105 years since the birth of Alexander Sevidov

Alexander Alexandrovich was born in Moscow in 1921. He began playing football at the age of 15 for the Moscow team Start and subsequently became one of the most talented forwards in the country in the first half of the 1940s. A versatile, fast center forward, he was adept at both assisting and finishing. He played for Kazan and Minsk Dynamo, as well as Moscow's Pishchevik, Krylia Sovetov, and Torpedo.

At the age of 25, he suffered a severe knee injury, which ended his professional football career. He then turned to coaching, graduated from the State Central Institute of Physical Culture, and began working for the Stupino team, with which he won the RSFSR championship.

Success continued to follow him: he led Kairait to the Major League, won bronze in the USSR Championship with Dynamo Minsk, and silver and gold with Dynamo Kyiv.

Finally, in 1975, Sevidov took over at Dynamo Moscow, and a year later, the white-and-blues celebrated their first championship victory in 13 years, and a year later, they won the USSR Cup and Super Cup. In 1978, Dynamo reached the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup, losing only to Austria Vienna on penalties. His second stint at Dynamo also yielded trophies – another USSR Cup and a Cup Winners' Cup semi-final.

Sevidov was a "coach-director": every player on the field had their own set of tasks, ensuring that the coach's vision for the game was realized in various game situations. His team's hallmark was a constant change in rhythm – during a positional attack, calm ball possession would suddenly explode into a sharp change of direction and a massive breakthrough into the opponent's penalty area.

One of the best coaches in Russian club football, he remained in demand until the very last years of his life: he was an active columnist, wrote analytical articles, and contributed to the weekly "Football-Hockey." Sevidov died in April 1992 in Moscow and was buried at the Domodedovo Cemetery.