For many years, the football club Isloch was supported at matches by the "fierce accordionist". Where is he now?

Where did he come from?

The accordionist's name is Valer Kalantay. He told the club's press service about himself in 2019. He was born in Zaslawye, but moved to Mikhanavichy in the Minsk region, where he found his wife. He worked for 20 years at a local school as a history, labor, and music teacher. Among his students were the future head coach of Isloch, Vitaly Zhukovsky, and also future player Igor Zyulev.

Kalantay also worked part-time as a toastmaster. After leaving school, he became a private entrepreneur — he organized a musical mini-collective 'Harmonika' (the repertoire consisted of folk songs and songs by Russian artists, as well as 1980s hits), performing in sanatoriums, as well as in various villages and towns. In addition, Kalantay was a member of the band White Russians, which toured Germany, 'played for German acquaintances, promoted Belarusian and Russian music in Europe'.

He became a fan of Isloch back in 2016 after learning about the club from the news. Later he sent his son to the Isloch Youth Sports School — he trained together with Zhukovsky's son.

At first, Kalantay went to matches without an accordion. Sometimes, at away games, he was the only Isloch fan. He first brought the instrument in the 2018 season to add a special touch to the 'wolves'' support and do something that hadn't been done before. Over time, the accordionist became the calling card of the club from the Minsk region.

Fame came to the fan in 2020, when the whole world wrote about Belarus, which was almost the only country in the world at that time that did not stop its football championship, despite the threat of COVID. In Russia, he was called the 'hero of the day'. A report titled 'Fierce Accordionist Valera' was published on one of the platforms.

The accordion could still be heard at Isloch matches in the 2024 season. But then the instrument disappeared from the public space, as did Kalantay himself. So what happened?

Rarely at matches due to work abroad

53-year-old Kalantay has several social media pages, but they haven't been updated for a long time: Instagram — since April 2023, Facebook — since April 2020. The White Russians collective, of which Kalantay was a member, has a YouTube channel, but there are only three videos there, posted back in 2020. Among them is 'Fierce clip against coronavirus with the Isloch accordionist'.

In Belarusian football circles, there were rumors that Kalantay had moved to Germany, where he previously toured. However, as Betting.team managed to find out, the Belarusian's current life is not connected with Europe, although he indeed spends a significant part of his time abroad.

Now Kalantay very often travels to Moscow. It happens that he is absent from Belarus for weeks. He works as a host at weddings, anniversaries, and other celebrations, and also plays the accordion. There are a lot of orders, so it's not easy to break away and come home. The provincial showman has been living in this rhythm for about two years now.

Павялічыць

In Germany, he also continues to perform — now independently, because the band White Russians broke up after the balalaika player moved to Poland.

Nevertheless, whenever possible, Kalantay tries to attend Isloch matches. This season he attended five home games, always with his accordion. He was also there on October 28 for an extremely important match against Vitebsk 'ML', in which the team from the Minsk region defeated the reigning champion and significantly increased their chances in the championship race. The celebration of Adeola Alale's goal — the only one that day at the 'Olympic' sports complex — took place to the sounds of the instrument.

Already that evening after the game, Kalantay, who maintains contact with experienced fans of the team and its ex-head coach Zhukovsky, left Belarus.

His son, who previously trained at the Isloch Youth Sports School, was forbidden to play football by doctors. Now the young man, like his father, is an active fan of Isloch.

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