Viktor Grachev Football player Date of Birth: 17.09.1956 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Viktor Grachev
2. Playing Career
3. Style of Play
4. Later Career
5. Coaching Career and Personal Life

Biography of Viktor Grachev

Viktor Grachev is a former Soviet and Ukrainian professional football player and current football coach. He was born in Dzerzhinsk, Ukraine and began his football career in the youth academy of the local club "Dzerzhinets" in 1971.

Playing Career

Grachev played for the club team "Dzerzhinets" from 1973 to 1974. He then joined the reserve team of Donetsk's "Shakhtar" in September 1974 and played until May 1975. From June 1975, he played for the club "Stal" in Oryol. He then played for "Kolkhozchi" in Ashgabat from 1976 to 1978. In the autumn of 1978, Vladimir Salkov invited Grachev to Moscow's "Torpedo", but he struggled to perform well and did not score any goals in 12 games. After the 1979 season, Viktor Nosov invited Grachev back to "Shakhtar". In 1982, he was invited by Konstantin Beskov to play for "Spartak" in Moscow. However, due to injuries, he was unable to play for the national team at the 1982 World Cup. He returned to "Shakhtar" before the start of the second round and helped the team secure their place in the top league.

Style of Play

Grachev was known for his sharpness and individual strength on the field. He had a powerful right foot and a keen sense of goal. He was skilled in dribbling and creating scoring opportunities for his team in the opponent's penalty area.

Later Career

In 1985, Grachev received an invitation from Valeriy Lobanovskyi to join "Dynamo" in Kyiv. However, due to his age, Grachev believed that he would not be able to perform well in the new team. In early 1991, he signed a contract with the Hungarian club "Debrecen" in the top division. He helped the team climb from 16th to 13th place, but they were unsuccessful in the relegation playoffs. As per the contract terms, Grachev could only play in the top division, so "Debrecen" had to sell him. After brief negotiations, he was bought for 3 million forints by the newly promoted top division club, BVSC.

Coaching Career and Personal Life

Since 1995, Grachev has been working as a football coach. He is married to Fariza and they have a son named Vitaliy, who started his football career in the youth teams of Debrecen.