A Sort of Homecoming. Chornomorets Odesa - Obolon-Brovar Kyiv (0-1)

Persha Liga
Chornomorets Stadium
September 14, 2019

Ok, I am from Odessa. I was born there, I lived most of my life there and then I moved. For the past 9 years, I only paid one brief visit 4 years ago. Thus, I have not had a chance to see a game at the newly constructed Chornomorets stadium yet. Sounds crazy, as the stadium was supposed to host Euro 2012 and was built basically for this purpose. But our municipal authorities fucked up, and lost on the event. So now the stadium hosts Ukrainian games, occasional big game like Ukrainian Super Cup or a European game for FC Mariupol. When I left, the stadium was under construction, so Chernomorets played their home fixtures at a much smaller Spartak Stadium. The old ChMP arena was demolished and a new stadium rose in its place.

I have seen dozens of games at the old ground and at Spartak. I've seen the team play in the Soviet league, then in Ukraine and in European competitions. The old stadium was a perfunctory soviet-style oval with running tracks. There was no roof, no concourses, the amenities were awful. In fact, the best thing about the old stadium was its location in the park, overlooking the sea. But it had its own feel. You always felt that football was played here. You cannot say the same about the new arena. It feels nothing like a football stadium. Yes, there are still babushkas selling sunflower seeds and those tiny little prawns (if you’re from Odessa, you will know) but it’s nothing like it used to be. The stadium now resembles a hotel or a mall or not even that. It’s kitschy as hell with its fake columns and such. It looks on par with a lot of modern fake historically-looking buildings in Odessa. My friend even suggested that the stadium must be preserved for future generations just as a keepsake of the ugliness and sheer stupidity of the early 21 st century architecture of Odessa.

I think I can remember my first ever football game. Sometimes in the mid 80s, Chernomorets played in the soviet First league (2nd tier) against Gazovik Tumen. At least that’s what I think the name was. I googled the match, but found nothing. I think Chernomorets won 1-0 with a converted penalty. The stadium was full. I don’t remember any particular excitement. My grandfather was absolutely ambivalent towards Chernomorets, he was a Dynamo fan. He used to live in Moscow for several years and still proudly supported Dynamo, going to games there and even having arguments and fights with locals. He had a particular disdain for Moscow teams and he was sure to pass that to me.

Fast forward over 30 years. Chernomorets is, probably, at the lowest point of its history. Yes, there were relegations before. In fact, I witnessed one of them, attending the game when going down the league was confirmed. But it always felt that it’s too big of a team to stay down for long. It was a major league team even during soviet times. Right now, it feels like there is no hope. The results are poor and they are much closer to relegation from the 2nd tier than to the Premier league. The stadium is empty. I’m surprised the owners chose to play here than go back to Spartak, that can freely accommodate a couple of thousand spectators. The ultras are boycotting the home games, their sector is closed and only one stand is actually open for those stupid enough to pay 100 hryvnia for a ticket. Unsurprisingly, that is the most expensive ticket price for a game in Ukraine. And that’s not even a Premier league. Some European games in Ukraine are cheaper than this.

And a few words about the owner. The guy is closely tied to the previous regime of the ousted president. He probably should be in jail and I wonder why he is not there, but that’s another story. I

think his business was something to do with constructing all those ugly new building. He also owned a huge bank in Odessa that got now bankrupt. He lost the stadium and the authorities are trying to sell it to new owners. Looks like nobody wants it. He still owns the team, though, for some inexplicable reason as, quite obviously, he has no interest in football. He does not have the money to keep the team afloat even with the new realities of Ukrainian football. People think that relegation was his wet dream as he does not have to pay much anymore.

So yes, that was the background to this game. Chernomorets was to play Obolon Kyiv – a proper good team from a district of Kyiv. They have a football-mad owner with a backing of a huge beer and soda making business. They have good motivated players and a good coach. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on the visitors.

Predictably, there was no craze around the game and no pre-match atmosphere to speak of. I bought a ticket and a program from the ticket-office and then visited the souvenir shop where I got myself a small pennant and a magnet for my Polish friend. Inside, the ground looks much better but it still lacks the soul and the character. The fact, that it’s almost empty, does not help either. The food on offer from the food stand was awful and there were no hot drinks. I had to wait until the ends of the game to buy a proper hot-dog outside.

The football was dire. I did not pay too much attention to the field, focusing rather on those select few, who still attend games. Those are hardcore football fans but you can still that a game is just an excuse for them to get together and get away from their home routine. And nothing wrong with that as there is hardly anything exciting about the team these days. These fans occupied the whole row of seats. They knew each other well and probably spent years watching the team together. One of them had a blanket, a big container with rhye bread homemade sandwiches (pickles, salo and some sausage I believe). Soon enough they started drinking from their flasks and little bottles that they brought. By the end of the game, a few became quite inebriated and could no longer hide their emotions.

As you can predict, these emotions were very negative. Chernomorets were always second best on the field. It was not really one-sided, but it was quite obvious that Obolon were always slightly better in every aspect of the game. They were simply a better coached team. And by the way, the coach is a former national team select Serhiy Kovalets who was a famous player and played for Chernomorets (among many other big clubs including Dynamo) when they were at the peak. He got a round of applause from the home audience. You cannot say the same about the manager of Chernomorets. Angel Chervenkov is a Bulgarian and the entire game he had to endure calls to pack his bags and go back to Bulgaria. Chernomorets had a good chance to open the score but the ball hit the crossbar. Predictably, Obolon scored in the second half and won the game. The fans were riled up and angry like I’ve never seen before, shouting abuse at the players and the coaching staff.