You're reading: PostNoon: Hello sailor! Ukraine’s British football roots

When the final of the European Championship kicks off in Kiev on July 1, it will be the high point in the history of Ukrainian football, more than a century after it was introduced to the country by a group of British sailors.

The sailors established the first football side in the southern port city of Odessa where they worked. Locals looking on learned the game, paving the way for a string of famous teams now known the world over.
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