Ukrainian Premier League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vyscha Liha |
|---|
 Vyscha Liha 2007-08 |
 |
| Founded |
| 1991 |
| Nation |
 Ukraine |
| Relegation To |
| Ukrainian First League |
| Number of Teams |
| 16 |
| European Qualification |
| Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup |
| Cups |
| Ukrainian Cup |
| Current Champions (2007-08) |
| Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Website |
| Official |
The Ukrainian Premier League (Ukrainian: "Вища Ліга", Vyshcha Liha) is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. The league was founded in 1991 after the fold of Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. 2007-08 is the league's 17th season. Up until now the league was subsidized by the government and from economical point of view was not a profitable organization. On April 17, 2008 the new Premier-League was re-estblished. The new organization is completely independent entity and consists of 16 football club organizations under the guidance of the FFU.[citation needed]
The format of the League will stay the same. The changes that were made are exclusively administrative. The teams that reach the top of the competition table at the end of a season, will gain a chance to represent Ukraine internationally in several prestigeous tournaments. Also at the end of the season, the bottom two clubs are relegated to the Persha Liha and replaced by the two top clubs from that league.
As of 2008, FC Shakhtar Donetsk is the reigning Ukrainian Premier League champion. SC Tavriya Simferopol won the first championship, and all subsequent titles have gone to either Dynamo or FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Only 5 teams, Dynamo, Shakhtar, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Tavria, and Metalurh Zaporizhia have participated in all 16 Ukrainian Vyscha Liha competitions.
The league, as well as the lower divisions, is governed by the Professional Football League (PFL) of Ukraine. The PFL is an association that represents 67 Ukrainian professional football clubs, which are represented by 78 teams (a few clubs have more than one team, which play in different divisions)[1]. The professional league was organized in 1996; before that, Vyscha Liha was governed solely by the Football Federation of Ukraine.
Contents |
[edit] Calendar
Clubs play each other twice (once at home and once away) to make up the 30-match season. The league begins in mid-July and ends in mid-June. After 15 rounds of fixtures, there is a winter break that lasts for three months (from early December to early March). Thus, the winter break is significantly longer than the interval between seasons. Such organization accounts for climatic conditions and matches of most European leagues in terms of beginning and end of the season.
The first season of the League in 1992 was exceptional as it lasted for only half a year. This was because the last Soviet league season ended in autumn of 1991, and the Football Federation of Ukraine decided to shift the calendar from “spring-fall” to “fall-spring” football seasons. In the premiere season, 20 clubs were divided into two 10-team groups. In both groups, each club played each other twice, and the championship was decided by a play-off match between the group winners, in which Tavriya beat Dynamo.
After the first season, in each of the following seasons each team played each other team in the League twice. The number of participating teams fluctuated between 14 and 18, stabilizing for the last five seasons at 16.
As of the 2005-06 season, the golden match rule was introduced. According to the rule, if the first two teams obtain the same number of points, the championship is to be decided by an additional "golden" match between the two teams. In fact, in that season Dynamo and Shakhtar had earned the same number of points and Shakhtar won the championship by winning the golden match (2:1 after extra time).
[edit] Players
Prior to 2000, only several foreign players represented Ukrainian clubs, and even those players were mostly from countries that were once a part of the Soviet Union. However, in 2000-01, the number of foreign players participating in the Vyscha Liha had tallied more than 30 players and by 2003-04 season, the figure had increased to 37% of the league's players.[2] Only 2 players from Ukraine's domestic leagues competed in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, while at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the Vyscha Liha was the 6th-most represented league with 25 players in the competition, including 17 of the 23 players in Ukraine's squad.
As a result of this increase in foreign-born players, clubs in the Vyscha Liha are allowed to field no more than seven foreigners at one time from this season and this limit is expected to worsen to six foreigners. In addition, clubs are subject to a $15,000 fine upon acquiring a foreign player. One of the biggest proponents of the foreigner limit is the national team coach Oleg Blokhin, who threatened to quit the national team if the limit was not made stricter.[3]
The clubs mainly affected by this rule include the few clubs that participate annually in European competitions. They argue that the foreigner-limit is detrimental to the development of Ukrainian football in general. However, as a result of this limit, these clubs have had to increase their efforts finding and training Ukrainian talent that is good enough to represent these teams.
The foreigner-limit itself has also been recently contested by several cases, but primarily by one filed by Georgian international Georgi Demetradze, who argued that the limit impeded on his working rights and is illegal under the Ukrainian constitution. The courts however argued that no case exists, such that players are not guaranteed first-team football, and subsequently the limit is not considered a violation of trade.[4]
[edit] Presidents
[edit] Ukrainian Premier League 2007-08
In the 2007-08 season, the Ukrainian Premier League consisted of the following teams:
FC Illychivets Mariupol and FC Stal Alchevsk, the two worst teams in the league in 2006-07, were relegated to the Ukrainian First League. FC Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka and FC Zakarpattia Uzhhorod were promoted to take their place.
[edit] UEFA Ranking
UEFA Club Ranking for club seeding in 2008-09 European football season (Previous year rank in italics, UEFA Club Coefficients in parentheses)[5]
- 46 ▲ (49) Shakhtar Donetsk (49.932)
- 74 ▼ (61) Dynamo Kyiv (34.932)
- 81 ▲ (89) Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (31.932)
- 146 ▲ (147) Metalurh Donetsk (12.932)
- 163 ▲ (new) Metalist Kharkiv (10.932)
- 163 ▼ (157) Metalurh Zaporizhzhya (10.932)
- Out ▼ (167) Arsenal Kyiv
- New ▬ (N/A) Tavriya Simferopol
Note: Since 1999 country index (coefficient) indicates the lowest possible value for any team of that country to qualify for ranking. It's no less then 9.932 for Ukraine.
UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2008-09 European football season (Previous year rank in italics) [6]
- 9 ▬ (9)
Russian League - 10 ▲ (11)
Scottish League - 11 ▲ (13) Ukrainian League
- 12 ▬ (12)
.svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png)
Belgian League - 13 ▲ (14)
Czech Republic League
[edit] Champions and top goalscorers
[edit] Performance by club
| Club | Winners | Runners-Up | 3rd Position | Seasons Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamo Kyiv | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2006-07 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | 9 | 0 | 2001-02, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2007-08 |
| Tavriya Simferopol | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1992 |
| Chornomorets Odessa | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| Metalurh Donetsk | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Metalist Kharkiv | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Vorskla Poltava | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Karpaty Lviv | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[edit] Top scorers
| Player | Games | Goals | |
| 1 | Serhiy Rebrov [8] | 252 | 122 |
| 2 | Oleksandr Haidash | 259 | 95 |
| 3 | Serhiy Mizin [8] | 336 | 89 |
| 4 | Maksim Shatskikh [8] | 185 | 87 |
| 5 | Timerlan Huseinov | 215 | 85 |
| 6 | Oleh Matviiv | 213 | 81 |
| 7 | Andriy Vorobei [8] | 219 | 80 |
| 8 | Oleksandr Palyanytsia | 260 | 79 |
| 9 | Valentyn Poltavets [8] | 315 | 75 |
| 10 | Serhiy Atelkin | 113 | 67 |
| = | Ivan Hetsko | 118 | 67 |
| = | Viktor Leonenko | 210 | 67 |
| Data through 2006-07 season. | |||
| Player | Games | Goals | |
| 1 | Serhiy Rebrov | 252 | 122 |
| 2 | Serhiy Mizin | 336 | 89 |
| 3 | Maksim Shatskikh | 185 | 87 |
| 4 | Andriy Vorobei | 219 | 80 |
| 5 | Valentyn Poltavets | 315 | 75 |
| 6 | Konstantin Babych | 280 | 65 |
| 7 | Hennady Zubov | 254 | 63 |
| = | Serhiy Zakarliuka | 268 | 63 |
| 9 | Oleksandr Kosyrin | 179 | 59 |
| 10 | Vasyl Gigiadze | 152 | 53 |
| Data through 2006-07 season. | |||
- Further information: UPL Individual Records
Ex-Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv striker Serhiy Rebrov holds the record for most UPL goals with 122, despite winning the top single season scorer title only once. The all-time runner-up with 95 goals, Oleksandr Haidash, has never won a single season scorer title.
Since the first UPL season in 1992, 15 different players have won or shared the top scorers title. No player has won the title in consecutive seasons and only two players have won the title more than once, Timerlan Huseinov and Maksim Shatskikh. Serhiy Rebrov and Maksim Shatskikh hold the record for most goals in a season (22) and are the only two players to score at least 20 goals twice. The most prolific career and single season scorers are Ivan Hetsko and Andriy Vorobei, respectively attaining 0.59 and 0.88 goals per game.
Dynamo Kyiv became the first and only team to have scored 1,000 goals in the UPL after Diogo Rincon scored, in a 1:1 draw against Metalurh Donetsk, in the 2006–07 season.
[edit] Top 10 managers
| Rating | Name | Club(s) | Points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valery Lobanovsky |
FC Dynamo Kyiv | 25 | 5 | - | - |
| 2 |  Mircea Lucescu |
FC Shakhtar Donetsk | 21 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 3 | Oleksiy Mykhailychenko |
FC Dynamo Kyiv | 13 | 2 | 1 | - |
| 3 | Yozhef Sabo |
FC Dynamo Kyiv | 13 | 2 | 1 | - |
| 5 | Valery Yaremchenko |
FC Shakhtar Donetsk | 12 | - | 4 | - |
| 6 | Mykola Pavlov |
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk FC Dynamo Kyiv |
9 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Anatoliy Demyanenko |
FC Dynamo Kyiv | 8 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 7 | Viktor Prokopenko |
FC Chornomorets Odessa FC Shakhtar Donetsk |
8 | - | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Leonid Buriak |
FC Chornomorets Odessa | 6 | - | 2 | - |
| 10 |  Nevio Scala |
FC Shakhtar Donetsk | 5 | 1 | - | - |
| 10 | Mykhailo Fomenko |
FC Dynamo Kyiv | 5 | 1 | - | - |
| 10 | Anatoliy Zayaev |
SC Tavriya Simferopol | 5 | 1 | - | - |
This rating is of the best managers in the League since its foundation in 1991. It is based on the following factors:
1st place - 5 points,
2nd place - 3 points,
3rd place - 1 point.
There are over 20 managers who brought their teams to the top of the League over its history.
[edit] All-time Participants
The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons. All figures are correct through the 2007-08 season.[10]
| 1992 | 92/93 | 93/94 | 94/95 | 95/96 | 96/97 | 97/98 | 98/99 | 99/00 | 00/01 | 01/02 | 02/03 | 03/04 | 04/05 | 05/06 | 06/07 | 07/08 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 20 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Arsenal Kyiv [11] | 4 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 6 | ||||
| Borysfen Boryspil | 7 | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| Bukovyna Chernivtsi | 10 | 12 | 17 | ||||||||||||||
| Chornomorets Odessa | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7 | |||
| Dynamo Kyiv | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Illychivets Mariupol | 14 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 15 | |||||||
| Karpaty Lviv | 13 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 8 | 10 | ||
| FC Kharkiv | 13 | 12 | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| Kremin Kremenchuk | 14 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 15 | |||||||||||
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 8 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 13 | |
| Metalist Kharkiv | 6 | 5 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Metalurh Donetsk | 7 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 12 | ||||||
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhya | 11 | 7 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 16 | 15 | |||||||||||||||
| Nyva Ternopil | 7 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 14 | |||||||
| Nyva Vinnytsia | 15 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ||||||||||||
| Obolon Kyiv | 14 | 6 | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| Olexandria | 13 | 13 | |||||||||||||||
| Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | 17 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 14 | ||||||||||
| SC Mykolaiv | 18 | 13 | 16 | 16 | |||||||||||||
| SCA Odessa | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Stal Alchevsk | 13 | 11 | 16 | ||||||||||||||
| Tavriya Simferopol | 1 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Temp Shepetivka | 19 | 9 | 17 | ||||||||||||||
| Torpedo Zaporizhzhya | 8 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 16 | ||||||||||
| Veres Rivne | 16 | 11 | 18 | ||||||||||||||
| Volyn Lutsk | 9 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 6 | 13 | 8 | 15 | ||||||||
| Vorskla Poltava | 3 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 13 | 8 | |||||
| Zakarpattia Uzhhorod | 14 | 12 | 16 | 16 | |||||||||||||
| Zirka Kirovohrad | 6 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 16 | |||||||||||
| Zorya Luhansk | 12 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 11 | 11 |
[edit] Stadia
| Rank | Stadium | Capacity [12] | Club | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NSC Olimpiysky | 83,450 | None at the moment | Largest stadium in Ukraine, Dynamo Kyiv plays its major European matches on this ground, annual venue for the Ukrainian Cup final |
| 2 | Tsentralnyi-Chornomorets Stadium | 34,362 | Chornomorets Odessa | Annual venue for the Ukrainian Super Cup |
| 3 | Shakhtar Stadium | 31,718 | Metalurh Donetsk | |
| 4 | Metalist Stadium | 30,133 | (temporarilly in emergency conditions) | While upgrades are taking place, max capacity is at 22,757 (planned capacity is 42,000+) |
| 5 | Metalurh Stadium | 29,783 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | |
| 6 | Ukraina Stadium | 28,051 | Karpaty Lviv | Plans to upgrade to ~40,000 seats in prep for Euro 2012 |
| 7 | RSK Olimpiyskiy | 25,831 | Shakhtar Donetsk | Moving to new UEFA 5-star 50,000-seat venue in 2008 |
| 8 | Vorskla Stadium | 25,000 | Vorskla Poltava FC Kharkiv (temporarilly) |
|
| 9 | Stadium Meteor | 24,381 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | Moving to new 31,003-seat arena in 2007 |
| 10 | Avanhard Stadium | 22,320 | Zorya Luhansk | |
| 11 | Lokomotiv Stadium | 19,978 | Tavriya Simferopol | |
| 12 | Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium | 16,873 | Dynamo Kyiv Arsenal Kyiv |
Arsenal Kyiv is temporarily playing at this stadium |
| 13 | Avanhard Stadium | 12,000 | Zakarpattia Uzhhorod | |
| 14 | Slavutych Arena | 11,983 | Metalurh Zaporizhia | |
| 15 | Dynamo Stadium | 6,000 | Helios Kharkiv (host, plays in the lower leagues) Metalist Kharkiv (temporarily) |
|
| 16 | Naftovyk Stadium | 5,256 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka |
[edit] League attendance
All attendance figures are correct through 05/06 season. [13]
| Season | Att Per Match | Total Att | Highest Att By Team (Att By Team) | Highest Home Att By Team (Att By Team) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 5,650 | 1,028,270 | Dynamo Kyiv (8,631) | Nyva Ternopil (11,133) |
| 1992-93 | 5,835 | 1,400,480 | Dynamo Kyiv (7,682) | Nyva Ternopil (10,725) |
| 1993-94 | 5,887 | 1,801,520 | Dynamo Kyiv (8,674) | Veres Rivne (11,059) |
| 1994-95 | 5,557 | 1,694,980 | Dynamo Kyiv (8,009) | SC Mykolaiv (9,600) |
| 1995-96 | 5,926 | 1,789,650 | ? | ? |
| 1996-97 | 5,800 | 1,390,700 | ? | ? |
| 1997-98 | 5,879 | 1,405,050 | Karpaty Lviv (9,937) | Karpaty Lviv (13,767) |
| 1998-99 | 7,588 | 1,821,100 | Dynamo Kyiv (12,040) | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (15,960) |
| 1999-00 | 8,112 | 1,947,000 | Shakhtar Donetsk (13,333) | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (16,233) |
| 2000-01 | 9,302 | 1,692,950 | Shakhtar Donetsk (20,190) | Shakhtar Donetsk (24,462) |
| 2001-02 | 9,712 | 1,767,607 | Shakhtar Donetsk (18,689) | Shakhtar Donetsk (25,615) |
| 2002-03 | 7,415 | 1,779,525 | Shakhtar Donetsk (16,332) | Shakhtar Donetsk (20,833) |
| 2003-04 | 7,725 | 1,854,060 | Shakhtar Donetsk (14,922) | Shakhtar Donetsk (17,931) |
| 2004-05 | 7,302 | 1,737,777 | Shakhtar Donetsk (16,555) | Shakhtar Donetsk (19,957) |
| 2005-06 | 7,919 | 1,908,424 | Shakhtar Donetsk (15,875) | Shakhtar Donetsk (19,358) |
| 2006-07 | 9,052 | 2,163,490 | Shakhtar Donetsk (16,966) | Shakhtar Donetsk (19,193) |
[edit] References
- ^ Professional Football League of Ukraine. PFL. Retrieved on May 31, 2007.
- ^ Foreigners: limit or blasphemy?. Komanda Newspaper. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ Foreigner limit is worsened in Ukraine. Terrikon. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ Courts back Ukrainian quotas. UEFA. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ UEFA Team Ranking 2007. Bert Kassies. Retrieved on May 30, 2007.
- ^ UEFA Country Ranking 2007. Bert Kassies. Retrieved on May 30, 2007.
- ^ Ukrainian Football Database Spreadsheet (To access, copy link location directly to your URL bar). User:Palffy. Retrieved on July 4, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Currently active on a Premier League team's roster
- ^ Ukrainian Football Database Spreadsheet (To access, copy link location directly to your URL bar). User:Palffy. Retrieved on July 4, 2007.
- ^ Ukrainian Championships and Cups. UkrSoccerHistory.Com. Retrieved on May 31, 2007.
- ^ FC Arsenal Kyiv was renamed from FC CSKA Kyiv in 2001, a new club named FC CSKA Kyiv was created in the Ukrainian First Division
- ^ Attendance figures for the 17th season of Ukrainian Premier League. UA Football. Retrieved on August 3, 2007.
- ^ Ukrainian Soccer Net. UkrainianSoccer.Com. Retrieved on May 31, 2007.
[edit] See also
- Soviet Top League
- Vyscha Liha Records
- Channel One Cup (football)
- Commonwealth of Independent States Cup
[edit] External links
- (Ukrainian) Professional football league of Ukraine - official site
- (Ukrainian)/(English) Football Federation of Ukraine - official site
- (English) Ukrainian Soccer Fan Club (ukrainiansoccer.net) - amateur's site
- (Ukrainian)/(Russian)/(English) Ukrainian Football - fans page
- (English)/(Ukrainian) History of Ukrainian Football (ukrsoccerhistory.com) - amateur's site
