The football fraternity knows no age or space boundaries. On all continents and in any company, knowledge and understanding of the secrets of the "king of sports" and love for the game are valued.
Eduard LuchinPerhaps it was these qualities of Eduard Luchin that were noticed by Anatoliy Zubritsky, the honoured coach of Ukraine, the director of the Chernomorets Children's and Youth Sports School at that time, and Igor Yakovenko, the chairman of the Vodnik Children's Sports Society. Despite his obviously unsportsmanlike data, this puny, short stature kid stood out for his ability to manage his amateur team on the court, his subtle understanding of the game and his leadership qualities.
That's why he was invited to work on the football field. Eduard was happy that he would be close to his favourite team "Chernomorets" and professionally contribute to the development of his favourite game. He did not hesitate for a second over the offer, although he earned more than twice as much at the Odessa Experimental Mechanical Plant.
Luchin started as a methodical instructor, but soon Anatoly Zubritsky invited him to work with children at the Specialised Children's and Youth Football School of Olympic Reserve. The football guru saw that Edik did not just love football, but lived the game, knew the strengths and weaknesses of Chernomorets players. He came to the training sessions of children from the Children's School and could tell quite aptly about the prospects of this or that young footballer. What was there to say about the best teams and players...? Here few could argue with Luchin.
All this came in handy for him when he started recruiting young footballers and coaching them in SDYUFSHOR. Eduard Petrovich was often seen at physical education lessons in schools and at "Leather Ball" tournaments. Thus, in the very young Ilya Tsymbalar and Yury Nikiforov he saw the future stars of football. Even later, having won many titles, both in their questionnaires always indicated: the first coach - Eduard Petrovich Luchin.
And how many were the boys who, although they did not reach master heights, but for the rest of their lives remained grateful to their first coach for the science of sport and life ....
I remember our conversations, as well as meetings of football columnists of Odessa newspapers with Eduard. He was not just commenting and explaining the actions of the players during the matches of the top league, but seemed to track the thoughts of the coaches of the teams, convincingly analysing the causes and consequences of their decisions.
This football wisdom was reinforced by a constant desire to learn. He continued his education in the field of sports, graduating with a "red" diploma Ivano-Frankivsk Technical School of Physical Education, and then the Faculty of Physical Education of the Odessa Pedagogical Institute named after K. D. Ushinsky.
His professionalism was noticed here too - soon Eduard Petrovich was invited to teach at the Department of Sports Games, and in parallel to coach the student team of the Pedagogical Institute, which won the 1986 championship of Odessa.
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It should be noted that in the Soviet years football somehow managed to combine its royal sporting status with party status, being involved in the social management of the masses. That is why in the field, most of the apparatchiks considered the achievements of the teams entrusted to them as one of the most important areas of ideological work. At times, they fought zealously among themselves, even if not directly.
In this kind of party games, of course, Luchin did not really get into it. And when the head coach of "Chernomorets" Ahmed Aleskerov drew attention to the talent of Edgar Hess, with the player of Dushanbe "Pamir" met with Eduard Petrovich, convincing him to move to Odessa. And everything would have been great, without the all-Union scandal ...
Komsomolskaya Pravda joined the campaign against poaching players with a scathing article "The Captain's Rush". Then the all-powerful organ of the CPSU Central Committee reacted to it with the newspaper Pravda, in the words of its correspondent saying: "We don't need such Ediks!". A commission headed by the USSR Prosecutor General was promptly dispatched to Odessa to punish the "guilty" and, above all, Luchin. Only the intervention of Ukraine's party leader Volodymyr Shcherbitsky put an end to these party-sports squabbles.
And then came the disturbing 1990s. Eduard Petrovich's mother, who was not known for her good health, was seriously ill - the years of imprisonment in Stalin's camps, where in 1954, under the Karaganda sky, Luchin was born. In order for her son to survive, his mother exchanged her camp rations for a portion of milk. She fought with all her might for little Edik in memory of his father, who was never released from the camp.
- I always remembered that I owed my survival to my mother," Eduard said. - This time I was obliged to save her. That's why I decided to go to the United States to perform a complicated heart surgery on my mother. It was impossible in post-Soviet Ukraine at that time.
...He started his work in New York as a construction apprentice: 12 hours on his knees and stripped linoleum from the concrete floor. Perhaps only his passion for football and love of sports allowed him to distract himself from not the easiest thoughts. He continued to follow the game of the best teams, the news of the "king of sports". And fate rewarded him again.
In the early 1990s, Americans who had left the USSR watched World Cup matches on television only in English. This caused some inconvenience, although almost every home of the new wave emigrants had a receiver with a parallel voice-over from the popular station WMNB.
That's when Eduard Petrovich had an idea - to combine these two media in his person. He called WMNB editorial office and told about his commentary skills. They were interested and decided to test Luchin during the match Canada - Brazil. Among his examiners was a well-known sports journalist Evgeny Rubin, who after the first half shook Eduard's hand and expressed his admiration for the report, knowledge of football and the characteristics of players. Then they worked the whole final tournament of the World Cup-1994.
After that Odessa was offered to lead the daily sports news in the evening programme "Pulse of the Planet", as well as the Sunday final programme. Thirty years have passed since then!
Luchin remained faithful to WMNB.
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One must know Edward's irrepressible energy, always optimistic and with a sparkling sense of humour under any circumstances, to fully imagine the intonation and tone of his television communication with emigrant America.
Loving life and helping people, Luchin managed to create a veterans' sports community in the States, having achieved tax-exempt status for it as a non-profit organisation. Yes, later this factor attracted the attention of unscrupulous businessmen and the association disintegrated, but having already had a negative experience, Eduard Petrovich again gathered like-minded people into the Association of Veterans of Sports, which last year celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Every year in December, the Association organises Olympic balls in New York, which are attended by Odessians. Among them are Olympians Nikolay Avilov and Yan Zheleznyak, Elena Sokolovskaya and Lyubov Rudovskaya, veterans of "Chernomorets" Vyacheslav Leshchuk and Valery Porkuyan, as well as sports journalists Anatoly Mazurenk and Vyacheslav Kulchitsky....
Football tournaments in memory of Valery Lobanovsky and Odessa coach Matvei Cherkassky, memorials of 11 September and 11 Israeli athletes killed by terrorists at the 1972 Munich Games have already become traditional. They are attended not only by people from the former Soviet Union, but also, say, by New York teams of policemen and firemen.
Such meetings have acquired a special status after the beginning of Putin's aggression against Ukraine. These are no longer just football matches, but permanent actions of solidarity, fundraising for the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces, demonstration of support for the people of Ukraine in the struggle for freedom and independence, held under the slogan "One is One! Together with Ukraine!"
Sport cannot be out of politics, believes Luchin and proves this truth in his sports programmes, filling them with love for his native city, hopes for a speedy victory and liberation of Ukraine. And now Eduard's words are heard not only inside the United States.
On the waves of "Voice of America", where he is periodically invited to comment on important sporting events in the world, he repeatedly reminded listeners of many countries about the need to suspend Russia and Belarus from participation in the Olympic Games in Paris. And, joining the chorus of similarly freedom-loving voices, his sincerity and irrepressible energy bear fruit.
During the Olympic Ball, New York Mayor Eric Adams congratulated the American Veterans Sports Association on its 20th anniversary from the monitor screen. A certificate of appreciation on behalf of the mayor was presented to its president, Edward Luchin (centre) by Alec Brook-Krasny (left) and William Colton, who represents the City of New York in the New York State Assembly.
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And today Edward Luchin, a member of the World Club of Odessans, holder of the honourable title "Man of the Cause" established by the newspaper "Vechernyaya Odessa", President of the American Veterans Sports Association, celebrates his 70th birthday.
His friends and sports veterans, football fans and journalists, politicians and representatives of New York City Hall will gather to congratulate him and say words of gratitude for his multifaceted activities in the service of people and football.
And there will be a lot of calls and friendly messages to the faithful and reliable knight of the "King of Sports" from different cities of the world, including Odessa.
Alexander FEDOROV, Master of Sports
