Valeriy Lobanovskyi

For the Russian footballer, see Valeri Vladimirovich Lobanovskiy.
Valeriy Lobanovskyi

Lobanovski in 1985
Personal information
Full name Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi
Date of birth (1939-01-06)6 January 1939
Place of birth Kiev, Soviet Union
Date of death 13 May 2002(2002-05-13) (aged 63)
Place of death Zaporizhia, Ukraine
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward
Youth career
1952-1955 Football School N.1
1955-1956 Football School of Youth (FShM)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1964 Dynamo Kyiv 144 (42)
1965–1966 Chornomorets Odessa 59 (15)
1967–1968 Shakhtar Donetsk 50 (14)
National team
1960–1961 USSR 2 (0)
Teams managed
1969–1973 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
1973–1982 Dynamo Kyiv
1975–1976 USSR
1982–1983 USSR
1984–1990 Dynamo Kyiv
1986–1990 USSR
1990–1993 UAE
1994–1996 Kuwait
1997–2002 Dynamo Kyiv
2000–2001 Ukraine

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi (Ukrainian: Вале́рій Васи́льович Лобано́вський, Valerij Vasyl’ovyč Lobanovs’kyj [vɑˈlɛrɪj lobɑˈnɔwsʲkɪj]; Russian: Вале́рий Васи́льевич Лобано́вский, Valeriy Vasilyevich Lobanovskiy [vɐˈlʲerʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲɪvʲɪtɕ ləbɐˈnofskʲɪj]; 6 January 1939 – 13 May 2002) was a Soviet-Ukrainian football manager. He was the Master of Sports of USSR, the Distinguished Coach of USSR, and the laureate of the UEFA Ruby Order (2002).

Lobanovskyi is most famous for his spells managing FC Dynamo Kyiv, the Ukraine national football team, and earlier the USSR national football team. In 1975 his Dynamo Kyiv team became the first side from the Soviet Union to win a major European trophy when they beat Hungarian side Ferencváros in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup. Lobanovskyi is highly esteemed for his achievements as a coach[1] but also notorious for his both highly scientific and excessively disciplinarian approach to management.

Career

Playing career

Lobanovskyi was a graduate of the Kiev football school #1 and the Football School of Youth (Kiev). He began his playing career as a left winger with Dynamo Kyiv, his hometown club, whilst with the side he won both the USSR league and cup. He spent seven years with the club before finishing his career with brief spells at Chornomorets Odessa, and Shakhtar Donetsk. Lobanovskyi ended his playing career at the age of 29 having scored 71 goals in 253 games. He also earned two full caps for the Soviet Union and played in two Olympic games. Lobanovskyi played his first international game on September 4, 1960 away against Austria. He is most famous for his legendary ability to score from corner kicks and his ability to curve the ball and place it wherever he pleased; his immense fame gained from this led him to take over as a coach for Dynamo Kiev.

Managerial career

A year after retiring as a player Lobanovskyi was named as the manager of FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. After four relatively unremarkable years with Dnipro, Lobanovskyi moved to his former club, Dynamo Kyiv, before the start of the 1974 season, he would manage the side for 15 of the next 17 years (he spent 1983–1984 managing the USSR). During these two spells Kyiv were successful in breaking the Russian dominance of Soviet football. Lobanovskyi led his side to the Soviet super league eight times, the cup six times, the European Cup Winners' Cup of 1975 and 1986, and European Super Cup of 1975.

Lobanovskyi also spent three spells managing the Soviet Union during this period. He took the side to the bronze medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics during his first spell. However, it was his third, and last, spell with the side that he gained the most attention. He was asked to manage the side on the eve of the 1986 World Cup. The side, which consisted mainly of his own Dynamo Kyiv players, finished top of their group, but were knocked out in the second round by Belgium 4–3 after extra time. The team did, however, achieve far greater success at the 1988 European Championship. The team again finished top of their group, beating the Netherlands on the way. However, they played the Netherlands again in the final and failed to repeat their previous victory.

Following perestroika many of Lobanovskyi's best players, for both club and country, left the USSR to play in Western Europe. Going into the 1990 World Cup he couldn't call upon his own Kyiv players to form the core of the side as he had previously done. His subsequent lack of ability to completely control his side led to the team finishing bottom of their group.

Following the debacle of the World Cup, Lobanovskyi decided to leave Dynamo Kyiv and take up the lucrative offer of managing the United Arab Emirates national football team. After four relatively lacklustre years he was sacked and went on to spend the next two years managing the Kuwait national football team, before he was again sacked.

In January 1997, Lobanovskyi returned to manage Dynamo Kyiv for a third time. The club by this time had fallen somewhat from their former heights. The club had been thrown out of European competition by UEFA following attempts to bribe an official, and the club was also struggling somewhat in the league. Lobanovskyi, however, managed to turn the club around quickly. Aside from leading the team to five consecutive championships, Lobanovskyi managed to turn the side into one of the best sides in Europe, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League in 1999. He was made manager of the Ukraine national side in March 2000, but was sacked after the side lost a playoff to reach the 2002 World Cup to Germany.

Lobanovskyi suffered a stroke on 7 May 2002, shortly after his Dynamo Kyiv side had beaten FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya. He died on 13 May, during brain surgery, following complications suffered after the stroke. At the Champions League final in Glasgow two days later, UEFA held a minute's silence in his honour.

Remembrance

Lobanovskyi's burial location and monument at Baikove cemetery in Kiev

Following his death Lobanovskyi was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine, the nation's highest honour. Dynamo Kyiv's stadium was also renamed the Lobanovsky Stadium in his honour.

Lobanovskyi was buried at Baikove Cemetery where an impressive monument surrounds his tomb.

After his death, A.C. Milan won the Champions League in 2003 with Andriy Shevchenko in the team. After the victory Shevchenko flew to Kyiv to put his medal by the grave of his former manager.[2]

In 2005 the Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament was founded.

Personal life

Lobanovsky was born in Kiev to Vasyl Mykhailovych Lobanovsky and Oleksandra Maksymivna Boichenko. Vasyl Lobanovsky traces his roots to the Polish szlachta family of Lobko-Lobanowski.

Lobanovskyi was married to Ada Lobanovskaya,[3] the couple had a daughter named Svitlana. She is a Russian philologist and owns a restaurant in Kiev called "U metrá" (English: "The Master's").[4]

Lobanovsky is a nephew of the Ukrainian writer and a leader of the Komsomol of Ukraine Oleksandr Boichenko.

Career statistics

Club

Club Season League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dynamo Kyiv 1959 104--104
1960 2912103012
1961 2810102910
1962 30810318
1963 388--388
1964 90--90
Total 144423014742
Chornomorets 1965 2810--2810
1966 315453510
Total 5915456320
Shakhtar 1967 329213410
1968 18511196
Total 5014325316
Career Total 2537110726378

Honours

Player

Dynamo Kyiv

Manager

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Dynamo Kyiv

Managerial stats

Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1968 1973 229118634851.53
Dynamo Kyiv 1974 1990 5322681689650.38
Soviet Union 1975 1976 19114457.89
Soviet Union 1982 1983 1063160
Soviet Union 1986 1990 4825121152.08
United Arab Emirates 1990 1993 371810948.65
Kuwait 1994 1996 1564540
Dynamo Kyiv 1997 2002 13811020879.71
Ukraine 2000 2001 1867533.33

References

  1. ↑ Greatest Managers, No. 8: Lobanovsky
  2. ↑ Events by themes: Persons. Valery Lobanovsky, UNIAN photoservice (9 January 2009)
  3. ↑ Events by themes: 70th anniversary from the day of birth of Valeriy Lobanovskiy, UNIAN photoservice (6 January 2009)
  4. ↑ «Футбольний прес-клуб»: напередодні старту – Official website of the Football Federation of Ukraine, Accessed 11 ??? 2008 (Ukrainian)
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