Today marks a significant day in the history of Ukrainian football: 50 years ago, on May 14, 1975, in Basel, Switzerland, at the "St. Jakob Park" stadium, Kyiv "Dynamo" led by the legendary Valeriy Lobanovskyi won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. For the first time in history, a Ukrainian team became the holder of a European club trophy!
Dynamo with the Cup of Cup Winners 1975In the final, Dynamo faced Hungarian Ferencváros. The Budapest team was a formidable force at that time and commanded respect. On their way to the decisive match of the tournament, they eliminated, among others, English Liverpool, Swedish Malmö, and Red Star from Belgrade.
Dynamo’s path to the final was not easy either. The Kyiv team successively defeated Bulgarian CSKA Sofia (1:0 and 1:0), German Eintracht Frankfurt (3:2 and 2:1), Turkish club Bursaspor (1:0, 2:0), and Dutch PSV (3:0 and 1:2).
For the final match, Lobanovskyi fielded the following lineup: Rudakov, Troshkin, Matviyenko, Reshko, Fomenko, Muntian, Konkov, Buriak, Kolotov, Onyshchenko, Blokhin. The Dynamo players played without substitutions and won with a score of 3:0.
A significant contribution to achieving such a result was made in the first half. In the 18th minute, Volodymyr Onyshchenko scored the first goal against Ferencváros, and in the 39th minute, he scored again. The final nail in the coffin of the Hungarians was driven in by Oleg Blokhin in the 67th minute, who by the end of 1975 would be recognized as Europe's best footballer and awarded the "Ballon d'Or". 3:0 — Dynamo became the holders of the 1974/75 Cup Winners' Cup.
The Kyiv team scored 17 goals in 9 matches of the tournament. The team’s top scorer was Onyshchenko with 7 goals. Dynamo won 8 matches and lost only once — in the semi-final in the return match against PSV (1:2). Twice, Lobanovskyi’s team achieved significant victories, including in the final of the tournament.
Dynamo’s lineup in the triumphant 1974/75 Cup Winners' Cup season
9 matches — Oleg Blokhin (5 goals), Viktor Kolotov (2), Viktor Matviyenko, Volodymyr Onyshchenko (7), Stepan Reshko, Yevhen Rudakov (5 conceded), Mykhailo Fomenko.
8 matches — Volodymyr Muntian (2).
7 matches — Volodymyr Veremeyev, Volodymyr Troshkin.
6 matches — Leonid Buriak (1).
5 matches — Anatoliy Konkov.
2 matches — Valeriy Zuev, Viktor Maslov, Anatoliy Shepel.
1 match — Serhiy Kuznetsov.
This anniversary is not just a reminiscence of triumph. It was then that Kyiv "Dynamo" first made Europe talk about Ukrainian football, Ukrainian coaches, and players with genuine admiration. We congratulate all those involved in this legendary chapter of our sports history and honor the memory of those who are no longer with us.
