This Wednesday a solemn event took place in the bowl of the Dynamo stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi. At the home arena of the “blue and whites” a farewell ceremony was held for the legendary player of our club Volodymyr Muntyan who engraved his name in the history of Ukrainian and European football thanks to his spectacular play on the field as well as his incredible humanity and sincerity.
Volodymyr Fedorovych passed away on December 1 at the age of 79 after a long illness.
Veterans of Dynamo, the club’s management and well-known football figures came to pay tribute to Volodymyr Muntyan together with his family and friends. Among them were Dynamo president Ihor Surkis, honorary UEFA member Hryhoriy Surkis, UAF General Secretary Ihor Hryshchenko, Dynamo CEO Dmytro Brif, Deputy General Director Maksym Radutskyi and other club employees as well as legendary Dynamo players of the past - Leonid Buryak, Oleksandr Zavarov, Oleh Kuznietsov, Volodymyr Bezsonov and others - along with players from the current squad.
Dedicated fans of the club also came to honor the memory of the Dynamo legend and accompany him on his final journey.
During the ceremony several iconic figures who personally knew Volodymyr Muntyan shared warm words about him.
“Volodymyr Fedorovych is the face, the history, achievements and everything connected with Dynamo - the club that became a great team and a brand of Soviet, Ukrainian and European football, - said Oleksandr Ishchenko, director of the Dynamo youth academy named after V. Lobanovskyi. - The brightest pages of Dynamo’s glorious past are associated with Volodymyr Fedorovych. Watching footage from the past you realize what a universal player he was. He could make a pass, he read the game, he understood the game. Volodymyr Fedorovych was an idol to millions of fans and he proved it with his play”.
Writer and journalist Semen Sluchevskyi - author of Pioneers. An Illustrated History of Ukrainian Football and a close friend of the legendary footballer - also shared his memories of Muntyan.
“We had known each other since childhood. He was a unique midfielder, the brain of the 1975 team. But most importantly he was a wonderful and positive person. If someone needed help he was one of the first to respond and was always ready to assist. He was very kind, very interesting and self-ironic - which is very important”.
“Volodymyr Fedorovych was a player with a capital ‘P’ - I learned from watching his game. He was a very good person and a very good footballer who played at the highest level,” - said Dynamo legend Anatoliy Demyanenko.
After Volodymyr Muntyan’s family, friends, colleagues and admirers had the opportunity to say their goodbyes the cortege made a lap of honor around the Dynamo stadium named after V. Lobanovskyi and then proceeded to the central alley of Baikove Cemetery where the ceremony continued.
