football rambles

I wasn't actually at this game, but it's unusual in that it's a good photo taken by Phil, so I decided to include it, especially as we'll probably be hearing a lot more from this club in the future

Here's a picture of me with hard tackling defender Mamady Sangare. He was a hero, who always gave a 100 per cent for CSKA, he now plays for Desna Chernihiv. We met him at the game between Obolon and Desna. Funnily enough he wasn't playing because he was suspended. I think commited is the euphemism usually used to describe such players

As you might remember my camera ran out of batteries when we went to CSKA's game against Chapaevka against Sevastapol, Phil has now sent me some, so here they are. The first one was taken just before half time and I was distracted by some action on the pitch. The second is on the way home after a few too many beers

Well the biggest news over the weekend apart from Spain beating Germany to win the Euros ( a result I can feel smug about as I predicted Spain to beat Germany in the final before the tournament started) is that CSKA might have fgone out of business. A lot of people predicted that if they went down, which they did, they would pack in, but I really hoped this wasn't going to be the case. However, Misha the cloakroom attendant at the British Council knows his stuff. He reckons CSKA have called it a day and as he usually seems right, although I have got no hard evidence I am inclined to believe him, a sad day indeed.

Well, there isn't any football for a whole 3 weeks in Ukraine and an epic season has come to an end. I am undecided about how to spend the first day of the season with Chernomorets hosting Arsenal in Odessa and Dynamo playing at home to Illichevets. Funnily enough the two promoted teams are playing the top two teams, as usually happens every year despite the fixtures being drawn in lots and Shakhtar will play FK Lviv. The end of the first half of the season will be completed with Shakhtar V Dynamo, as always happens. On to last season which was an epic and for me started with FC Seoul thrashing Suwon 4-1 at The World Cup Stadium and finished with Obolon beating Dnister Ovidiopol 3-0. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights, concentrating on those games played in Ukraine . Best Games 3 games really stood out this season the first one would have to be Dynamo Kyiv 7 Karpaty Lviv 3 (19/08/07. This was my first game back in Ukraine, and after a goal drought in Korea it came as a w

Yesterday saw the final game of the season and Obolon went out with a bang. They managed to win 3-0 and a good time was had by all. It was probably one of the better performances by the club in the second part of the season. Unfortunately, despite being on a sunny Saturday the crowd was pretty low. This isn't much of a shock though, as after drawing to CSKA earlier in the week they had already missed out on promotion with Illichevest being joined by Lviv in the Premier League. So, as usual Obolon finished 3rd but it was nice to see them go out with a bang even if the opposition was Dnister Ovidiopol, who don't exactly strike fear into the hearts of their opponents, especially after travelling the distance they did by bus. 1. Obolon swing in a corner that led to a goal only for it to be disallowed for a foul on the keeper 2. Obolon score a penalty to make the score 3-0 3. the lads 4. the kids

1. What self respecting town doesn't have a statue of Lenin? 2. the tractor in the ring road as you enter the town, it's a bad picture, as I took it from the bus window. It is also the symbol of the town as it is famous for making farm machinery

1. Kids' football pitch with advertising for Euro2012 2. Pavillion at the ground- What self respecting stadium doesn't have astand for the visiting club officials to sit in, apart from the camera man there was only big nose there on this occassion 3. The pitch next to the main stadium where Obolon won promotion 4. The other stand next to the pavillion

1. Obolon celebrate scoring 2. Obolon go on the attack 3. Dynamo score a penalty

Borodyanka, Thursday evening a game so meaningless that the PFL allowed Obolon 2 and dynamo 3 to move the game to a day before the other teams played. The last couple of rounds are usually played on the same date at the same time, but not this one, that is just how meaningless it was. Apart from the fact that neither of the clubs can get promoted under any circumstances, as they are obviously feeder clubs to the bigger Kyiv clubs, the result of the game was completly meaningless, as neither club could change position in the table regardless of scores elsewhere. Borodyanka is situated about 80 KM from Kyiv and has the feel of a village, although I suspect that it has quite a large population. It is most famous for producing tractors at the Borex plant. It has had several clubs, the most successful of was Sistema Borex, who had close ties to CSKA. They ultimately went bankrupt and several clubs that have followed in their footsteps have also gone under. This is a shame, as they have a ni

No live football this weekend, as the 1st and 2nd division comes to an end in a week with games on Monday and Saturday. Then it is all over until the new improved (maybe) Ukrainian Premier League starts again in mid-july. I must say I am pretty pissed off at the moment. Monday is a holiday here, but muggings has to work and therefore i will miss the crucial Derby between CSKA and Obolon and a so called friendly between Dynamo and Arsenal. What's the point in public holidays if they just go ignored, or the other scenario being making up for them on a Saturday (usually an even worse prospect). I wouldn't mind but the holidays in this job are the crappiest I have had in a long time anyway and the conditions aren't exactly great. Rant over. I'm also workking nest Saturday, but should be able to get to the Obolon game on time and all being well will get to the rather pointless game between Obolon 2 and Dynamo 3 on Thursday. In Ukraine many of the big clubs, and some of the

Or maybe that should be why am I enjoying the Euros? To be honest, I can't remember enjoying a competition as much as this since the 1994 World Cup, which ironically England didn't qualify for either. That time I'd just finished university, so I could watch all the matches. Since then I haven't been in England when a major tournament has been on, although I saw most of the Euro 2000 games in England too. There are a number of reasons I think that I am enjoying this tournament for: 1. The kick off times: On most nights I miss the first game, although I saw both yesterday, thankfully. It means that I don't overdose on the matches, and at the same time the rest of the family tend to go to bed during the second game, so they don't overdose on it either. The last 3 major tournaments have been a major headache regarding kick off times. The last World Cup in Germany, I was in korea and when the World Cup was in Korea and Japan I was in Ukraine. Even during the last Eur

Valeri Lobanovsky was probably one of the most famous coaches that the world has known. He started his career off as a left winger for Dynamo Kyiv and also played for Chernomorets Odessa, and Shakhtar Donetsk. As a player he was known as a maverick, who could not be told what to do. it therefore seems ironic that as a coach he pioneered a system where the players had to fit into the system or get out, and he was known as a strict authoritarian, who would not tolerate players breaking the system. He started his coaching career at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, where he had four unremarkable seasons before returning to Dynamo. At Dynamo he built one of the most feared teams in Europe, and a team that would dominate the Soviet and later the Ukrainian League. He also coached the USSR team, who did so well in the Olympics in the 1980's, who were tipped to do well at Mexico 1986 and who reached the final of the European Championships in 1988. Not surprisingly the backbone of these teams was made

It looks pretty impressive, but then it should the stadium has been 6 years in the making with Obolon playing their games in a variety of other stadiums before finally getting the job done. To be fair to them there was a hostile takeover bid of the brewery by Sarmat, which led to construction being stopped for a period of time. That said, as you can see from the outside it doesn't look very welcoming, at the moment the chosen few who are allowed to sit here enter from the side and are allowed in at the stadium manager's discretion. hopefully they will get promotion and will be forced to open it up for the purpose for which it was built

Obolon played Dnipro Cherkasy on Sunday needing a win to stay in the chase for promotion to the Vishe, soon to be renamed and rebranded as the Premier League. The game was exciting enough, with Cherkasy trying their best to spoil the party in much the same way Vorskla attempted to when they played Dynamo at the end of the Vishe Liha's season. In fact the first 20 minutes were all Dnipro, so much so that Obolon made a couple of early substitutions in an attempt to put some bite back in their attack. The result was a fairly balanced game for the most part with both team's forwards squandering chance after chance. It was difficult to imagine why Cherkasy were just above the relegation places and on 75 minutes they went ahead with a brilliantly well taken goal drilled in from the right wing. Finally Obolon woke from their slumber and 4 minutes later they drew level with another well taken goal. This prompted a last 10 minutes of wave after wave of attack and dive after dive in the

Well there was no football on Saturday, so we went on a boat trip down the Dnipro. I got a lot of decent pictures, but here's a random one of the floodlights at Dynamo.

The floodlights were as powerful as a 50 watt bulb in their heyday. I wonder if they still work. It's a pity, but despite it never being the best equipped stadium in the vishe Liha, it would be nice to see them return one day. This probably won't happen, as the stadium has been left to rot and CSKA were relegated to the basement earlier this week despite getting a very credible draw against top placed club Illichevests

Here's the old scoreboard. It worked well for about a year and then the lightbulbs went and finally it got to the stage that one of the kids would climb up it and put the score up on cardboard. When it was working well the fire engine that used to be parked in the corner beeped its horn to signal the operator to change the scores.

The sign reads Danger Condemned Stand , I don't remember it being particularly safe when the Army Legion were standing in it

Sector 2. Where we used to sit every week

Behind the goal was where the Ultras used to stand. The pitch is being watered as it can still be hired for games and the Arsenal Dubleri play here

It might not look like it, but this was the executive box at CSKA. Even when they still played here there was no glass in it, which more or less made it redundant. It did come in handy though if Surkis was in attendance as you were guaranteed that he could hear what you were calling him.

In the background is the old commentary box. The goal post shown was the same goal that CSKA lost a penalty shoot out to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in a cup Semi Final. It was minus 11 and the game finished 0-0 after extra time and then CSKA lost on penalties. It was a shame as CSKA had reached the final the previous year only to lose to Shakhtar

It looks pretty much the same as it did in the day from outside, but inside it's a different story

I don't usually find myself in the part of town where CSKA stadium is, but yesterday I was there so I decided to pay a visit to my old stommping ground. The photos can be seen above.

Obolon's opponents on Sunday are Dnipro Cherkasy, and it is a must win for both teams. Dnipro are 1 place above the drop zone and Obolon are losing ground in the promotion race with FK Lviv going 3 points clear in second place after Obolon lost on Tuesday. One strange thing of note about Dnipro is that I was able to find information about them in English, whereas usually I have to rely on my rudimentarty translation skills. Anyway, here's the lowdown. The club were formed in 1955 on the 10th anniverssary of the second World War finishing. they turned professional in 1958 and have remained so since apart from a disruption in the 2002-2003 season when they temporarily lost their status. Most of their history has been spent in the lower reaches of the Soviet and Ukrainian Leagues and they were promoted to the first division in 2006. If they aren't careful, and they do have a difficult run-in they might find themselves back in the second division. Their original name was Burevi

Things are hotting up in the lower divisions with just 4 games left in the first and second division. CSKA take on Illichevets today, but I'll be at work. The next game I'll be able to go to is Obolon v Dnipro Cherkasy on Sunday. There was no live football this weekend, so I was out in the sticks, which isn't my favourite place to be, to be honest. We came back to Kyiv on sunday morning and I was tempted by the Beach Football in Hydro Park, but the inclement weather put me off. One of the strange things is that Ukraine are quite adept at beach football. I say strange, as obviously Ukraine isn't exactly known for its sun, sea and samba. The Crimea might be famous in the former USSR, but even there all the beaches are pebbles. In the evening I watched Ukraine v Sweden on TV. Mikhailechenko put out a young team and there was no Shevchenko, Tymoschuk or Voronin, but quite a few of the youngsters got a go. I was particularly glad to see Arsenal favourite Evgen Seleznev ( I k