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travelle o y o ievi e
second round of the European
Cup. The Bhoys became the first
western club to visit Ukraine’s
capital city – 80 miles south of
the nuclear power plant – since
the accident.
Mo Johnston had scored a late
Celtic equaliser in a 1-1 first-leg
draw in Glasgow, but none of the
players fancied the return trip to
Dynamo’s Republican Stadium.
The official advice from the UK
Foreign Office was to “avoid the
area if at all possible.” However,
a spokesperson for the Soviet
Embassy in London said, “There
is no danger, and I can assurei vie o ou surrou i
the advisability of eating locally
produced foods.” Caterer Tim
Kelly packed 11 large containers
of tinned fruit and vegetables
and cooked meat, plus milk and
water. “Celtic will win tonight
because of the peace of mind
this has given them,” said Kelly.
The provisions included two
cases of champagne, “just in
readiness for any celebrations”,
but the likes of Alan McInally
(above) were in no mood to
party on the way home. Backed
by 108 intrepid Bhoys followers
in a crowd exceeding 100,000,
Celtic lost 3-1 on the night andimportant role in Soviet society and was incorporated by the state into
the daily lives of its citizens. “I have people working in four shifts, and
there’s no place for them to go and rest,” explained Kizima. “Let them
go and watch some football and drink some beer.”
Pripyat’s’s modest ground stood in the shadows of the residential
blocks. The pitch was surrounded by a running track, with a hut for
a dressing room and a small wooden stand. The stadium was often
full of spectators, even with the club in the amateur fifth tier of the
Soviet football league system. “In Pripyat, everyone loved football,”
defender Alexander Vishnevsky told Soviet Sport. “Two thousand of
them came to watch.” Visible in the distance beyond the boundary
fence was the 500ft-high chimney stack of Chernobyl’s Reactor No.4.
Chernobyl opened in 1977 and Pripyat became a works team as
a result. The side’s youngest player, Valentin Litvin, didn’t yet work
at the plant as he was still at school. One of six brothers – all of them
decent players – he was born in the nearby village of Chistogalovka
and studied in Pripyat.
“I remember one episode in the ninth grade,” says Litvin, speaking
to Valeriy Shkurdalov of Discover Chernobyl. “I was taking an algebra
exam, and I was supposed to play in a game. Our teacher looked out
the window and said, ‘Who are they waiting for?’ There was a bus and
the team was waiting for me, all of them grown men.”CHERnOBYL
FC