13 times Dynamo Kiev won gold medals in soccer championships of the former Soviet Union. But that first gold is unforgettable, just like the first love.
October 17, 1961. Tribunes 40-thousand capital stadium overflowing. In the penultimate round match of the national championship Dynamo host Kharkov Avangard. The hosts must not concede, because their nearest pursuers - Moscow torpedo team - are breathing down their necks. Their guests should not lose points, Kharkiv play for the sixth place in the championship, which gives the right to be awarded the title of Master of Sports.
Oleg Makarov and Kharkiv goalkeeper Mykola Ugratskiy act confidently and reliably. Minutes before the final whistle announcer sounds over the stadium: "The message from Tashkent, where the Moscow" Torpedo "in a match against Pakhtakor lost the points they needed so much. "Dynamo" played their match 0-0 first early champion of the USSR, breaking a 25-year hegemony of the Moscow clubs.
Kiev was jubilant.
It is impossible to describe what was going on in the stands. For the first time hundreds of torches were lit from the newspapers. Some fans managed to break onto the field. They carried the Dynamo players in their arms along the running track of the stadium. In about an hour this jubilation moved to Krasnoarmeiska and Khreshchatyk. The Central grocery store, which worked till 24 o'clock, was empty of alcoholic drinks. Kiev was jubilant!
That evening I was in the stands of the stadium, witnessed the triumph of Dynamo, the joy of Kiev fans. The 1961 championship, Dynamo Kiev, the winners of gold medals, finished with the match against Lokomotiv in Moscow. They played it as befits a champion and won with a score of 4:3. In the standings FC Dynamo was four points ahead of Torpedo and three ahead of Spartak. Kharkiv Avangard finished in the coveted sixth place.
Only three of the 22 Dynamo guys were left.
Before me there is a photo of the players of FC Dynamo (Kyiv) - the champions of the USSR in 1961. On the photo: coaches Vyacheslav Solovyov and Michael Koman. Their charges: Viktor Kanevsky (captain), Oleg Makarov, Valery Lobanovsky, Oleg Bazilevich, Yuri Voinov, Vasily Turyanchik, Joseph Sabo, Vladimir Schegolkov, Valentin Troyanovsky, Nikolai Koltsov, Vladimir Anufrienko, Viktor Serebryanikov, Andrey Biba, Anatoly Suchkov, Vitaly Shcherbakov.
Igor Zaitsev, Nikolay Kashtanov, Leonid Klyuev, Vladimir Yerokhin, Valery Verigin, Vladimir Sorokin and their coach Victor Terentiev didn't fall in the lens but played in that memorable championship - 1961.
25 games in a row without a loss.
Unfortunately, three players from that first squad of the Dinamo champions are still with us: Sabo, Biba and Sorokin. The coaches of the "gold" team of 1961: Vyacheslav Solovyov, Mikhail Koman, Viktor Terentyev also left this soccer world.
Let me remind you FC Dynamo (Kiev) is a 13-time winner of the soccer championships of the former Soviet Union.
In twelve of the thirteen victorious championships of Kyiv "gold" was won ahead of schedule.
Dynamo players three years in a row (1966, 1967, 1968) became the champions.
In 1977, the people of Kiev during the season had never allowed more than one goal.
In 1981, 25 starting games of the championship the team held without a defeat.
Friends, this is not all achievements of Dynamo Kiev - the most titled team in soccer Ukraine. And in the championships of our country Dynamo players replenish their collection of team and individual prizes. About that another time.
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Oleksandr LYPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua