The field of dreams – and the stands around it
The Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium is named after the famous coach whose statue stands just inside the main entrance. In the winter of 2013-14, this grandiose colonnade was the backdrop for the barricades and violent clashes between police and protesters on adjoining Hrushevskoho. This was an overflow from the mass anti-government demonstrations on the nearby main square of Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
When the Ukrainian football season kicked off later than scheduled, open conflict had moved to Crimea and then the east of the country, around Donetsk.
Kiev duly fell back into whatever passes for normality, being capital of a country at war. Football returned to the city, which also staged a number of international matches.
Clubs based in Crimea and eastern Ukraine were forced to move their home matches elsewhere. FC Sevastopol, soon to fold and join the Russian League as a new club, and Metalist Kharkiv, both played matches here at the Dynamo Stadium.
Regular previous tenants Arsenal Kyiv had already folded, for economic reasons, on the eve of the Maidan protests.
Dynamo themselves have been playing at the national Olimpiyskiy stadium since it was renovated for Euro 2012. Their historic if modest Soviet-era ground remains underused. Even reserve side, Dynamo-2 play the lower-flight First League games play at the club’s training complex on the city’s outskirts at Koncha-Zaspa.
Before the Euros, the Dynamo Stadium played a more prominent role in the domestic game, hosting cup finals and matches involving Ukraine’s under-21 and youth sides. Major modernisation here, too, would be required before the ground can again host fixtures on a regular basis.
It was converted for purely football purposes in the mid 1990s, after being renamed in honour of the coach who steered Ukrainian (and Soviet) football to the very pinnacle of the European game: Valeriy Lobanovskiy. The grand old man of Ukrainian football sits in statue form, atop a football in his classic anxious mode in the dug-out bench.
Note also the date of 1927 proudly displayed in white amid the blue seats, the founding year of Dynamo Kyiv.
Behind the colonnade, close to one end of the Kreshchatik, the city’s main boulevard, are the Dynamo Kyiv store and main ticket office. The far side of the ground is dominated by the steep slopes and greenery of the Miskyi Sad gardens and Mariinskii Park. All is a short walk from the Dnepr river.
getting there
Going to the stadium – tips and timings
For the main entrance and the north/east sides of the stadium, it’s a short steep walk from the Kreshchatik – focal Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the nearest metro station. Arsenalna is the nearest metro for the park side, a ten-minute walk down Hrushevskovo or couple of stops on buses 24 or 62.
getting in
Buying tickets – when, where, how and how much
There are ticket offices by the colonnades of the main entrance and by the park gateway on the other side. The priciest spots (around 150hr) are in the red and green stands over the halfway line, while you shouldn’t have to pay more than 100hr for a place in the yellow and blue areas around each goal.
Tickets for Arsenal games tend to be an across the board 10hr – less than €1.
Where to Drink
Pre-match beers for away fans and casual visitors
At the Kreshchatik end, where the boulevard meets a main junction near the Dnipro Hotel, the London Bar is an eminently pub-like spot where Murphy’s, Newcastle Brown, Leffe and Baltika are served in pint glasses, complemented by a range of decent whiskies. All seems very proper indeed – it even has the prime address of Kreshchatik 1 – until you realise that it’s twinned with a rather dubious nightclub. Veer right inside the main door for the pub.
Walking up the slope, keeping the main stadium entrance to your right, theD’Lux nightclub & lounge bar, and The Park restaurant, occupy an elevated building and stepped garden complex overlooking the stadium. All operate Thur-Sat only, 6pm-6am, attracting Kiev’s fashionable well-to-do. For some reason, much is made of the venue’s foundation in 1939 – Stalinist-era this is not, but the multi-levelled terrace is lovely.
Going from the ridiculous to the sublime, sitting in greenery at the park end the Mariinskii Dvor is a pretty restaurant, echoes of the Tsarist era accentuated by a mini chandeliers, a samovar, fireplace and gilt-edged paintings of rustic scenes. Draught Bitburger or Obolon can also be enjoyed on the large front terrace and there’s a full menu.