“When I was shown on Match TV, I thought it was a montage.”

- Recently, you have gained popularity not only in Belarus, but also in Russia. How do you feel about this sudden glory?

- In it, of course, there are both advantages and disadvantages. It so happened that at the moment football is only alive in Belarus. And no one goes to the stands with a button accordion. Hence the reasons for my popularity. I slowly began to get used to it, although it is difficult.

- You began to be recognized more often on the streets?

- They will recognize me, but people who I knew before looked at me differently. They were very surprised that a simple teacher and musician got into such a situation. Some did not even believe. But one newspaper called, then another, it was shown on television. And when on Sunday I went to the Isloch-Smolevichi match at the Dynamo stadium in Minsk, people began to applaud me.

- How much has the number of Instagram followers increased?

- The growth is at space speed. It was only about 30, and now it is 150. What do they write? You know, I really liked one comment from Russia: "We eat potatoes, listen to the accordion." This phrase can even be called an interview.

- Remember how you learned that you were shown live on Match TV.

- We, Isloch fans, have a chat in Viber. And there, right in the course of the game with the Neman, they threw off this passage from the broadcast. He looked and did not believe at first. Thought it was a montage. But then he called the club’s press service and they confirmed that they really showed me on TV.

- Commentator Konstantin Genich, thanks to your playing the button accordion, compared what is happening with a big Belarusian wedding. Did not offend this comparison?

- And why should it be offensive? After all, the button accordion is usually associated with a wedding. And then it happened on football, so everything is logical. Being a host, I played at a large number of weddings, I can play at the match.

- You said that with your mini-team you give concerts in health resorts of Belarus and even tour Germany. Now there are more offers?

- They call and invite, but in connection with the coronavirus we are forced to take care and try not to go anywhere especially. Health and safety come first. While temporarily suspended the tour. And mass crowds in Belarus are now not welcome.

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Publication by Valery Kolontai (@ valerii.kolontai) Mar 22, 2020 at 4:10 PDT

“OMON wanted to take apart the button accordion, offered to put two thousand dollars on the table”

- How did you learn to play the button accordion?

- I went to the button accordion in the third grade. Mom decided to give me such a birthday present by giving it to a music school. The first weeks I went with pleasure, but when a special diary was introduced there, I did not really like it. It turns out that there is one diary at school, and a second at music school. The teacher can always write some kind of comment. Because of this, there was no desire to go there, but thanks to my mother, I ended up. Nevertheless, there was no zeal for playing the button accordion. He became addicted to the school of culture and arts in Minsk, where he studied wind instruments. According to the diploma, I am a conductor of a brass band, played baritone. The second instrument was the button accordion. At the same time, I am a "listener", that is, I can play any kind of melody well even without notes. Then the love for the instrument appeared.

- How long have you started to get involved in football? Before the appearance of "Isloch" went to any team matches?

- No, I never went, although I loved football. I remember my mother turned off the TV when the Champions League was on, if she brought home bad marks. Therefore, I tried to study well. But he never supported anyone, although there was a desire to go to the stadium. And there was no strong interest in the championship of Belarus. Eurocups, the national team is another matter, but then there was no talk of a button accordion. “Isloch” aroused interest from the very beginning, because a lot of people gathered in the club, with whom I had close contact in life. For example, I used to teach at the head coach of the team Vitaliy Zhukovsky at school.

- Immediately began to go to the stadium with the button accordion?

- Other fans knew that I knew how to play it, and somehow offered to take the instrument on the road. There was nothing to do, the bus went for four hours, had fun as they could. Well, later he began to go with him to the stadium. Now I just can’t imagine myself on the podium without a button accordion.

- How did the fans react to him at first?

- Mostly friendly, but people were surprised: how so what does a person with a button accordion do here? And after a couple of matches, fans of other teams began to write actively to me, asking who I was, what I was doing. No negativity arose. I have not heard this, they say, do not come here with your accordion. On the contrary, everyone was happy to wait. I remember there was a funny moment in Gomel. After the match, soldiers of the internal troops, who usually fill part of the stands, were put on buses to take back to the part. So I was not taken aback and played “Farewell of the Slav”. All slammed.

- What is the purpose of your trips to the stadium with button accordion in addition to the actual support of Isloch?

- I want more positive things not only among the fans, but also among the same police, stewards, and stadium workers. It is now recognized in many cities, photographed. Often fit and fans of rivals. It is clear that there is one button accordion, but there are many stadiums. Now it is called the visiting card of Isloch.

- What repertoire do you perform?

- If one of the players or coaches has a birthday, before the game we perform "Let them run awkwardly ...". All the fans gather and sing, someone gets into the notes, someone doesn't, but it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that it’s friendly. I also perform "Polka", "Gypsy", "Seven-forty." If a football player pretends and begs for a card, I can play “And I will lie down, lie down”. A hit is Victory Day when Isloch scores. If we concede, and until the end there is very little time left, I play "A little more, a little more." Mandatory “Team of our youth” - everyone picks it up.

- How well is the button accordion heard in the stadium, especially when they beat a drum nearby?

- The fact is that our drum plays synchronously with the button accordion. I learned a little the Isloch drummer, who is not a professional musician, and now he is beating my songs to the rhythm. And the opponent’s drums are sometimes really muffled. So it was at the cup meeting in Brest, where we got the corner sector. But they tried as best they could, local fans showed thumbs, shouted: “Come on, button accordion, light it.”

- How do you feel about football fans?

- There are no such people among Isloch fans, we don’t even use the word “fan”. We come to matches with young children, some with strollers in general. Six-seven-year-old girls can chant their chants, for example, "To defeat our people, you need to drink a little drink." We are kind to everyone. At first, the police behaved harshly with us, but they quickly realized that there were no bullies among the fans of Isloch. Although in Gorodeya a spool of thread with needles was somehow taken away from me, they said that it was a stabbing tool. Everyone laughed.

- The famous Spanish fan Manolo at the 2018 World Cup was forbidden to bring the famous drum to the stadium. Have you ever had such problems?

- On the first trips, anything happened. Riot police always surprised my button accordion. They were amazed that I did not hand him over to the locker room, but carried them to the stadium. The police first carefully studied the case, then twisted and turned the instrument itself in its hands. He asked: “What do you want to see?” Seriously interested in the content. Answered: the mechanism that is responsible for the extraction of sound. Calls began to bosses, because this had never happened before. The authorities also did not understand anything, because the button accordion is not spelled out in any rules. Once offered to make out. He explained that this is a tool of the famous Italian company Scandalli, and if they want to get inside, let them lay two thousand dollars on the table. Will not work - I will take the money. He explained: once I had a button accordion checked at Polish customs, they asked me to play Oginsky Polonaise right there. He played, and there were no more questions, because it became obvious that since the button accordion was making sounds, then nothing was hidden inside. The history of the riot police convinced me, and they let me into the stands. Now, of course, such problems do not arise.

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Publication by Valery Kolontay (@ valerii.kolontai) Mar 28, 2020 at 8:54 PDT

“After every match, absolutely anyone could approach Gleb”

- You are perhaps the most popular Isloch fan. Communicate with the team players?

- You can talk or request with absolutely any of them. It doesn’t happen that it’s impossible to reach a person. If you wish, you can always call, chat, take an autograph. If a person is injured, you can ask a couple of questions about how he feels when he recovers.

- It happened that the players asked to play something to order during the match?

“That hasn't happened yet.” But there was another case. Zhukovsky was somehow disqualified for a month for overly emotional behavior. And it so happened that one of the games that he was forced to play on the platform took place on the coach’s birthday. Right on the podium, they congratulated him, made a large banner. By the way, the players themselves asked about this.

- Working as a teacher at a school in Mikhanovichi, you taught including among Zhukovsky. Are you talking to him now?

- Sure. I have Vitaly Leonidovich’s number, I can always call him. If he is free, pick up the phone - you can talk. But he usually has little time, so I’m not offended when he writes in response to the message: "I am busy, come on later." However, I try to behave correctly and exclude familiarity towards him. It doesn’t matter that Vitaly Leonidovich once had a teacher. We respect each other.

- Is it true that your sons and Zhukovsky played football in the same group at the Isloch Sports School?

- Yes this is true. True, my son is no longer involved in Isloch for medical reasons. But they played together until the last moment.

- Zhukovsky is a very emotional person. Did you have the right of a former teacher to urge him to control himself?

“I know him a little more than others.” It is emotional only when the game is in progress, and when it ends, it behaves in a completely different way. With a cold head goes further. In addition, do not forget that we do not have a VAR, so judges can be wrong. And so the head coach of Dynamo Minsk Sergey Gurenko recently generally kicked the referee’s door.

- Last season, Alexander Gleb ended his career at Isloch. You even have a photo on Instagram in which he is captured with your son. Did you manage to communicate with him too?

- This is a legend, you can’t argue. He came back to the club's anniversary when Isloch celebrated ten years of existence. Everyone was surprised and even shocked. A large queue formed of those wishing to take a picture and take an autograph. Alexander patiently talked with everyone and did not leave until the crowd ran dry, although in a hurry. Despite his status, Gleb is a very simple, polite person.

- What did he remember as an Isloch football player?

- After each match, absolutely anyone could approach Gleb. According to him, it was not felt at all that it was some kind of distant star. Very simple and open person. Even now, he can easily pay attention to any fan, talk for a minute on the phone. Alexander repeatedly provided his personal game shirts for various competitions. It got to the point that he did not have a single one left, everyone was raffled off!

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Son and Alexander Gleb

Posted by Valery Kolontai (@ valerii.kolontai) Mar 28, 2020 at 9:05 am PDT

“This song is designed to unite all the fans”

- How did you come up with the idea of ​​filming Fierce Clip Against Coronavirus?

- Our White Russians group also includes Nikolai Tsalkovsky (balalaika) and Maxim Kudin (vocals). And Alexander Knauer and Vadim Esterman from Dortmund produce us. Words were written together, discussed on social networks. As a result, they came up with a song. The final version and posted March 30 on Youtube. They decided to consider this date the group’s birthday.

- Did you know that the video will be shown during the break of the match “Isloch” - “Smolevichi” on the screen of the Dynamo stadium?

- I asked the press service of the club about this, there was a great desire to surprise the fans and football players. With this clip we want to show Europe that there are no incurable diseases. Any virus can be defeated, the main thing is that there is willpower, desire, desire. And it's not even about coronavirus. This song is designed to treat people from a bad mood, it should push them to a smile.

- Why did you decide to make a refrain in English?

- You yourself see that many countries, not only Russia, have acquired television rights for showing the championship of Belarus. So here is the calculation for foreign football fans. I would like to know in Europe: we worry and worry about her. This song is designed to unite all fans who, due to the coronavirus, have lost the opportunity to watch football live.

“If you stop the championship of Belarus now, even greater panic will rise”

- Football competitions on the planet almost everywhere stopped. Do not you think that the championship of Belarus should pause?

- As an ordinary fan, I can say that we are trying to observe all safety measures and carry out disinfection. Nevertheless, not many people go to football in Belarus to stop the championship. In this case, it is worth closing the metro, into which everyone is stuffed like a herring into a barrel.

- What precautions are being taken at Belarusian stadiums now?

- People measure the temperature at the entrance to the stands, treat their hands with an antiseptic, and give everyone a mask. But I don’t take it, because I understand that they are of little use. A familiar doctor said that a healthy mask is not needed, the patient needs it so that it does not infect others. People are reinsured. But if you stop the championship of Belarus now, then a big panic will rise.

- What do ordinary Belarusian fans feel at the moment? The Major League has never been in sight, and now the whole world is following it.

- We joke that we will soon go play football on Indian elephants. In general, we are proud of our country. Now people will at least know that there is such a state, Belarus. After all, often when you try to tell foreigners where you are from, they don’t understand. Belarus? White Russia? Russia? You begin to explain to them that this is not a region of Russia, but a separate state. I think now such problems will not arise, and everyone will know about our country.

- It’s not a shame that the “minute of glory” of Belarusian football is likely to be short, and then everyone will forget about it?

- No, they will never forget about the championship of Belarus. After all, our teams already have personal fans around the world. It is impossible to forget the Premier League, although such interest, of course, will no longer be. But people will forever remember how Belarus was the only country in which they played football during the pandemic. We can be proud of ourselves.

- In Russia, the championship of Belarus is expressed differently. In particular, the honorary president of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov, called him "pornography." Do not be offended?

- God is his judge. I try to avoid such statements and do not like it when someone else says so. It reminded the words of your commentator Vasily Utkin, who called the BATE “collective farmers”. Saying this, a person only demonstrates his lack of education and lack of culture. An intelligent person will remain silent, and the fool will answer. We try to be silent. He said and said.

- Have you ever attended matches of the championship of Russia?

- No, but Russia is my second homeland, as my mother was born on Sakhalin. And dad is Belarusian. With great love I treat both countries. They had not yet been invited to RPL matches, but would love to go to CSKA Viktor Goncharenko with Ilya Shkurin in the squad, or to Wings of the Soviets, for which Sergey Kornilenko played for many years. Or the same Moscow “Spartak”.