Stadion im W. Łobanowskiego – stadium description

The Dynamo stadium in Kyiv is one of the most import ant sports venues of the Ukrainian capital and also a historical monument of local value. The story behind it was interesting from the very start. In 1932 mostly prisoners and  volunteers made it rise and become a central spot for club football. Already during the inauguration game between teams from Kyiv and Kharkiv this interest in club football was shown as some 45,000 people overfilled this 18,000-capacity venue!

In 1936 impressive colonnades were built and already at that time the stadium was dragged into political life with names often changing. As it bared names of political activists, these were changed along with social mood. During WWII it was called simply “Deutsches Stadion” (German Stadium) as it was used by Nazis. Dynamo came back in 1945 but left in 1949 only to reland safely at the ground several years later. Finally in 2003, a year after the death of Valery Lobanovskiy, the ground received his name.

Though not technically advanced, a the huge floodlight masts could have been impressive when raised, not in the 21^st century, it’s still an important part of Kyiv’s sports. The single-tiered stands make Lobanowvsky’s stadium a medium sized venue of the Ukrainian premier league, but possibilities of redevelopment or move are being analysed.