NSC Olimpiyskiy: Dynamo Kyiv & Shaktar Donesk
Valery Parkhomenko / Flickr.com
Some clubs like to make things nice and easy for people like us who look to explain where teams play, how much they charge for tickets and so one. Other clubs simply don’t care how easy or otherwise it is to gather information about them, safe in the knowledge that they’ve got their supporters already. Dynamo Kyiv are one of the latter clubs. They used to play their home games at the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium but since it was developed they’ve moved into the ground in the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex.
Known simply as Olympic Stadium, this is the largest ground in all of Ukraine and and the second biggest in Eastern Europe. It stands in the middle of the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, which also includes various other sports facilities that were built in order to allow Kiev to host the Olympic Games in 1980. Originally opened in 1923, the stadium has undergone numerous significant renovations in the years that have followed, most notably in 2011 ahead of the 2012 European Championship.
Stats
| NSC Olimpiyskiy Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1923 |
| Capacity | 70050 |
| Average Attendance | 28931 |
| Record Attendance | 100062 (Dynamo Kiev v Utrecht 1985) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Nickname | Olympic |
| Former Name | Red Stadium of Trotsky, Red Stadium, Republican Stadium of Kosior, Republican Stadium, Republican Stadium of Khrushchev, All-Ukrainian Stadium, Central Stadium, Republican Stadium |
| Owner | Concern «Sports Arenas of Ukraine |
| Clubs Hosted | Soviet Union national football team, Ukraine national football team, Dynamo Kyiv |
| FC Shakhtar Donetsk Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1936 |
| Nickname | Hirnyky (The Miners), Kroty (The Moles) |
| Club Mascot | Mole |
| Rivals | CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv |
| Previous Stadiums | RSK Olimpiyskyi, Shakhtar Stadium, Donbass Arena, Arena Lviv, Metalist Oblast Stadium |
| Kit | Orange, Dark Blue & Black (Home) / Orange, Black & White (Away) |
| Training Ground | Kirsha Training Centre |
| Shirt Sponsor | CKM |
| Team Owner | Rinat Akhmetov |
| Record Goalscorer | Luiz Adriano (128) |
| Record Appearances | Darijo Srna (526) |
| Dynamo Kyiv Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1927 |
| Rivals | Spartak Moscow, Shakhtar Donetsk, Chornomorets Odesa, Metalist Kharkiv, Legia Warsaw, FC Arsenal Kyiv |
| Kit | White (Home) / Blue & White (Away) |
| Training Ground | Dynamo Training Center |
| Shirt Sponsor | Nadra Bank |
| Team Owner | Ihor Surkis |
| Record Goalscorer | Oleh Blokhin (266) |
| Record Appearances | Oleksandr Shovkovskiy (622) |
NSC Olimpiyskiy Photos
By Aleksandr Andreiko (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
David Holt / Flickr.com
Aleksandr Osipov / Flickr.com
Toronto_guy [CC BY 3.0]
By Aleksandr Osipov from Ukraine (16/10/2015 - Динамо Киев - ШаÑ…Ñ‚ер Донецк - 0:3) [CC BY-SA 2.0]
By Ahonc (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
NSC Olimpiyskiy Seating Plan and Where to Sit
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Built in a ‘bowl’ style familiar to anyone that has gone to a continental football ground or a more recently built English ground such as The Emirates, Olympic Stadium is still split into four sections that are best described by their geographical location. The Northern Curva has, like the rest of the ground, two tiers and it’s where the noisiest Kyiv fans congregate. The Eastern Tribune is quite steep and maintains the two-tiered system, whilst The Western Tribune has two tiers separated by a row of executive boxes. The Southern Curva is essentially a replica of its Northern buddy, standing behind the goal and with a large screen above it for replays.
FC Shakhtar Donetsk Ticket Prices
The price for tickets to Shakhtar matches varies from game to game and depending on where in the stadium you’d like to sit. For example, when the Ukrainian side went up against Olimpik Donetsk in August of the 2017-2018 season the tickets ranged from 30 Hryvnia through to 120 Hryvnia, via 40, 60, 70 and 100 Hryvnia.
How To Get FC Shakhtar Donetsk Tickets
You can buy tickets from numerous different places, not least of which is at Stadium itself. Online is always a good place to head to if you want to buy tickets and Shakhtar’s official website is actually a surprisingly good resource. There are numerous ticketing partners you can turn to if you’d prefer and you can even pick up tickets from the club’s shop in the centre of Kharkiv.
Where to Buy
Dynamo Kyiv Ticket Prices
It’s not exactly easy to get ticket information for games in Ukraine. What we can tell you is that prices are different depending on where in the ground you’d like to sit. The cheapest tickets are in the lower section of the Curva and will set you back about 35 Ukrainian Hryvnia. The most expensive are in the Lower Tribune and will cost in the region of 400 Uah. At the time of writing £1 will buy you 36 Ukrainian Hryvnia, so even the priciest ticket will only cost around £11.
How To Get Dynamo Kyiv Tickets
The club has actually got a surprisingly good English language website that would be the first port of call for tickets. After that you’ll want to head to the stadium’s ticket office.
Where to Buy
Getting To NSC Olimpiyskiy
Kiev is, as you know, the capital of Ukraine so getting to it isn’t all that complicated. That’s depending on where you’re coming from, of course. Here are some of the methods you’ll be looking at using:
Train – Getting the train from the UK isn’t the most advisable thing, given it will take you the best part of two days. If you really want to do it you’ll be going from St. Pancras and will visit Paris, Stuttgart, Nürnberg, Prague and Lvov on your journey. Once you’re in Kiev the Metro system is your friend, with Olimpiyska on the Blue M2 line and Palats sportu on the Green M3 line being the closest. Sometimes they’re closed on match days so keep your eye out for Palata “Ukraina” on Blue M2 or Klovska on Green M3 lines.
Bus – Bus Number 40 will take you close to the ground, as will either the 3 or the 40 Trolleybus.
Car – The stadium is pretty much in the centre of Kiev, so if you are desperate to drive around then it shouldn’t be too hard to find. As always, your best bet is to put the address into a sat-nav system. That said, the roads in a 1.5 mile radius of the ground are closed on match days, so keep that in mind.
By Air – Boryspil International Airport is about 20+ miles from the city centre and is the country’s largest, whilst Zhulyany Airport is around five miles away and tends to be served by budget airlines.
Taxi – You’ll pay between about 40 and 70 Uah for a taxi from Zhulyany Airport to the ground.
Parking Near NSC Olimpiyskiy
The roads nearby aren’t open on a match day, so parking is tricky, to be honest.
Useful Resources
NSC Olimpiyskiy Hotels
As the capital of Kiev there are plenty of hotel options in the city centre. Here are some of the best:
ibis Kiev City Centre - £40+
Bontiak Hotel - £60+
Senator Apartments Maidan - £80+
Pubs and Bars Near NSC Olimpiyskiy
Kiev promises some great nights out, as long as you go to the right areas. Here are some bars you may want to consider:
OK Bar & Restaurant
Fazenda Bar
O'Connor's Irish Pub
Facilities
Renovated in order to host the final of the European Championship in 2012, the facilities at Olympic Stadium are excellent. There are also top-notch views from pretty much everywhere within the ground.
Hospitality
One of UEFA’s key instructions for grounds hoping to gain their highest level of commendation is that there must be a large and welcoming corporate section to the ground. Olympic Stadium is no exception, so if you’d like to take advantage of the club’s hospitality then your best bet is to get in touch with them. The Sky Lounge is particularly worthy of your consideration!
Private Hire
From small business meetings through to trade fairs and expos, the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex can host it all. If you are, for some weird reason, looking to host a private event in Kiev and you’re desperate to use Olympic Stadium then get in touch with the club and they’ll guide you through your options.
Stadium Tours & Museum
Tours operate on a daily basis apart from on match days, running at 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. It costs 50 Uah for adults and 25 Uah for everyone else. It lasts about forty minutes and takes in the changing rooms, the business sector and some of the rest of the Olympic Sports Complex. There is also a museum that you can have a look around, featuring numerous bits of Dynamo Kyiv memorabilia.
About FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Football Club Shakhtar is better known to most as Shakhtar Donetsk. The club regularly appears in the UEFA Champions League and in 2009 they made history when they were the first team from the independent Ukraine to win the UEFA Cup, now called the Europa League. The most popular football club in Ukraine, Shakhtar was formed in 1936 in Soviet Russia and took the name Stakhanovets. It was named after a man named Aleksei Stakhanov, a coal-miner from the Donets region who became something of a minor celebrity when he was used in a propaganda campaign aimed at increasing the productivity of the workers.
In 1946 the club became Shakhtyor, a precursor to the current name it uses. When Ukraine became independent from the Soviet Union in the early part of the 1990s, Shakhtar, who had taken on the name in 1992, regularly competed for the top-flight title against long-term rivals Dynamo Kiev. They didn’t win their first title until 2002, but after that they won it nine times in the following twelve years. The club has endured numerous difficult moments over the years, including when there was an assassination attempt inside their stadium that resulted in the death of the club’s president, Akhat Bragin.
About Dynamo Kyiv
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Dynamo Kyiv, as it is spelt if we’re giving the club its proper name, has been in existence since 1927 when it was formed as part of the Soviet Dynamo Sports Society. The club plies its trade in the Ukrainian Premier League, the country’s top-flight. As you’d expect from one of the country’s richest and most successful clubs, Dynamo have never been relegated from the top division.That said, they only started playing in the top-flight in 1936.
Since its formation in the 1920s Dynamo Kyiv has gone on to win 28 national titles, 20 national cups and three European titles. Given that Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union for some time it should cause no surprise that some of those trophies include Soviet league titles and cups. Dynamo Kyiv and Dinamo Tbilisi were the only two Soviet teams that have enjoyed success in UEFA competitions.
NSC Olimpiyskiy History
The Olympic Stadium’s history is reflected in the numerous changes of name that it has been given over the years. From Red Stadium of Trotsky when it opened in 1923 through to Republican Stadium of Khrushchev in 1941, the ground has been used as a marketing tool for the powers that be ever since it opened. It wasn’t until 1991 that Ukraine gained independence from Russia and the stadium was given national status five years later.
Renamed Olympic Stadium in 1996, the ground has kept that name ever since. When Poland and Ukraine were given co-hosting duties for the 2012 European Championships it was clear that the stadium would play a prominent part. It went on to host three Group D matches as well as the quarter-final game between England and Italy, which Italy won on penalties, and the final. The culmination of the tournament saw Spain easily defeat Italy by four goals to two to become the first team to defend their European Championship win and the first to win three tournaments in a row.
Future Developments
Having been redeveloped in 2011 it is unlikely that any major renovations will be carried out on the stadium in the near future.