Anatoliy Konkov

A native of Krasnyi Luch, Luhansk Oblast, in the late 1950s, Konkov began his football career in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast for local Avanhard, and his first coach was Yuriy Nesterenko. When Konkov was about 6–7 years of old, his father was hired by the Novokramatorsk Machinebuilding Factory and the family moved to Kramatorsk. At 8, Konkov joined the Avanhard preparation group that existed along with the team of masters. Konkov made his debut at the professional level while playing for the Avanhard football team of masters in the late 1960s. At that time, Avanhard played in the USSR Championship Class B (tier 3). In late 1968, Konkov made it to the top performer of the region Shakhtar Donetsk, where he played until 1974. To Shakhtar, Konkov was invited by Oleg Oshenkov and escorted by Ivan Babushko. Anatoliy Konkov made his first appearance for Shakhtar on 3 November 1968, while visiting Kairat Almaty in the Class A match (top tier). For the first couple of seasons in Shakhtar, Konkov was playing for the reserves as well as the first team. In 1974, he moved to Dynamo Kyiv, with which he won several European honors. His transfer was coordinated personally by the First Secretary Volodymyr Shcherbytskyi. During his playing career, Konkov played in defense as a stopper. He won four Soviet championships, was a holder of the Soviet Cup, UEFA Supercup, and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1974-75. He was a vice-champion of Europe '72, and received an Olympic bronze medal in 1976. In 1979…

Sports honours

Soviet Football Championship Winner (4): 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981 Runner-up (2): 1976 (a), 1978 Soviet Football Cup Winner (1): 1978 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winner (1): 1975 UEFA Super Cup Winner (1): 1975 UEFA Euro Runner-up (1): 1972 Summer Olympics Bronze medal recipient: 1976 Individual

The best 33 football players of the Soviet Union (9): No. 1 (1975-1978); No. 2 (1979-1981); No. 3 (1971, 1973)

State awards

Order of Merit 3rd Class (2004), 2nd Class (2015), 1st Class (2020)