Viktor Anatoliyovych Skrypnyk (; born 19 November 1969) is a Ukrainian professional football manager and former player who has been the manager of Ukrainian Premier League club Zorya Luhansk since 2025. As a player, he played as a left-back and he helped Werder Bremen to the league and cup double in 2004.
Skrypnyk became the first Ukrainian head coach in Bundesliga.Nikolaev, S. Viktor Skrypnyk: Stange opened [my] eyes on many [things] (Виктор Скрипник: Штанге раскрыл глаза на многое). Pressball. 17 February 2015
Playing career Before playing professionally, in 1987–88 Skrypnyk participated in the reserve competitions of the Soviet Top League for Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk playing some 46 games. In 1987 Skrypnyk also played one game for Dnipro in the Soviet Cup.
In 1989 Skrypnyk signed with the prime Zaporizhzhia club Metalurh that played at the Soviet First League (tier 2) and for which he started his professional career. His debut in the Soviet Top League (Vysshaya Liga), Skrypnyk made for FC Metalurh Zaporizhya (Metallurg) in 1991 along with the club's debut at the top level. He continued to play for the Zaporizhzhia team after dissolution of the Soviet Union when the Metalurh Zaporizhya was admitted to the Vyshcha Liha (Ukrainian Top League) in 1992–1994. In the mid-1990s Skrypnyk returned to his "home" club in Dnipro for couple of seasons. In 1995–1996 he played for FC Dnipro when it was coached by Bernd Stange who later recommended Skrypnyk to WerderBarkov, Oleh. Muzhik for "muzhiks" (Виктор Скрипник: мужик для "мужиков"). Footboom. 4 June 2019 that was coached by Hans-Jürgen Dörner.Viktor Skrypnyk. Peoples.ru Around that time he was also called up to the Ukraine national football team for which Skrypnyk debuted in 1994. In 1996 he was sold for 1.5 million DM to the German side Werder Bremen with which he stayed for about 22 years (1996–2018).Viktor Skrypnyk (all international games) . Kopanyi myach.info During the 1999–2000 season Skrypnyk was injured several times and even hospitalized - because of that he did not play neither for the club nor the national team. At the end of 2002–03 season Skrypnyk again sustained a major injury and recovered only by the winter intermission of the 2003–04. After the 2003–04 season aged at 34, he decided to retire.
Coaching career After retiring from playing career Skrypnyk stayed with Werder as a coach at the Werder's football academy. His coaching UEFA license "A" Skrypnyk received initially in Kyiv and supposedly it had to be good across whole Europe. But in Germany no one was acknowledging the license and he had to take the coaching courses again in Germany. At first it was the category "B" license which allowed Skrypnyk to train children. With time he received the top category license.
Skrypnyk became head coach of Werder Bremen II from 18 June 2013 until 25 October 2014 when he took over the first team of Werder Bremen. He finished with a record of 31 wins, seven draws, and nine losses for the reserve team. He made his debut against Chemnitzer FC in the DFB-Pokal on 28 October 2014. He was sacked on 18 September 2016 along with assistant coach Torsten Frings.
On 5 July 2018, he was appointed as the new manager of Latvian Higher League club Riga FC. On 5 February 2019 it was announced, that Skripnik had left the club.Viktor Skripnik nicht mehr Trainer des FC Riga, deichstube.de, 5 February 2019
On 10 June 2022 Skrypnyk was appointed as new manager of Vorskla Poltava. On 20 December 2023 he had left FC Vorskla and was appointed as new manager of Metalist 1925 Kharkiv. On 26 July 2024, Skrypnyk resigned from Metalist 1925.
On 16 June 2025, Skrypnyk was appointed as new manager of Zorya Luhansk.
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsDnepr Dnepropetrovsk 1987Soviet Top League0010000010Metallurg Zaporozhye1989Soviet First League200000002019901901000002001991Soviet Top League2500000002501992Vyshcha Liha1814100002221992–932825000003321993–94324320000356Total1247133000013710–Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1994–95Vyshcha Liha3187000003181995–963163200003481996–972300000023Total641710200007419–Werder Bremen1996–97Bundesliga2210000002211997–982301000002401998–991603010002001999–0050100000602000–011001030001402001–023142010003442002–032514030003212003–046110000071Total138713080001597–Career total32631130800034731–
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsUkraine199430199541199651199750199800199910200000200110200240200310Total242
+ List of international goals scored by Viktor SkrypnykNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1Slovenia–Ukraine (1995). Footballfacts.ru 11 October 1995 Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia 1–0 2–3 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying2Ukraine–Lithuania (1996). Footballfacts.ru 13 August 1996 Olimpiyskiy NSC, Kyiv, Ukraine 2–1 5–2 Friendly
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamNatFromToRecordWerder Bremen II18 June 201325 October 2014Werder Bremen25 October 201418 September 2016Riga5 July 20185 February 2019Zorya Luhansk3 June 2019Present Total—
Honours
As player Werder Bremen Bundesliga: 2003–04 DFB-Pokal: 1998–99, 2003–04
As manager Riga FC Latvian Higher League: 2018 Latvian Football Cup: 2018
Zorya Luhansk Ukrainian Cup: Runner-Up 2020-21
Individual Best Coach of Ukrainian Premier League: 2019–20 Ukrainian Premier League Manager of the Month: February 2021, September 2021, November 2021
References
External links