In the championship of the former USSR in 1960, Dynamo (Kyiv) became the silver medallist in its history for the third time.
That season became a prelude to the championship-1961, in which Kyiv won its first title of the strongest in the country.
22 teams took part in the 1960 tournament. It was held in two stages - preliminary and final. The participants were divided into two subgroups of 11 in each. Three best teams from each subgroup made it to the final six.
The main tournament began without taking into account the points gained at the preliminary stage. Teams that were outside the top six, played places 7 to 22nd.
At the first stage of the championship the opponents of Vyacheslav Solovyov and his assistants - Viktor Terentyev and Mikhail Koman, were CSKA, Spartak and Lokomotiv (all - Moscow), "Admiralteets" (Leningrad), "Belorus" (Minsk), "Krylya Sovetov" (Kuibyshev), "Shakhtar" (Stalino, now Donetsk), "Kairat" (Alma-Ata), "Neftyanik" (Baku) and "Spartak" (Vilnius).
Having scored 28 points, scored 46 goals (the most) and conceded 23, Dynamo took the first place in their subgroup. Lokomotiv were one point behind them, and CSKA were three points behind them. This trio advanced to the final six, where its rivals were Torpedo, Dynamo (both Moscow) and SKA (Rostov-on-Don).
The Kyivians scored 11 points (19 goals scored and 14 conceded) and took second place. Dynamo Moscow got the same number of points and got the bronze medal. Our team had the best additional indicators.
And the champion was Torpedo - 14 points.
Together with Makarov, Turyanchyk, Voynov, Sabo, Suchkov, Erokhin, Serebryanikov, Kovalev, Zaitsev, Onisko, Sorokin the Kyiv team included native Kyivians: Kanevsky, Lobanovsky, Bazilevich, Biba, Troyanovsky, Proskuryakov.
Lobanovsky was the most productive among Kyiv Dynamo players. He scored 13 goals in 30 matches. Biba scored 9 times, 8 - Bazilevich, 7 - Kanevskyi.
After the end of the championship Dynamo (Kyiv) players played 7 control matches in Norway and FRG. Here are their results: with Norwegian rivals - "Hamar" - 4:1, "Torn" (Larvik) - 0:2, the team of the city of Steinger - 8:1, the team of Oslo - 3:2; with German clubs - "Bayern" (Munich) - 3:0, "Nuremberg" - 1:1, "Eintracht" (Frankfurt am Main) - 1:3.
And in the autumn of 1961, the long-standing dream of Dynamo fans came true. On 17 October (a historic day) having played 0:0 at home with Kharkiv "Avangard", the Dynamo team of the capital of Ukraine became the owner of gold medals for a round before the championship finish, having interrupted the 25-year hegemony of Moscow teams.
Then there were 12 more sets of gold medals of the Union Championship in the collection of Dynamo (Kyiv). But the first "golden" autumn of 1961 is unforgettable, as well as the first love.
Oleksandr LIPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua