FC Shakhtar - 1966



Yuriy Korotkikh, keeper, had the record goalless series of 913 minutes (third result in the history of the domestic football)



FC Shakhtar - USSR League runners-up in 1975



Watching a match from gob pile
FC Shakhtar came trough many tests in a decade. A serene end of 60-s brought Oshenkov's resignation. In 1971 the leading club of Donbass was relegated to the second division. Oleg Bazilevich, FC Shakhtar ex-player, coped with this cahllenge and the club returned to the elite.

Season 1966 was divided into two parts. Donestk finished the first half among outsiders. But the second one passed like one go. FC Shakhtar played ten consecutive matches with any defeat. Moreover their keeper Yuriy Korotkikh kept his goals unlocked for 913 minutes (!). Korotkikh's record is among three the best in the history of the domestic football.

Donetsk showcased the same brilliant performance next season. Two strong players with leader charisma Valeriy Lobanovsky and Oleg Bazilevich fostered this properity. They enhanced the team's performance in two years. Besides Lobanovsky was twice nominated the forward of the year.

Lobanovsky-Oshenkov's confrontation was vital for the team. In the middle of the season 1968 Loanovsky and Oshenkov gave up Shakhtar and football in general. In October 1969 Yuriy Voynov suprseded Oshenkov.

"Little gold" won by Shakhtar reserves in 1967 and 1969 (1968 - silverware) was a little relief for Donetsk fans. Yuriy Zakharov coached the second squad of Shakhtar. His boys were a good substitute for the main squad players - Vladimir Pyanykh, Yuriy Dudinskiy, Viktor Zvyagintsev, Vyacheslav Chanov and Anatoliy Konkov.

In 1971 FC Shakhtar dropped down to the second division. Coaches alternation went hand-in-hand with stagnation of perfomance. Voynov, Falyan, Morozov and at last Bazilevich. 34-year old specialist had to establish a team with a squad of players signed by the prvious coaches quite promptly. It was already the second half of the season, when Bazilevich opted for the optinmal squad for the elite first division. Season 1973 was glorious for Shakhtar with the second position in the second division which enabled them to progress for the first. The core players were Yuriy Degterev, Alexander Vasin, Viktor Zvyagintsev, Anatoliy Konkov, Vladymyr Safonov and newcomers aleriy Gorbunov and Vitaliy Starukhin.

Yuriy Zakharov, ex-coach of reserves, brought Shakhtar to the silverware 1975. He didn't occupy the position of the head coach long being substitued by Vladimir Salkov.

The newcomers Viktor Kondratov, Vladimir Rogovsky and Yuriy Reznik confidently joined the main squad. FC Shakhtar looked mobile and willful in their pathway to the league silver.

A thumping win over Ararat - 3:0 let Donetsk be second in the USSR that year league.

League Table

P TEAM PLD W D L F:A PTS
1 Dynamo 18 15 3 0 44:7 48
2 Shakhtar 18 13 2 3 49:12 41
3 Dnipro 18 12 4 2 35:12 40
4 Zorya 18 9 3 6 26:20 30
5 Metalist 17 7 6 4 27:24 27