There are only four such stadiums as Avangard in Dnipro. This makes it a great base for athletes to train. However, there is always a “But”, and in the case of Avangard there are many of them.
History of Prydniprovsky Avangard Stadium
Avangard Stadium in Dnipro was built in 1956 together with the Pridneprovsk district. The Thermal Power Plant station was erected here, and next to it residential buildings and relevant infrastructure.
Then not only Avangard and other sports facilities were built – in addition to the soccer field there is a running track, volleyball field, a sand pit for long jumping.
It was and still is a great place for the whole district, where you can do professional sports – because the running circle here is 400 meters, not 200 as in all school stadiums.
Not only did the legendary Ukrainian footballer and coach Valeriy Lobanovsky train here, the stadium was once the base of the local soccer club Energia, which existed from 1956 to the early 2000s. FC Dnipro even trained here when its home stadium and base were under reconstruction.
Vanguard Now
At some point, Avangard began to fall into disrepair. The buildings of the stadium were crumbling. Scoreboard, lighting, stands, pavement – everything was not repaired and destroyed to a critical state. And the stadium itself was occupied by drinking companies, lovers of walking animals and not to clean up after them. On the territory of the avant-garde, driving students and local drifters have set up a playground.
Since 2009, Vanguard has been on the balance sheet of the city, but in 16 years, the budget has not found money to reconstruct this remote giant.
There were efforts, or maybe a pure PR campaign, of the new mayor of Dnipro in 2016 to carry out repairs. He even came here. In front of a large crowd of journalists, activists and local residents – he ran a brush with paint on the gate…. And after that nothing changed.
Those unfinished gates stood for a very long time:)
In 2019, Avangard hosted a more or less serious match – between the author’s teams. It seemed that the revival of the stadium was about to follow. But so far only achieved regular garbage collection, and that with their own means and efforts.
And since 2022 there are persistent rumors that the stadium and nearby buildings are for sale. However, the stadium should be bought with a guarantee of changing its intended purpose. Some say that may not be the case. As of 2024, the auction has been canceled and the city can’t finance the rebuilding because of some bureaucratic delays.
In 2023, Vanguard saw a performance. Those who cared about the fate of the stadium gathered together. They removed garbage, painted the still not destroyed structure in the colors of the national flag and collected signatures on a petition demanding the restoration of the Vanguard. As far as I know, the petition did not get the necessary number of votes.
Lobanovsky’s quote in the picture:
You always have to be ahead of your time to win
And Pridneprovsky Avant-garde has undergone a bit of a transformation. Lobanovskiy’s graffiti and his (probably his) quote even appeared here.