COACHES from Ukraine

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Ukrainian Coaches of all time. This list of famous Ukrainian Coaches is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Valeriy Lobanovskyi (1939 - 2002)

With an HPI of 67.65, Valeriy Lobanovskyi is the most famous Ukrainian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 43 different languages on wikipedia.

Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi (Ukrainian: Вале́рій Васи́льович Лобано́вський, pronounced [wɐˈlɛr⁽ʲ⁾ij lobɐˈnɔu̯sʲkɪj]; 6 January 1939 – 13 May 2002) was а Soviet and Ukrainian football player and manager. He was Master of Sports of the USSR, Distinguished Coach of the USSR, and a laureate of the UEFA Order of Merit in Ruby (2002) and FIFA Order of Merit, the highest honour awarded by FIFA. In 2002 he was awarded the Hero of Ukraine award (posthumously), his nation's highest honour, for his contribution to Ukrainian football. In 2008, Lobanovskyi was ranked 6th in Inter's list of the 100 Greatest Ukrainians following a nationwide poll that saw around 2.5 million people casting their votes. Lobanovskyi is most famous for his spells managing FC Dynamo Kyiv and the USSR national football team. Lobanovskyi established Dynamo as the most dominant club in Soviet football in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Soviet Top League eight times and the Soviet Cup six times in 16 years. In 1975 his Dynamo Kyiv team became the first side from the Soviet Union to win a major European trophy when they beat Hungarian side Ferencváros in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup. During the tournament, Dynamo Kyiv won eight games out of nine, resulting in a winning percentage of 88.88% – a record that stood for 45 years encompassing all of the major European club football competitions. Lobanovskyi and his team repeated their Cup Winners' Cup success in 1986, beating Atletico Madrid in the final. In both 1975 and 1986, two of Dynamo's players (Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov respectively) were also awarded the Ballon d'Or under his tutelage. During Lobanovskyi's first two stints, the team also reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1977 and 1987 and quarter-finals in 1976, 1982 and 1983. With the Soviet Union national team, Lobanovskyi reached the finals of Euro 1988, losing to eventual winners the Netherlands, and won the bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. After returning to Dynamo Kyiv in 1997 for the third time, Lobanovskyi led the team to another successful run in European competition. In the first full season of his third spell, Dynamo reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 1998, topping a group that included FC Barcelona, Newcastle United and PSV Eindhoven, famously winning both games against Barcelona, 3–0 in Kyiv and 4–0 at Camp Nou. The following season, Lobanovskyi and his team reached the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by Bayern Munich, with star striker Andriy Shevchenko finishing third in the 1999 Ballon d'Or poll. Lobanovskyi is highly regarded due to his achievements as a coach and is widely considered one of the greatest managers of all time. Throughout his coaching career Lobanovskyi won 33 official trophies, becoming the second most decorated manager of all time (behind Alex Ferguson) and the most successful football manager of the 20th century. He also holds several managerial records in Soviet football, including most Soviet Top League titles, most Soviet Cup wins (shared with Viktor Maslov) and most USSR Super Cup wins. Lobanovskyi is the only manager to win a major European competition with an Eastern European club twice. He is one of four managers to win the Cup Winners' Cup twice, and one of two (along with Nereo Rocco) to accomplish the feat with the same team. Lobanovskyi has also won the Ukrainian championship five times out of five – an accomplishment not matched by any other manager. Lobanovskyi has coached three Ballon d'Or winners — Oleh Blokhin, Igor Belanov and Andriy Shevchenko. In 2007, The Times included him on its list of the top 50 managers of all time, and in 2022, FourFourTwo ranked him at No. 26 on its special list of the Top 100 football managers of all time.

2. Anatoliy Byshovets (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 54.09, Anatoliy Byshovets is the 2nd most famous Ukrainian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Anatoliy Fyodorovich Byshovets (Russian: Анатолий Фёдорович Бышовец, Ukrainian: Анато́лій Фе́дорович Бишове́ць; born 23 April 1946) is a Soviet and Russian football manager of Ukrainian origin and former Soviet international striker. He played his entire professional career with club side Dynamo Kyiv. He won Olympic gold medal as a coach with the Soviet team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He was also a manager of the USSR, Russia, and South Korea national teams. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he managed the South Korean U-23 team. He is one of the most successful modern Russian coaches.

3. Volodymyr Bezsonov (b. 1958)

With an HPI of 49.19, Volodymyr Bezsonov is the 3rd most famous Ukrainian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Volodymyr Vasylyovych Bezsonov (Ukrainian: Володимир Васильович Безсонов, also spelled Vladimir Vasilijević Bessonov from Russian: Владимир Васильевич Бессонов, born 5 March 1958) is a Ukrainian football manager and former player who played for the former Soviet Union national football team. The most recent team he was managing was FC Dnipro in the Ukrainian Premier League.

4. Sergei Semak (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 42.61, Sergei Semak is the 4th most famous Ukrainian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Sergei Bogdanovich Semak (Russian: Серге́й Богда́нович Сема́к [sʲɪrˈɡʲej bɐɡˈdanəvʲɪtɕ sʲɪˈmak]; born 27 February 1976) is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who manages Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg.