Disenfranchised Football
The term in England is associated with FC United and Wimbledon, in Ukraine it can easily be applied to CSKA Kyiv. Whereas the term in England seems to convey a bunch of idiots who think they invented non-league football and who have a God given right to have promotion every year the Ukrainian model is somewhat different.
Yeterday, me and Phil travelled to Chapaevka to see CSKA take on PFK Sevastapol. In 2001 they were flying high in the top half of the Vishe Liha, doing well in Europe and playing in their own stadium, yesterday they were playing at Dynamo's training ground and were relegated to the third level.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though, unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries so I don't have any pictures, but the place is quite eye catching. There are 3 pitches with stands for people to watch the football from set in an ancient forest and the skyline yesterday was indeed dramatic. There's also a shop next to the ground and over the road a restaurant that serves some of the freshest beer I've had in a long time. The fans despite their notorious reputation were also friendly. I think it helped that I had a CSKA scarf on and that we bought them beer from the shop because they were banned, but I think we would have got a decent reception anyway, for them it was probably like if a couple of Brazilians turningd up to support Buxton. One of them also recognised us from the old days and spent the second half speaking at us in pidgin English. Anyway, a good time was had by all, well if we forget about the football that is.
One thing that is a bit of a mystery is why CSKA have to play in Chapaevka in the first place. It's true that their ground is a disgrace and was in bad need of repair even 8 years ago, but it seems funny that Arsenal Reserves are allowed to play there but CSKA aren't. One thing that is very apparent is that although they play at the Dynamo Training Complex they obviously don't train there. The pitches at Chapaevka are plastic, which usually gives the home team an advantage, but the CSKA players seemed as confused on it as the Sevastapol players. However, it was CSKA who went ahead on 34 minutes with a neatly slotted in goal. The celebrations were shortlived though, as Sevastapol scored straight after the centre with a goal that the keeper got to, but hit the post and deflected back in. Sevastapol then made sure of the victory straight after the second half. What followed was a pretty open game, but to be honest CSKA didn't really look like scoring.
The fans seem to remain optimistic though, they might not go down because of the restructuring of the league that the new premier league entails and if they do go down they can go and visit places they would never usually go to, seemed to be the general consensus. To be honest I can't wait to go again.
I'll have to try and find some photos when the Sevastapol and CSKA websites are updated or wait until Phil can send me some.
Yeterday, me and Phil travelled to Chapaevka to see CSKA take on PFK Sevastapol. In 2001 they were flying high in the top half of the Vishe Liha, doing well in Europe and playing in their own stadium, yesterday they were playing at Dynamo's training ground and were relegated to the third level.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though, unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries so I don't have any pictures, but the place is quite eye catching. There are 3 pitches with stands for people to watch the football from set in an ancient forest and the skyline yesterday was indeed dramatic. There's also a shop next to the ground and over the road a restaurant that serves some of the freshest beer I've had in a long time. The fans despite their notorious reputation were also friendly. I think it helped that I had a CSKA scarf on and that we bought them beer from the shop because they were banned, but I think we would have got a decent reception anyway, for them it was probably like if a couple of Brazilians turningd up to support Buxton. One of them also recognised us from the old days and spent the second half speaking at us in pidgin English. Anyway, a good time was had by all, well if we forget about the football that is.
One thing that is a bit of a mystery is why CSKA have to play in Chapaevka in the first place. It's true that their ground is a disgrace and was in bad need of repair even 8 years ago, but it seems funny that Arsenal Reserves are allowed to play there but CSKA aren't. One thing that is very apparent is that although they play at the Dynamo Training Complex they obviously don't train there. The pitches at Chapaevka are plastic, which usually gives the home team an advantage, but the CSKA players seemed as confused on it as the Sevastapol players. However, it was CSKA who went ahead on 34 minutes with a neatly slotted in goal. The celebrations were shortlived though, as Sevastapol scored straight after the centre with a goal that the keeper got to, but hit the post and deflected back in. Sevastapol then made sure of the victory straight after the second half. What followed was a pretty open game, but to be honest CSKA didn't really look like scoring.
The fans seem to remain optimistic though, they might not go down because of the restructuring of the league that the new premier league entails and if they do go down they can go and visit places they would never usually go to, seemed to be the general consensus. To be honest I can't wait to go again.
I'll have to try and find some photos when the Sevastapol and CSKA websites are updated or wait until Phil can send me some.
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