Ihor Belanov

Ihor Belanov

Personal information
Full name	Ihor Ivanovych Belanov
Date of birth	25 September 1960 (1960-09-25)
Place of birth	Odessa, Soviet Union
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1973–1978	Chornomorets Odessa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1979–1980	SKA Odessa	68	(16)
1981–1984	Chornomorets Odessa	116	(26)
1985–1989	Dynamo Kyiv	121	(39)
1989–1990	Borussia M'gladbach	24	(4)
1991–1995	Eintracht Braunschweig	67	(21)
1995–1996	Chornomorets Odessa	3	(1)
1996–1997	Metalurh Mariupol	5	(4)
National team
1985–1990	Soviet Union	33	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ihor Ivanovych (or Ivanovich) Belanov (Ukrainian: Ігор Іванович Беланов, Russian: Игорь Иванович Беланов; born 25 September 1960) is a retired Ukrainian footballer who played as a striker.

He made a name for himself at Dynamo Kyiv, winning five major titles and being named European Footballer of the Year in 1986. He then spent six years in Germany with two teams, with little success.

Belanov represented the Soviet Union at one World Cup and one European Championship.

Club career

Beginnings / Dynamo Kyiv

Belanov was born in Odessa, Ukraine, Soviet Union. He started playing professionally in his hometown, with SKA Odessa and FC Chornomorets Odessa, joining country giants FC Dynamo Kyiv in 1985, and scoring ten goals in his first season, which ended with league and cup conquest.

Alongside with teammates Oleg Blokhin and Oleksandr Zavarov, Belanov led the scoring charts at the 1985–86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (five apiece) as Dynamo won the competition for the second time. He played the full 90 minutes in the final against Atlético Madrid (3–0).

Germany

Mid-way through 1989, 29-year old Belanov got the long-awaited clearance to join a Western European side, making a move to Germany to join Borussia Mönchengladbach. His debut in the Bundesliga came on 4 November 1989 in a 0–4 away defeat against VfB Stuttgart, but he failed to impress overall, netting only four times in his one 1/2-season stint.

Belanov moved to second level's Eintracht Braunschweig in January 1991, after his wife had been involved in a shoplifting affair. He made his debut for his new club on 23 February, and went on to score only 13 goals in the competition in three seasons combined, also suffering relegation in 1992–93 without making a single appearance.

Retirement

In 1995, Belanov returned home to Chernomorets for one season, retiring at almost 37 after a spell with FC Illychivets Mariupol, appearing in only five games in two seasons combined.

International career

Belanov played 33 times for the Soviet Union, scoring eight times. His best performance came at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where he netted four goals and assisted for six others as the team (which comprised 13 Dynamo Kyiv players) reached the round of 16; he scored a hat-trick in the game against Belgium, in a losing extra time effort (3–4).

This performance at the World Cup, along with Dynamo’s Cup Winners' Cup success, helped Belanov win the European Footballer of the Year award. He was also part of the squad that reached the final of UEFA Euro 1988, where the national side faced Holland. With the score at 0–2, USSR were awarded a penalty. Belanov took it, but saw goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen stop the shot, as the score remained unaltered.

Club statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
SK Odesa	1979	32	5	0	0	0	0	-	-	32	5
	1980	36	11	0	0	0	0	-	-	36	11
Chornomorets	1981	27	6	2	0	0	0	-	-	29	6
	1982	29	2	4	1	0	0	-	-	33	3
	1983	27	7	1	0	0	0	-	-	28	7
	1984	33	11	5	3	0	0	-	-	38	14
Dynamo
	1985	31	10	4	2	4	1	-	-	39	13
	1986	22	10	1	0	8	4	1	0	32	14
	1987	23	8	6	3	6	1	2	1	37	13
	1988	27	8	4	1	0	0	-	-	31	9
	1989	18	3	4	1	0	0	-	-	22	4
Borussia M'gladbach	1989–90	14	4	1	0	0	0	-	-	15	4
	1990–91	10	0	2	1	0	0	-	-	12	1
Braunschweig	1990–91	9	3	0	0	0	0	-	-	9	3
	1991–92	29	10	1	1	0	0	-	-	30	11
	1992–93	-
	1993–94	29	8	1	0	0	0	4	0	34	8
Chornomorets	1995–96	3	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	3	1
Metalurh Mariupol	1995–96	1	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	1	0
	1996–97	4	4	0	0	0	0	-	-	4	4
Career	Total	404	111	36	13	18	6	7	1	465	131

• Others - USSR Super Cup, USSR Federation Cup and Bundesliga Play-Off

Honours

Club

• UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1985–86
• Soviet League: 1985, 1986
• Soviet Cup: 1985, 1987
• Ukrainian Second League: 1995–96
• UEFA Super Cup: Runner-up 1986

Country

• UEFA European Football Championship: Runner-up 1988

Individual

• European Footballer of the Year: 1986
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Top scorer 1985–86

Post-retirement

Belanov turned to business after finishing his playing career. He returned to prominence when he became the majority shareholder at Switzerland’s FC Wil, in August 2003. His predecessor, banker Andreas Hafen, had been given a five-years imprisonment sentence after embezzling 51 million Swiss francs ($40 million) from the UBS Bank.

Belanov’s first move at Wil was replacing first-team manager Martin Andermatt with his former Dynamo Kyiv teammate Zavarov, not taking note of the fact that he lacked the necessary UEFA licence to manage a European top-division outfit. That circumstance forced Belanov to sign former FC Karl-Marx-Stadt manager Joachim Müller. Due to the appointment of Müller, Zavarov’s job was officially described as director of football; Müller did not last long as coach however, as Belanov sacked him just after three months, replacing him with Tomas Matejcek.

Matejcek’s strict training regiment caused a quick revolt amongst Wil players. This forced Belanov to make amend for his decisions and to re-appoint Müller as manager, and hand the assistant-manager role to former Swiss international goalkeeper Stephan Lehmann. Those turned out to be Belanov’s last series of actions as Wil’s major shareholder as, in a quick sequence, he pulled out of his chairman and shareholder role of the club.

Additionally, Belanov also owned a football school in Odessa, which carried his name.

External links

• UkrSoccerHistory profile
• Igor Belanov career stats by KLISF
• Igor Belanow at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Ihor Belanov at National-Football-Teams.com