Players - Andriy Voronin

Andriy Voronin
Birthdate: 21 July 1979
Birthplace: Odessa, Ukraine
Other clubs: Borussia Mönchengladbach (1997-2000), Mainz 05 (2000-03), FC Köln (2003-04), Bayer Leverkusen (2004-07), Hertha Berlin (loan 2008-09), Dynamo Moscow (2010-14), Fortuna Dusseldorf (loan 2012-13)
Signed from: Free Transfer
Signed for LFC: Bosman, 06.07.2007
International debut: 27.03.2002 vs. Romania
International caps: 70/7 - 15.06.2012
Liverpool debut: 11.08.2007
Last appearance: 04.11.2009
Debut goal: 15.08.2007
Last goal: 11.05.2008
Contract expiry: 10.01.2010
Win ratio: 45% W:18 D:11 L:11
Games/goals ratio: 6.67
Games/assists ratio: 8
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 2 / 0
League games / goals / assists: 27 / 5 / 3
Total games / goals / assists: 40 / 6 / 5

Player Profile

Voronin wasn't exactly the biggest name in the world when he arrived at Liverpool on Bosman in July 2007. The Ukranian plied his trade in Germany after leaving his childhood club, Chornomorets Odesa, in his home country, at only 16. Voronin made his Bundesliga debut against Bayern München in December 1997 but it wasn't until he moved to Mainz when he got his big break. He topped the second division scoring charts in the 2002/03 season with 21 goals in 30 matches. Voronin was playing for Bayer Leverkusen when the club faced Liverpool in the Champions League in 2005. Rafa thought he was Leverkusen's best player against the Reds and didn't waste any time to snap him up on a free once his contract expired in the summer. Partly because of injury but also because of competition for places, Voronin's first season at Anfield could neither be called a success nor a failure. His first 'start', in the Champions League qualifier in Toulouse, saw a thrilling goal which won the match and set the team up nicely for a subsequent aggregate victory and a place in the lucrative group stage of the competition. League goals soon followed at Sunderland and at home to Derby. He was outstanding in the 8-0 annihilation of Besiktas even though he didn't end up on the scoresheet himself. Early in the New Year, he injured his ankle during a training session and was sidelined for several weeks. He returned to the first-team picture again towards the end of the season, was a scoring substitute against Blackburn and repeated that feat at Tottenham on the final day of the League season. Six goals in 28 matches seems might like a meagre contribution for a striker but circumstances dictated that he was always going to be behind the other forwards when it came to team-selection. However, he worked hard and proved to be fairly effective in the limited playing-time he had during 2007/08.

Rafa clearly wanted him to move him on after only one year and on transfer deadline day he was loaned to Hertha Berlin for the 2008/09 season. Voronin was a great success at Hertha which finished fourth in the Bundesliga. He scored 11 goals in 20 league matches and Hertha wanted to sign him permanently, but couldn't afford him so he returned to Liverpool. Voronin was a peripheral figure at Liverpool in the 2009/10 season and finally left for Moscow in the 2010 January transfer window. Voronin had two decent seasons for Dynamo Moscow and then ten days after his thirty-third birthday, on 31 July 2012, moved on loan for a year to German Bundesliga club Fortuna Dusseldorf where he appeared ten times in the Bundesliga and once in the German Cup during his loan-spell in the 2012/13 season. He failed to score in any of these matches.

The Ukrainian forward was back with Moscow Dynamo in 2013/14 after his year in Germany with Fortuna Düsseldorf. He played in seventeen Russian league matches (ten from the start and seven as a substitute) scoring seven times, which included a hat-trick against Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast. Dynamo finished the season in 4th place, which meant qualification for the Play-off round of the Europa League in the 2014/15 season.The 35-year-old announced his retirement from football during the second week of February 2015. 

In 2017 Voronin took on a scouting role with the Ukrainian FA, tasked with watching their players who were appearing in foreign leagues. He returned to his old club Moscow Dynamo as assistant manager in October 2020. However, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he fled Moscow with his family on a flight to Amsterdam and his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 1st March. 
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 27 1 2 10 0 40
2007-2008 19 1 1 7 0 28
2008-2009 0 0 0 0 0 0
2009-2010 8 0 1 3 0 12
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
4 174 Arsenal
3 243 Fulham
3 159 Tottenham
2 163 Birmingham City
2 162 Besiktas
2 107 Derby
2 107 Sunderland
2 77 Porto
2 73 Lyon
2 36 Aston Villa
1 90 Chelsea
1 90 Everton
1 90 Portsmouth
1 90 Reading
1 78 Toulouse
1 75 Middlesbrough
1 21 Burnley
1 20 Luton Town
1 20 Marseille
1 16 Bolton Wanderers
1 13 Hull City
1 12 Manchester City
1 10 Fiorentina
1 8 Stoke City
1 8 Wigan Athletic
1 5 Blackburn Rovers
Total Started/substitutions
21 Started
8 On the bench
19 Substitute
12 Substituted
Total Venue
25 Away
15 Home
Total Competition
27 Premier League
10 Champions League
2 League Cup
1 FA Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
40 18 11 11 45% Rafa Benítez
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 5 0 0 1 0 6
2007-2008 5 0 0 1 0 6
2008-2009 0 0 0 0 0 0
2009-2010 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Started/substitutions
4 Started
2 Substitute
Total Competition
5 Premier League
1 Champions League
Total Goal minute period
1 1-15 minutes
1 31-45 minutes
1 61-75 minutes
3 76-90 minutes
Total Goal origin
6 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 3 0 0 2 0 5
2007-2008 2 0 0 2 0 4
2008-2009 0 0 0 0 0 0
2009-2010 1 0 0 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 11.08.2007 Aston Villa Villa Park League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 43 15.08.2007 Toulouse Stadium Municipal Europe
Related Articles
Torres and Voronin spark new optimism

The Observer match report from 25.08.2007 on Sunderland - Liverpool.

Liverpool Echo report

Liverpool Echo report on Toulouse - Liverpool on 15.08.2007 by Chris Bascombe.

Related Quotes

"Sometimes when you bring in a player on a Bosman they turn out to be worth their weight in gold. To get a player like Andriy Voronin for free, we could be looking at one of the best signings of the season.

Rafa won't need to spend a lot of time telling someone like Voronin what to do. A player of his experience and ability knows instinctively when to move and where to run to. You can tell just from a few performances already that he is very assured and knows exactly what he is doing. He reminds me a bit of Teddy Sheringham with his eye for a pass and the positions he takes up.

Players like Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel represent buying potential. These players will only get better and better every year they play in the Premier League with better players around them. The manager will then add to these as he goes along. On the other hand, players like Yossi Benayoun and Andriy Voronin have arrived as experienced international footballers who have been around for a while. These are always valuable players to have at your disposal."

Gary Mac on Andriy Voronin in September 2007

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Gladbach 1997-1998 Germany 1 7 1 8 1
Gladbach 1998-1999 Germany 1 0 0 0 0
Gladbach 1999-2000 Germany 1 2 0 2 0
Mainz 2000-2001 Germany 2 10 1 11 1
Mainz 2001-2002 Germany 2 34 8 36 9
Mainz 2002-2003 Germany 2 31 20 32 20
Köln 2003-2004 Germany 1 19 4 21 6
Leverkusen 2004-2005 Germany 1 32 15 40 17
Leverkusen 2005-2006 Germany 1 29 7 33 8
Leverkusen 2006-2007 Germany 1 31 10 43 12
Hertha Berlin 2008-2009 Germany 1 27 11 33 11
Dinamo Moscow 2009-2010 Russia 1 26 4 29 4
Dinamo Moscow 2011-2012 Russia 1 37 11 41 13
Fortuna Dusseldorf 2012-2013 Germany 1 9 0 10 0
Dinamo Moscow 2013-2014 Russia 1 17 7 17 7
Total 311 99 356 109