Serhiy Volodymyrovych Perkhun (; 4 September 1977 – 28 August 2001) was a Ukrainian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He is the only player to date in the history of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

to die from injuries sustained during an official game.

Career

In 1993–1998, he played for

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced in ...

. In 1999–2000, he was a first choice goalkeeper for

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff (russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnist ...

. In 2001, he was a first choice goalkeeper for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. Serhiy was also capped by the

Ukraine national football team The Ukraine national football team ( uk, Збірна України з футболу) represents Ukraine in men's international football and is governed by the Ukrainian Association of Football, the governing body for football in Ukraine. Ukr ...

in a friendly game against Latvia on 15 August 2001, just 3 days before the accident that led to his death on the 28th. He played in the second half of the match. He is the youngest player, as of August 2020, in the history of the top league of the Ukrainian football, making his debut at the age of 16 years and 34 days in the game for

against

FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Football Club Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih () was a professional Ukrainian football club based in Kryvyi Rih. Until 2013 the club participated in professional competitions. In June 2013 the club went bankrupt and was expelled from the Ukrainian Premier ...

on 8 October 1993 in the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League'') ...

(then Vyshcha Liha).

Death

On 19 August 2001, during the game against

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded ...

, Perkhun collided with

Budun Budunov Budun Khachabekovich Budunov (russian: Будун Хачабекович Будунов; born 4 December 1975) is a former Russian professional football player. He currently works as the president of the Dagestan's Football Union. Honours * R ...

. Perkhun died nine days later from a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

, whilst Budunov sustained several head injuries.

has retired number 16 to honor Perkhun's legacy.

Honours

* 1998–99

Moldovan Cup The Moldovan Cup ( ro, Cupa Moldovei) is a football competition, held annually in Moldova. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. Finals The finals were: Goalscorers Soviet time winners * 1945: ...

(Sheriff Tiraspol) *

1994 UEFA European Under-16 Championship The 1994 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 12th edition of UEFA's European Under-16 Football Championship. Ireland hosted the championship, during April and May 1994. 16 teams entered the competition, and Turkey defeated Denmark in the f ...

(third runner)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkhun, Serhiy 1977 births 2001 deaths Footballers from Dnipro Ukrainian men's footballers Ukraine men's international footballers Ukraine men's under-21 international footballers Ukraine men's youth international footballers Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Men's association football goalkeepers FC Dnipro players FC Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk players FC Metalurh Novomoskovsk players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players PFC CSKA Moscow players Sport deaths in Russia Association football players who died while playing Ukrainian Premier League players Russian Premier League players Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Russia