chief opponent FC Shakhtar.
The team was then coached by one of Dynamo best halfbacks Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, who steered his squad to two championship titles.
In the year 2000 foreign players began joining the club, with Hungarian Laslo Bondar being the first. Later, Goran Gavran?i? and Georgiy Peev moved to Kyiv.
The spell under Mykhaylychenko saw superb performance from Diogo Rinc?n, the afore mentioned Gavran?i?, the Romanian pair of Cernat-Ghioane and top scorer Maksim Shatskikh. The White-Blues ensured a string of remarkable victories (Newcastle, Feijenoord, Lokomotiv, Arsenal), however they failed to qualify for last 16 of the tournament.
The 2004/05 season was marked by a bitter defeat by Shakhtar. Then came a defeat in a Champions League home qualifier vs.Trabzonspor. Mykhaylychenko was forced to step down.
For a while, his work was continued by caretaker coach J?zsef Szab?, whose squad made it to the Champions League tournament to defeat Roma and Bayern and be defeated by Real in a home match. The team then set off for the UEFA Cup to face Villarreal. The opponents did better at El Madrigal.
Guided by Leonid Buryak, the White-Blues lost the league race in the summer of 2005 as well. After his resignation, Anatoliy Demyanenko took the reigns. The former Kyiv defender of the 80’s tuned the team’s performance. Alas, the national league title was lost to the archrival Shaktar, as Dynamo was not able to maintain the lead and succumbed in extra time.
Following the league competition, a bunch of Dynamo men received their caps for Ukraine. Under Oleh Blokhin’s coaching, the national team enjoyed its greatest success ever, making it to the quarter-final at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Dynamo's Oleksandr Shovkovskyy, Vladyslav Vashchuk, Andriy Nesmachnyy, Ruslan Rotan, Artem Milevskyy, Oleh Husev, Serhiy Rebrov as well as the team’s former players Andriy Husin, Volodymyr Yezerskyy and Andriy Shevchenko were part of the squad.
Achievments
USSR
- Champion of the USSR, 13 times (record): 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990
- League runner-up of the USSR, 11 times: 1936 (Spring), 1952, 1960, 1965, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1976 (Fall), 1978, 1982, 1988
- Bronze medalist of the USSR, 3 times: 1937, 1979, 1989
- Cup of the USSR, 9 times: 1954, 1964, 1965/66, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1984/85, 1986/87, 1989/90
- Finalist of the USSR Cup: 1973
- USSR Super Cup, 3 times (record): 1980, 1985, 1986
Ukraine
- Champion of Ukraine, 13 times (record): 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2006/07, 2008/09
- Silver medalist Ukrainian Premier League, 6 times: 1992, 2001/02, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2007/08, 2009/10
- Cup of Ukraine, 9 times (record): 1992/93, 1995/96, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07
- Finalist of the Ukrainian Cup: 2001/02, 2007/08
- Super Cup of Ukraine, 4 times (record): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009
Tournament League
- Cup Winners' Cup: 1974/75, 1985/86
- UEFA Super Cup: 1975
- Member of the match for the UEFA Super Cup: 1986
