January 6 is a special date in FC Dynamo Kyiv history. This day outstanding person was born – Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
Lobanovskyi dedicated over quarter of a century to our club, at first as a gifted player and then as a coach. Eight USSR league titles, six USSR Cups, three USSR Super Cups, two Cup Winners’ Cups and one UEFA Super Cup – that’s the collection of trophies legendary coach gathered.
Valeriy Lobanovskyi raised three Ballon d’Or holders – Oleh Blokhin, Ihor Belanov and Andriy Shevchenko. He brought up generations of talented players, who glorified Ukraine and Kyiv. Lobanovskyi was a trendsetter and role model for many European coaches. His ideas and unique worldview were way ahead of his time.
Valeriy Lobanovskyi has been gone for almost 20 years, but memory of him is alive. Football heritage of Dynamo Professor unites different generations of fans. Every year, on his birthday, lots of people gather at the Baikove cemetery to pay tribute to the coach.
This year wasn’t an exception. Among those, who came to lay flowers at Lobanovskyi’s grave, were his teammates and trainees including Andriy Biba, Volodymyr Veremeyev, Volodymyr Muntian, Leonid Buriak, Volodymyr Bezsonov, Olexandr Zavarov, Olexandr Shovkovskyi.
“We live as long as we are remembered”, – says the inscription decorating the colonnade at the Maestro’s grave. Valeriy Lobanovskyi will truly live in hearts of those, who know him.
The memorial meeting continued at the monument to the coach next to Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv downtown.
Young representatives of Dynamo family joined the event – trainees of the football school named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
Guests laid flowers at the monument and bowed heads to pay tribute to the person, who inscribed his name into Dynamo history with golden letters.
Maestro is eternalized in the monument sitting on the bench, focused on the game, just like decades ago, ready to jump up any minute. Memory of Valeriy Lobanovskyi will be cherished by those with letter D on their hearts.
