Pyotr Petrovich Kachuro (; ; born 2 August 1972) is a Belarusian former

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 lea ...

who played as a

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. Starting off with his home town club Dynamo Minsk he went on to have spells at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

in England and Chengdu Wuniu in China before returning to his homeland, playing for Minsk for a second spell and later for

Sokol Saratov PFC Sokol () is a Russian association football club based in Saratov. In 2001 and 2002, Sokol played in the Russian Premier League. For the 2025–26 season, the club will be relegated to the third-level Russian Second League Division A. Histor ...

. Following his retirement he went on to have a spell as manager at Dinamo Minsk in 2006–07. Internationally, he made 29 appearances, scoring five goals for the Belarus national team. During his time in England he used an

Anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

version of his name and was referred to as Petr or Peter Katchouro.

Club career

Kachuro started his playing career at his hometown club

FC Dinamo Minsk FC Dinamo Minsk or FK Dynama Minsk (; ) is a Belarusian professional Association football, football club based in the capital city of Minsk. It was founded in 1927 as part of the Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dinamo Sports Society, and was the o ...

, the most successful team in Belarus having won the

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League (, ''Vyšejšaja Liha'' or ''Vysheyshaya Liga''; ; "Top League"), also called the BETERA Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Belarus and the highest level of the B ...

a record seven times since it began in 1992. Kachuro was part of the side which won the Belarusian Premier League in 1995. In July 1996,

signed Kachuro for £650,000. He scored 14 goals in his first season as the Blades finished in fifth place in Division One and qualified for the

Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. However, the Blades lost 1–0 to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in the final at

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, with a last minute

David Hopkin David Isaac Hopkin (born 21 August 1970) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Ayr United. As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2003, notably in the English Premier League ...

goal shattering United's promotion dream. Kachuro was awarded for his performances by being given the 1996–97 player of the season award at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

. The following season he made just 16 appearances, due to injuries, as the Blades qualified for the playoffs once again by finishing in sixth place. This time they lost in the semi-finals, with

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

defeating the Blades 3–2 on aggregate, after the Blades had held a 2–1 lead going into the second leg. Kachuro failed to score that season, but made amends in the next season, as he scored six goals in 16 appearances as the Blades failed to qualify for the playoffs by finishing in a disappointing eighth place, nine points from the playoffs. Kachuro missed a large part of the season due to a

punctured lung A pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is formed by ...

injury in the 4–0 home defeat to Sunderland. His final season in England saw him score three goals in 30 appearances as the Blades woeful start condemned them to a 16th-place finish, as

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player who is currently football advisor at Torquay United. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed ...

replaced

Adrian Heath Adrian Paul Heath (born 11 January 1961) is an English football manager and former player. He most recently served as head coach of Major League Soccer club Minnesota United until October 2023. As a player, he is best known for his six season ...

as manager in early December and rescued the Blades from relegation. In March 2000 Kachuro was transferred to Chinese side Chengdu Wuniu on a free transfer. He stayed there for one season before re-joining his hometown club Dinamo Minsk in August 2000.

International career

Kachuro made his debut for the Belarus national team on 25 May 1994, in a 3–1 loss against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in a friendly.

Coaching career

After Kachuro retired from playing, Kachuro became a football coach. His former club,

, appointed him in November 2006, but replaced him after the first match of the 2007 Belarusian Premier League season.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Belarus' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kachuro goal.''

Honours

Dinamo Minsk *

: 1993–94, 1994–95,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Belarusian Cup The Belarusian Cup () is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs of Belarus, organized by the Football Federation of Belarus. Belarusian Cup was established in 1992. Each year the winning team qualifies f ...

: 1993–94 Individual *Belarusian Premier League top scorer: 1993–94 * Sheffield United F.C. Player of the Year: 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kachura, Pyotr 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Orsha Soviet men's footballers Belarusian men's footballers Belarusian expatriate men's footballers Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in China Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Belarus men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Russia FC Dinamo Minsk players FC Dinamo-93 Minsk players Sheffield United F.C. players Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. players FC Sokol Saratov players Soviet Top League players Belarusian Premier League players Russian Premier League players Belarusian football managers Belarusian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Tajikistan FC Dinamo Minsk managers FC Neman Grodno managers FC Lida managers Men's association football forwards Footballers from Vitebsk region English Football League players