Kharkiv's private football museum

After 50 years of collecting memorabilia, the Kharkiv home of Oleksandr 'Alik' Yedbavnik is a museum of football, with every surface covered in posters, pennants, scarves and knick-knacks.

Even the kitchen has not escaped the FC Metalist Kharkiv fan's attention, with the flat he shares with his wife Lyudmyla an Aladdin's cave of Soviet and Ukrainian football. Yedbavnik's first love, Metalist, have a special place here: a poster advertising the club's first home match in European club competition, a 4-0 win against FK Borac Banja Luka in the first round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, on 5 October 1988, taking pride of place.

"It's a pity that Marko Dević has moved to Shakhtar Donetsk," sighed Yedbavnik, looking at a poster of the Ukrainian international. "But that's life, you know. We won't be any weaker next season as we have our brilliant Brazilians like Taison and Cleiton Xavier. We had a few memorable times in the Soviet era – like beating FC Torpedo Moscow in the 1988 USSR Cup final – but this is the best squad we have ever had. Coach Myron Markevych has done a superb job, and his team play very attractive football."

Yedbavnik's relationship with Metalist began on 2 May 1961 when he watched the Soviet league match between FC Avangard Kharkiv (as Metalist were then known) and FC SKA Rostov-na-Donu. At 15, he bought his first programme and committed himself to watching every match in the city. "Now I can't even tell you how many programmes I own," he said. "I think I've collected at least 1,500. I used to exchange packages with collectors from every corner of the Soviet Union. I even have programmes from back in the 1930s."

His collection of badges in no less impressive; he has over 1,000 from different clubs and national associations, and also two shrines dedicated to Andriy Shevchenko and Oleh Blokhin. "You cannot compare these two great strikers," he said. "Football has changed, as the great Ukrainian coach Valeriy Lobanovskiy predicted. Now the level of tactical understanding is higher. Every player is trained to attack and defend skilfully. Nevertheless, I've never seen a footballer faster than Blokhin."

Blokhin, of course, is now coaching Ukraine at UEFA EURO 2012, and Yedbavnik is delighted to be able to enjoy the tournament in his home city. "It is something historic," he said. "And it is great that Blokhin's side kicked off with a victory. After two years of friendlies, it was hard to get a measure of the team, but the performance against Sweden was better than I could have imagined. They all played well, and Sheva became a national hero again.

"But let's not get carried away," he continued. "We need to play confidently against France and England to get a ticket to the quarter-finals, and then we'll see. As for other teams, I think Germany are favourites to win the tournament. Joachim Löw's side look very powerful, and they are improving with every game. I am so glad that Kharkiv has had an opportunity to stage classic games like the Netherlands against Germany."