Aleksander Ischenko Ukrainian football coach Country: Ukraine

Biography of Alexander Ishchenko

Alexander Ishchenko is a Ukrainian football coach, a Merited Coach of Ukraine, and a Merited Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of Ukraine. He was born in Kremenchuk, but moved to Zaporizhia with his parents in his childhood. He started his football career as a player for the youth team of the local sports school "Metallurg". In 1970, he became a player for the reserve team of Zaporizhia's "Metallurg". In 1971, he was called up for military service and played for the reserve team of Odessa's SKA. After demobilization, he joined Kirovohrad's "Zvezda" and played for them until 1975, winning the Ukrainian SSR Cup twice. He then transferred to Zhytomyr's "Avtozavodets" and played for them until the end of his professional career. Due to health issues, he retired from professional football in 1981 at the age of 28.
Coaching Career

After retiring as a player, Ishchenko accepted an offer to become the player-coach of the amateur team "Bumazhnik" representing a paper factory in Malyn, Zhytomyr Oblast. He held this position until 1984. While playing for "Zvezda", he graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education at Kirovohrad Pedagogical Institute with honors. In 1985, he became the head coach of Zhytomyr's "Spartak" and remained there until 1993. In 1994, he was appointed as the head coach of Kirovohrad's "Zvezda-NIBAS", which competed in the Second League of the Ukrainian Championship. Under his leadership, the team was promoted to the top league in 1995 and finished in 6th place in their debut season. Ishchenko later worked with several other Ukrainian clubs and coached a total of 205 matches in the top Ukrainian division. He obtained his coaching license in 1999. From 1996 to 1997, he was the head coach of the Ukrainian youth national team. In 2003-2004, he coached the Kazakhstani club "Aktobe". From 2004 to 2006, he led the national teams committee of the Football Federation of Ukraine and was a part of the coaching staff for the youth team. Since 2011, he has been a senior coach at the youth football school of Kyiv's "Dynamo". Ishchenko is also a football expert on Ukrainian television.
Achievements

As a player, Ishchenko won the Ukrainian SSR Cup twice in 1973 and 1975 with "Zvezda" Kirovohrad. As a coach, he reached the semifinals of the Ukrainian Cup in 1998/1999 and 1999/2000 with "Zvezda" Kirovohrad. He was also the vice-champion of Europe with the Ukrainian youth national team in 2006. Ishchenko was awarded the title of Merited Coach of Ukraine in 1998 and the title of Merited Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of Ukraine in 2007.