Saturday marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of former Dynamo Moscow player and coach, Olympic champion, European champion, two-time USSR champion Gavriil Kachalin.
Gavriil Dmitrievich was born on January 17, 1911, in Moscow. From a young age, he played football in the sports club at the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya railway station, where his father worked. After playing two years for Dynamo Gomel, in 1935, Kachalin joined Dynamo Moscow, where he played as a midfielder until 1942. He played 40 matches for the white-and-blues and, in five years, won two USSR championships (1936 and 1940) and the USSR Cup (1937).
"It was a brilliant team, where every player was a star. Suffice it to say that 13 of the players who played for them during those years were later awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports. I also managed to see the king of the air on the team – the unforgettable Fyodor Selin, train and play with Sergei Ilyin, Vasily Smirnov, Mikhail Yakushin, Vasily Pavlov, Mikhail Semichastny, Alexey Lapshin, Evgeny Eliseev, Lev Korchebokov, Viktor Teterin... All of them were outstanding footballers,” Kachalin later recalled about his time spent at Dynamo.
However, Gavriil Dmitrievich achieved his greatest success as a coach. Under his leadership, the USSR national team achieved the most significant successes in its history. He led the national team to victories in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Football Tournament and the inaugural European Cup (1960). As a club coach, Kachalin won gold medals in the USSR Championship with Dynamo Tbilisi (1964). Dynamo Moscow won bronze in the national championship (1973) during his tenure.
In addition to Dynamo Moscow and Tbilisi and the USSR national team, Kachalin coached Trudovye Rezervy (Moscow) and Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan). After retiring from coaching, he worked at the Dynamo Youth Sports School, where he also served as president of the "Leather Ball" youth tournament and a member of the FIFA Technical Committee. He authored numerous publications and methodological manuals on football theory and practice. Among his alumni were many famous Dynamo players, including Sergei Ovchinnikov, Andrei Kobelev, and Andrei Chernyshov.
"A top-class footballer must possess a combination of high qualities, skills, abilities, knowledge, originality, and a creative approach to the game. However, I would first and foremost highlight a footballer's moral and volitional qualities, which define them as an individual. Their worldview, determination, and proactive approach to life. I believe these qualities are essential for a coach," Kachalin said, still resonating today.
Gavriil Dmitrievich Kachalin died on May 23, 1995, at the age of 84. He is buried at the Vostryakovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.