In the midst of the autumn part of the 2024/25 season, a new head coach appeared at the helm of Khmelnytskyi Podolye - Sergey Kovalev, who took his first steps in professional football in this team. The former midfielder of Kyiv Dynamo and the Ukraine national team recalled his performance for Podolye and some other fragments of his playing career.
Sergey Kovalev- In the 1986 season, like in the three previous ones, according to the regulations of the USSR championship, the second league team had to have two players under the age of 18, - recalls Kovalev. - One of them had to be on the field without fail. So, in that season, I made my debut in Podolye, which was coached by the famous specialist Istvan Sekech. There were many experienced footballers playing in the team at that time, including those who had graduated from the highest league school - such as Igor Mosora, Petr Ushakov, Eduard Valenko, Leonid Pasevchuk, Viktor Muravsky, Vitaly Bugai, Stepan Nych...
Together with middle-aged and young footballers, they managed to take a prestigious eighth place among 28 participants. But in the fall, the time came to serve, and I ended up in the army team "Zvezda" (Berdiansk). After serving, I returned to Podolye, where in the 1989 season, I managed to secure a place in the starting lineup. At that time, the well-known future striker Igor Nichenko played for the Khmelnytskyi team, with whom we scored many goals. During the time spent in that championship, we accounted for a third of Podolye's goals.
- It’s not surprising that your game attracted the attention of scouts from Kyiv Dynamo, who often watched matches involving Podolye.
- In the midst of the 1989 season, I already had several offers. Besides Dynamo, Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro also showed interest in me. Of course, Istvan Sekech was aware of the existence of these two options. As an experienced coach, he understood that it is a normal process in football when a successfully performing player comes into the sphere of interest of renowned clubs.
That’s how it happened with me. Sekech tried to share his opinion with me as a father, to give me useful advice. Learning that the Dnipropetrovsk club seemed to want to make a deal with me, he recommended not to rush with a decision. "As far as I know, Dynamo is also talking about you. So make your own decision."
- And what did you decide?
- I told Istvan Sekech that for now I don’t plan to move anywhere as I want to finish the season with Podolye. This was despite the fact that the head coach did not rule out the option of my summer move to the Kyiv club, as in that case I would have time to adapt to the new place. But events unfolded differently...
- Did Dnipro really intervene?
- Indeed. When Podolye arrived for a scheduled game in Kryvyi Rih against Kryvbas, I was found by a representative of the Dnipropetrovsk club, Rakhus Shokh, the older brother of Anton Shokh, who was then playing for Dnipro. In that situation, Istvan Sekech gave me advice: "Go to Dnipropetrovsk, but don’t sign anything." Shokh took me to Dnipropetrovsk, and although I didn’t plan to sign anything, I still ended up doing it. At that moment, it was hard for me, a 20-year-old guy, to deal with the excitement and psychological pressure that arose during the visit to the Dnipropetrovsk club.
Between Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv
- What can I say, an interesting change of plot...
- After I wrote my application to Dnipro, I was sent back to Kryvyi Rih. By a scheduled bus. And that bus, as luck would have it, broke down on the way. And this was in the middle of July when it was very hot! Nothing was left but to wait for the "Ikarus" to be repaired. In the meantime, evening came, and another bus picked up the passengers of our vehicle. I reached the hotel in Kryvyi Rih, where Podolye was staying, only at midnight. The next day we faced Kryvbas, which we lost to with a minimal score of 1:2. It’s not surprising that after the trip to Dnipropetrovsk, I didn’t look my best in that match, as I was very tired.
- What about the option with Dynamo?
- I called Dnipro and said: "I’m not going to join your club." And they responded in an ultimatum form: "You signed the statement; we will send you to work at the factory!". At that time, the workbooks of the footballers did not list such a profession as a football player yet. In clubs that defended the sports honor of a particular enterprise or organization, they often recorded the position as "Sports Instructor", "Fitter", or something like that.
To be honest, I was a bit scared then. However, Sekech calmed me down: "They won’t do anything, after all, you only signed the statement - and that’s not enough." In general, I didn’t move to Dnipro. And after some time, Oleg Bazylevych came to Khmelnytskyi from Dynamo to talk to me; he was one of those responsible for selection at the time. I told him about my desire to finish the season with Podolye. At the same time, I promised that I would come to Dynamo afterward. I told him straight: "I promise. It’s every Ukrainian guy’s dream to play for such a team!" Bazylevych believed me and returned to Kyiv.
- You didn’t let him down?
- No. After this promise to Oleg Petrovich, I continued to play in the second league for the Khmelnytskyi team. Meanwhile, I never disappeared from the radar of Dynamo's representatives. When Podolye played against Irpin's Dynamo, another representative of the capital club, Vladimir Onyshchenko, was watching my game. After that, the Dynamo representatives came to a final conclusion about my invitation to the Kyiv team. In the end, I signed an agreement with Dynamo somewhere in October. However, I still finished the 1989 season in Khmelnytskyi, from where I returned after the visit to Kyiv. I arrived at Dynamo in November.
- Did you manage to debut in the lineup of the new team that year?
- I didn’t manage to. Although I had already been registered in the Dynamo roster. At that time, the Kyiv team was playing in the 1/8 finals of the UEFA Cup, and their next opponent was the Italian Fiorentina. Although I was not registered and had no right to play for the Dynamo players, Valery Lobanovsky took me on a trip anyway. As I understand, first of all, so that I could immerse myself in the Dynamo atmosphere and get used to the new conditions as soon as possible. Before that, I had been abroad twice in Bulgaria, where I went with Podolye - and here it was immediately Italy!
Trials Before the Debut
- And what were your impressions of your visit to this capitalist country?
- I remember when we flew to Florence, I was settled in a hotel room with Vasily Rats. I was not spoiled by going abroad at that time, so many things were novelties for me. For example, I didn’t know how to turn on the taps in the bathroom, how to turn on the light — you understand what plumbing and electronics were like abroad at that time! We came to the hotel restaurant, and there was such a selection of dishes that you immediately get lost. You think: do I take pizza or lasagna, meat dishes or seafood?
I was surprised at the stadium too. Before the game, our team went out to warm up, and I moved from the under-stand area to run a bit. That's when I saw how Fiorentina fans started throwing lira at us - coins weighing half a kilogram! (Smiles). There was no other choice but to go back to protect myself. And only after Fiorentina came out onto the field, did the Dynamo players come out.
Unfortunately, my pleasant impressions from the first days of being in this legendary team were spoiled by the outcome of the game against the Florentines - Dynamo lost 0:1. In a match where our team played with ten men from the 35th minute after the expulsion of Ivan Yaremchuk, the only goal was scored by Roberto Baggio. In the last quarter of the match, Vladimir Bessonov slipped on the wet field, and a Fiorentina player intentionally collided with him, earning a penalty.
Well, in the return leg in Kyiv, Dynamo couldn’t make amends, as the pitch was frozen, and the actions of the players from both teams resembled figure skating more than football. By the way, it was after that match that the topic of artificial heating of the pitch became very acute.
- Do you remember your debut in the Dynamo Kyiv jersey?
- Of course! It happened in August 1990, in a match against the team that I had turned down in favor of Dynamo a year earlier - Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro. In that match, three minutes before the final whistle, I even scored a goal, which turned out to be the winning one. Since then, in almost all the games of the second round, Lobanovsky trusted me with a place in the starting lineup. And I tried my best to justify that trust. Who knows how everything would have turned out if it weren't for one incident that preceded my departure as part of Dynamo to the December commercial mini-football tournament in Austria.
- What happened?
- Arriving as a Dynamo player for a week in my native Krasyliv, where my relatives live, I gathered with local guys to play football. A lot of snow fell that December, but that didn’t stop us from playing in the forest in fresh winter air. Unfortunately for me, in one of the game episodes, I got a serious knee injury. And this was despite the fact that in five days I needed to be in Kyiv, from where Dynamo was supposed to fly to Linz, Austria in the middle of December!
The distance from the forest to my home wasn’t small - about four kilometers, and I couldn’t walk. While we waited for the car that was sent for us, my leg swelled up. A village healer rescued me who not only set my knee and made a compress, but also rolled an egg over it to avert the evil eye and spoilage.
Returning to Kyiv, I didn’t tell anyone about the problem. I flew with the team to Linz, where I played one match in pain. But when the coach Viktor Kolotov asked "How are you?", I said that I twisted my leg. After that, the Dynamo doctors took turns working on my knee both during the tournament and during the training camp in Uzbekistan, to which I then went with the reserve. After going through a serious trial, over time I became a key player for Dynamo, for which I am grateful to fate.
Incognito from Kyiv Dynamo
- After that, in Khmelnytskyi, as well as in your native Krasyliv, you appeared in a special status. Did you feel increased attention towards yourself?
- There was always increased attention towards Dynamo players, and I was no exception. I remember, the year after my appearance in the Kyiv club, there was a break in the championship due to the World Cup held in Italy, and I came to visit my parents in Krasyliv. I dropped by Khmelnytskyi, where I met with Istvan Sekech. Podolye was just about to play a friendly match against Moscow’s CSKA. He inquired: “Can you play for us?”. Of course, I agreed, doing it incognito.
Now, after almost 35 years, I understand: if Dynamo had somehow learned about this, I think I could have had problems. Especially since at that time, in 1990, Dynamo was fighting for the championship precisely with CSKA. Although at that time there were no strict contractual obligations like there are now. Today, such a risk for a football player is fraught with consequences.
- And how did you fare in the match against CSKA, who came to Ukraine to make money?
- We drew 0:0. It was a good match. CSKA in the early 90s was a strong opponent. In that game, during one of the challenges, I had an encounter with army player Igor Kornev, who after rough play on my part said: "Hey, what are you doing? We need to win; we’re here to make money!" When the first half ended I wanted to substitute, but I couldn’t. About three thousand spectators gathered in the stands of the Khmelnytskyi stadium, so Istvan Sekech urged me to stay on the field: "You left here for Dynamo. The fans simply won’t understand if you substitute." In the end, I only substituted shortly before the final whistle.
- For the next time, in the Khmelnytskyi stadium, the fans watched your game exactly 15 years later during your farewell match.
- In that match, the teams of the clubs whose colors I defended during my career faced off against Kyiv Dynamo from the mid-90s. I got to play the first half for the team of clubs from Ukraine and the second for Dynamo. My son Kirill, who was almost 12 years old at the time, also participated in the match. That game ended in a high-scoring draw, 4:4. One goal was scored by me, while Kirill scored a brace.
- Now you are with Khmelnytskyi Podolye in a new role - as the head coach. Are you managing?
- Time will tell. For now, I am doing everything possible to bring Podolye to a qualitatively new level. I hope I will succeed.
Vyacheslav Kulchytsky
