Valeriy Lobanovskyi

For the Russian footballer, see Valeri Vladimirovich Lobanovskiy.

Valeriy Lobanovskyi

Lobanovski in 1985
Personal information
Full name	Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi
Date of birth	(1939-01-06)6 January 1939
Place of birth	Kiev, Soviet Union
Date of death
Place of death	Zaporizhia, Ukraine
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1952-1955	Football School N.1
1955-1956	Football School of Youth (FShM)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1957–1964	Dynamo Kyiv	144	(42)
1965–1966	Chornomorets Odessa	59	(15)
1967–1968	Shakhtar Donetsk	50	(14)
International career
1960–1961	USSR	2	(0)
Managerial career
1969–1973	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
1973–1982	Dynamo Kyiv
1975–1976	USSR
1982–1983	USSR
1984–1990	Dynamo Kyiv
1986–1990	USSR
1990–1993	UAE
1994–1996	Kuwait
1997–2002	Dynamo Kyiv
2000–2001	Ukraine
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi (Ukrainian: Вале́рій Васи́льович Лобано́вський, Valerij Vasyl’ovyč Lobanovs’kyj [vɑˈlɛrɪj lobɑˈnɔwsʲkɪj]; Russian: Вале́рий Васи́льевич Лобано́вский, Valeriy Vasilyevich Lobanovskiy [vɐˈlʲerʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲɪvʲɪtɕ ləbɐˈnofskʲɪj]; 6 January 1939 – 13 May 2002) was a Soviet-Ukrainian football manager. He was the Master of Sports of USSR, the Distinguished Coach of USSR, and the laureate of the UEFA Ruby Order (2002).

Lobanovskyi is most famous for his spells managing FC Dynamo Kyiv, the Ukraine national football team, and earlier the USSR national football team. In 1975 his Dynamo Kyiv team became the first side from the Soviet Union to win a major European trophy when they beat Hungarian side Ferencváros in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup. Lobanovskyi is highly esteemed for his achievements as a coach but also notorious for his both highly scientific and excessively disciplinarian approach to management.

Career

Playing career

Lobanovskyi was a graduate of the Kiev football school #1 and the Football School of Youth (Kiev). He began his playing career as a left winger with Dynamo Kyiv, his hometown club, whilst with the side he won both the USSR league and cup. He spent seven years with the club before finishing his career with brief spells at Chornomorets Odessa, and Shakhtar Donetsk. Lobanovskyi ended his playing career at the age of 29 having scored 71 goals in 253 games. He also earned two full caps for the Soviet Union and played in two Olympic games. Lobanovskyi played his first international game on September 4, 1960 away against Austria. He is most famous for his legendary ability to score from corner kicks and his ability to curve the ball and place it wherever he pleased; his immense fame gained from this led him to take over as a coach for Dynamo Kiev.

Managerial career

A year after retiring as a player Lobanovskyi was named as the manager of FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. After four relatively unremarkable years with Dnipro, Lobanovskyi moved to his former club, Dynamo Kyiv, before the start of the 1974 season, he would manage the side for 15 of the next 17 years (he spent 1983–1984 managing the USSR). During these two spells Kyiv were successful in breaking the Russian dominance of Soviet football. Lobanovskyi led his side to the Soviet super league eight times, the cup six times, the European Cup Winners' Cup of 1975 and 1986, and European Super Cup of 1975.

Lobanovskyi also spent three spells managing the Soviet Union during this period. He took the side to the bronze medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics during his first spell. However, it was his third, and last, spell with the side that he gained the most attention. He was asked to manage the side on the eve of the 1986 World Cup. The side, which consisted mainly of his own Dynamo Kyiv players, finished top of their group, but were knocked out in the second round by Belgium 4–3 after extra time. The team did, however, achieve far greater success at the 1988 European Championship. The team again finished top of their group, beating the Netherlands on the way. However, they played the Netherlands again in the final and failed to repeat their previous victory.

Following perestroika many of Lobanovskyi's best players, for both club and country, left the USSR to play in Western Europe. Going into the 1990 World Cup he couldn't call upon his own Kyiv players to form the core of the side as he had previously done. His subsequent lack of ability to completely control his side led to the team finishing bottom of their group.

Following the debacle of the World Cup, Lobanovskyi decided to leave Dynamo Kyiv and take up the lucrative offer of managing the United Arab Emirates national football team. After four relatively lacklustre years he was sacked and went on to spend the next two years managing the Kuwait national football team, before he was again sacked.

In January 1997, Lobanovskyi returned to manage Dynamo Kyiv for a third time. The club by this time had fallen somewhat from their former heights. The club had been thrown out of European competition by UEFA following attempts to bribe an official, and the club was also struggling somewhat in the league. Lobanovskyi, however, managed to turn the club around quickly. Aside from leading the team to five consecutive championships, Lobanovskyi managed to turn the side into one of the best sides in Europe, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League in 1999. He was made manager of the Ukraine national side in March 2000, but was sacked after the side lost a playoff to reach the 2002 World Cup to Germany.

Lobanovskyi suffered a stroke on 7 May 2002, shortly after his Dynamo Kyiv side had beaten FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya. He died on 13 May, during brain surgery, following complications suffered after the stroke. At the Champions League final in Glasgow two days later, UEFA held a minute's silence in his honour.

Remembrance

File:VVLobanovsky funeral.jpg

Lobanovskyi's burial location and monument at Baikove cemetery in Kiev

Following his death Lobanovskyi was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine, the nation's highest honour. Dynamo Kyiv's stadium was also renamed the Lobanovsky Stadium in his honour.

Lobanovskyi was buried at Baikove Cemetery where an impressive monument surrounds his tomb.

After his death, A.C. Milan won the Champions League in 2003 with Andriy Shevchenko in the team. After the victory Shevchenko flew to Kyiv to put his medal by the grave of his former manager.

In 2005 the Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament was founded.

Personal life

Lobanovsky was born in Kiev to Vasyl Mykhailovych Lobanovsky and Oleksandra Maksymivna Boichenko. Vasyl Lobanovsky traces his roots to the Polish szlachta family of Lobko-Lobanowski.

Lobanovskyi was married to Ada Lobanovskaya, the couple had a daughter named Svitlana. She is a Russian philologist and owns a restaurant in Kiev called "U metrá" (English: "The Master's").

Lobanovsky is a nephew of the Ukrainian writer and a leader of the Komsomol of Ukraine Oleksandr Boichenko.

Career statistics

Club

Club	Season	League		Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dynamo Kyiv	1959	10	4	-	-	10	4
	1960	29	12	1	0	30	12
	1961	28	10	1	0	29	10
	1962	30	8	1	0	31	8
	1963	38	8	-	-	38	8
	1964	9	0	-	-	9	0
Total		144	42	3	0	147	42
Chornomorets	1965	28	10	-	-	28	10
	1966	31	5	4	5	35	10
Total		59	15	4	5	63	20
Shakhtar	1967	32	9	2	1	34	10
	1968	18	5	1	1	19	6
Total		50	14	3	2	53	16
Career Total		253	71	10	7	263	78

Honours

Player

Dynamo Kyiv

• Soviet Top League (1): 1961
• Soviet Cup (1): 1964

Manager

Dynamo Kyiv

• UEFA Cup Winners Cup (2): 1975, 1986
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 1975
• Soviet Top League / Ukrainian national leagues (12): 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986/ 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
• Soviet Cup / Ukrainian cup competitions (9): 1974, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990,/ 1998, 1999, 2000
• USSR Super Cup (3): 1980, 1985, 1986
• Commonwealth of Independent States Cup (2): 1997, 1998

Managerial stats

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	1969	1973
Dynamo Kyiv	1974	1990
Soviet Union	1975	1976	19	11	4	4	57.89
Soviet Union	1982	1983	10	6	3	1	60
Soviet Union	1986	1990	48	25	12	11	52.08
United Arab Emirates	1990	1993	37	18	10	9	48.65
Kuwait	1994	1996	15	6	4	5	40
Dynamo Kyiv	1997	2002	138	110	20	8	79.71
Ukraine	2000	2001	18	6	7	5	33.33

External links

• Valeriy Lobanovskyi at Find a Grave
• Valeriy Lobanovskyi career stats by KLISF
• Lobanovsky legacy lives on in Ukraine (Chicago Tribune article)
• All statistics for the Soviet Union at rusteam.ru