The Red Rising of Ukraine - A Road to Glory with FC Dnipro in the Soviet Union

[Venator77]

Welcome everyone to Season 1 of my new save with FC Dnipro. For those who don't know who this team is, this is the Ukrainian side that made it all the way to the 2015 Europa League Final, where they lost 3-2 to Sevilla. It was the peak of FC Dnipro, but a financial meltdown in the couple seasons following ended up with a free fall into the depths of the Ukrainian football pyramid before disintegrating entirely.

But in this save, Dnipro is still "alive" with the help of a reunified Soviet government bringing all the old Soviet states back under the fold. I say "alive" because FC Dnipro starts in the 6th tier of the reorganized Soviet football pyramid. Now the ultimate goal is to become the strongest Soviet football club in the country, but one of the requirements that I have is that we must win the Europa League at some point in the save. It won't be anytime soon, as it's going to take a while to reach the top division of Soviet football. Now that the scenario has been set, lets take a look at rules of our league.

It's nothing too bad. I can sign anyone I want, but I will be limited to a certain amount of foreign players to the pitch. Now, unlike my Yugoslav save, where every former Yugoslavian country becomes a vegetable and every player is reassigned to the Yugoslav nationality, every country that used to be in the Soviet Union are still independent in regards to their national teams. These countries are then placed in a nations agreements that treats every player from those countries as non-foreign. For example, despite Dnipro being a Ukrainian team, I can still sign as many Russians, Estonians, Uzbek, etc without issue. A bit of a complicated explanation, but that's how it is.

Anyway, let's get into the matches. I have decided that I will briefly describe each match on a monthly basis instead of the broad picture. So far, we have played three competitive matches before the summer transfer window ended. Let's get into it.

Kubok 1st Qualifying Round

Before this match, I already brought in some new faces to fill in the gaps in the first team. Our first competitive game was a complete route, an excellent 12-0 victory against Spectr Birobidzhan. As they are in the same tier as us, this is a good sign for the rest of the season.

League Matchday 1

To my satisfaction, the opening day match against the Latvian side Miku/UPTK Liepaja was a 5-0 victory in our favor. It took us a bit to get up to speed, but once we scored, we did not really hold back. This is our statement that we will become great again.

League Matchday 2

Our first competitive home game ended just as good as the previous match with a 6-0 destruction of Rubican Kiev, a fellow Ukrainian side. The first half was a non-stop peppering of the opposition goal, though how we only scored once would be a mystery. The lads made up for it in the 2nd half, scoring 5.

Here's the league table going into September:

Not much to look at here for the moment, but we are top on goal difference.

And now, summer transfers.

Lots of newcomers to provide quality and depth to Dnipro while also selling some players to raise a bit of cash to ease our finances.

That's it for Part 1 of Season 1 with FC Dnipro. I will return with all of the September fixtures played very soon.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back readers to FC Dnipro, where all September fixtures have been played. Here are the results:

League Matchday 3

Just a routine comfortable victory against the Estonian side Viimsi JK. 3-0 up by half-time, they never really threatened. But, they were the first team to score against us in the competitive scene so they got that going for them.

League Matchday 4

Another slow start to this match against Moldovan side Real Succes Chisinau. As it seems, we always leave our scoring to the final 15 minutes of each half.

Kubok 2nd Qualifying Round

This cup match sees us face the Russian side Dnepr Smolensk, who are in the league above us. They gave us a good game, but ultimately fell to two late goals near the end of the match. This result sees us advance to the 3rd Qualifying Round.

League Matchday 5

We certainly got the scare of the day when we fell behind to Ukrainian side Tavaria Novotroitske. Being 1-0 down at half time, I gave the players a dressing down for not playing as they should against a team we should be beating. Fortunately, the team stepped up their game and scored 3 goals in the final 20 minutes to secure the win.

League Matchday 6

After that shaky display in the last match, the lads went rampant on Dnister Doroshivtsi, scoring all 6 of our goals in the first half in this 6-1 demolition of the Ukrainian side. The second half we took our foot off the gas and didn't do anything. Dnister did get a consolation goal, but they were never really a threat.

And now, the league table as we enter October.

Still top of the table, but only on goal difference. Vaprus looks like they are going to be our biggest competitor, as they have also won every single game.

That's it for Part 2 of the FC Dnipro save. I will return with the October fixtures and the table going into November.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back readers for FC Dnipro's October fixtures.

League Matchday 7

A big clash at the top of the table against 3rd placed Ukrainian side Yunist Verkhnya Bilka. We managed to narrowly win by a single goal, their keeper was on top form, saving 14 shots.

League Matchday 8

An absolute masterclass performance from the lads struggling Ukrainian side Imeni V.Z. Tura Dmytrivka. 5 goals up by half-time, couldn't ask for a more complete victory.

Kubok 3rd Qualifying Round

Tempers flared in this cup match against the Latvian side Daugavpils, who are in the league above. Our center back Artur Novotryasov was sent off for a 2nd yellow before the half-hour point. A total of 12 yellow cards were handed out, most of them going to us. We pulled through with a goal in the 68th minute by our Curacoan winger Browne. We move on to the 4th Qualifying Round.

League Matchday 9

Our first slip up of the season, a disappointing 1-1 draw with Belorussian side FC Zhlobin. We took an early lead in the 2nd minute, but ultimately we weren't clinical enough to secure a 9th straight victory.

League Matchday 10

We got things back on track with a 3-0 victory against Flamingo Gorishni Plavni. Nothing really much to say here, the Ukrainian side never really threatened.

League Matchday 11

It was Mykola Shyryaev's master class match that secured a good 5-1 victory against Zirka-2 Kropyvnyts'kyi. We were 3-1 by half time and rounded off the win with Shyryaev completing his hattrick.

Oops, forgot the league table

A gap is forming between 1st and 2nd, just what I want to see

That's it for October. I will be returning with all fixtures taking place in November very soon.

 

[Venator77]

November fixtures time!

League Matchday 12

Another masterclass performance against Shturm Partyzanske with 10 goals on our part. Rashid Browne scored a hattrick this game.

Kubok 4th Qualifying Round

Our first real challenge of the season came against the Lithuanian side FK Riteriai, who play in the Tretya liga - Zapadnaya, the 3rd tier of Soviet football. We pulled off a shock victory with a last minute goal by Olexandr Yaremchuk. This result see us to the 1st Round proper.

League Matchday 13

Our fantastic run of form continues with a 3-0 victory against the Estonian side Puuma Tallinn. It all fell apart for the away side when their right back got sent off in the 21st minute.

League Matchday 14

A routine victory against Estonian side Vändra JK Vaprus. We started a little slow in the first half, but a goal just before half time was all I needed to get the lads going.

League Matchday 15

Estonian side FC Elva were quick to capitulate in this 4-0 home victory.

The league table entering December:

Still unbeaten after 15 matches. I think we're set for the rest of the season.

That's it for Novemeber. I'll return with December fixtures, where we may be facing one of the Soviet Union's biggest clubs very soon.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to the Dnipro save. 2019 has ended and here is December fixtures.

League Matchday 16

The Moldovan side Nistru Otaci gave us some difficulty in the first half, holding us 1-1 at half time. We would take the lead again before Nistru equalized again. But soon enough, we were too much for them and won 5-2.

League Matchday 17

A comfortable 4-0 victory against Ukrainian side Mayak Valky. 3-0 by half time, as routine as you like.

League Matchday 18

We rounded off the league fixtures for 2019 with a fantastic 7-0 destruction of Moldovan side Floresti. We dominated the entire game and didn't allow even a single shot.

Kubok 1st Round

We faced Krasnodar in the 1st Round of the Cup in a highly anticipated match for everyone involved. Krasnodar are in the top tier of Soviet football and are currently challenging for European football, so it came to little surprise where they would hand us our first defeat in the save. There wasn't too much I could do, they had all the quality that makes up a top tier club and we are down in the depths of the football pyramid. We kept the scoreline respectable, with a 2-0 loss at home. The revenue would be great for our finances, as we nearly filled our 31000 seat stadium.

With that, we are approaching the halfway point of the season and here is the league table heading into January.

We are only six points clear of 2nd, with Flamingo and Yunist hot on our tails. Still top and poor Nistru Otaci already look set for relegation with only 1 win and 1 draw from 18 matches.

That's it for December. I will return with January fixtures and the winter transfer window.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to my FC Dnipro save and 2020 has arrived and it's time for the winter transfers!

It has been an excellent transfer window, as despite our star winger Mykola Shyryaev leaving for Krasnodar to play top tier football, we managed to get a large sum of transfer money to work with. Thus we used the money to sign a few more quality players, most notably the Belorussian winger Pavel Savitskiy from Dinamo Brest for only €2.4 million. There were also a couple of pre-contract signings made this transfer window, but we will cover them in the beginning of Season 2. Now for the month's fixtures.

League Matchday 19

We have reached the halfway point of the season with a comfortable win over Moldovan side FC Maiak. Nothing really of note here, it was a routine victory.

League Matchday 20

Now that we have played every team in the league at least once, our first opponent to face again is unlucky Dmytrivka, who we beat 9-0 in the reverse fixture. This one ended similarly, with a 5-0 thumping with new signing Sharylo scoring a 4 goal hattrick.

League Matchday 21

We welcomed 2nd placed Yunist VB in a huge 1st vs. 2nd clash at home. Yunist put up a good fight, but ultimately fell to a 2-0 defeat at our hands.

League Matchday 22

This is another 1st vs. 2nd clash, as both Yunist and Flamingo are fighting for the promotion play-off spot that is for 2nd place. We proved our title credentials with another important victory on our march for promotion. Our new signing Savitskiy scored on his debut for the club.

League Matchday 23

This was a game where I wanted to prove a point, as we welcomed Zhlobin at home near the end of January. I wanted payback for dropping points against them and ultimately I got what I wanted by winning 3-1.

With February here, the league table.

The vital wins against the two teams below us extended the points gap to 15 points, though Yunist have a game in hand. Still unbeaten and still on the march for the league title.

That's it for today, I'll return with February fixtures very soon.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to the Dnipro save and February has past. Let's take a look at the results.

League Matchday 24

We meet FC Maiak once again, having played and beaten them last month. While we did thrash them by 5 goals to 1, they played dirty, getting a red card and injuring Rashid Browne, who was sidelined for three weeks. Good riddance, this team sits bottom of the table six points from safety and looking set to go down. Good.

League Matchday 25

We travel away to Kiev where we faced Rubicon. Comfortable 3-0 victory.

League Matchday 26

We host the Estonian side Miku, who we played at the start of the season. It was a routine victory by 4 goals.

League Matchday 27

Another routine victory against Floresti. Not much to write about here.

With 11 games to go, here is the league table.

Still 15 points clear of 2nd place. Yunist are starting to pull away from Flamingo and look likely to qualify for the promotion playoffs at the end of the season.

That's it for this post, I will return shortly with March fixtures very soon.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to the FC Dnipro save and March has arrived. In addition to this month's fixtures, we also got our first youth intake! Let's take a look.

Pretty good intake for the first season. I am especially interested in that GK, who looks as good as our starting GK. I'll probably use him until I get a better GK.

Anyway, fixtures.

League Matchday 28

This was a weird game. Mayak Valky held us to 0-0 at half time, but the second half was a bit of a roller coaster, with 4 goals and a red card.

League Matchday 29

Another routine victory, but we were a bit sloppy by conceding two goals.

League Matchday 30

This routine victory resulted in us qualifying for at least play-offs. With that, we can finish no lower than 2nd place.

League Matchday 31

This match took place during the international break, in which some of our starters were off on duty. It was a quiet game for a team of our quality, with only a 2-0 win against Puuma.

The League table

17 points clear now, with Yunist slipping up recently. At the rate we are winning matches, I expect the league title and promotion in April.

That's it for March, I will return with April and a potential title win.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to FC Dnipro in the Soviet Union. I have decided to play through all of April and May, as there were only two matches in May and I wanted to combine both month's post into one. Let's get into the fixtures.

League Matchday 32

A very disappointing 1-1 draw at home to mid-table Vaprus. We conceded a penalty in the second half and fell behind, but equalized after Vaprus suffered a sending off. Not the way I wanted things to go.

League Matchday 33

A routine victory against Zirka-2, scoring in both sides of half time. Not much to note here.

League Matchday 34

A big 4-0 victory against Shturm Partyzanske officially seals the league title with 4 games to go. Absolutely delighted, we're going up!

League Matchday 35

The home side rescued a point with 10 minutes to go as we drew 1-1. Not too fussed, we had nothing to play for.

League Matchday 36

Poor Viimsi. They needed a win to keep their hopes of staying up alive, but a 5-0 battering against us officially confirmed their relegation out of the 6th tier. We never broke a sweat as we swatted them aside.

League Matchday 37

A big ask for Dnister Doroshivtsi in the penultimate game of the season. They needed good results in order to stay up. But our 4-0 victory ensured that safety was out of their hands coming the final day.

League Matchday 38

We signed off with an excellent 6-0 victory against Tavria Novotroiske.

With the league season done and the playoffs played, let's look at the league table.

As expected, we finished top with 108 points and zero losses. Yunist were unfortunate in the play-offs and would not be promoted with us. Maiak, Viimsi, and Dnister Doroshivtsi are relegated out of our league group.

With all competitive Soviet football wrapped up, lets take a look at the results from the first and second tiers of Soviet football and the result of the Kubok.

The Kubok was won by Spartak Moscow who beat Lokomotiv Moscow on penalties. Interestingly enough, we have been selected as the biggest overachievers by reaching the 1st Round as a 6th tier side.

The first Soviet champions of the save goes to Zenit St. Petersburg, who barely managed to edge out Shakhtar to the top. BATE Borisov, Dinamo Moscow, Qarabag, and Orenburg (who lost the relegation playoff to Ufa) were relegated to the Pervaya Liga.

The Pervaya Liga was won by Krylia Sovetov Samara, who were promoted with Kairat, Olexandriya, and promotion playoff winners Tobol. Anji, Tavria, Nasaf, and Olimpik D were relegated to the 3rd tier.

That's it for today. I will return with results from around Europe and Euro 2020 before we move on to Season #2.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to the final post of Season #1, where we will look at results from across Europe.

The Bundesliga was won by Bayern Munich quite comfortable. Union Berlin and Fortuna Dusseldorf were relegated to the 2 Bundesliga. FC Augsburg won the relegation play-off and will remain in the Bundesliga.

The 2 Bundesliga was won by VfB Stuttgart, who were promoted with 2nd placed Hannover 96. Dynamo Dresden and Karlsruhe were relegated to the 3 Liga.

The Premier League was won by Liverpool, who barely managed to edge Chelsea on the final day thanks to their superior goal difference. Sheffield United, Brighton, and Watford were relegated to the Championship.

The Championship was won by Leeds United, who were promoted with Sheffield Wednesday and play-off winner Nottingham Forest. Barnsley, Wigan Athletic, and Charlton Athletic were relegated to League One.

Juventus won Serie A without a doubt. Verona, Brescia, and Sampdoria were relegated to Serie B.

Benevento won Serie B and were promoted with Pescara and play-off winner Ascoli. Trapani, Cosenza, Salernitana, and Livorno were relegated to Serie C.

Ligue 1 was won by PSG again, who broke 100 points this season. Metz and Toulouse were relegated to Ligue 2.

AJ Auxerre won Ligue 2 and were promoted with Caen to Ligue 1. Rodez Aveyron Football and Chateauroux were relegated to the French 3rd tier.

A crazy season in Spain as Atletico Madrid won La Liga on 103 points, followed by Barcelona and Real Madrid also breaking the 100 points mark. Osasuna, Real Valladolid, and Levante were relegated to La Liga 2.

Malaga won La LIga 2 and were promoted with Zaragoza and Rayo Vallecano. Albacete, Racing Santander, Almeria, and Elche were relegated.

The Yugoslav First League was won by Red Star Belgrade, who were fortunate due to Partizan's slip ups. Siroki Brijeg, Zeljeznicar, and Gorica were relegated to the Second League.

Lokomotiva Zagreb won the Second League and were promoted with Istra 1961 and Slaven Belupo. GOSK Gabela, Vardar, and Zemun were relegated to the 3rd tier.

The Champions League was won by Liverpool, who claimed back-to-back titles by beating Manchester City after extra time in an all English affair.

Manchester United won the Europa League after beating Bayer Leverkusen on penalties after drawing 1-1 after extra time.

That's it for Season #1 of the FC Dnipro save. I will return with Season #2 summer transfer window, new league rules, and August fixtures very soon.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome to Season 2 of the Dnipro save. The summer transfer window has passed and the August competitive fixture have been played. But first, lets take a look at the new rules for our new league.

Not too much has changed. We can put one more foreign player in the matchday squad, but that's about it. Now summer transfers.

We brought in a few more first team players to strengthen our squad while sending many of our youth prospects out on loan to other sides. The best part is we managed to hold on to our best players from last season, so we should be set until the winter transfer window.

Now, for the fixtures.

Kubok 1st Qualifying Round

The first match of the season was the Cup fixture against the 6th tier Ukrainian side Vizit Khmilnyk. No challenge here, as we trashed them 10-1.

League Matchday 1

The first league matchday was away to Georgian side FC Guria Lanchkhuti. It was a comfortable 4-0 victory with a brace from our star striker Yaremchuk.

League Matchday 2

We followed up with a 3-0 victory at home against Ukrainian side FC Kalush. They conceded an early own goal and never really threatened us.

With August fixtures played, a brief look at the table.

Three teams including ours have 2 wins from 2. These are the teams we will be facing this years.

That's it for August and the summer. I will return with September fixtures very soon.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to the Dnipro save, where all September fixtures have been played. Let's take a look at the results.

League Matchday 3

We travel all the way to Kazakhstan where we faced Aktobe-Zhas. It was a comfortable victory, not too much to discuss here.

League Matchday 4

The next game sees us welcome Georgian side Betlemi Keda at home, where we brushed them aside without any difficulty.

Kubok 2nd Qualifying Round

One of the quieter games this season as we only won 2-0 against the Latvian side FS Metta/Latvijas Universitate.

League Matchday 5

Another interesting away day, this time going to Uzbekistan to face Sherdor Samarqand. It was a comfortable 5-1 victory, though unlucky for our star striker Yaremchuk, he was unable to continue his prolific goal-scoring run past 6 matches.

League Matchday 6

Yaremchuk's bad day in front of goal last match proved to only be a blip, as a hattrick secured a 4-0 victory against Georgian side Samgurali Tskhaltubo.

League Matchday 7

The final game of the month ended in a fantastic 7-0 destruction of Georgian side Dinamo Zugdidi. Yaremchuk, who just cannot stop scoring, scored a 5 goal hattrick to break several records for most goals scored by a player in one match.

The league table going into October.

To my delight, we still have our 100% record in the league and we are already pulling away from the rest of the group, with a 6 point lead over 2nd placed Altai Oskemen.

That's it for September 2020 of the Dnipro save. I will return very soon with October fixtures.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to the FC Dnipro save in the Soviet Union. October is done, so let's take a look.

League Matchday 8

We welcomed Uzbek side FJ Zomin at home and dispatched them 3-0 without issues.

Kubok 3rd Qualifying Round

Our Cup run continues with a big win against Ukrainian side Chayka Petropavlivska Borschagivka. Yuri Marin, a new signing, marked his debut with a first half brace.

League Matchday 9

A trip to Georgian side SK Chiatura was equally productive with another 5-0 win.

League Matchday 10

One of our closer games came against Georgian side Bakhmaro Chokhatauri, who almost stole a point at the death, but ultimately did not.

League Matchday 11

No shortage of Georgian sides here, with another one in SK Iberia-2010 Tbilisi coming in, but losing to our dominate side.

League Matchday 12

It was a scary Halloween for Georgian side Skuri Tsalenjikha as we came and defeated them 4-1.

The league table going into November

9 points clear of 2nd, this season looks to be a repeat of last season.

Thanks for reading, I will return soon with November fixtures.

 

[Venator77]

Time for November fixtures

Kubok 4th Qualifying Round

A brief trip to Belarus featured a very close game against Vitebsk. We managed to win and advance to the 1st Round.

League Matchday 13

We faced Chayka once again, having beaten them in the Kubok earlier this season. But we were poor today as we could only draw 1-1. We wasted so many chances, unbelievable.

League Matchday 14

We got back on track with a 4-0 victory against FK Fayzkand in Tajikistan. This time we took our chances.

League Matchday 15

We remain in Tajikistan for a match against Lokomotiv-Pamir. We had an even better day in the office with a 7-1 destruction of the Tajik side.

League Matchday 16

A very quiet game against Georgian side Spaeri Tbilisi. We scored early on, but did nothing afterward. Gotta do better.

The League table going into December

Still top 10 points clear of Altai, who are competing with Urartu for the 2nd place play-off spot.

That's it for now, I will return shortly with December fixtures.

 

[xfox88]

keep going..interesting

 

[Venator77]

Thank you for your kind words.

December fixtures have been played and it's now the end of 2020.

Kubok 1st Round

It was a very close game against the Uzbek 4th tier side Qizilqum Zarafshon. It was level for nearly the entire match until we scored a last minute goal. We move to the next round.

League Matchday 17

Another trip to Kazakhstan in a huge 1st vs 2nd clash. Well, it ended badly for them, with a 7-0 win on our side.

League Matchday 18

We host another Kazakh side in Qyran Shymkent, where we easily won 3-0

League Matchday 19

We reach the halfway point against Armenian side Urartu Yerevan. It was a hard fought match, in which we could only draw 2-2. It could've been better, not exactly happy about this result.

League Matchday 20

We go to Uzbekistan where we face Zomin again. We won 4-0 comfortably as we round off 2020.

The League table going into 2021

Comfortably top, still unbeaten.

That's it for today, I will return with January fixtures and the winter transfer window very soon.

 

[jasarole]

Great results in the league. Hopefully go on a bit of a cup run. Really enjoying the story so far, keep it up!

 

[Venator77]

Thank you very much. A few of our prospects from last year's youth intake had very quickly progressed into becoming our first team regulars. Most of the teams down in the 6th and 5th tiers aren't that great and are easy to beat with the right tactics and the right signings. I hope we could at least become established in the 2nd tier within the next 2-3 seasons.

This is also my next long term save since I don't plan to get FM21 this year unless I win it for free.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back readers to the FC Dnipro save. January has passed and the winter transfer window has shut. Let's take a look.

It's been a quiet window, with only one newcomer, an exciting Lithuanian prospect named Marius Paulauskas, who was immediately loan out along with another prospect in Artur Kotov. Not a lot of quality players to find so that's it for the winter transfer window.

With that covered, let's look at our January fixtures.

League Matchday 21

The first match of the year sees us welcome Dinamo Zugdidi. It was a comfortable victory, not much to discuss.

Kubok 2nd Round

It was a big game for our side as we faced the top tier Russian side FC Ufa in the Kubok 2nd Round. It was a fantastic 1-0 victory as we beat the odds against a much stronger club. This might be our biggest result so far.

League Matchday 22

Back in the league, we faced Bakhmaro. They played well in the first half, holding us to a 0-0 scoreline at half time. But 2 goals in under 3 minutes in the 2nd half confirmed another victory in the league.

League Matchday 23

Another productive day as we ran out 6-0 winners against Chiatura at home.

League Matchday 24

A top of the table clash against Urartu Yerevan. We did not slip up like last time with a nice 4-1 victory away in the Georgian capital.

League Matchday 25

It was a pretty dirty game against Kalush. We won 2-1, but I did expect more from my boys.

The league table going into February

20 points clear of 2nd place and remaining unbeaten. The question is now who will take 2nd, since at this point, 1st is already wrapped up.

That's it for January, I will return with February fixtures very soon.

 

[Venator77]

Welcome back to the FC Dnipro save. February fixtures have been played so lets take a look.

Kubok 3rd Round

Unfortunately, our cup run ends here with a 2-1 loss to 2nd tier Ukrainian side Desna Chernigiv. We quickly traded blows within 7 minutes but we couldn't bring up the needed quality to beat them.

League Matchday 26

A nice 2-0 win against Guria helped us bounce back from our disappointing Cup exit.

League Matchday 27

Yaremchuk put in a high class display as we ran out 6-1 winners against Qyran to continue our league winning run.

League Matchday 28

We round off the month with a top of the table clash against Altai, in which we comfortably won 4-1.

The League table going into March.

Bit of a quiet month with only a couple fixtures being played, but the next few months should be quite busy indeed.

That's it for February, stay tuned for March fixtures and the new youth intake very soon.