Former Dnipro player Petro Nayda spoke about the role of the legendary Ukrainian coach Valeriy Lobanovsky in his career.
— Was it Valeriy Lobanovsky who invited you to Dnipro?
— Yes. We played together with him in Chornomorets, and we had a great relationship. I joined Dnipro in 1970, and that same year my clubmate from Chornomorets, Petro Tsunin, also debuted for the Dnipropetrovsk team. Although before my appearance in Dnipropetrovsk, there was an offer from Lviv, where Ernest Just called me to Karpaty. I was promised an apartment and a Volga-GAZ-21 car. However, everything changed, and Tsunin and I went to Dnipro. Lobanovsky’s offer prevailed.
— Under his leadership, Dnipro managed in a few years to become the leading team of the first league and ascend to the top league.
— Valeriy Lobanovsky was an extraordinary individual with exceptional coaching talent. He fully demonstrated this in Dnipro. When I joined the team, it played in the first league. At the end of the 1970 season, it shared second-third places with Kairat, but due to goal difference, the Kazakhstani team rose to the elite.
We had to postpone our intentions to the following year, and in the 1971 season, Dnipro, under Lobanovsky’s leadership, came first, earning a ticket to the top league. In our debut season there, our team shared the second-sixth places, which at that time was an undeniable success. Largely due to his successful work in Dnipro, Valeriy Lobanovsky was later invited to the position of head coach of Dynamo Kyiv. And in this club, he also proved himself to the fullest.
— I remember that in the summer of 1976, Dnipro played an important role in Lobanovsky’s career for the second time...
— Yes, that’s right. At that time, a group of Dynamo players decided to get rid of the coaches — Valeriy Lobanovsky and Oleh Bazilevich, and took their demand to the Sports Committee. This happened just before our team was to play a match in Kyiv. So, the coaches were suspended from their duties, and both watched the match on TV. Dnipro won that match 3:1, «avenging» their former mentor. After that game, Lobanovsky was reinstated as the head coach, and his authority was never questioned again.
— Did you stay in touch with him?
— Of course. Constantly. We kept in contact with Lobanovsky for many years, up until 2002 when he passed away. I was at the funeral in Kyiv. A legendary figure, unparalleled in our football.
Vyacheslav Kulchytskyi
