Volodymyr Muntyan

Volodymyr Fedorovych Muntyan (, , ; 14 September 1946 – 1 December 2025) was a Soviet and Ukrainian football midfielder of the 1960s and 1970s. Muntyan is considered to be one of the best and most talented players to represent Dynamo Kyiv and the Soviet Union. He was also the only player apart from Oleg Blokhin (his teammate in the 1970s) who has won seven Soviet championships. His brother Viktor Muntyan is also a former professional football player.

Early life A son of an ethnic Russian plant worker from Moldova and a Russian nurse born in Voronezh, Muntyan became interested in acrobatics and competed successfully in Kyiv's citywide competition, winning accolades in his age category. His family eventually relocated to live near a professional soccer grounds in Kyiv, where young Muntyan and his friends would hang out, acting as ball boys to the elders. While once juggling a ball, he was approached by a soldier, who asked him if he was interested in taking up football as a sport. Muntyan said yes and was taken to Mikhail Korsunsky, who was a famous local children's coach at the time. He quickly recognised Muntyan's potential.

Career

Youth years Due to the boy's natural talent, he was included in Kyiv's youth team with people like Semen Altman and Anatoly Byshovets (both coaches now). After a Spartakiada match between the Kyiv and Moscow teams, which Kyiv won, Dynamo Kyiv youth coach Mykhaylo Koman offered young Muntyan to come to a training session with the senior team the next day at 11:00. The young boy turned up outside the ground, but was so scared to see his idols Valery Lobanovsky, Andriy Biba, that he hid behind a tree and did not make the team bus. However, his friend Anatoly Byshovets helped him to get over the fear and eventually he turned up to a training session.

Club career Muntyan joined the Dynamo Kyiv team as a 15-year-old, when the main team coach was Victor Maslov. Despite weighing only 60 kg (9.5 stones) and being only 170 cm in height, he was encouraged to play and his skills were further enhanced by the training. Muntyan's debut match in Dynamo Kyiv's main squad took place on 15 October 1965, when his team played against Pakhtakor, winning 2:1. When five of then current squad left to join 1966 Soviet football team for the World Cup, Dynamo Kyiv managed to win a double (championship and the cup) with Muntyan stepping in from the reserves as one of the main players.

In total, Muntyan won 7 championships and two Soviet Cups with Dynamo Kyiv. In 1975, he also achieved the title of UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup champion as part of the victorious team. His father, Fedir Muntyanu, had 11 brothers. Only when Muntyan was 14 or 15 did he become aware that his father was actually from Moldova. Ukrainian Footballer of the Year: 1968*,1970 Soviet Footballer of the Year: 1969 ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1969