Friday marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of the famous Dynamo Moscow player, the first Russian football player – five-time USSR champion Mikhail Semichastny.
Mikhail Vasilyevich was born on December 5, 1910, in the village of Perlovka near Mytishchi, where he began playing football. After playing four years for the Perlovskaya railway station team and the Northern Railway club teams, he transferred to Moscow's CDKA in 1928, with whom he won the Moscow championship (1935).
In 1936, Semichastny joined Dynamo Moscow and immediately helped them win the first USSR football championship, becoming their top scorer with six goals. A year later, Dynamo repeated the feat, beating Spartak by one point. Once again, Mikhail Vasilyevich became one of the team's most important players, scoring seven goals. That same year, 1937, he played in two matches against the Basque Country national team, which was on tour in the USSR, and scored one goal for Dynamo.
Semichastny played for the white-blues until 1950. He played a total of 232 matches, scored 60 goals, and won six titles with Dynamo: five USSR Championships (1936 (spring), 1937, 1940, 1945, 1949) and one USSR Cup (1937). He also won silver in the championship four times (1936 (fall), 1946, 1947, 1948), the Moscow Cup (1941), and the Moscow Championship (1942).
In the fall of 1945, Semichastny went with Dynamo on its famous British tour and played all four matches, leading the team onto the field wearing the captain's armband. With the arrival of Mikhail Yakushin, he changed his playing position: from right winger to center back. This move, initially considered a gamble by many, soon proved entirely worthwhile, and Mikhail Vasilyevich quickly earned a reputation as one of the country's strongest defenders.
"I spent almost my entire football career as a striker, playing first on the left wing, then on the right. It's hard to count how many goals I managed to score during that time. Now I hardly have to score goals: I play as a central defender. Modern football tactics, with their three-man defense and the incredible speed of their players, have limited the opportunities for open runs toward the goal. This affects the play of not only the average forward, but even a great player like, say, Fedotov or Kartsev," Mikhail Vasilyevich noted in 1946.
Semichastny possessed a high level of intelligence, which allowed him to achieve great success in other sports. As a member of the Moscow national basketball team, he won the USSR Championship (1935) and repeatedly won in handball and volleyball competitions. He also enjoyed skiing and track and field.
After retiring from the game in 1950, Semichastny became a coach. He dedicated many years to working with club teams and the senior team of his native Dynamo. He headed the football department, served as deputy chairman of the city council of the Society, head coach of the Dynamo Central Sports Club, and was a member of the presidium of the USSR Football Federation.
In 1951, Semichastny, along with other Dynamo players, starred in the feature film "Sports Honor" directed by Vladimir Petrov. In 1957, he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor "for achievements in developing the mass physical education movement in the country, improving the skills of Soviet athletes, and successful performance in international competitions."
Mikhail Vasilyevich Semichastny died on August 30, 1978, at the age of 67 and was buried at the Vagankovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.