Moscow vs Ukrainian SSR (lost radio coverage of interregional football match; 1929)

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Encyclopedia of Soviet Football: Volume 1 Detailing the result of the 1928 Spartakiad USSR Championship Final between the two teams.

Status: Lost

On 26th May 1929, Moscow hosted Ukrainian SSR for an exhibition game at the Dynamo Stadium, which also served as a rematch between the two 1928 Spartakiad USSR Championship finalists. Held in recognition of the five-year plan delegates, this little-known encounter is historic for becoming the first football match to receive live radio coverage in the Soviet Union.

Background

Because of the match's obscurity outside its Soviet radio significance, two common misconceptions about have circulated across several Russian sources.[1][2][3] These involve Ukrainian SSR supposedly facing the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), and that the prominent sports commentator Vadim Sinyavsky conducted announcing duties with three referees.[4][3][2][1] However, extensive research from Russian sources determine that both claims are incorrect.[1][2][3] Back then, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union; any top players from the land would therefore represent the Soviet Union national football team.[5][6] Ukraine did not get its own national governing body until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, resulting in the Ukrainian Association of Football's formation.[7] Beforehand, Ukraine was represented on a regional basis by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) football team, competing in competitions such as the Spartakiad USSR Championship.[8][5]

Among other USSR Championship representatives was Moscow.[3][2][1][8] At the 1928 USSR Championship Final held in front of 50,000 at the Dynamo Stadium, Moscow defeated Ukrainian SSR 1-0.[8] 26th May 1929 would, in actuality, see Ukrainian SSR again travel to the Dynamo Stadium for a re-match with Moscow rather than against RSFSR.[1][2][3] But its purpose extended beyond a mere friendly; it was presented in celebration of the inaugural five-year plan in the Soviet Union, which under Joseph Stalin's regime, aimed to revitalise the economy through mass industrialisation.[9][10][1][3][2] Therefore, many of the five-year plan delegates would be in attendance for this game.[1][3][2]

The match's purpose also helped debunk another long-lasting claim: that Sinyavsky shared commentary duties with football referees Alexander Bogdanov, Ivan Sevastyanov and Abram Vladimirovich Ziskind.[4][1][3][2] This claim perhaps reflects Sinyavsky's legacy as a sports commentator, certainly being the Soviet Union's most prominent of the era, with him having later trained the next generation of radio announcers.[11][3][2] However, not only did Sinyavsky lack the reputation he later obtained, he had yet to make his radio debut.[1][3][2] His first broadcast occurred on 16th July 1929, where he taught the fundamentals of gymnastics.[3][2][1][11] Considering the broadcast's importance, three influential football figures conducted announcing duties.[1][3][2] Ziskind was indeed one of the commentators, having also been credited for his leadership of the Moscow Football Association.[1][3][2] He was supported by Mikhail Davidovich Romm, a Red Sport columnist who also guided Moscow to the 1928 USSR and RSFSR titles; and Mikhail Stepanovich Kozlov, a top-level football and hockey referee who also is considered the father of Soviet football coaching.[1][3][2] Their considerable expertise resulted in them sharing duties, to provide different perspectives on the match.[1][3][2]

The broadcast was the first live coverage of football in the Soviet Union and occurred just over two years following the BBC's broadcast of the Arsenal-Sheffield United game.[12][1][3][2] Alas, this piece of Soviet history was mostly ignored by publications.[1] One of the very few that did acknowledge it was the magazine Radio Listener, which merely mentioned the game received commentary from "three football experts".[1] Their names would only be confirmed in 1978 by Bogdanov, in an issue of Football-Hockey which was republished two years later for the Sports Calendar.[1] Ultimately, the publications' obscurity allowed false claims to spread rapidly.[1][3][2] Worse still, no sources have ever provided a match report; not even the final score has been uncovered.[1][3][2] Ziskind would later direct the second match to receive live radio coverage, with Bogdanov, Sevastyanov and fellow referee Viktor Aleksandrovich Ryabokon fulfilling announcing duties.[1][3][2] Alas, no information is known about this game, with Bogdanov himself unable to recall it.[1][3][2]

Availability

The radio broadcast occurred when very few airings were recorded.[13] Outside broadcasts were especially prone to becoming unrecorded due to the impractical nature of primitive recording devices back then.[14] Considering the lack of information surrounding the match, and, for a while, its announcers,[1][3][2] it can safely be assured that the coverage is most likely permanently lost. Were it not for its radio significance, this 1929 match likely would have been almost completely forgotten.[3] It is a fate that has befallen the second aired match, whose broadcast can also be objectively determined as lost.[1][3][2]

See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 Evening Moscow detailing the long journey towards determining the broadcast's commentators and other details (article in Russian). Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 Football Moscow: The complete story in faces, events, figures and facts summarising the broadcast and debunking common misconceptions about it (book in Russian). Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 Rambler reporting on Alexander Savin's findings surrounding the first Soviet radio commentary of a football match (article in Russian). Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Championat detailing the now debunked account of the match and its radio broadcast (article in Russian). Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dynamo Kharkiv summarising the history of Ukrainian SSR sports participation (article in Russian). Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  6. ↑ Game of the People summarising Ukraine's influence on Soviet Union football. Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  7. ↑ Ukrainian Association of Football summarising its conceptualisation. Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Encyclopedia of Soviet Football: Volume 1 Detailing the result of the 1928 Spartakiad USSR Championship Final (pg. 24, article in Russian). Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  9. ↑ University of Waterloo on the first Five-Year Plan. Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  10. ↑ Britannica article on the Five-Year Plans. Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Literature of Day detailing the career of Vadim Sinyavsky (article in Russian). Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  12. ↑ BBC Sport detailing the 1927 Arsenal-Sheffield United broadcast, the first to receive live radio coverage. Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  13. ↑ Documenting Early Radio detailing very few 1929 American radio broadcasts that have survived. Retrieved 25th Nov '23
  14. ↑ Archived Ngā Taonga noting most early-1920s sports airings were never recorded. Retrieved 25th Nov '23
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