"New Year - two tangerines and vodka." How Luke Wilkshire became Russian

27.12.2016 08:40

“Championship” visiting Luke Wilkshire and his Russian wife Christina: the story of the Russification of the first Australian of the RFPL.

“At Home” is a new section of the “Championship”, within which we will come to visit famous football players to get to know their families better, see where and how they live, and, of course, talk about personal, family , football Our first trip is to visit the only Russian-Australian family in the world of football.

We are sitting on the sofa in the living room of a small house near Novogorsk. The friendly pug Nana is snoring at your feet, the French bulldog Bosco is spinning around, and Eddie the cat is in command of this animal parade. Luke and Christina Wilkshire share a passion for pets. Nearby is the family nest of Christina’s parents. The general “menagerie” includes seven dogs of various breeds. But they are not the main ones here, but 4-month-old Luke Jr. and two-year-old Mia. A little shy, she shows us a small pumpkin she painted with her own hands.

“Our first date was at a car wash.”

Luke and Christina have been together for almost five years.

We met Luke here in Novogorsk,” Christina begins. — We constantly crossed paths somewhere—we’d meet at a restaurant, or at a gas station. One day we started talking, and then for a year and a half or two we were best friends.

We still are! - Luke adds.

Yes! - Christina answers, smiling. “Although before I didn’t believe in friendship between a man and a woman.” Then at one moment we realized that we couldn’t live without each other. Our first date was at a car wash - we went out into the snow to wash cars. We figured it out! And for some reason I called him home, to my parents. He wasn't even scared; on the contrary, he was happy. Since that day my whole family has been in love with him. My grandmother constantly tells me that this is fate, although until recently I thought that we would only be friends. Honestly, everything is like in a fairy tale!

The atmosphere in their house is truly special. Just watch Luke play with his daughter, and it becomes clear: for Wilkshire, there is nothing more important than family. On his and Christina’s joint Instagram there are no parties, glamor or pathos. Only children, dogs, games. And love, of course.

We had a secret wedding in Australia,” shares Christina. - We wanted to sign in Moscow, but here everything is quite complicated with the documents. It would take me a very long time to put this package together, so Luke called Australia, and it turned out that the whole procedure was much simpler there.

He took the weekend off and we flew away without telling anyone. Even his parents, although they were a hundred kilometers away, they simply would not have come to Moscow for the official celebration otherwise. And it turned out to be a great holiday. In Sydney, we chose a park with the Opera House in the background, and signed there. We only had Luke's agent with us as a witness.

Photo: from the archives of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

“Russian New Year: a bottle of vodka and two tangerines”

If at first Wilkshire was a guest in Russia, now he is one of his own.

“Luke is turning brown,” Christina adds. “It’s hard to explain, but you can feel that even food preferences are changing. Luke never liked brown bread, but now he eats it with butter in the morning.
“I also like borscht, fried potatoes and Olivier,” the Australian laughs.
- Yeah, although at first he didn’t even understand how you could eat pickles with mayonnaise!

Wilkshire also loves the Russian winter. And this year the family is spending their vacation not in the southern latitudes, but at home. Of course, the birth of the baby played a role, but no one seems upset. When Luke plays snowballs with Mia or arranges a snow ride, rolling a lawnmower through the snowdrifts, it remains to be seen who is having more fun - the baby or her father, who before moving to Moscow had only seen snowstorms in pictures.

Photo: from the archives of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

— I remember my first Moscow winter - I came back from vacation in January 2009 and saw that the whole city was covered in snow. It was incredible, like a fairy tale. Now will be my second New Year in Russia. The first time we celebrated with my wife's father. There was a funny story: we went for a walk to our house under construction with a bottle of vodka and two tangerines. Russian New Year, haha.

“Mia’s godfather, a big man, a military man, helped the two of them get home later,” Christina continues the family story. - Father said then: “I had to show Luke what the Russian New Year is!” I was pregnant then, I didn’t drink, my mother basically doesn’t drink, and they went to the construction of our house. Then we lost everything we could: keys, phones... Then we found them in the snowdrifts. But now they have a wonderful story, which always begins like this: “I’m celebrating the New Year with my best Australian friend...”

“Received baptism under the name Luke”

In addition to the New Year, Luke also became interested in other Russian holidays. The Wilkshire family celebrates Father's Day, February 23, March 8, New Year and Christmas, and even Victory Day.

— I remember how in the Netherlands I found a Russian grocery store and threw a gala dinner on May 9th - Luke was delighted. The hardest thing was to explain to him what, for example, February 23rd was. I simply said that it was men's day. And March 8 is for women. Now let's congratulate each other.

Christmas is a different story. The fact is that... an Orthodox Christian.

“He wanted it that way,” says Christina. - We baptized Mia, and on the same day Luke was baptized, having gone through the whole ceremony - the font, the shirt, the cross. He was baptized under the name Luke, daughter - Mary.

Photo: from the archives of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

“It was a heart decision,” Luke explains. - My wife is Orthodox, and so are her relatives. Our daughter was born in Russia and had to be baptized. I believe that a family should profess one faith. That's why I decided to be baptized.

Last year, Wilkshire went to church for the first time and attended the entire Christmas service.

- Special sensations. The Orthodox service is very beautiful and very emotional. It was hard to stand for so long, but the atmosphere... Some kind of unique joy, happiness, harmony.

Photo: from the archives of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

“In England I cleaned boots for tips.”

The journey from distant Australia to distant Russia began in 1998, when 17-year-old Wilkshire moved to England.

— I have a complicated football destiny. Actually, when I was little, I watched rugby because my dad was a rugby referee. I even wanted to go practice, but my mother forbade me: she said that it was a very tough sport. I was very afraid that I would get injured. So I decided to become a football player.

I left home when I was 17. At 15, I became one of two players who were given a $4,000 scholarship and sent to a soccer academy in England for a few weeks. I did a lot well at Mildsboro, so the coach wanted me to stay. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t due to my age, so I returned to Australia. We kept in touch and then I turned 17 and went to England where I was offered a contract with the Mildsborough youth team.

While you are a young player, you must clean the boots of the first team players. This is the rule. Everyone is given their own football player, whose boots you clean and polish. If you do your job well, you might get some kind of gift, especially around Christmas. I don’t remember if they gave me anything, but they definitely gave me a tip. Now, of course, the situation is different. Young players get paid a lot more than before.

Wilkshire's first salary was £350 a week.

“That was enough for me, I lived with an English family, under a special exchange program, together with goalkeeper Jones. We had our own room. I remember how I saved up for my first small car. This was a big event for me.

“Hiddink could order a bottle of wine for $10,000”

And then Luke appeared in his life, and away we go...

— I remember the first training session in the Australian national team under his leadership. He immediately asked us to call him Boss. And he was the boss of everything. With his appearance, the Australian team seemed to live a new life. And me too. He helped me get to the 2006 World Championships - an amazing event in my career. He recommended me to Twente, from where I later moved to Dynamo.

He is the best coach of my career. His knowledge of football, tactical knowledge, passion for football... No one prepared for matches better than him. He always has everything under control, he is extremely calm and can allow himself to joke, joke around - this confidence of his is transmitted to everyone.

Famous Australian-born footballer Luke Wilkshire was born on October 2, 1981. In his homeland, he began to get involved in football, although this sport was not as popular in his home country as rugby. From the age of eleven, the young athlete began playing football, changing several sports clubs: from very small to more significant ones. However, he was never destined to play for his native country: the young and talented athlete was noticed by scouts from England and invited to join their club. Upon reaching adulthood, he immediately signed a contract with the British. Luke Wilkshire's wife is Russian, and it was she who taught her husband Russian traditions and cuisine.

At first, the young athlete received a salary of 350 pounds a week and was incredibly happy about it. He lived in England on a social exchange program. Soon the guy had already saved up for his first car. It was a small budget car, but what great joy it brought Luke!

In 2008, Wilkshire was bought by the Moscow football club Dynamo for 2.2 million Euros. He was assigned the role of right midfielder. This is where he found himself. He liked and wanted to work in this team. The guy played for six years at this club; before that he had never stayed anywhere for such a long time. However, when his contract came to an end, it was not renewed. Luke decided to try his hand at another team, which was Holland, which was already familiar to him.

Wilkshire's career in Holland did not work out. It is difficult to say for what exact reasons this happened; many believe that personal motives played a significant role here. After all, by that time the Australian had already married a Russian woman, Kristina Dolgopolova, who, while at the border, was madly homesick. This led to the fact that a year later the family returned to Russia and the footballer signed a contract with Terek Grozny.

Luke played at the new club for only a year and a half. After that, he was offered to return to Dynamo and he could not refuse this offer. He is not offered long-term contracts, but the guy is glad that he has a chance to work where he likes and with people with whom he is comfortable.

Luke Wilkshire's personal life has also been very successful. He has a beloved wife and children. For the sake of his wife, he even accepted the Christian faith. For a long time the guy could not get used to the national cuisine, but now he simply cannot imagine his life without Olivier, okroshka and fried potatoes. Over time, he becomes more and more Russian and loves Russia more and more. Christina is happy next to her husband; they celebrate holidays together, spend weekends, and raise children.

Among other things, Luke and Christina have one more common love - love for animals. Two dogs and a cat live peacefully in their huge house. On Instagram, the guys don’t have photos from various get-togethers and parties, only family and friends. Luke says that if his sports career does not continue to develop, he will definitely not leave Russia, because this is already his home, his family, his friends. He can no longer imagine life without all this, and Christina, even during trips abroad, immediately begins to miss her country and family.

Former passion of Alexander Kokorin married an Australian

There are 16 teams in the Russian Football Premier League, and foreigners play in each of them. There are clubs where there are 8 - 10 people. As a rule, they marry their compatriots - it’s easier that way. However, there were brave souls who decided to take a risk and took Russian girls as wives.

Birthday surprise

Student at the Institute of Economics, Management and Law Olga Romanova had no idea that in her hometown of Kazan there was a football team “Rubin”. One evening Olya was having dinner in a cafe with a friend, and two dark-skinned guys suddenly sat down at their table. Midfielder from Ecuador Christian Noboa I asked the girl if she spoke English. Romanova was in a bad mood, and she categorically snapped: “No!” However, Christian's friend named Jephton had already exchanged pleasantries with her friend. As a result, the conversation began, and soon Olya even began to smile. They communicated with Chris mainly through gestures, but some spark still flashed. By the way, Noboa for the time being did not say that he was a football player, he pretended to be a Caucasian, a seller from the market.

Three weeks after they met, the Ecuadorian had a birthday. The night before, Jephton came to visit him and stayed late. The owner already wants to sleep, yawns, but the friend still doesn’t leave. At the beginning of the first night, Jephton finally stood up from the table and said:

Chris, look out the window!

Noboa went out onto the balcony and was dumbfounded... He saw a huge banner with the inscription “Happy birthday to Chris!” The banner was suspended from balloons, and Olga stood in the street below in the light of car headlights. No, I didn’t even stand, but danced to the song Madonnas“You ll See” came from the speaker. The football player, crazy with happiness, ran out into the street. It was probably that night that he fell in love with Olga.

They began to meet almost daily. A month and a half later, the South American invited the girl to the Emirates. She agreed. Noboa literally flew across the field on the wings of love. And the next season his “Rubin” became the champion of Russia.

Before traveling to Guayaquil, where Christian’s parents live, Olga was very worried. But the footballer’s father Fernando and mother Sonya greeted her very warmly. Only after this Noboa married his beloved. In 2010, his wife gave birth to his first son, Christopher Diego, and two years later - his second. The baby was named Lucas.

Over the years, the Ecuadorian managed to change several teams, following the route Kazan - Moscow - Thessaloniki (Greece) - Rostov-on-Don. And Olga, sighing every time, silently packed her suitcases. Last fall she felt especially proud of her husband. After all, it was Christian Noboa who brought Rostov the first victory in the Champions League in the club’s history. And even over Bayern Munich!

By the way

Fernando Noboa, father of a Rostov football player Christiana Noboa, became Commander-in-Chief of the Ecuadorian Navy.

Other people's children have become our own

Dark-skinned Brazilian Ari, who plays for the Krasnodar club, has been married to a Russian girl for two years Natalia Gryzlova. She is from Samara. Ariclenes da Silva Ferreira(this is the full name of the football player) met her in Moscow when he was still playing for Spartak. Gryzlova is a lawyer by training and then worked as an assistant to one of the State Duma deputies.

Two days before my birthday there was a party in Moscow,” recalls Natasha. - My future husband was there too. His friend (he spoke Russian well) approached me several times: they say, one football player really wants to get to know me. In the end I agreed: come on, let him go. Ari babbled something to me in English, I answered him in Russian, and this guy translated. Not a conversation, but just laughter! Then we began to correspond via SMS. Ari honestly said that he has two children with his ex-wife. Or rather, from another woman - they lived without signing.

This fact confused the Samara resident a little. But the Brazilian forward assured Natalia that he would definitely not return to his former passion. 100 percent. Gryzlova later met his children and eventually fell in love with both of them. Her husband's son is now 14 years old, and her daughter is two years old.

Ari proposed to Natasha to get married just two months after they met. At first she didn't answer. Then the black striker invited to the restaurant not only the girl with whom he lost his head, but also her mother. And there he officially asked Natasha to become his wife.

The wedding took place in the footballer’s homeland in Fortaleza. On the bride's side there were only her two friends and her mother, all the other guests were on the groom's side. Natasha was already pregnant and very nervous. She lost her appetite from stress and extreme heat. The newlyweds were married in the church: they knelt down, took oaths of allegiance, and the Holy Father blessed their union. Soon after the wedding, Ari again glowed with happiness - his wife gave birth to his daughter Ariane. The girl will have a double surname Gryzlova-Ferreira.

We left Paris on time

Italian Salvatore Bocchetti moved to Russia in 2010. At first he successfully played for Rubin Kazan, and three years later he moved to Spartak. His future wife, a charming model Katerina Maltseva, I met Bocchetti after training in Tarasovka near Moscow. And he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

We have a lot of beautiful girls in Italy, but in Russia, it seems to me, there are many more of them,” says the 30-year-old Red-White defender. - And my wife is the most beautiful in the world.

Katya did not immediately respond to the Italian’s advances. He showered her with flowers and gifts and called her often, but Maltseva did not always pick up the phone. Someone told Salvatore that this girl is already taken - they say, she has many fans and even has a guy who is looking to be her suitor. But the persistent Bocchetti did not back down. The romantic evening in the restaurant, when the temperamental Italian confessed his love to Katya in broken Russian, is something she is unlikely to forget.

The lovers got married in May 2014. At that moment, Katerina was already carrying a child, who was born in September. The boy was named Mario, in honor of the football player's father.

My son speaks Russian to his mother, and Italian to me. So he’ll probably be a polyglot,” Salvatore smiles. - When I don’t see him for a long time, I start to feel sad.

In November 2015, taking advantage of a break in the Russian Championship, Bocchetti, along with his wife and little son, flew to Paris for a few days. After some time, a message came that a series of terrorist attacks had just taken place there, killing many people. Friends and acquaintances of the Spartak player became worried: what if something happened to the Bocchetti family? Fortunately, the couple left Paris on time. Literally the day before the tragic events.

When Katerina got married, her friends had little doubt: she and her husband would soon leave Moscow and live abroad. But after playing for half a season in the Italian Milan, Bocchetti returned to Spartak and recently extended his contract with the Moscow club until 2020. He fell in love with our country, learned Russian and almost became Russified. Now Salvatore wants to obtain Russian citizenship. He bought a luxurious house for his family in the cottage village of Novye Veshki and says that he would not like to leave there. Let's add that six months ago the family grew - his wife gave birth to his daughter Grace.

Catholic converted to Orthodoxy

Australian Luke Wilkshire At the age of 17 he left his parents' home for Europe. He sought his football fortune in England and Holland, after which he settled in Russia. Luke's first marriage was unsuccessful. His wife did not want to live abroad and went back to Australia. Together with three children.

Muscovite Kristina Dolgopolova I used to have an affair with a famous football player Alexander Kokorin. But after Euro 2012, Sasha left her, and the girl switched to Kokorin’s partner in the capital’s Dynamo, Luke Wilkshire. According to Christina, their first date took place at a car wash. They went to wash their cars the day it started snowing!

We both laughed, and then for some reason I called him home to my parents,” Christina admitted. Surprisingly, Luke agreed. He immediately charmed them, and especially my grandmother.

When we started talking about the wedding, it turned out that it is very problematic for a foreigner to register a marriage in Moscow - too many documents need to be collected. In Australia this procedure is much simpler. Without saying a word to anyone, not even his father and mother, Luke brought Christina to Sydney and signed her there. His agent became a witness at the wedding. And the newlyweds threw a wedding celebration - with the invitation of their parents and numerous friends - in Moscow.

This international family has two children - daughter Mia and son Luke. The baby is only five months old, and the girl is two years old. In Russia, Wilkshire Sr. fell in love with borscht, Olivier salad, fried potatoes and even pickles with vodka. The Australian also surprised Christina by converting to Orthodox Christianity.

My wife is Orthodox, and so are her parents. “I believe that a family should profess one faith,” the 35-year-old football player explained his choice. “That’s why I decided to be baptized.”

Previously, DOLGOPOLOVA had an affair with Sasha KOKORIN. Photo by Sergei DADYGIN

"New Year - two tangerines and vodka." How Luke Wilkshire became Russian

“Championship” visiting Luke Wilkshire and his Russian wife Christina: the story of the Russification of the first Australian of the RFPL.

“At home” is a new section of the “Championship”, within which we will come to visit famous football players to get to know their families better, see where and how they live, and, of course, talk about personal, family , football Our first trip is to visit the only Russian-Australian family in the world of football.

We are sitting on the sofa in the living room of a small house near Novogorsk. The friendly pug Nana is snoring at your feet, the French bulldog Bosco is spinning around, and Eddie the cat is in command of this animal parade. Luke and Christina Wilkshire share a passion for pets. Nearby is the family nest of Christina’s parents. The general “menagerie” includes seven dogs of various breeds. But they are not the main ones here, but 4-month-old Luke Jr. and two-year-old Mia. A little shy, she shows us a small pumpkin she painted with her own hands.

“Our first date was at a car wash.”

Luke and Christina have been together for almost five years.

“We met Luke here in Novogorsk,” Christina begins. - We constantly crossed paths somewhere - we’d meet at a restaurant, or at a gas station. One day we started talking, and then for a year and a half or two we were best friends.

- We still are! – Luke adds.

- Yes! – Christina answers, smiling. - Although before I didn’t believe in friendship between a man and a woman. Then at one moment we realized that we couldn’t live without each other. Our first date was at a car wash - we went out into the snow to wash cars. We figured it out! And for some reason I called him home, to my parents. He wasn't even scared; on the contrary, he was happy. Since that day my whole family has been in love with him. My grandmother constantly tells me that this is fate, although until recently I thought that we would only be friends. Honestly, everything is like in a fairy tale!

The atmosphere in their house is truly special. Just watch Luke play with his daughter, and it becomes clear: for Wilkshire, there is nothing more important than family. On his and Christina’s joint Instagram there are no parties, glamor or pathos. Only children, dogs, games. And love, of course.

“We had a secret wedding in Australia,” shares Christina. – We wanted to sign in Moscow, but here everything is quite complicated with the documents. It would take me a very long time to put this package together, so Luke called Australia, and it turned out that the whole procedure was much simpler there.

He took the weekend off and we flew away without telling anyone. Even his parents, although they were a hundred kilometers away from them - it’s just that otherwise they would not have come to Moscow for the official celebration. And it turned out to be a great holiday. In Sydney, we chose a park with the Opera House in the background, and signed there. We only had Luke's agent with us as a witness.

Photo: from the archive of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

“Russian New Year: a bottle of vodka and two tangerines”

If at first Wilkshire was a guest in Russia, now he is one of his own.

“Luke is turning brown,” adds Christina. “It’s hard to explain, but you can feel that even food preferences are changing. Luke never liked brown bread, but now he eats it with butter in the morning.
“I also like borscht, fried potatoes and Olivier,” the Australian laughs.
- Yeah, although at first he didn’t even understand how you could eat pickles with mayonnaise!

Wilkshire also loves the Russian winter. And this year the family is spending their vacation not in the southern latitudes, but at home. Of course, the birth of the baby played a role, but no one seems upset. When Luke plays snowballs with Mia or arranges a snow ride, rolling a lawnmower through the snowdrifts, it remains to be seen who is having more fun - the baby or her father, who before moving to Moscow had only seen snowstorms in pictures.

Photo: from the archive of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

I remember my first Moscow winter - I came back from vacation in January 2009 and saw that the whole city was covered in snow. It was incredible, like a fairy tale. Now will be my second New Year in Russia. The first time we celebrated with my wife's father. There was a funny story: we went for a walk to our house under construction with a bottle of vodka and two tangerines. Russian New Year, haha.

Mia’s godfather, a big man, a military man, helped the two of them get home later,” Christina continues the family story. - Father said then: “I had to show Luke what the Russian New Year is!” I was pregnant then, I didn’t drink, my mother basically doesn’t drink, and they went to the construction of our house. Then we lost everything we could: keys, phones... Then we found them in the snowdrifts. But now they have a wonderful story, which always begins like this: “I’m celebrating the New Year with my best Australian friend...”

“Received baptism under the name Luke”

In addition to the New Year, Luke also became interested in other Russian holidays. The Wilkshire family celebrates Father's Day, February 23, March 8, New Year and Christmas, and even Victory Day.

I remember how in the Netherlands I found a Russian grocery store and threw a gala dinner on May 9th - Luke was delighted. The hardest thing was to explain to him what, for example, February 23rd was. I simply said that it was men's day. And March 8 is for women. Now let's congratulate each other.

Christmas is a different story. The fact is that... an Orthodox Christian.

“He wanted it that way,” says Christina. “We baptized Mia, and on the same day Luke was baptized, having gone through the whole ceremony - font, shirt, cross. He was baptized under the name Luke, his daughter Mary.

Photo: from the archive of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

It was a heart decision,” explains Luke. – My wife is Orthodox, and so are her relatives. Our daughter was born in Russia and had to be baptized. I believe that a family should profess one faith. That's why I decided to be baptized.

Last year, Wilkshire went to church for the first time and attended the entire Christmas service.

Special sensations. The Orthodox service is very beautiful and very emotional. It was hard to stand for so long, but the atmosphere... Some kind of unique joy, happiness, harmony.

Photo: from the archive of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

“In England I cleaned boots for tips.”

The journey from distant Australia to distant Russia began in 1998, when 17-year-old Wilkshire moved to England.

I have a complicated football destiny. Actually, when I was little, I watched rugby because my dad was a rugby referee. I even wanted to go practice, but my mother forbade me: she said that it was a very tough sport. I was very afraid that I would get injured. So I decided to become a football player.

I left home when I was 17. At 15, I became one of two players who were given a $4,000 scholarship and sent to a soccer academy in England for a few weeks. I did a lot well at Mildsboro, so the coach wanted me to stay. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t due to my age, so I returned to Australia. We kept in touch and then I turned 17 and went to England where I was offered a contract with the Mildsborough youth team.

While you are a young player, you must clean the boots of the first team players. This is the rule. Everyone is given their own football player, whose boots you clean and polish. If you do your job well, you might get some kind of gift, especially around Christmas. I don’t remember if they gave me anything, but they definitely gave me a tip. Now, of course, the situation is different. Young players get paid a lot more than before.

Wilkshire's first salary was £350 a week.

This was enough for me, I lived with an English family, under a special exchange program, together with goalkeeper Jones. We had our own room. I remember how I saved up for my first small car. This was a big event for me.

“Hiddink could order a bottle of wine for $10,000”

And then Luke appeared in his life, and away we go...

I remember the first training session with the Australian national team under his leadership. He immediately asked us to call him Boss. And he was the boss of everything. With his appearance, the Australian team seemed to live a new life. And me too. He helped me get to the 2006 World Championships - an amazing event in my career. He recommended me to Twente, from where I later moved to Dynamo.

He is the best coach of my career. His knowledge of football, tactical knowledge, passion for football... No one prepared for matches better than him. He always has everything under control, he is extremely calm and can allow himself to joke, joke around - this confidence of his is transmitted to everyone.

Hiddink off the football field evokes no less positive emotions in Luke. They continue to communicate from time to time.

Off the football field he is very easy to talk to and loves little pleasures. They are already almost legendary - coffee, cigars and good red wine. I remember they told me how he ordered a bottle of wine for $10,000 in one of the Russian restaurants. After a good job, he could afford it.

The last time we talked was about a year and a half ago. I asked how he was doing, we talked about my future, about returning to Russia. He approved of my decision to return.

“I drove a Lada for the first time in Grozny”

Outside Russian football, Wilkshire spent only one season - at Feyenoord. In 2014, his contract with Dynamo expired, which at that time did not value its old-timers too much - together with another club veteran Fernandez, Wilkshire went to say goodbye to the stands literally with tears in his eyes.

Returning to the Netherlands did not bring much pleasure to Luke.

After the end of the season at Feyenoord, the Australian became a free agent and went to Grozny. The initiator of this move was the wife.

“I’ll explain why we chose Terek,” says Christina. - In Holland, all the time when he returned home after games, he said: “This is not my league. I need the RFPL."

“It was,” Luke confirms. – It was harder for me at Feyenoord than at Twente: the second time I realized that this league is more for young players. There they can develop and improve their skills. In addition, the Dutch are obsessed with rules: they clearly differentiate what you can do and what you cannot do. This is good when you are 18-20 years old, when you are over 30 it is already difficult to fulfill the role of a student. And I was a little unusual after Russia, where there is a rather warm atmosphere and there are no such strictnesses. And the Feyenoord coach quickly wrote me off, and I ended up becoming a free agent.

“And we got a chance to move to Terek,” continues Christina. “He kept saying: “I’m not finished in Russia, I need to do something else there.” I need to go back." And he returned. As soon as the offer came in, we immediately moved with the whole family. Going to Grozny was not scary, on the contrary, it was even interesting. This is a very unusual city, which is very different from everything we have seen. I can't say anything bad. Perhaps the only negative is that in summer it is very hot there and there are a lot of locusts. I was afraid to fly there just because of these insects!

It was unusual for me in the heat that shorts were not welcome off the field,” adds Wilkshire. - But it’s okay - it’s a tribute to tradition. When we first arrived, the guys from the team received us very well. I still talk to some of them. I didn't have any problems at Terek. After Feyenoord it was like I was breathing fresh air. Rakhimov is a demanding coach, but without unnecessary prohibitions and rules.

“In general, all the people there are simple and kind,” says Christina. - At first they helped us a lot. A girl came to us to clean and then wrote that she had never met anyone like us. Everyone is responsive, if you ask, they will not refuse you. But I still tried not to go out alone,” says Christina, smiling. – It seemed that I was very different: at first I even thought about changing my wardrobe. But then I easily got used to it. In fact, the clothes that Chechen women wear very successfully emphasize their beauty.

And in Grozny, I took my first ride in a Russian car,” Luke laughs. – It was a Lada, a taxi. Of course, there is no comfort there; you have to open the windows to avoid sweating, but this is a budget car. So everything went fine, I'm not picky! I then paid about 100 rubles for the trip.

“The first weeks I thought that he was married to Dynamo, and not to me”

Wilkshire didn’t play that much at Terek and, in principle, was ready to change the situation. In the summer he had an offer from one of the Australian clubs, but with little Luke Jr. there was no need to talk about moving to the other side of the world, and without his family Wilkshire would not have felt comfortable even in his homeland. And then an idea arose: why not return to Dynamo and help them solve a historic task: returning to the Premier League?

– For some reason he always knew that he would return. Until the last minute I thought: no, you won’t come back, but he knew,” says Christina.

– I dreamed of being at Dynamo again. Yes, I never wanted to leave, to be honest. In 2014, my contract was expiring, I spoke with sports director Adzhoev, but I heard in response: there are no problems, continue to prepare. And so on until the end of the season. I didn’t know what would happen next, I was in limbo. Then I remember we were sitting in a restaurant, I was looking at something on the Internet and found an interview that said that they were no longer counting on me. But there was no call from the club. This was hard.

The fact that I returned is another story. I wanted to help the club at such a moment. Relegation to the FNL - this should not have happened to a club with such a history. I reached an agreement with Terek, they did not interfere with me in finding a new club, for which I am grateful to everyone in Grozny. When I became a free agent, I immediately offered my services to Dynamo. Yes, yes, I went to the club myself - I really wanted to come back. When I heard a positive response, I felt like my dream was coming true. Now I enjoy every day at Dynamo. It seems to me that I am the happiest person! I am back. There were a lot of jokes about this, of course, they said that the fans were not as eager to get into the stadium as I was, but now everyone has calmed down. Except that the most popular joke directed at me - “Luke, I am your father” - is still used by our rehabilitation doctor Dima Smirnov.

At Dynamo I feel so much love and respect from the club, the players, the fans - from everyone. When I returned, the guard at the base smiled and shook my hand. It was the feeling when you go far away, and then appear on the threshold of your home, and everyone is happy to see you. Then I realized that Dynamo was in my soul, in my heart. I have blue-white blood!

By the way, not only blood - among Luke’s many tattoos (just the other day the happy father added the name and date of birth of his son to them) there is also a Dynamo tattoo.

“The first weeks I thought that he was married to Dynamo, and not to me,” Christina smiles. – He left for training as happy as I had ever seen him. It was something incredible. The man's dream came true, and it became clear that he was not where he was supposed to be.

Having returned to the camp of the blue and white, Wilkshire is happy as a person, but he is hardly completely satisfied as a football player - he plays, as in Terek, not so often.

I hope that Dynamo will be the last club in my career. This is exactly where I would like to end. But this is football - you never know where you will end up. Let's see. I'm not ready to say goodbye to football yet.

Recently I came to visit Luke and Dynamo Kevin Kuranyi.

– Kevin is my good friend, and just like me, he loves Moscow, Dynamo, and is glad to come back here again and again. We talked to him about how we could unite and work as coaches together. We are a good team. He will be the head coach, and Leo Fernandez and I will help him. By the way, things are not going well for Leo at his first and current club Nevells, so he would also be happy to return to Dynamo. At one time, it was he who helped me here, in a new place. And he speaks Russian better than all of us!

Kuranyi: return to Dynamo? Why not

Kevin Kuranyi returned to Moscow and gave an exclusive interview to Championship. He also talked about who he discussed returning to Dynamo with.

“When Luke saw the cartoon “Moidodyr,” his eyes widened.”

By the way, the main language in the Wilkshire family is English. At first, it was difficult for Luke and Christina’s parents to understand each other, but now this barrier has been removed - a mixture of languages ​​and good knowledge of a person works wonders.

I periodically mix two languages, because it’s still difficult to get used to. Our daughter speaks English. Initially, I really wanted Mia to speak only English and simply understand Russian. But now she has picked up Russian words from her grandmother - she reads fairy tales to her and turns on our cartoons. Luke doesn’t mind at all, only once, when he saw the old Soviet “Moidodyr” on TV, he asked to turn it off. His eyes widened at what was happening on the screen. It is very difficult for a person of another culture who did not read Chukovsky as a child to understand what kind of horror is happening with the dishes.

Now, not far from their parents’ house and their current habitat, in the same village near Novogorsk, the Wilkshires are building their own estate. There are even guest rooms for Luke's children from his first marriage, Toby and Paige, who live in England but visit their father several times a year and get along well with his new family. But there are no plans for a football “museum”. But Wilkshire’s T-shirts were used to decorate his playroom by Christina’s brother Egor - like the rest of the family, he is a devoted fan of Luke. Next to the house under construction is a picturesque ravine, Luke’s favorite bar and the beautiful suspended Bridge of Love. It is all the more surprising that the couple do not plan to stay in this family nest for a long time.

We are very happy in Moscow, but we need more sun,” explains Luke. - I like Miami. Many people say, why not return to Australia, because there is sun and sea, but it is very far from everything - from friends, Christina’s family, Europe. Let's see, in the next few years we will definitely be in Moscow, and then we will think about where the climate is better.

Photo: from the archive of Luke and Christina Wilkshire

- Why Miami?
- Sun, beaches, good for children. And also baseball... We were already in Miami, so I spent three hours at the stadium of the local Marlins club. It was all like in a movie. In general, I love American sports – it’s an excellent form of leisure. Matches take place very often, every day. At a baseball game, you have plenty of time to eat, go to the club store, and chat. And at the same time continue to follow the game. In my opinion, perfect. Some people find the game boring and not dynamic enough, but if you know the rules and understand them, you won’t be bored.

It will be harder for Kristina to leave Moscow - after all, it’s her hometown. On the other hand, experience is now aplenty: with little Mia I had to get comfortable in the Netherlands; Luke Jr. was born during his father’s “business trip” to Grozny.

Everything developed so quickly that I didn’t even notice that I gave birth to two children,” Christina laughs. - The Netherlands was my first experience of moving. I really missed Moscow. This did not affect anything, but there was a feeling in my soul that, for example, our stores and pharmacies are open 24 hours. Here I can always find anything I want, at any time of the day, but there it was more difficult. Dynamo administrator Gennady Samodurov sent us milk to Holland because there wasn’t much choice there. And my mother constantly flew in to help. But after that experience I felt better. Now I'm ready for new places and new moves.

The main thing is that we are all together, one family,” Luke interjects. “We can handle the rest.” I will feel good at that point in the world where Christina and the children will be. And in any case, we will come to Russia; it will remain the home country for our entire family.

Interview: , .
Photoshoot: Pavel Tkachuk.

Christina Wilkshire: When I first flew to Grozny, I was stunned

Christina Wilkshire, the wife of Terek defender Luke Wilkshire, said that her husband had several offers after leaving Feyenoord in the summer.

Christina Wilkshire, the wife of Terek defender Luke Wilkshire, said that her husband had several offers after leaving Feyenoord in the summer.

“Luke had several options for continuing his career. I don’t know why, but we, his household, wanted him to move to Terek. It was interesting to get to Grozny. I had never been here before, and it was unusual and interesting.

When we arrived in Grozny for the first time, I was stunned. Hearing is one thing, but visiting is another. And after a couple of days spent here, I said that we need to stay,” the Terek official website quotes Christina Wilshkir.

source: FC Akhmat

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