For those of you who don't get the Oatcake magazine ....
Users of The Oatcake message board will be aware of the incredibly valuable information and help that was provided by Dynamo Kiev fans prior to our recent trip. Malcolm Clarke from the Football Supporters Federation in the UK and Igor Gomonai from Football Supporters Ukraine arranged a tour of the Valeriy Lobanovskyy Stadium for Potters fans.
Just after midday on the day after the game, ten of us met with a friend of Igor outside the club shop. Our tour started by entering through the impressive colonnade and took us to the Valeriy Lobanovskyy Monument. Since 2002 the stadium has been named after the former player and coach. In 1975 his Dynamo Kiev 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 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The monument shows him sitting on the trainer's bench watching a match. The pedestal is a large ball. The total weight is about five tonnes. It certainly is a fine tribute to a former hero.
We then ascended towards the stadium, which was built in 1934. Next stop was the Dynamo Footballers monument, erected in honour of the club’s players who died in the Great Patriotic War 1941 – 1945. The Potters squad had their picture taken by the monument on the eve of the match.
A quick stop in the administration office gave use the chance to view the wall of scarves and shirts from their European opponents. Sadly, I did not have a Stoke City scarf with me to donate to the impressive display. A donation of a few SCFC and Sir Stanley Matthews Foundation badges was reciprocated with Dynamo badges, magazines and programmes.
We then entered the stadium via the exit where the Kiev fans had saluted us the night before. A quick look around the pitch, dugouts and main stand, before we headed for the dressing rooms. I was surprised how small they were; no lockers, just a chair and clothes hanger per player. In the corner was a small table with a kettle! There were only a few showers; no pampering here! The away dressing room had one treatment table; the home had three. The home dressing room had a small tactics board on which I recreated Ryan Shotton crossing the ball for Cameron Jerome to fire home the opening goal...
We then climbed the steps of the players’ tunnel and strode out on to the pitch. The noise of the crowd was …… non existent.
We then entered the museum to the right of the main entrance. A few display cabinets had a brief history of the football club and stadium. The trophy cabinet was smaller than Port Vale’s; in fact, it was non existent! We were greeted with the bizarre sight of dozens of trophies lined up on the floor. We weren’t allowed to touch the silverware, but had our pictures taken with UEFA Cup Winners Cups, UEFA Super Cup, Ukraine Championship and Cup trophies, USSR Championship and Cup trophies, and so on. We missed a trick by not giving our hosts a rendition of “The Autoglass Trophy, We won it two times”.
We then headed for the cinema style press conference room, where the world media had gathered to hear Tony Pulis talk of being gutted to concede a late equaliser. The pristine white seats were out of bounds, but a certain Pottermus hand puppet did sneak onto the desk for a photo opportunity.
Dynamo have plans to develop the stadium in the near the future. A model of the new ground was on display. They plan to extend the capacity to 30,000 and to put a roof over the main stand.
Our host then managed to find a programme from the game and a press pack giving statistics on both teams and their European records. It certainly puts things into perspective when you see the pedigree of our opposition.
Once again, we thanked our host and hoped she and her fellow supporters could get a visa to come over for the match at the Britannia Stadium on December 1st. If they do make it over, I hope that we can offer them some good advice and show them a very warm welcome.
Link to a few photos .....
oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=multimedia&thread=176811&page=1
;D. It became a bit of a game after a couple of nights ;D. All in all a cracking place to visit and will probably return as I like to travel.
