The FC Dynamo obtained their own training center in 1961, when it broke the monopoly held by the Moscow-based clubs and took gold medals in the national championship. The football-conscious government appreciated the victory and allocated a lot for the training ground construction in the picturesque subarbian area of Koncha-Zaspa.
The soccer players used to do their training in a two-storey building all the way into the mid 90’s. However, the training center later turned out not to meet modern requirements. The highly ambitious club needed a new practice ground that would comply with modern football requirements and provide first-class sports facilities for the squad.
The design was produced by Vitaliy Oksyukovskyy’s architecture workshop. 2 years into the construction works, the sports complex was officially inaugurated on March 28, 1998. Hence, it has become an object of admiration and pride of those who visited and constructed it. Nowadays, the name “Koncha Zaspa” sparks off the association of the cutting-edge Dynamo Training Center.
At the heart of the training ground towers a six-story 10,000m serving both as a hotel and a medical center. In the hall, visitors are welcomed by a unique construction: a granite base contains a rounded saddle with a 500-kilogram granite sphere-shaped ball installed into it. Under pressure, it splashes in the fountain like a rubber ball. Breathtaking picture!
The ground floor also contains a canteen with a seating capacity for 50 people for footballers and coaches, a pool and an administrative office. In the basement, there is a laundry. Interestingly, the center has an autonomous water supply system: water is obtained from two boreholes (216 and 218 meters deep).
Its first, second and third floors are dedicated to the residence of Dynamo soccer players and coaches (two-bedded rooms), whereas the fourth and fifth floors accommodate Ukraine international players (single rooms) during the pre-match training. Room 510, which used to accommodate Valeriy Lobanovskyy (its first and only guest), is to be found on the 5th floor. Everything in the room is kept the way it was in the lifetime of the Great Coach.
Elegantly decorated rooms all comply with the highest standards and provide optimum training and relaxation conditions. Five deluxe rooms, all of which are designed in different colors, are always “ready” to host VIP guests. All the rooms as well as halls are equipped with satellite television, with over 20 programs screened. Leisure hours may also be frittered away playing pool, billiards or Ping-Pong Thematically arranged on each floor, 320 paintings are meant to add some extra charm to the building.
Players’ health and fitness are maintained in the medical center. Here footballers are given a rehabilitation course in a swimming pool and a hydromassage whirlpool complex as well as dry and steam saunas.
Dynamo doctors are especially proud of their pressure chamber enabling to imitate mountain with the necessary air quality and pressure. Such treatment sessions contribute to the players’ rehabilitation and preparation for a heavy physical load.
The third floor provides physical therapy facilities and a mountain air room enabling doctors to imitate the climate of any of the world’s resorts and thus contributing to players’ speedy recovery.
The gym serves just the same purpose. It has equipment for cardiovascular (5 kinds) and strength (two tens) training manufactured by the Italy-headquartered Technogym Co, the world’s leading wellness products maker.
The theory classroom is a place where Dynamo players construct their game models. It obtains all the necessary facilities for thorough studying of the future opponents and for “work on mistakes” in the matches played. Coaches and players have a unique video archive and modern video facilities at their disposal, whereas an 80-seat conference hall is a perfect place to report to the media folks.
All the way round the hotel complex, five regular-size open pitches are located: one artificial and four natural grass ones. All the pitches are electrically heated: 20 cm into the ground, a special wire has been installed to provide heating of the upper layer of the soil.
The Training Center infrastructure received a new impetus in the year 2000, when the roofed arena construction works kicked off. Over a record short period of time (six months), it was put into operation. Now Dynamo teams of all levels (including youth ones) have the possibility to practice at any time of the year, regardless of the weather. The impressive 100x72 m arena is efficiently heated, with modern equipment permitting to maintain the necessary temperature in the fall/winter period.
The Center in Koncha-Zaspa is served by a professional staff employees (from cooks to pitch “officers”), who do their best to make the players feel at home and, more importantly, enable them to adequately prepare for the upcoming encounters.
