PETER LEVEN played a major part in one of eastern Europe’s biggest football shocks.
The former MK Dons, Oxford and Chesterfield midfielder helped Dynamo Brest win the Belarusian Premier League for the first time in their history while ending BATE Borisov’s incredible 13-year stranglehold of the championship.
Peter Leven, right, helped Dynamo Brest win their first-ever league title
Diego Maradona took over as chairman at the club during Leven’s time in Belarus
Leven, 36, the assistant manager, was looking forward to an appearance in the Champions League next season but instead, is now back home in Newcastle after being forced out of the club, along with head coach Marcel Licka.
The Belarus season, which runs from March to November, started on March 21 and is now the only league in Europe to still be running.
Meanwhile, Leven – who has only just returned from Belarus – is looking back at his spell with a combination of pride but also frustration and bewilderment.
It is certainly a curious story involving a club with a demanding club owner called Aliaksandr Zairsau who installed Diego Maradona as honorary chairman to try and make the team more famous.
Leven left his job as Kilmarnock’s assistant boss in 2017 before taking the plunge in 2018.
HAD TO GOOGLE BREST
He said: “I was doing my pro-licence, people were going for the same jobs and I thought my CV looked the same as everyone else’s.
“My agent had a connection with an agent in Ukraine and he asked me if I fancied Dynamo Brest.
“I did a Google and I got the city in France but this place – and it is a very nice city – is near the Polish border in Belarus.
“They said to me to ‘come over, learn the culture, learn Russian and look after the reserves’.
“I was moved up to the first team within four months and in August 2018, I was assistant manager.”
Leven continued: “My first game was a 1-0 over Apollon Limassol in the Europa League and that season finished well.
“But the owner was demanding. At the start of 2019, he arranged friendlies in pre-season against a team in Dubai and two from China.
“One was against the team from Shanghai with Oscar playing and there was also a match against Guangzhou, who had Fabio Cannavaro as their coach.
“The owner was very cut-throat and said we had to win both matches as he had business interests in China. We won one and drew one.
“We played BATE in the Super Cup at the start of the season. I think fans in England know them because Arsenal and Chelsea have played them in Europe.
“We beat them and went on to have a great season. Technically, we had some really good players. We had eight internationals.
“As we kept on winning and got closer to the title, then the win bonuses stopped. Then we were getting paid a little late.”
Peter Leven has spoken out about his rollercoaster ride in Brest
Leven also had his say on Maradona- who was chairman at the time
Dynamo sealed their historic title in November and the win sparked mass celebrations in the city and Leven went home to Newcastle for Christmas before getting a call from his Czech manager, Licka.
Leven said: “Marcel rang me and said they were not renewing his contract. We won the league for the first time and only lost once all season.
“Then I got a call and the club said the new manager did not want me but I could go back and coach the kids.
“They also wanted me to take a pay cut. But I had a contract for another 15 months. We were heroes in the city but now they wanted to make it a change.
“The new manager was the sporting director, from Belarus, who they had initially sacked.
“I went back in January and things got a bit messy. They were trying to make me walk away without anything but I stuck it out although my visa was expiring.
“They asked me to put a plan for this season, which is what I did.
“Also, there is no panic over there with coronavirus. I don’t know if they think they are super-human.”
Equally, the Scot looks back at his spell with fondness, adding: “We had Maradona as chairman which was unusual but the owner wanted to put the club on the map.
“Maradona came just the once he just hugged everyone. He’s the same as what you see on screen.
“He lives his life every day. He dances, he cuddles and he’s so enthusiastic about football.
“Brest is a lovely little city but there’s not a lot there. And obviously, all the films are in Russian, McDonald’s only opened there last year.
“I used to fly home from Warsaw and getting from Brest to Poland over the border was a nightmare. It could take three hours.
“At the start, we were having games which were an eight-hour bus ride. And I thought a bus ride from Glasgow to Ross County was bad and that was only three-and-half hours.
“However, it was a great experience. It would not put me off going abroad away again but Belarus is just a little too far.
“But hopefully, I can get back into football as soon as possible.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
