Exclusive details of the death of the popular player and coach especially for the VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info – from his wife Georgy Alexandrovich – Lyubov Ivanovna.
July 15 will mark exactly two years since the famous football coach passed away.
Lyubov Ivanovna Since the day of Georgy Alexandrovich's death, she has not spoken in detail with any journalists about this dark topic for her. And she only made an exception for us.
CURSED BLOOD CLOSURE…
– In the summer, as usual, we spent a lot of time at the dacha, – recalls Lyubov Ivanovna. – And on the day of Georgy's death, a flock of crows suddenly flew into the gazebo, croaking so loudly that it made me feel uneasy. It turned out that they had brought trouble… Maybe they sensed that grief had come to our family. Well, I myself didn't experience such a premonition, but it was creepy.
And Zhora stayed in the Moscow apartment at that time. Actually, we were invited together to the Fetisovs, with whom we have been friends for a long time. Slava's wife, Lada, had a birthday on July 17. So we wanted to sit and chat with friends. Georgy's sister, Olya, was visiting Moscow at that time. She had a key to our Moscow apartment, opened the door, and on the sofa was her brother's lifeless body. Of course, she immediately called an ambulance. And our daughter Ksenia arrived right away.
He calls me and says: “Your husband and my dad died.” I didn't even immediately understand the meaning of what he said, I thought maybe this was a prank from our beloved daughter? She repeated what she said. I got behind the wheel and rushed to our apartment in Sokolniki. The doctors confirmed that the blood clot had come off. By the time I arrived, Zhora had already been taken away by doctors to the morgue. They didn't have time to help him. A blood clot is such an unpredictable thing, something like this can happen to any of us, especially to older people.
– Was there anything that foreshadowed trouble before, other than the cawing of crows? Maybe he complained of heart pain, or were other ailments bothering him?
– There was nothing to indicate trouble! Well, just in case, I carried nitroglycerin tablets with me, they put it under the tongue for heart pain. But Georgy hardly needed it, although he had a hard time with Covid at one time. So I was insuring myself just in case.
My husband still smoked a lot, and from this smoking he suffered twenty percent of liver damage, a very, very decent amount. So in the mornings I convinced him to eat two spoons of honey with tea or coffee. But he continued to smoke a lot, a habit that is ineradicable, alas, and he drank too much coffee. No amount of persuasion helped.
THERE WAS NO SPACE FOUND ON THE WALK OF FAME
– Almost immediately after his death it was reported that Georgy would most likely be buried at the Troekurovskoye Cemetery, or at Preobrazhenskoye. Although the latter has long been closed for burials…
– We went to Troekurovskoye, it seems we initially agreed to put our Georgy there, on the “alley of fame” next to the popular singer Yura Shatunov. But something fell through. It was actually better for us at Preobrazhenka, our son, Alexander, is buried there.
At one time, Luzhkov himself ordered that a place for the grave be allocated.
And so they did, now the son and father lie next to each other. They are united not only by blood, but also, I believe, by a wonderful monument made of red granite with Spartak symbols in the form of a diamond, a football. After all, the son, according to experts, the boys themselves, was also a good coach, he was respected and loved. And the monument for my loved ones was made with soul. Fans come in droves to be with the Yartsevs, father and son. Fresh flowers do not diminish on the grave…
– Did Georgy's grandson, also named Zhora, follow in his grandfather's footsteps and play football?
– Our Zhora has already finished the ninth grade, time flies inexorably. He did not become a professional footballer. He studied at Spartak's Youth Sports School, by the way, with Oleg Romantsev's son, Vadim. Zhora Jr. changed playing roles, right up to goalkeeper. After all, he is a bit lazy, he is not a football fanatic. And Georgy Sr. once defended the phrase: “Don't torture the boy, don't force him to become a footballer, let him go.” And that's what they did. But no one forced their grandson to necessarily become a professional player.
– It is common to consider Yartsev and Romantsev friends. What kind of friend is this, hypocritical, essentially, who forced Georgy to leave Spartak after a triumphant season, when Yartsev led the young Spartak players to the championship? Probably, this only added to the heartache of your husband, with problems he went to the clinic in 1996. This smells of betrayal, not friendship…
– Well, no, I don't agree. They are, indeed, sincere friends, colleagues in football. There can be no talk of any betrayal. At some point, they both felt cramped in the club, Georgy was called to Dynamo as head coach, Oleg, after a break, worked in the same way at Spartak. But in their souls and thoughts, they always remained together. They called each other, met. Sometimes we communicated as families. So don't scold Oleg for the past years, they were wonderful.
– What did your husband do in the last years before his death, besides solving the problems of the Spartak veterans team?
– A couple of years before his death, he brought the Tambov team from the lower division to a higher level. The fans were simply crazy about the success of their favorites, they almost carried Georgy in their arms, they understood that this was, first of all, his merit. Georgy left, and the team “deflate”. It's a pity. Money was given to the club “for Yartsev”, without him everything fell into decline. Overall, yes, it's a story with a sad outcome.
– Two years have passed since Georgy's death. Excuse me, but have you thought about getting married again?
– You know, I haven't taken off black for a year, maybe longer. It's still very hard on the inside. You can't explain it in words, you have to feel it.
It’s hard to return home, so at the first opportunity I run to my daughter’s family, Ksenia, where they always wait for me and love me.
No, I don't go to church, I'm not religious. I don't smoke, I hardly drink. But I'll go to Lada's birthday party, Slava Fetisov's wife, this time. I want to be in warm, kind company, among old friends…
