(Redirected from
Dinamo Kiev)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (Ukrainian: ФК Динамо Київ, formerly Dinamo Kiev) is the main professional football club in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
History overview
The club was founded in 1927 as an amateur team, part of the Soviet nation-wide "sport society" called "Dinamo". This society later became officially funded and patronized by the NKVD, later by the MVD (Soviet police). In the 1950s-1980s team players were even officially ranked as police officers. However, thousands of ordinary Soviets paid symbolic membership fees for the "sport society".
During the Soviet era, the club was one of the main rivals to the football clubs in Moscow and games with these teams often saw the whole population of Ukraine uniting behind them. Leaders of the Ukrainian SSR unofficially regarded the club as their "national" team and provided it with generous support. In that way, Dinamo became a de-facto professional team of international importance.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Dynamo Kyiv became a member of the new football league of Ukraine. Its status as the country's principal club did not alter as they went on to dominate domestic cups. This dominance has recently been threatened by Shakhtar Donetsk from the eastern region of Donbass.
Since 1993, the team has been owned by Hryhoriy Surkis, a Ukrainian businessmen of Jewish descent, one of the richest tycoons in Eastern Europe (with the interests in electricity, oil trade, and, allegedly, organized crime). The Ukrainian opposition have accused the government of setting too low price and other irregularities during the privatization of the club's real estate. Surkis is closely linked to former President Leonid Kuchma, being a member of the so-called "Kiev holding" (a.k.a. "Dinamo group") - an influential business and political clan, formally organized in SDPU (o) political party. The team's players (including Andriy Shevchenko) and symbols have been used in political advertisements for pro-Kuchma politicians in recent elections.
Achievements
Dynamo's striker Oleg Blokhin is the all-time leader in games (432) and goals (211) of the USSR National Championship. The team won it for many seasons, most often in the 1970s-1980s. The team's players usually comprised the majority of the Soviet Union's national team. Dinamo Kiev won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1975 and 1986. In 1999, the club reached the semifinals of UEFA Champions League. These victories are associated with the name of Valeriy Lobanovs'kyi - a 1960s player and later long-time chief coach of the club, and also a coach of the USSR national football team in various championships. He died in 2002 after a heart attack that occurred during a game.
Structure
The club's home ground, Lobanovs'kyi Dynamo Stadium, is situated in a picturesque park located in the center of the city, close to the Dnipro River bank. The team also has a modern-equipped training base in the Kyiv suburb of Koncha-Zaspa. Highly-attended games are held on the 90,000-capacity stadium of the city-owned National Olympic Complex.
Dynamo Kyiv maintains its own football school for children and youths, also situated in Kyiv. Junior Dynamo teams are colloquially known as Dynamo-2 and Dynamo-3. Andriy Shevchenko, now the most famous Dynamo player, is among the graduates of the school.
Notable Players
Former
Coaches
External links
