Marked for Maksym Yevpak
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
71 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Artem Riabyi gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
Gastón Vega hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoriia Sumy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Victoriia Sumy may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Jan 2027
18 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Maksym Yevpak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match23 Jan 2027
A 2‑1 win over Metalist, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
253% of the income goes out in wages at Victoriia Sumy
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Victoriia Sumy did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match16 Jan 2027
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
100 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Jonathan Reyes
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match2 Jan 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Chernihiv leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
Maksym Yevpak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 453% of everything Victoriia Sumy earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Maksym Yevpak
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match26 Dec 2026
Chornomorets left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Denys Riabyi knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Victoriia Sumy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market21 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Bohdan Biloshevskyi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.95 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nyva made Victoriia Sumy work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksym Boiko, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Victoriia Sumy are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
Maksym Yevpak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Victoriia Sumy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonathan Reyes and Victoriia Sumy agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Victoriia Sumy are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Victoriia Sumy may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 544% of everything Victoriia Sumy earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 29, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.56 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match21 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Maksym Yevpak’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Victoriia Sumy.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Riabyi, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match14 Nov 2026
Three points for Victoriia Sumy, 1‑0 the final word against Podillia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 544% of everything Victoriia Sumy earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.70 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Yuriy Dudnyk
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match24 Oct 2026
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Bohdan Biloshevskyi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Artem Riabyi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksym Yevpak and Victoriia Sumy agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksym Yevpak, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.52 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Victoriia Sumy had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces12 Oct 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 27 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Vladyslav Khameliuk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market12 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Victoriia Sumy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 5.72, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
5.80 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
Vladyslav Khameliuk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
Probiy made Victoriia Sumy work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.97 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.56, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Denys Dolinskyi, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Victoriia Sumy have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.76 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Danylo Knysh has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Danylo Knysh keeps the shirt for now, at Victoriia Sumy's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Maksym Yevpak’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Victoriia Sumy.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 8.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Andriy Dediaev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Victoriia Sumy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bohdan Biloshevskyi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Novotriasov, and the manager let it.
Market14 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Tenyaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Chornomorets defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Sep 2026
Podillia paid $38.0K and Victoriia Sumy took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 692% of everything Victoriia Sumy earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Maksym Yevpak’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Victoriia Sumy.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.39 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Riabyi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Victoriia Sumy have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Victoriia Sumy's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Victoriia Sumy has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gastón Vega commits to Victoriia Sumy for another 4 years.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Stanislav Sharay was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Yuriy Dudnyk
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Victoriia Sumy, and it is a cruel one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
The one thing Maksym Yevpak could not do
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Victoriia Sumy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksym Yevpak, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksym Yevpak and Victoriia Sumy agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dmytro Ulianov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Victoriia Sumy, another week without a signature from Vladyslav Kucheruk.
Market3 Aug 2026
24 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.