25 years ago, on 25 March 1999, Vyacheslav Chornovil died under unclear circumstances in a car accident on a highway near Boryspil. 86-year-old Andriy Biba was the captain of the legendary Dynamo 1966, which for the first time in its history made a golden double: winning the USSR championship and the USSR Cup. The famous veteran recalled how thousands of Kyiv fans lit homemade torches from newspapers at the stadium in honour of the team's remarkable victory, which players spoke Ukrainian in the late 50s and early 60s, and the circumstances under which he received an unexpected offer from the initiator of Ukraine's declaration of independence.
Andriy Biba- Andriy Andriyovych, do you remember when you were offered to join the party that played a key role in restoring Ukraine's independence?
- We met Vyacheslav Chornovil at a Dynamo match. Vyacheslav Maksymovych's press secretary was Dmytro Ponamarchuk. He used to work as a correspondent for Sportivna Gazeta, so we knew him well. It was Ponamarchuk who brought Chornovil to our box. Viacheslav Maksymovych admitted that it was his first time at a football match. We had a heart-to-heart chat. After a while, Dima started talking about how I was thinking about joining the NRU. He said he had an offer from Chornovil. But where am I, and where is the political party? I was very far from it. I refused. And soon I saw how Blokha (as Oleh Blokhin is called in the Dynamo football world - note by M.R.) joined one political party, then another, then a third.
- Let's talk about Dynamo. On 17 October 1961, the team officially won the first gold medals in the USSR championship, breaking the hegemony of Moscow clubs. During the home match against Kharkiv's Avangard, thousands of fans lit homemade torches at the stadium, creating the famous "ring of fire". What were your feelings at that moment?
- It was a real know-how. Nowadays, we have mobile phones that can be illuminated and raised above us in the stadium. Back then, we couldn't even think about it. When it became known that Dynamo had won the championship, the fans took the newspapers they had at hand and set them on fire. They created a festive firework display. It was the first time at the stadium. It looked impressive. And I don't remember the fans staging such a firework show in the future.
- In those years, did a blind masseur, Belov, already work at Dynamo?
- Yes, we all respected him. He was a great masseur. When he was younger, Georgi made a bet and looked at the sun for a long time, after which he lost his sight. But his senses were perfectly developed. He recognised a player by his muscles. Together with him, Dynamo won the USSR championship three times in a row (1966, 1967, 1968). Heorhii was a true member of our championship team. We lived in the same house - Belov, Bazylevych, Rudakov and me. Georgi worked at Dynamo for many years. He had a very good memory. During the matches, a report was made especially for him. And Belov could not only name the authors of the goals in a particular match, but also tell us about a game episode that we had all forgotten about.
- Reshko said that in 1971, when he joined Dynamo, only Slobodian, who was born in Ivano-Frankivsk region, spoke Ukrainian with him. What was it like in your time?
- At that time, there were three guys from Zakarpattia in our team - Vasyl Turianchyk, Ferenc Medvid, who later became Fedir, and Jozsef Szabo. Szabo was from a Hungarian family. And Turyanchyk and Medvid spoke Ukrainian with a Transcarpathian flavour - a mixed language. I don't remember anyone else.
Maksym Rozenko
