October | 2019 | The Itinerant Football Watcher

Dynamo Kyiv were formed as the Kyivan Proletarian Sport Society in May 1927 as the football wing of the existing sports and fitness club, Dynamo Sports Club. It was the favoured club of the GPU, the Soviet secret police. The first Dynamo teams were selected from chekists (members of the secret police) and the best players from the Kyiv area.

The first Soviet Championship was not competed for until 1936 and after limited initial success Dynamo became often the only tangible challenge to the hegemony of the Muscovite clubs although it took until 1961 before Dynamo won its first of 13 Soviet Championships. During the Soviet era Dynamo would also win nine Soviet cups. Since the break up of the Soviet Union, Dynamo have won a record fifteen Ukrainian League titles including a run of nine successive championships between 1992 and 2001. During the latter years of the Soviet First League Dynamo defiantly wore kit in the national colours of Ukraine.

The two stars on the Dynamo club crest represent the club’s two UEFA Cup Winners Cup successes. The first of these came in 1974-75 when Dynamo saw off CSKA Sofia, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bursaspor and PSV Eindhoven before crushing Ferencváros 3-0 in the final held at St. Jakob Stadium in Basel. Dynamo would also thrash Bayern Munich 3-0 in the European Super Cup Final.

Dynamo’s second Cup Winners Cup triumph came eleven years later in the 1985-86 season. Their route to the final saw them defeat Celtic, Bangor City, Red Star Belgrade and Bayer Uerdingen before coming up against Atlético Madrid in the final held at Lyon’s Stade de Gerland. It was another 3-0 triumph for the men from the East.

Scoring in both finals was the legendary Dynamo striker Oleg Blokhin. He won more caps (112) and scored more goals (42) than any other Soviet player. For Dynamo he scored 211 times in 432 appearances. The other name synonymous with Dynamo is Valeriy Lobanovskyi, a former player and much decorated coach during three spells at the club which were interspersed with stints as national team manager. Lobanovskyi passed away suddenly in 2002 and the Dynamo Stadium was renamed in his honour. To mark the first anniversary of his death a sculpture of the great man, sat on a trainers bench, was unveiled to the right of the magnificent entrance to this stunning stadium.

The Dynamo Stadium was built in 1934 as part of the relocation of the Soviet Ukraine capital from Kharkiv to Kyiv. It was inaugurated as the Vsevolod Balitsky Dynamo Stadium and was built on the site of the greenhouses and allotments that grew vegetables and fruit for the nearby Mariyinskyi Palace. Next to the greenhouses was a restaurant called Château de Fleur.

The original stadium was completely destroyed during the Second World War and Dynamo had to play their home games at the Nikita Khrushchev Stadium where the current NSC Olympiyskyi Stadium is sited. The Dynamo Stadium was rebuilt in 1956 and upgraded further in 1980 for use as a training venue for the Olympic Games. It was remodelled solely for football once again in 1990 with a little under 17,000 seats. Set in woodland you can walk around the top perimeter of the woods and look down on this beautiful stadium. The ornate entrance from Hrushevsky Street sets this stadium off as a truly iconic football venue. The area outside the entrance was a key area for the civil unrest of the 2013 Euromaidan revolution which let to the downfall of the Viktor Yanukovych led government.

Since 2011, Dynamo have played all their home games at the 70,000 capacity National Sports Complex Olimpiyskiy which was totally remodelled for Euro 2012. Their iconic Dynamo Stadium is a fifteen minute walk from Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station (Line 2) and apart from Dynamo’s reserve team, Arsenal Kyiv and the exiled Olimpik Donetsk club play their home games here.

After seeing Dynamo beat Oleksandria at the Olimpiyskiy it was a quick dash over to the Dynamo Stadium for the evening game between Olimpik and Vorskla. Tickets and, unexpectedly, a small glossy programme, are available at the kiosk by the main entrance. The ticket was 50 hryvnia (£1.70) which must be one of the cheapest top flight tickets I will ever purchase! The exiled Olimpik club also have a small pop up merchandise stand on the slope up to the stadium. Only the main stand is open for the 329 people that gather for this match including some visiting fans from Poltava. Unfortunately Vorskla don’t really turn up for this game and two Olimpik goals in the middle of the second half from Teixiera and Lukyanchuk secure a comfortable “home” win for the exiles.