Mikhailichenko

[Gonzo79 13,584]

 

Reports suggest former Rangers player Alexei Mikhailichenko has signed up for the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Army.  

 

Best of luck to him - he certainly gave us some good memories.  

[CammyF 6,779]

One of laziest players I've ever seen but would have him in my team every week. 

 

All the best Miko, horrible situation to be in and braviest or brave decisions. 

[compo 6,116]

Best leaving soldiering to the professionals. 

[MacK1950 2,231]

11 minutes ago, compo said:

Best leaving soldiering to the professionals. 

In normal times yes but these are not normal for the Ukranians they are being invaded by a really ruthless army who are shit scared of their President.

[JohnMc 2,463]

I've not seen this mentioned anywhere but we played Dynamo Kiev in a friendly in 1990. Europe was going through seismic change, the Berlin Wall had fallen the previous year, Poland and Hungary had broken free from Communist dictators and the entire map of Europe was about to change as the Soviet Union was beginning to dissolve, events we're still feeling the consequences of today. For many of us at that time Dynamo Kiev were a 'Russian' side. Many people used the term Russia and Soviet Union interchangeably. Despite some of the great Soviet sides not actually being Russian, (Dynamo Kiev, Dynamo Tbilisi and Dynamo Minsk) there was a lazy shorthand in the West that Russia and the Soviet Union were the same thing. I grew up knowing a few Scottish Communists, I knew a guy who used to go to Moscow every year for the May Day parade and sent postcards home to everyone he knew. But he never explained the geography or ethnic breakdown to me, they were all comrades in his eyes. It's funny looking back. 

 

We'd played Dynamo Kiev in a memorable European Cup match in 1987, for many who were there it was one of Rangers greatest evenings. Dynamo Kiev were one of the best club sides in the world. European Cup winners in 86, semi finalists the following season they were rightly strong favourites. If you listen to Archie MacPherson's commentary of that match he describes Kiev as 'Russian', something most of us thought at the time. Anyway, that match has been written about a lot and is well documented. So I guess we'd made a connection with the club and somehow this led to a friendly being arranged that summer. 

 

Again this was unusual as Soviet teams rarely took part in friendlies in 'the West'. But then Europe was changing and Dynamo Kiev, having had successful runs in European competition were better placed than most to benefit from them. 

 

Anyway, the reason I thought of this match was it was the first time I remember reading about Ukraine being a separate nation from Russia. I had heard the name Ukraine from school history classes, but I'd never thought of it as a country in its own right. Dynamo Kiev had an iconic strip, that wonderful stylised capital D on white shirts and navy shorts, however on that day Rangers presented Dynamo with a new strip, it was a yellow top with blue shorts, the symbolism of which was largely lost on me then but is quite important today. Ukraine hadn't yet become a separate nation, but was clearly taking steps towards it and as arguably their most visible symbol Dynamo Kiev were nailing their colours to the mast. For all intents and purposes Dynamo Kiev were the Ukraine national side, they were certainly the best side in the country and many of their players were already Soviet internationals. 

 

I wonder if it was Rangers idea to give them the strips, or if someone from Dynamo Kiev initiated it. Dynamo wore them for a couple of seasons as Ukraine established itself as a nation, then they reverted back to their traditional colours. 

 

Dynamo Kiev have a fascinating history, truly remarkable. Dutch writer, Simon Kuper, wrote an extraordinary chapter on them in his book 'Football Against the Enemy' (a book with a chapter on Rangers too) and Andy Dougan, who wrote for the Evening Times for many years, wrote about Dynamo Kiev during WW2, again an astonishing story. 

 

As for Miko, he split our support. I remember someone telling me that John Grieg was announcing the sides to a corporate box at Ibrox one day and when he came to Mikhailichenko's name in the starting 11 he muttered "it canny be raining then', I don't think he was Grieg's type of player! 

Whatever lack of fight he might have demonstrated on the pitch he's clearly got no shortage of courage when it really matters. Good luck Alexei. 

 

 

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,473]

37 minutes ago, JohnMc said:

I've not seen this mentioned anywhere but we played Dynamo Kiev in a friendly in 1990. Europe was going through seismic change, the Berlin Wall had fallen the previous year, Poland and Hungary had broken free from Communist dictators and the entire map of Europe was about to change as the Soviet Union was beginning to dissolve, events we're still feeling the consequences of today. For many of us at that time Dynamo Kiev were a 'Russian' side. Many people used the term Russia and Soviet Union interchangeably. Despite some of the great Soviet sides not actually being Russian, (Dynamo Kiev, Dynamo Tbilisi and Dynamo Minsk) there was a lazy shorthand in the West that Russia and the Soviet Union were the same thing. I grew up knowing a few Scottish Communists, I knew a guy who used to go to Moscow every year for the May Day parade and sent postcards home to everyone he knew. But he never explained the geography or ethnic breakdown to me, they were all comrades in his eyes. It's funny looking back. 

 

We'd played Dynamo Kiev in a memorable European Cup match in 1987, for many who were there it was one of Rangers greatest evenings. Dynamo Kiev were one of the best club sides in the world. European Cup winners in 86, semi finalists the following season they were rightly strong favourites. If you listen to Archie MacPherson's commentary of that match he describes Kiev as 'Russian', something most of us thought at the time. Anyway, that match has been written about a lot and is well documented. So I guess we'd made a connection with the club and somehow this led to a friendly being arranged that summer. 

 

Again this was unusual as Soviet teams rarely took part in friendlies in 'the West'. But then Europe was changing and Dynamo Kiev, having had successful runs in European competition were better placed than most to benefit from them. 

 

Anyway, the reason I thought of this match was it was the first time I remember reading about Ukraine being a separate nation from Russia. I had heard the name Ukraine from school history classes, but I'd never thought of it as a country in its own right. Dynamo Kiev had an iconic strip, that wonderful stylised capital D on white shirts and navy shorts, however on that day Rangers presented Dynamo with a new strip, it was a yellow top with blue shorts, the symbolism of which was largely lost on me then but is quite important today. Ukraine hadn't yet become a separate nation, but was clearly taking steps towards it and as arguably their most visible symbol Dynamo Kiev were nailing their colours to the mast. For all intents and purposes Dynamo Kiev were the Ukraine national side, they were certainly the best side in the country and many of their players were already Soviet internationals. 

 

I wonder if it was Rangers idea to give them the strips, or if someone from Dynamo Kiev initiated it. Dynamo wore them for a couple of seasons as Ukraine established itself as a nation, then they reverted back to their traditional colours. 

 

Dynamo Kiev have a fascinating history, truly remarkable. Dutch writer, Simon Kuper, wrote an extraordinary chapter on them in his book 'Football Against the Enemy' (a book with a chapter on Rangers too) and Andy Dougan, who wrote for the Evening Times for many years, wrote about Dynamo Kiev during WW2, again an astonishing story. 

 

As for Miko, he split our support. I remember someone telling me that John Grieg was announcing the sides to a corporate box at Ibrox one day and when he came to Mikhailichenko's name in the starting 11 he muttered "it canny be raining then', I don't think he was Grieg's type of player! 

Whatever lack of fight he might have demonstrated on the pitch he's clearly got no shortage of courage when it really matters. Good luck Alexei. 

 

 

Great post as ever John. With regards to the 1990 friendly, did big Oleg Kutsnetsov not score a beauty in the opening stages and we subsequently signed him shortly after? (Only to be injured in one of his first games)

Edited March 13, 2022 by BlackSocksRedTops

[Gonzo79 13,584]

Miko and Kuznetzov both played a huge part in my first and favourite derby at the Piggery (4-2 on NYD '94).  

 

An unforgettable day.  

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,473]

More Ukranian memories...

My first experience of Dynamo Kiev was when the played the Tims in 85/86? Their performance at Darkhead was something I had never witnessed before. The Kiev players(Belanov, Blochin, Baltacha eta all) were amazing with their free flowing brand of quick passing football was a joy to behold. Think it ended 1-1 but it the Ukranians should have destroyed them tbh.

 

My 2nd memory is when we played a year or so later. For the away game it kicked off in the afternoon (UK time) so we skipped school early to watch the live beam back at Ibrox. Archie was doing the commentary and my abiding memory was the amount of soldiers in the stadium of 90,000 and the huge floodlights providing light on a gloomy Kiev evening. 

 

And of course the return leg is the stuff of legends. Amazing.