THIS sporting life mercifully, is almost universally concerned with the magnificently trivial. Not in Poltava.
‘When the air-raid signal sounds, everyone goes to the shelter,’ says Artem Lobanov, head of media at Vorskla Poltava. The Ukrainian city lies at the heart of a country mired in the desperate realities of war. Vorskla FC, men and women, play on.
‘Poltava is a small, cosy city with a population of about 350,000 inhabitants,’ continues Lobanov. ‘However, it is probably more now, as we had to accept residents from neighbouring regions who were fleeing the war.
‘That is why immigrants from Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipro and other regions live in our city. Some simply have nowhere to return to, so their plans are connected to Poltava.’
The city is unable to host a Champions League tie so that is why Poltava, nominally at home yesterday, rolled up to the Albert Bartlett Stadium in Airdrie. They will play away, at the same stadium, on Thursday. The winners of the tie will head to the Champions League proper.
The stadium yesterday echoed to drums and the cries of the supporters. The everyday sounds in Poltava, in contrast, carry menace.
Vorskla Poltava and Celtic take to the field at the Albert Bartlett Stadium
Irene Podolska (left) and Murphy Agnew battle for to get the upper hand
Agnew (centre) celebrates the only goal of a close-fought encounter
‘The air alarm sounds very often,’ says Lobanov. ‘Yes, this destabilises the normal rhythm of life. However, no matter how strange it may sound, our residents have already gotten used to this. Athletes are no exception. Moreover, each of them knows that it is necessary to train, play and contribute to the armed forces of Ukraine.’
This stoicism in the face of invasion cannot disguise the damage done to the city or mask the grief over lost lives.
‘Unfortunately, during the full-scale invasion of Russia, there was and is destruction in Poltava from missiles and paramilitary drones of the aggressor country,’ says Lobanov, speaking from the city.
‘There are many dead and wounded among the civilian population.
‘We hold on, we have no other choice. Everyone is competing on their own front, but we need only one result — the victory of Ukraine and life in a free and independent state. Thank you to the people of Scotland for your support. We really appreciate it.’
The players relied on a small support in Airdrie. There was a clutch of Ukrainians waving flags in the stand. Some of those supporters live in Scotland, finding a temporary refuge from conflict. The players have largely moved back to Poltava.
‘At the beginning of the invasion, there was no question of any training, let alone competitive process,’ says Lobanov. ‘Everyone helped the army and the displaced people.
A small band of Ukrainians based in Scotland turned out to support Poltava
Celtic fans watch on as their side take part in their pre-match huddle ahead of the first-leg tie
‘And later, when the Ukrainian troops drove the Russians to a relatively insignificant distance, little by little the competition began to resume.
‘Teams from the Vorskla structure (men and women) were relocated to Western Ukraine — to Uzhhorod and Lviv.
The competition took place there the first year. Later, they returned to Poltava, and now there are all the conditions for training here. But when the air-raid signal sounds, everyone goes to the shelter.’
There is a unity in the team that is forged by both a shared nationhood and communal strife.
‘The women’s team mainly consists of Ukrainian players,’ says Lobanov. ‘Of course, each of them feels a great responsibility to the country and fans.
Especially when we play on the international stage.
‘This is our chance again and again to convey to the civilised world information about the atrocities committed on the territory of our state by the soldiers of the aggressor.
‘There is nothing sacred about them: they fight with the civilian population, take the lives of women and children every day in various ways.’
The clubs, men and women, continue thanks to the sustained finance of honorary president Konstantin Zhevago.
‘Everyone is able to work for the good of the country and support the army at the front with donations. The confidence of our people that we are capable of defeating such a bloody evil gives us hope and strength to stand to the end,’ says Lobanov.
It is almost insulting to talk about a football match in the face of such profound struggles but Lobanov points out that the round ball game maintains a place in the lives of his countrymen and women.
Celtic manager Elena Sidiku spurs her team on to victory from the sidelines
‘Light always defeats darkness,’ says Lobanov. ‘The president of our country, Volodymyr Zelensky, once said that although our path to victory is difficult and sometimes unbearable, the faith that Ukraine will overcome all difficulties does not leave us.
‘The girls want to leave a mark in history after the matches with Celtic, so the preparation is the most serious. But how could it be otherwise? This is the Champions League.’
High in the stands, a cluster of Ukrainians shout support, their very presence a reminder of the tragedy that has befallen their country. Ievgen Iavorskyi jokes that he has come all the way from his home in Coatbridge.
He is, though, from the region around Poltava and has been a refugee in Scotland for two years. He acts as interpreter for Larysa Pavelko, 41, who fled the war last year and now lives in Johnstone with her two sons, Denys, 15, and Roman, 12.
She comes from the small town of Kalynivka, near Kyiv. She is thankful to Scotland and ‘very excited, very emotional’ to see a team from her country in the flesh. ‘It is a reminder of home and a good one,’ she says.
A crucial match is played out in front of her. The emotion is not restricted to those in Ukrainian colours. It carries over distance, over time.
Home fans are delighted to meet the players following the full-time whistle
On Friday morning, as the tremors from the men’s Champions League tie against Slovan Bratislava continue in the media and in the very heart of the club, Clark, the women’s captain, speaks with a quiet eloquence about what the competition means to her.
She has been part of a Celtic team that has grown from an impassioned amateurism to a focused professionalism. At 30, she has been at Celtic for more than a decade. She has won cups, taken titles and played for her country, but the Champions League is now an ‘obsession’.
It is central, too, to the development of the women’s team and to the ambitions of Elena Sadiku, the club’s Swedish manager who has personal experience in the Champions League as coach and player.
‘When I came here I said I wanted us to dominate domestically and be successful in Europe, and if we get to the group stage of the Champions League then that is what we will have done,’ she says, 48 hours before the match.
Her players strive relentlessly to make that ambition a reality. Celtic have the better chances but only Murphy Agnew’s early goal separates the sides before the return leg on Thursday.
There was no doubting how important the match was yesterday. There could be no misapprehension about its meaning even in the relative comfort of a press conference two days before kick-off.
‘Last season in the Champions League qualifiers I got very emotional when we were just about to walk out and the fans started singing For It’s A Grand Old Team — I am not lying when I say I had tears in my eyes,’ said Clark, envisioning a demanding Sunday.
‘It is so special that we are talking about the chance to write history with a club that is all about history.’
It was a reminder that memories can be made, lives can be lived, history can be made on a football pitch. For just 90 blessed minutes, the Ukrainian contingent could concentrate on events on an artificial surface in Airdrie, far from the killing fields of home. It was, perhaps, a small mercy but a welcome one.