Dmitri Kharine

Dmitri Viktorovich Kharine (Russian: Дмитрий Викторович Харин, (born 16 August 1968) is a Russian football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach of National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town.

As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1982 until 2004, notably in the Premier League for Chelsea, after playing for Moscow clubs Torpedo, Dynamo and CSKA. He finished his professional career in the Scottish Premier League with Celtic, before returning to England to play for non-league Hornchurch. He earned international caps for the USSR, CIS and the Russian national football teams.

Kharine joined Luton Town in 2004 as goalkeeping coach, and remained with the club until 2013 late joining Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead Town in a similar capacity.

Club career

Russian football

He played for Russian sides Torpedo Moscow, Dynamo Moscow and CSKA Moscow in the early part of his career, before moving to English FA Premier League club Chelsea in December 1992 for £400,000.

Chelsea

With Chelsea, Kharine impressed in their run to the 1994 FA Cup Final – though he conceded four goals in the final itself – and then the club's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup run a year later, where they reached the semi-finals in their first European campaign since the 1970s. His later years at the club were blighted by injury problems and the signing of Dutch goalkeeper Ed de Goey, which limited him to 20 appearances in his last three seasons. In total, he played in 146 games for Chelsea.

Kharine was not fit for inclusion in Chelsea's FA Cup Final triumph at the end of the 1996–97 season (Norwegian Frode Grodås played instead), and was not chosen in the squad for the Cup Winners' Cup and League Cup final victories a year later. When Gianluca Vialli became Chelsea manager he established de Goey as the club's first choice goalkeeper; Kharine was limited to five appearances that season, mainly in cup games. He remained at the club as a reserve goalkeeper for a further two seasons after this.

Celtic

Kharine signed for Scottish side Celtic in the summer of 1999 on a free transfer. He arrived at Celtic Park as the first signing of new management team John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish, but injury problems ensured that he played just 11 games for the club (8 in the league).

Hornchurch

He was released in the summer of 2002 and signed for non-League club Hornchurch, where he was sent off on his debut.