Skip to main content

The A-Z guide to Rayo Vallecano (Addition edition): O is for Oviedo. Real Oviedo, Part 2 (31st December, 2017)

From part 1:

While Iván Iglesias only spent four seasons at Real Oviedo, Russian defender Viktor Onopko played seven seasons at the club and enjoys the exalted position of having played the most times for the club for a non-Spaniard - in second place is Nikola Jerkan, and ironically Viktor was the player who was signed to replaced him.

Born in modern-day Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union), Viktor graduated from Zorya Luhansk. He started his professional career at Shakhtar Donetsk when he was only 16 years old, in 1986 - being signed from local club Stakhanov. He would play there for two seasons, after which he would join military service - playing for Dynamo Kiev. In 1990, he was back at Shakhtar, where impressive performances facilitated a move to Spartak Moscow in 1992.

His position in the field was at the center of the defense, however at Spartak he found his footing as a libero - even sometimes playing as an offensive midfielder. Pretty soon, he became the captain of the team, and despite being a defensive midfielder contributed in the final third regularly - with 13 goals in 43 matches during the 1993 season. According to multiple newspaper polls, such as those of Football magazine and Sport Express (a sports daily), he was widely recognized as the best football player in Russia. And the newspapers duly listened - the former awarded Viktor best footballer in Russia in 1992 and 1993; the latter did the same in 1993 too.

With Spartak, Onopko managed to lift the league on three consecutive occasions in addition to qualifying for the semifinals of the Champions League, and his name made the circles of many European clubs. In Spain, Atlético de Madrid, and especially Jesús Gil, were very keen on signing the Russian, but in the end Real Oviedo made the signing in 1995. $2.5 million was the total outlay to the club.

But money can't buy loyalty. And Viktor would stay at the club through trying times.

He became the team captain, and in December 1997 and January 1998, the popular Spanish magazine Don Balón named Onopko the best defender of the month. In 2000, he had not received any pay for over two years but decided to renew his contract anyways. Even when the total debt on wages owed to him reached 1.6 million euros, and when Oviedo were relegated to the Segunda in 2001, he would continue to play for the club.




It was in 2002, when Real Oviedo could barely afford to even survive, when Viktor had to leave the club earlier than expected. Once again, competition for the player was fierce - Deportivo were interested in him but the Russian ended up choosing Rayo Vallecano as his loan destination.

His time at the club was blighted not by his performances, but by the chaos off the pitch. Fernando Vázquez, the Rayo coach who had brought him to the club and had worked with Viktor at Oviedo, was fired midway through the season, and Rayo were relegated from La Liga at the end of the season. Moreover, Viktor had to make repeated trips during this time to Oviedo to visit his family and fix the debt that was owed to him by his former club.



His time in Spain had come to an unfortunate end - in 2003 he left for his country to join the ranks of Alania Vladikavkaz of the Russian Premier League. But the adventure was short lived, and in January 2004 he left for Saturn where he remained until 2006.

Since then, he has retired from professional football, but has found success in administration. Already with some player-coach experience while at Saturn, he took up the position of sporting director of the Russian Football Union in 2007, until 2009. Afterwards, he was recruited by Spaniard Juande Ramos to be his second coach at CSKA Moscow - Juande lasted just 47 days, being signed in September 2009 and being sacked the following month.

However, Viktor continues to be part of the technical staff, and is still the assistant manager at the club.

Watch out for part 3 tomorrow!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

When three teams offered a 19-year-old an eight year contract (11th October, 2017)

Just how many players can you name who have the following descrption: He is a striker of great quality, and was a great promise of Spanish football, but his bad luck and some injuries denied him the opportunity to recover - he has never played more than one season in the same team. This is the story of a player - a technically and physically excellent striker - who made mistakes and suffered injuries very young and never really recovered. Born in Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana, Barcelona, Iván Peñaranda started his youth career at Granollers. His real formation, however, was in the lower categories of Barcelona, ​​in which he stayed for seven years (1991-98). Playing alongside Xavi Hernández, Gabri and Carles Puyol. He was considered as one of the young players with a huge future within the club. In the summer of 1998, he angered Barcelona by using "change of residence" as an excuse to sign for Mallorca B (he would move there along with his family), where he would play alongs

Non-league Incider: St Helens Town 3-0 Atherton Laburnum Rovers

Last game: 8th August: Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 East Thurrock United The previous day, I was blown away by my first ever football match experience. Dulwich Hamlet impressed me, but what impressed me more was the journey. The travel to the stadium was just as enjoyable as the football itself. I had caught the groundhopping bug. There were no games scheduled for the 9th of August. There was one, near Wigan, and all I had booked earlier was a refundable bus ticket from Manchester Airport leaving at quarter past midnight. I should have refunded it. This was a mistake. This whole day was a mistake. I was only slightly hungover from the previous night, but that was nothing compared to this feeling of loss - I couldn't handle the fact that there was a game happening. And I wasn't too far away. Just three hours and a bit. They'll fly by , I thought. I was in autopilot. Something within me made me get up, grab a bag, and get out the door. This wasn't me. I wasn't trave

Francisco Pérez Pérez - the actual oldest player to have played in Spain (1st November, 2017)

I've always wanted to ask a football player: how much do you love your club? If you see your club go down, what are you willing to put on the line to see them go back up? The notion that "players will come and players will go, but the fans are the club" is one that is sadly true in what has become a money-filled sport. The story of a player sacrificing money and success for his club? That story is rare. That story is beautiful. This is that story. This is the story of a player who loved his club. His local club. It'll be a long time if and when someone beats his record. Francisco Pérez Pérez, also known as Chico, currently holds the record for being the oldest player to play in the Segunda B - 43 years and 93 days is the figure. That's a figure that second place Diego Rodríguez Fernández (41 years and 324 days) falls short of by a year and 134 days. I should also point out that the top 3 list for oldest players to play in any of the top three tier