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| Dmytro Pronevych |
 Dmytro Pronevych was born on Monday, 19th November, 1984, in Dubno. The 5' 8½ (11st 0lbs) forward signed for Dick Campbell's Thistle on Tuesday, 31st January, 2006, having most recently been on trial at Carlisle United. Aged 21, he made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 28th February, 2006, in a 2-1 defeat away to Alloa Athletic in the SFL Second Division. There were no goals for Dmytro during his spell with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 15th April, 2006, in a 2-1 win away to Stirling Albion in the SFL Second Division, having appeared as a Jag on 4 occasions. His club-list included Dynamo-3 Kyiv, Veres Rivne, Avanhard Rovenky, Zorya Luhansk, Obolon Kyiv II, Sampdoria, Queen of the South, Kilmarnock, Carlisle United, Partick Thistle, Dnipro Cherkasy, Karpaty Lviv II, Đồng Tháp, Knyazha Schastlivoe, Mariehamn, Volyn Lutsk, Lviv, Arsenal Bila Tserkva, Obolon-Brovar Kyiv, OPFK Cherkashchyna, Svitanok-Agrosvit Shlyakhova and Kudrivka. |
 This attacking midfielder, christened “Dave the Ukranian” by the Thistle fans, was hoping to follow in the footsteps of Alexei Mikhailitchenko who had came through at Dynamo Kyiv then got a good move to Sampdoria before heading for Scotland and Rangers. Having played for a number of clubs in his home country, the 20-year-old was indeed Genoa-bound in 2004, but it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. All hopes of a professional contract collapsed in red-tape after a year, when regulations dictated they couldn't formally sign another non-EU player. On his own initiative and at his own expense, he moved to the UK in 2005. His wife, Valerie, was at university in London, and he was keen to settle in Scotland so she could join him when she graduated. While he was in Scotland his father, Oleg, a Doctor, stayed with him as he tried to find a permanent deal, helping him with practical issues such as overcoming the language barrier. Dmytro had three games for Queen of the South and set up the winner in one match against Airdrie. He was offered a contract at Palmerston, but when Iain Scott was sacked days later that was withdrawn. Then Kilmarnock boss Jim Jefferies liked what he saw of the youngster, but ultimately decided that he had too many midfielders. A spell at Carlisle came to nothing too. He next landed at then-third-tier Partick Thistle in January 2006, and Dick Campbell took a chance, initially offering a one-month deal, later extended to the end of the season. Said Campbell “His English isn't that good but he can get by. And he's a good passer of the ball.” Speaking to the Daily Record at the time, Dmytro introduced himself splendidly:
675 hardy souls were at a freezing cold Recreation Park on Tuesday, 28th February, 2006, and they got their first glimpse of the man dubbed “Dave the Ukranian” (anything for the sake of an easy life). Alloa were bottom of the Second Division and, just days earlier, Thistle had been applauded off the park after a valiant effort in the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Cup versus Hearts at Tynecastle. 3 points were expected, but it wasn't to be for “Dave” or for Thistle. Our Eastern European hero-in-waiting came racing out of the traps, keen to show the fans what he was all about. Within minutes of the kick-off, this enthusiasm spilled over into a bizarre rugby tackle incident which left the referee - the appropriately named Brian Winter - no choice but to flash an early yellow card. After 30 minutes play, Thistle were down by two goals to nil and poor Dave was getting all the blame, almost instantly being labelled a dud, barely able to control the ball never mind pass it. So bad was his debut 45 that he was hauled off at half-time, merely adding to the unravelling folklore. If anything, Thistle were even worse in the second half, and they couldn't blame Dave for that! Dick Campbell never really trusted him again, and Dave clocked up only 10 further minutes of game time, spread between a 2-1 win at home to Dumbarton (14th March), a 0-0 draw at Forfar (25th March) and a 2-1 win at Stirling Albion (15th April). Seemingly, his enthusiasm was considered good for a bit of time wasting! Dmytro admitted defeat in his plans and returned home to Ukraine in the close season of 2006. There, he went back to College and played for the national students team in 2007. He had a long career as a footballer, playing for a number of clubs in Ukraine, as well as having spells in Vietnamese and Finnish football. His longest spells came at home with Arsenal Bila Tserkva (54 League appearances 2011–2013) and Obolon-Brovar Kyiv (98 League appearances 2013-2017). Dmytro tried his hand at coaching and was the assistant manager at Cherkashchyna (one of his playing clubs), but that ended disastrously as they entered administration and were dissolved at the end of his first managerial season. In season 2021-22, he was playing lower level football with Kudrivka as well as coaching kids at Obolon Kyiv, although the footballing season was terminated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine early in 2022. Dave was in Kyiv when things turned nasty in February, and took shelter in a car park when the air raid siren sounded. Together with his (second) wife Kateryna and children Luka (7), Matvey (5) Liya (18 months), he relocated 300km from Kyiv, where they were taken in by relatives. On 28th February 2022, Dmytro spoke (impressively) to Colan Lamont in the Scottish Sun :
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