Football has nothing to do with politics, but politics necessarily affects football.
As the situation in Russia and Ukraine becomes tense, the domestic football league in Ukraine is bound to be affected. On the evening of February 24, the official website of the Ukrainian Premier League announced that the league had to be suspended due to the severe domestic war. It is understood that all sporting events in Ukraine will be suspended for one month.
Turning to the comment area, it is not difficult to see such jokes as "join the Russian Premier League immediately" and "you can resume next week".
To be honest, before the war began, there were not so many fans paying attention to Ukraine, which has long played the role of "Passer-A" - the national team has only entered the World Cup once; although the league also has strong teams such as Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev, it is difficult to make too much splash on the continental field.
Ukraine was born after the collapse of the Soviet Union? The answer, of course, is no. In fact, the history of Ukraine can continue to go back, and the Ukrainian national team was established long before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union, full name Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was in fact a federal state consisting of 15 republics with equal powers on the basis of voluntary union, of which the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of those 15 republics.
Just like the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the 15 republics of the Soviet Union have their own national teams, but they must participate in international sports competitions such as the World Cup and the European Cup in the name of the "Soviet Union", which is also an important reason why fans generally did not have a deep impression of the Ukrainian national team before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The position of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union
The official creation of the Ukrainian national team dates back to the early 1920s. Their first official match took place in August 1928, when the Soviet Union planned to hold a tournament between the national team of the Soviet Republic and the city of Moscow in Moscow, and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic also sent its own national team to compete.
Before the tournament began, Uruguay's Red Sports Federation was invited to play two friendly matches with the Ukrainian national team, the first was held in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and the Ukrainian national team finally lost 1:2; the second match was held in Moscow, Russia, and the Ukrainian national team finally defeated the opponent 3:2.
Jersey of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic football team
In the official match, the Ukrainian national team played a total of 3 matches, they defeated Belarus and Transcaucasia respectively, but lost 0-1 to Moscow City in the 3rd match. Since the Ukrainian national team could not participate in official international competitions, they held more friendly matches with other national teams at the beginning of their existence, such as the Ukrainian national team's 4-1 victory over Austria in an exhibition match in Kharkiv in 1929.
Within the Soviet national team, there are also many shadows of Ukrainian football.
In the 1980s, Ukrainian football entered a small climax in the development stage, the backbone of the Soviet national team was mostly members of the first team of Dynamo Kyiv, and the head coach of Dynamo Kiev, Valery Lobanovsky, was also from Ukraine.
With these Ukrainians as its base, the Soviet Union brought dynamo Kiev's strong dominance to the national team , which had the world's best goalkeeper of the 80s , Dasayev ( a Russian ) , the European Footballer of the Year in 1975 , The European Footballer of the Year , Belanov of the European Year in 1986 , and, of course , Protasov , Litovchenko , Mikhail Lichenko and others.
A group of talents cultivated under the Ukrainian football system enriched the foundation of the Soviet national team and laid the foundation for the Soviet national team, which was eager to improve its strength in football.
The Ukrainian-based national team reached its peak in the 1980s, when they fled the 1982 World Cup and were voted favourites to win the 1986 World Cup, but were prejudged by offside in the quarter-final against Belgium and were eliminated.
At the 1988 European Championship, the Soviet national team made a comeback, eliminating France led by Platini in the qualifiers and setting a record of 1:0 Netherlands, 3:1 England and 1:1 Ireland in the group stage. In the semi-final against italy, Litovchenko from Ukraine and Protasthorp scored in the 58th and 62nd minutes to help the Soviet Union beat Italy 2-0 to advance to the final.
In the final against his old rival Holland, Belanov from Ukraine regrettably conceded a penalty, and finally achieved Van Basten's zero-angle goal, and the Soviet Union could only regret being second.
Despite this, the Ukrainians in the Soviet national team are still the most dazzling presence in this competition, not only they have taken care of the core system of the entire Soviet national team, but even the coaching team has shown the mark of Ukrainian football everywhere.
At the end of 1991, the Soviet Union underwent drastic political changes, and the Red Giant collapsed and was replaced by a divided 15 countries.
As early as August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian government had issued a declaration of national independence, officially declaring independence from the Soviet Union and changing the name of the country to Ukraine. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine ended its 337-year alliance with Russia and officially became an independent country.
From a football perspective, the collapse of the Soviet Union had a profound impact on Ukrainian football.
First of all, despite the presence of stars such as Mikhailizenko and Protasov, considering the strong influence of the Russian Federation, many Ukrainian stars did not choose to return to their homeland, but "switched" to Russia (such as Andrey Kanchers, Victor Onopko, Yuri Nikiforov and others), which caused huge losses to the overall strength of the Ukrainian national team and laid the groundwork for the decline in the next period of time.
Second, during the Soviet period, there was a tendency to tilt resources towards Ukrainian football.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine, whose economic strength was greatly weakened, was difficult to provide strong support for the national team as in the past, although it did not affect the performance of the Ukrainian national team in a short period of time, but it still laid the groundwork for the overall development of the national team and even the league.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, FIFA regarded Russia as the "inheritance" of Soviet football, and the data obtained by the Soviet Union in the field of football was also inherited by the Russian national team.
In this context, Russia replaced the Soviet Union in the qualifying round for the 1994 World Cup, and Ukraine at that time could only regret its absence from the 1994 World Cup because it had not yet joined FIFA (the draw for the qualifying stage was held on December 8, 1991, when Ukraine had not yet joined FIFA and was unable to participate in the qualifier draw).
Despite missing the World Cup, and despite the fact that some players have "switched" to other countries, no one will underestimate the strength of this Ukrainian national team.
You know, even in the recent 1988 European Championship, the powerful Soviet national team even had the spectacle of "7 of the 11 starters from Ukraine", which was evident in the prosperity of Ukrainian football at that time.
However, with several years of no top competition to play, coupled with Ukraine's lack of sufficient resource support for the national team due to economic problems, the team's record began to decline, and it was gradually at a disadvantage in the comparison with the strength of the Russian national team.
Although he later trained stars such as Shepchenko, Anatoly Timoshuk and Sergei Rebrov with a good youth training foundation, the country's overall talent pool was difficult to restore to the glory of the Soviet period.
In order to impact the 1998 World Cup, Ukraine made many efforts, but in the end it failed to beat the powerful Germany, and could only relegate to the second place in the group in the qualifiers. They then lost 3-1 to Croatia in the play-offs, missing out on their chance to advance to the finals.
In the qualifying round of the 2002 World Cup, the overall strength of the 5th group of the Ukrainian national team is relatively average, which is a great opportunity for Ukraine to impact the first place in the group. However, Ukraine's upset defeat at home to Poland gave the team a sharp turn in the standings, and eventually lost to Poland in the second place in the group; in the play-offs, against the old rival Germany, Ukraine lost 2:5 and once again missed the final round.
From the technical characteristics, the Ukrainian national team inherited the overall style of Soviet football: emphasis on team football, but also emphasis on individual ability. When the "nuclear warhead" Shepchenko played for the national team, the double arrows composed of Shepchenko and Vogenin combined speed and skill, while also gaining the upper hand in the muscle forest of defenders, fully capable of challenging the backline of any top defender.
With the "golden generation" with Shepchenko at its core, Ukraine launched an impact on the 2006 World Cup. In the qualifiers, they overpowered turkey, Denmark and other strong opponents, won the first place in the group, and reached the final round of the World Cup for the first time in the history of the team.
At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ukraine was in Group H alongside Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. The 0:4 defeat in the first game cast an unknown shadow on The World Cup trip to Ukraine was overshadowed by the team in time, and the team adjusted in time to win the second game against Saudi Arabia with full firepower and a 4-goal victory, and in the final round, with Shepchenko's key goal, it won 1:0 to win Tunisia and advanced to the knockout round with 2 wins and 1 loss and 6 points.
1/8 final against Switzerland, Ukraine and the opponent to survive 120 minutes of difficult to win, Switzerland's first 3 penalties were all lost, Ukraine 4 penalties 3, successfully advanced to the top 8; 1/4 final against Italy, the overall strength of Ukraine although trying its best, but still difficult to stop the opponent's pace of progress, watching Zambrotta's opening record and Tony's opening twice, the Ukrainians regrettably fell in front of the top 4, ending their first World Cup trip.
Even with regrets, the first time in the World Cup to advance to the top 8 still inspired the Ukrainian people, another golden age of Ukrainian football seems to be about to begin.
However, ideals and reality are always far apart, and the expectant Ukrainians have launched a shock to Euro 2008, but they have performed badly in the qualifiers, only to win 5, draw 2 and lose 5 with 17 points, and the fourth place in the group was eliminated. In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Ukraine lost to England in group 6 for second place, but was eliminated 0-1 in the subsequent play-offs against Greece.
Shepchenko's retirement has deprived Ukraine of a superstar and has also announced the imperative of Ukraine's renewal.
The Ukrainian national team is currently ranked 27th in the world, but it can only rank 16th in Europe, making it often difficult for them to reach the stage of intercontinental competitions. Although the Ukrainian national team today also has a number of stars, its overall strength still lags behind the european first-team teams.
Similar to the situation for the national team, Ukraine had already formed its own football league long before the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, considering the special system of Soviet football leagues, the leagues held in Ukraine are unofficial and not recognized by UEFA, and the team is not eligible to participate in European competitions.
Soviet football league system (image from the USSR Football Research Institute)
In the Soviet Football Top League, the highest league of Soviet football in the soviet union, many Ukrainian teams are also active. In the 55 years of the existence of the Soviet top league, a total of 63 teams participated, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic contributed 32 of them, and the second place is our protagonist today, Ukraine, which has a total of 12 teams in history.
It is hard to imagine that in the Soviet top league, the team that won the most championships was not Lokomotiv Moscow, Sparta Moscow, nor CSKA Moscow, but Dynamo Kiev. This team from Ukraine can be truly called the "pillar" of Soviet football.
In the history of the Soviet top league, Dynamo Kiev, which is regarded as the pride of the Ukrainians, has won a total of 13 championships and 11 runners-up, in addition to 9 cups and 3 super cups.
Dynamo Kiev's success is inseparable from Lobanovsky's hard work behind it, and dynamo Kiev's football style with a distinct Soviet brand has made Dynamo Kiev known as the "inheritor" of Soviet football culture in all periods. It was from here that three European Ballon d'Or winners – Blohim (Soviet period), Belanov (Soviet era) and Shepchenko.
Distribution of the last Soviet top league teams
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the original football system collapsed. At the end of 1991, the Ukrainian government began preparations for the establishment of a separate league after secession from the Soviet Union, which included members of both the former Ukrainian league and the top league of the former Soviet Union.
However, the decision was opposed by the Ukrainian team, and Sinferopoltav's head coach Anatoly Zayaev said that the team was strongly opposed to participating in the Ukrainian league and intended to continue to participate in the Soviet First Division.
Bukovina head coach Yukhm Shkolnikov said the team had no plans to return to the Ukrainian league system and that no one should let politics get involved in football.
However, with the change of the situation, many clubs have gradually realized the seriousness of the reality, and their attitude has gradually evolved from the initial "strong opposition" to "basic agreement".
In September 1991, the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian Football Federation held a meeting, which decided that all Ukrainian teams must fly the Ukrainian flag at home and announced that the first Ukrainian Premier League would be held in 1992.
The first Ukrainian Premier League teams are distributed
In the spring of 1992, the first post-independence league of Ukraine was officially held.
The league consists of 6 teams from the Soviet top league, two teams from the Soviet First Division, 9 teams from the Soviet Second Division, two teams from the Soviet Lower Second Division, and the Ukrainian Cup winner. Due to the domestic tensions and the hasty preparation of the league, the Ukrainian Football Association decided to significantly shorten the schedule of the first league, changing it from a New Year's Eve event to an annual event.
In response to the drastically reduced format, the Ukrainian Football Federation divided the 20 participating teams into two groups, counting points based on the results of the two round-robin matches, with the first place in the two groups competing for the championship and the second place in the two groups competing for the runner-up. The top three in each group will be relegated in the new season, while the top two in the Ukrainian League will be promoted in the new season, and the participating teams in the Ukrainian Super League will be reduced from the 1992-93 season to 16 teams.
Considering that the domestic situation in Ukraine was not stable at that time, coupled with the drastic reduction of the league schedule, there were many inadequacies in the format of the competition, and even the decision on whether to use the home-away system or the neutral system was delayed.
As a result, the 1992 season of the Ukrainian Super League stumbled, and the overall performance of the teams was not good. Simferopol Tavria from Crimea won their first Ukrainian Super League title (and the only one) with a goal from Sergei Shepchenko to beat Dynamo Kiev 1-0 in the final.
After the chaos of the first season, the Ukrainian Super League in the 1992-93 season was gradually on track, and although the banba team Dynamo Kiev lost some talents in the upheavals in Eastern Europe, the overall strength was still at the top of Ukrainian football. From the beginning of the 92-93 season to the 00-01 season of the new century, Dynamo Kiev won the Ukrainian Super League championship for nine consecutive times, bringing their highlights of the Soviet era to Ukraine.
Just as Dynamo Kiev was ready to show his hand in the new century, a team called The Donetsk Miners broke into their field of vision and ended the Ukrainian giant's long monopoly on the league.
Thanks to the large investment of mineral tycoon Akhmeidov in his hometown, the Donetsk miners have risen rapidly in a short period of time, gathering many excellent stars at home and abroad.
In the 2001-02 season, the Donitsk miners, who had been dormant for several years, achieved an unbeaten record of 20 wins and 6 draws in 26 matches, and beat Dynamo Kiev by a slight advantage of 1 point to win the championship. Since then, The Donetsk miners have gradually taken over the dominance of Dynamo Kiev – they won 13 of the 20 league titles and became the dominant team in Ukrainian football.
However, it is sad to say that in Ukraine, where the domestic situation has been turbulent for many years, even the top giants such as miners can hardly stand alone in the shadow of war.
Since 2014, the Donbass region of Donetsk Oblast has become the forefront of the exchange of fire between Ukrainian government forces and independent armed forces, and in desperation, the Donetsk miners have borrowed lviv arena and Kharkiv metalworking stadium as their home stadiums in order to ensure the normal progress of the game, and then relocated to Kiev in the 2020 season, sharing the Kiev Olympic Stadium with their old rival Dynamo Kiev.
Unfortunately, the last 4 league titles of The Donetsk miners were won on the way to relocation.
With 18 rounds of the Ukrainian league this season, the Donetsk miners remain competitive, with 47 points from 15 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in 18 matches, two points ahead of 2nd-place Dynamo Kiev.
epilogue
Regrettably, in the roar of the war, the possibility of the Ukrainian Super League being able to finish the match as desired this season is getting lower and lower. It is said that football has nothing to do with politics, but football can never be left alone from political blows.
In the intensifying war, no matter what the outcome, it is difficult for Ukraine to cultivate Mr. Golden Globes like Blokhin and Belanov as in the Soviet era. Perhaps, for a long time to come, the surprises brought by Ukrainian football can only exist in the memory, regardless of the current position of Ukraine, it is a huge loss for the fans.
In the face of war, football is so weak.