Ukrainian Premier League

Ukrainian Premier League

The Ukrainian Premier League logo
Countries  Ukraine
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Founded 1991/2008
Number of teams 16
Levels on pyramid 1
Relegation to Ukrainian First League
Domestic cup(s) Ukrainian Cup
Ukrainian Super Cup
International cup(s) Champions League
Europa League
Current champions FC Shakhtar Donetsk
(2009–10)
Most championships Dynamo Kyiv (13)
Website Official Site
2010–11 Ukrainian Premier League

The Ukrainian Premier League (Ukrainian: "Прем'єр-Ліга", Premyer-Liha) is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League (Vyshcha Liha) it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed its name to the current one. Its rank is 6th highest in Europe as rated by UEFA as of August 2010.

Contents

Overview

The season 2009–10 was the league's second after break away from the Professional Football League (PFL) in 2008 and 19th season from Soviet Top League fold. Until 2007 the league was subsidized by the government and from the economical point of view was not a profitable organization. To fix that issue the League tried to attract few sponsors since 2007 season: Soyuz-Viktan(2007) and Biolaa(2008). On April 15, 2008 the new Premier-League[1] was formed. The title sponsor of the League became the national network of the construction supermarkets EpiCentre K. The new organization is a completely independent entity and consists of 16 football club organizations under the guidance of the Football Federation of Ukraine. [2] 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 prestigious tournaments. Also at the end of the season, the bottom two clubs are relegated to the Persha Liha (organized by the Professional Football League) 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 except season 2008–2009 when FC Vorskla Poltava became the Cup winner. Only 5 teams, Dynamo, Shakhtar, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Tavria, and Metalurh Zaporizhia have participated in all 16 Ukrainian Vyscha Liha competitions. The league cooperates with the Professional Football League of Ukraine which governs the lower divisions. 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)[3]. The professional league was organized in 1996 and until 2008 was responsible for the competitions at the Top division as well. Before that, Vyscha Liha was governed solely and directly by the Football Federation of Ukraine.
^a). Note: Biola is a beverage making and bottling company and is the general sposor of Dnipro.

History

The first decade (1992–2000)

The independent championship took place hastily at the start of the spring of 1992 after creation of the Ukrainian Vyscha Liha. The League was created out of the six teams that took part in the Soviet Top League, two teams from the Soviet First League, and nine out of eleven Ukrainian teams from the Soviet Second League. The other two of that eleven were placed in the Ukrainian Persha Liha as they were to be relegated anyway. The two best teams of the Soviet Second League B of the Ukrainian Zone were also placed in the Vyscha Liha along with the winner of the 1991 Ukrainian Cup that was placed ninth in the same group. The 20 participants were split in two groups with winners playing for the championship title and runners-up for the third place. Three teams from each group were to be relegated. As was expected, the five favorites, Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk, Chornomorets Odessa, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, and Metalist Kharkiv were placed at the top of each group. In the championship play-off game in Lviv, a sensation took place as Tavriya Simferopol beat Dynamo Kyiv 1–0. The Crimeans earned the first Ukrainian title (thus far their only), losing only once to FC Temp Shepetivka. After being stunned in the first championship by the tragedy in Lviv, Dynamo Kyiv were anxious to earn their first title at the second opportunity. In the second championship that had a regular League format of 16 teams, the main rivals of the Kyivians were Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, who were top after the first half of the season. By the end of the season both teams were going shoulder to shoulder and at the end they finished with the same number of points. The championship title was awarded to Dynamo Kyiv as they had better goal difference. Neither the Golden match, nor the fact that Dnipro had a better head-to-head record was considered. The next seven years were known by the total hegemony of Dynamo Kyiv. During this period the Soviet stereotypes had changed as some of the best teams were going into a crisis. After the 1993–94 season Metalist Kharkiv were surprisingly relegated to the Persha Liha. In the 1995–96 season Shakhtar Donetsk had the worst year in the club's history, coming tenth. Chornomorets Odessa were relegated twice during that first decade after which manager Leonid Buriak was sacked. A few newly-created teams have since emerged such as Arsenal Kyiv and Metalurh Donetsk, as well as FC Vorskla Poltava, who surprisingly came third in the club's first season at the Top Level in the 1997.

The decade of Kyiv–Donetsk stand-off (2001–2010). The Ukrainian derby

The next decade was marked by fierce competition between Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk. Since 2000, Donetsk club proved to be the real challengers to Kiev's dominance. In 2000 Shakhtar earned their first qualification to the Champions League earning its place in the Group stage. Nonetheless, Dynamo is still considered to be the benchmark of excellence in the country and the primary feeder to the Ukrainian national football team. 2002 became the real cornerstone in the miners history when they earned their first national title under the management of the newly appointed Italian specialist, Nevio Scala, who managed to bring the Donetsk club to its next Ukrainian Cup title as well. Since that time the issue of foreign players became particularly acute and brought a series of court cases (see Players section). The FFU and PFL worked together to solve that issue, coming with the plan to force the transitional limitation of the foreign players over the time. The clubs such as Dnipro and Chornomorets recent contenders for the title had to put up a fierce competition against the newly established contenders Metalurh from Donetsk and Metalist from Kharkiv to qualify for the European competitions. Especially brightly recommended itself FC Metalist Kharkiv which in the late 2000s consistently was placing right behind Dynamo and Shakhtar. The remarkable was their participation in their 2009 European season when they had to contest against Dynamo Kyiv to earn their advancement to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup 2009. Later that UEFA Cup edition was won for the first time by the Shakhtar Donetsk, the first club of the independent Ukraine. On the political side of the League it split since the moment it was created in 2008 regards of its president. The dispute went as far as even canceling the XIII round of 2009–2010 season and moving it to the spring half, while having the XIV round still playing in the fall. The representatives of five clubs: Arsenal, Dynamo, Dnipro, Kryvbas, and Metalist have been boycotting most of the League meetings, not complying with its financial obligations and giving the broadcasting rights to TV-channel other than League official contractor. They justified their actions because of what they see to be as the illegal elections of the League's president. The representatives of the above mentioned clubs did not recognize elected in 2008 Vitaliy Danilov as the president and believed that the elections should have been won by Vadym Rabynovych. To resolve this conflict Vitaliy Danilov initiated in September 2009 re-election of the League's presindent and on the 1st December 2009 won the election again with 11 clubs voted for his candidature, 3 – against, 1 abstain, and 1 (Dnipro) – absent. This time most presidents of the Premier League of Ukraine acknowledged Vitaliy Danilov legality.

International Relations

In 2009 Ukrainian Premier League joined European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL). Also in 2009 league signed partnership with IMG who during the first month of cooperation sold broadcasting rights for Ukrainian Cup to Poland and Armenia. By itself Ukrainian Premier League sold broadcasting rights to Romania and Russia.

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 that of most European leagues in terms of the beginning and the 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 surprised the pre-season favorite 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).

Players

Prior to 2000, only a handful 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.[4] 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 be lowered 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 was the ex-national team coach Oleg Blokhin (2003–2007), who threatened to quit the national team if the limit was not made stricter.[5] 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 a Georgian national 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.[6]

Presidents

Directors

Sponsors

The following list is of the official sponsors of the League, unless otherwise noted.

Previous

Previous

Current

Ukraine SportMarket+ (marketing partner) 20010–2011

Ukrainian Premier League 2010–11

In the 2010–11 season, the Ukrainian Premier League consisted of the following teams:

  • Arsenal Kyiv
  • Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
  • Dynamo Kyiv
  • Illichivets Mariupol
  • Karpaty Lviv
  • Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
  • Metalist Kharkiv
  • Metalurh Donetsk
  • Metalurh Zaporizhzhya
  • Obolon Kyiv
  • Sevastopol
  • Shakhtar Donetsk
  • Tavriya Simferopol
  • Volyn Lutsk
  • Vorskla Poltava
  • Zorya Luhansk

Zakarpattia Uzhhorod and Chornomorets Odessa, the two least successful teams in the league in 2009–10, were relegated to the Ukrainian First League. Sevastopol and Volyn Lutsk were promoted to take their place.

Broadcasting

Free-to-air live matches from the Ukrainian Premier League will be broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays on satellite channel Inter+ (Sirius 5E).[9]

UEFA Ranking

Club Seeding

UEFA Club Ranking for club seeding in 2010–11 European football season.

Current
Ranking		 Movement Last Season
Ranking		 Teams Coefficient
17 Substituted off (16) Shakhtar Donetsk 66.126
33 Substituted on (44) Dynamo Kyiv 44.126
64 Substituted on (82) Metalist Kharkiv 26.126
130 Substituted off (114) Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 10.626
150 Substituted on (171) Tavriya Simferopol 8.626
150 Substituted on (171) Karpaty Lviv 8.626

Note: Since 1999 country index (coefficient) indicates the lowest possible value for any team of that country to qualify for ranking. Currently it's no less than 7.126 for Ukraine. Teams in italics have either been eliminated or will not be participating in the 2010–11 European football season. Last Updated: August 5, 2010.[10]

Country Ranking

UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2009–10 European football season

Current
Ranking		 Movement Last Season
Ranking		 League Coefficient
4 Substituted off (3) Italy Italian League 64.052
5 steady (5) France French League 53.740
6 steady (6) Russia Russian League 43.791
7 steady (7) Ukraine Ukrainian League 39.550
8 Substituted on (9) Romania Romanian League 39.491
9 Substituted on (10) Portugal Portuguese League 38.296
10 Substituted off (8) Netherlands Dutch League 36.546

Last Updated: May 5, 2010.[11] In bold are the leagues which clubs are still in competitions.

Champions and top goalscorers

Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer Rank
1992 Tavriya Simferopol Dynamo Kyiv Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine Yuri Hudymenko (Tavriya Simferopol, 12 goals) N/A[12]
1992–93 Dynamo Kyiv Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Chornomorets Odessa Ukraine Serhiy Husyev (Chornomorets Odessa, 17 goals) 28/39
1993–94 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Chornomorets Odessa Ukraine Timerlan Huseinov (Chornomorets Odessa, 18 goals) 24/44
1994–95 Dynamo Kyiv Chornomorets Odessa Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Tajikistan Arsen Avakov (Torpedo Zaporizhzhya, 21 goals) 24/47
1996–97 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Vorskla Poltava Ukraine Oleh Matveyev (Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 goals) 22/48
1995–96 Dynamo Kyiv Chornomorets Odessa Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine Timerlan Huseinov (Chornomorets Odessa, 20 goals) 19/48
1997–98 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Karpaty Lviv Ukraine Serhiy Rebrov (Dynamo Kyiv, 22 goals) 17/49
1998–99 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kyiv, 18 goals) 15/50
1999-00 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Uzbekistan Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo Kyiv, 20 goals) 12/50
2000–01 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine Andriy Vorobei (Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 goals) 13/51
2001–02 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine Serhiy Shyschenko (Metalurh Donetsk, 12 goals) 13/51
2002–03 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Metalurh Donetsk Uzbekistan Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo Kyiv, 22 goals) 14/52
2003–04 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Georgia (country) Georgi Demetradze (Metalurh Donetsk, 18 goals) 14/52
2004–05 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine Oleksandr Kosyrin (Chornomorets Odessa, 14 goals) 15/52
2005–06 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Chornomorets Odessa Brazil Brandão (Shakhtar Donetsk, 15 goals)
Nigeria Emmanuel Okoduwa (Arsenal Kyiv, 15 goals)		 13/52
2006–07 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Metalist Kharkiv Ukraine Oleksandr Hladky (FC Kharkiv 13 goals) 11/52
2007–08 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalist Kharkiv Serbia Marko Dević (Metalist Kharkiv 19 goals) 12/53
2008–09 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Metalist Kharkiv Ukraine Oleksandr Kovpak (Tavriya Simferopol 17 goals) 7/53
2009–10 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalist Kharkiv Ukraine Artem Milevsky (Dynamo Kyiv 17 goals) 7/53
2010–11 7/53

Note: the Rank column shows the ranking of the league amongst members of UEFA.
Note: in bold are the winners that also won the Ukrainian Cup, in italic are the other champions of the Cup competition.

Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-Up Third Place Winning Years
Dynamo Kyiv 13 6 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, 2008–09
Shakhtar Donetsk 5 10 0 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10
Tavriya Simferopol 1 0 0 1992
Chornomorets Odessa 0 2 3
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 0 1 5
Metalist Kharkiv 0 0 4
Metalurh Donetsk 0 0 3
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih 0 0 2
Vorskla Poltava 0 0 1
Karpaty Lviv 0 0 1

Honored Teams

In European Football teams are especially honored for winning multiple league titles, after 10 league titles a representative star is placed above the teams badge to indicate 10 league titles. Dynamo Kyiv became the first Ukrainian team to achieve this prestigious honor of winning the Soviet league for the 10th time in 1981. Dynamo Kyiv once entered the Ukrainian championship has established to become the same leader as during the Soviet times earning its 20th national title at the top level in 1999. No other club in Ukraine came close to such honor as of yet. Only four other clubs has ever been the national champions: Shakhtar Donetsk (5, all Ukrainian titles), Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2, all Soviet), and once Zorya Luhansk (Soviet Union) and Tavriya Simferopol (Ukraine).

The current (as of December 2008) officially-sanctioned the Premier League stars are:

Premier League Players

All-time Premier League scorers
Rank Player Games Goals
1 Serhiy Rebrov 261 123
2 Maksim Shatskikh 228 101
Andriy Vorobei 289 101
4 Oleksandr Haidash 263 95
5 Serhiy Mizin 344 90
6 Timerlan Huseinov 215 85
7 Oleksandr Kosyrin 230 83
8 Oleh Matveyev 213 81
9 Oleksandr Palyanytsia 260 79
10 Valentyn Poltavets 322 77
(Italics denotes players still playing in Premier League
All-time Premier League appearance leaders
Rank Player Games Goals
1 Oleksandr Chizhevskiy 388 4
2 Serhiy Shyshchenko 353 53
3 Serhiy Mizin 344 90
4 Oleksandr Zotov 343 31
5 Oleh Shelayev 334 33
6 Andriy Kirlyk 331 33
7 Valentyn Poltavets 322 77
8 Serhiy Zakarlyuka 320 70
9 Oleksandr Holovko 319 9
10 Ihor Luchkevycho 311 22
(Italics denotes players still playing in Premier League
All-time Premier League foreign scorers
Rank Country/Player Games Goals
1 Maksim Shatskikh 228 101
2 Brandão 140 65
3 Avtandil Kapanadze 134 58
4 Vasil Gigiadze 211 57
5 Georgi Demetradze 115 52
6 Valiantsin Bialkevich 222 51
7 Diogo Rincón 129 46
8 Mikhail Potskhveria 40
9 Andrey Fedkov 114 39
10 Emmanuel Okoduwa 135 37
Data through the 2009–10 season.

Ex-Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv striker Serhiy Rebrov holds the record for most UPL goals with 123, despite winning the top single season scorer title only once. Since the first UPL season in 1992, 17 different players have won or shared the top scorer's 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 single season scorers are Ivan Hetsko and Andriy Shevchenko, respectively attaining 0.59 and 0.51 goals per game. Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk are the only teams to have scored 1,000 goals in the UPL having achieved the feat in the 2006–07 season and 2007–08 season, respectively.

Notable foreign players

In italic are the players that were born in Ukraine, but chose to represent other countries.

  • Albania Debatik Curri
  • Albania Armend Dallku
  • Albania Elvin Beqiri
  • Armenia Ara Hakobyan
  • Armenia Arman Karamyan
  • Armenia Artavazd Karamyan
  • Armenia Yegishe Melikyan
  • Armenia Albert Sarkisyan
  • Azerbaijan Samir Aliyev
  • Azerbaijan Tarlan Akhmedov
  • Azerbaijan Mahmud Gurbanov
  • Belarus Valiantsin Bialkevich
  • Belarus Artem Chelyadzinsky
  • Belarus Aliaksandr Danilow
  • Belarus Syarhyey Hyerasimets
  • Belarus Siargei Karnilenka
  • Belarus Vladzimir Karytska
  • Belarus Nikolai Kasheusky
  • Belarus Aliaksandr Khatskevich
  • Belarus Pavel Kirilchik
  • Brazil William Batista
  • Brazil Brandão
  • Brazil Corrêa
  • Brazil Edmar
  • Brazil Elano
  • Brazil Fernandinho
  • Brazil Jádson
  • Brazil Junior
  • Brazil Kléber
  • Brazil Luiz Adriano
  • Brazil Matuzalem
  • Brazil Anderson Ribeiro
  • Brazil Diogo Rincón
  • Bulgaria Velizar Dimitrov
  • Bulgaria Predrag Pažin
  • Bulgaria Georgi Peev
  • Côte d'Ivoire Abdoulaye Djire
  • Côte d'Ivoire Yaya Touré
  • Côte d'Ivoire Venance Zézé
  • Cyprus Constantinos Makrides
  • Croatia Mladen Bartulović
  • Croatia Jerko Leko
  • Croatia Ivica Pirić
  • Croatia Stipe Pletikosa
  • Croatia Goran Sablić
  • Croatia Darijo Srna
  • Croatia Eduardo
  • Czech Republic Tomáš Hübschman
  • Estonia Taavi Rähn
  • Georgia (country) Shalva Apkhazava
  • Georgia (country) Malkhaz Asatiani
  • Georgia (country) Georgi Demetradze
  • Georgia (country) Vasil Gigiadze
  • Georgia (country) Lasha Jakobia
  • Georgia (country) Gocha Jamarauli
  • Georgia (country) Kakha Kaladze
  • Georgia (country) Jaba Kankava
  • Georgia (country) Dato Kvirkvelia
  • Georgia (country) Irakli Modebadze
  • Guinea Ismaël Bangoura
  • Latvia Māris Verpakovskis
  • Lithuania Mindaugas Kalonas
  • Lithuania Saulius Mikoliūnas
  • Moldova Serghei Lascencov
  • Morocco Badr El Kaddouri
  • Netherlands Antilles/Netherlands Sendley Sidney Bito
  • Nigeria Julius Aghahowa
  • Nigeria Tony Alegbe
  • Nigeria Michael Chidi Alozi
  • Nigeria Samson Godwin
  • Nigeria Lucky Idahor
  • Nigeria Emmanuel Okoduwa
  • Nigeria Isaac Okoronkwo
  • Nigeria Harrison Omoko
  • Nigeria Ayila Yussuf
  • Peru Paolo de la Haza
  • Peru Andrés Mendoza
  • Poland Seweryn Gancarczyk
  • Poland Mariusz Lewandowski
  • Poland Maciej Nalepa
  • Romania Marian Aliuţă
  • Romania Florin Cernat
  • Romania Daniel Florea
  • Romania Tiberiu Ghioane
  • Romania Ciprian Marica
  • Romania Răzvan Raţ
  • Romania Flavius Stoican
  • Russia Andrei Fedkov
  • Russia Rolan Gusev
  • Russia Andrei Karyaka
  • Russia Yuri Nikiforov
  • Russia Gennadiy Nizhegorodov
  • Russia Viktor Onopko
  • Russia Oleg Salenko
  • Russia Sergey Samodin
  • Russia Ilia Tsymbalar
  • Senegal Papa Gueye
  • Senegal Assane N'Diaye
  • Serbia Marko Dević[13]
  • Serbia Vladimir Dišljenković
  • Serbia Igor Duljaj
  • Serbia Goran Gavrančić
  • Serbia Jovan Markoski
  • Serbia Miloš Ninković
  • Serbia Milan Obradović
  • Serbia Aleksandar Trišović
  • Serbia Zvonimir Vukić
  • Tajikistan Arsen Avakov
  • Uzbekistan Vitaliy Denisov
  • Uzbekistan Maksim Shatskikh
  • Italy Cristiano Lucarelli

Top 10 managers

Managers in bold are active. Mark (†) – identifies managers that left the sport (retired, past away, or other). Updated through 2009/2010 season.

Rating Name Club(s) Points 1st 2nd 3rd
1 Ukraine Valery Lobanovsky† FC Dynamo Kyiv 27 5 1 -
2 Romania Mircea Lucescu FC Shakhtar Donetsk 24 4 2 -
3 Ukraine Yozhef Sabo† FC Dynamo Kyiv 12 2 1 -
4 Ukraine Oleksiy Mykhailychenko FC Dynamo Kyiv 10 2 - -
5 Ukraine Mykola Pavlov FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
FC Dynamo Kyiv		 8 1 1 1
= Ukraine Valery Yaremchenko FC Shakhtar Donetsk 8 - 4 -
7 Ukraine Anatoliy Demyanenko FC Dynamo Kyiv 7 1 1 -
= Russia Yuri Semin FC Dynamo Kyiv 7 1 1 -
9 Ukraine Viktor Prokopenko† FC Chornomorets Odessa
FC Shakhtar Donetsk		 6 - 2 2
10 Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko FC Dynamo Kyiv 5 1 - -
= Ukraine Anatoliy Zayaev† SC Tavriya Simferopol 5 1 - -
= Italy Nevio Scala FC Shakhtar Donetsk 5 1 - -
= Ukraine Myron Markevych FC Karpaty Lviv
FC Metalist Kharkiv		 5 - - 5

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 – 2 points,
3rd place – 1 point.
Upon the equality of points managers are simply listed in alphabetical order. There are over 20 managers who brought their teams to the top of the League over its history.[14] Another notable coach is Leonid Buriak (Chornomorets) – two silver medals.
^1 Mykhailychenko became the club manager at the end of the season for only five (5) games. Therefore the silver really belongs to Lobanovsky who lead the first team in 21 games of the 2001–02 season.
^2 Lucescu became the club manager at the end of the season for only five (5) games. Therefore the silver really belongs to Schuster who lead the first team in 23 games in the 2003–04 season.

Rating Name Games Remarks
1 Ukraine Myron Markevych 462
2 Ukraine Mykola Pavlov 401
3 Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko 294
4 Ukraine Valeriy Yaremchenko 274
5 Ukraine Oleh Taran 220
6 Ukraine Semen Altman 219
7 Ukraine Oleksandr Ishchenko 204
8 Ukraine Anatoliy Zayaev 190
9 Ukraine Volodymyr Bezsonov 187
10 Romania Mircea Lucescu 185









Other coaches that participated in over 150 league games are: Ihor Nadein (184), Yevhen Kucherevsky (176), Leonid Buriak (174), Vitaliy Kvartsiany (166), and Valeriy Lobanovsky (152). Two more coaches, Vyacheslav Hrozny and Oleksandr Zavarov, have chance to join these ranks in the near future. Mykhailychenko, Demyanenko, Taran, Bezsonov, and Zavarov are the only former annual national MVP holders that became successful coaches in the Ukrainian Premier League.


All-time participants

The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons. All figures are correct through the 2008–09 season. For the all-time table click here. Teams marked pink are no longer members of PFL, in green are member of the Premier League.

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 08/09 09/10 10/11
Teams 20 16 18 18 18 16 16 16 16 14 14 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
Arsenal Kyiv [15]         4 11 10 7 10 6 12 5 9 9 12 14 6 11 7 V
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 10 15  
Dynamo Kyiv 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 V
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3 2 4 3 3 4 4 12 11 3 6 4 3 4 6 4 4 6 4 V
Illychivets Mariupol             14 5 8 4 10 10 8 5 4 15   14 12 V
Karpaty Lviv 13 6 5 8 8 5 3 4 9 10 8 7 15     8 10 9 5 V
FC Kharkiv                             13 12 14 16    
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 12 14 V
FC Lviv                                   15    
Metalist Kharkiv 6 5 18         6 5 9 5 16   11 5 3 3 3 3 V
Metalurh Donetsk             7 14 7 5 3 3 4 3 9 9 12 4 8 V
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya 11 7 16 9 5 8 9 8 6 8 4 15 11 10 8 7 9 7 9 V
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         11 V
Oleksandria                     13 13                
Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk 17     11 11 13 13 15 14                      
SC Mykolaiv 18     13 16     16                        
SCA Odessa 20                                      
PFC Sevastopol                                       V
Shakhtar Donetsk 4 4 2 4 10 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 V
Stal Alchevsk                   13         11 16        
Tavriya Simferopol 1 10 8 5 12 6 12 9 13 7 7 9 12 7 7 5 5 8 6 V
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         V
Vorskla Poltava           3 5 10 4 12 11 11 14 14 10 13 8 5 10 V
Zakarpattia Uzhhorod                     14     12 16   16   16  
Zirka Kirovohrad         6 10 11 11 16       16              
Zorya Luhansk 12 15 14 16 18                     11 11 13 13 V

Stadia

Major renovations
Rank Stadium Capacity [16] Club Notes
1 NSC Olimpiysky N/A None at the moment Currently undergoing full renovations in preparation for Euro 2012. The central national venue and former home venue for the Ukrainian Cup final.
2 Chornomorets Stadium N/A None at the moment The stadium belongs to Chornomorets, but currently undergoing full renovations in preparation for Euro 2012. Former annual venue for Ukrainian Super Cup.
Operational
Rank Stadium Capacity [17] Club Notes
1 Donbas Arena 51,504 Shakhtar Donetsk
2 Metalist Stadium 41,411 Metalist Kharkiv
3 Shakhtar Stadium 31,718 None at the moment The stadium belongs to Shakhtar
4 Dnipro Stadium 31,003 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
5 Metalurh Stadium 29,734 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 26,100 None at the moment The stadium belongs to Shakhtar
8 Yuvileiny Stadium (Sumy) 25,830 PFC Sumy[18]
9 Vorskla Stadium 24,795 Vorskla Poltava
10 Avanhard Stadium 22,288 Zorya Luhansk
11 RSC Lokomotiv 19,978 Tavriya Simferopol
12 Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium 16,873 Dynamo Kyiv
13 Illychivets Stadium 12,460 Illychivets Mariupol
14 Slavutych Arena 11,756 Metalurh Zaporizhia
15 Avanhard Stadium 10,792 Volyn Lutsk
16 Kolos Stadium 5,654 Arsenal Kyiv
17 Metalurh Stadium 5,094 Metalurh Donetsk
18 Spartak Stadium 5,000 Chornomorets Odessa
19 Obolon Stadium 4,300 Obolon Kyiv
20 Knyazha Arena 3,500 FC Lviv

League attendance

All attendance figures are correct through 08/09 season.[19]

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 (8,630) 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 5,878 1,787,050 Dynamo Kyiv (8,924) Zirka Kirovohrad (12,324)
1996–97 6,332 791,550 Vorskla Poltava (9,703) Vorskla Poltava (12,300)
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 (18,688) 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 (19,956)
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)
2007–08 8,546 2,042,390 Shakhtar Donetsk (17,372) Shakhtar Donetsk (20,080)
2008–09 7,574 1,817,760 ??? Shakhtar Donetsk (15,387)
2009–10 8,943 2,146,320 ??? Shakhtar Donetsk (27,321)

See also

References & footnotes

  1. ↑ Official website of the Ukrainian Premier League
  2. ↑ Formation of Ukrainian Premier League – Ratified 27 May 2008 (Ukrainian)
  3. ↑ "Professional Football League of Ukraine". PFL. http://pfl.com.ua/pfl.php. Retrieved May 31, 2007. 
  4. ↑ "Foreigners: limit or blasphemy?". Komanda Newspaper. http://www.dynamo.kiev.ua/Press/Kom0304/kom0320.htm. Retrieved May 21, 2007. 
  5. ↑ "Foreigner limit is worsened in Ukraine". Terrikon. http://www.terrikon.dn.ua/posts/4432. Retrieved May 21, 2007. 
  6. ↑ "Courts back Ukrainian quotas". UEFA. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=520447.html. Retrieved May 21, 2007. 
  7. ↑ Danilov re-elected as president of Ukrainian football premier league, Kyiv Post (December 2, 2009)
  8. ↑ Premier League presents its TV sponsor for 2009–2011
  9. ↑ 'Inter+' Starts Live Airing of Ukrainian Premiere League Matches, Inter+ (June 26, 2009)
  10. ↑ "UEFA Team Ranking 2010". Bert Kassies. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/2010.html. 
  11. ↑ "UEFA Country Ranking 2010". Bert Kassies. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2010.html. 
  12. ↑ part of Soviet Union
  13. ↑ Marko accepted the Ukrainian citizenship in 2008. In this roster he is listed as the Ukrainian.
  14. ↑ Rating of coaches is based on the article from Komanda – May 20, 2008
  15. ↑ FC Arsenal Kyiv was renamed from CSCA Kyiv in 2001, the original FC CSCA Kyiv was recreated in the Ukrainian First Division in place of CSCA-2 Kyiv.
  16. ↑ "Attendance figures for the 17th season of Ukrainian Premier League". UA Football. http://www.ua-football.com/ukrainian/high/46b0c2e0.html. Retrieved August 3, 2007. 
  17. ↑ "Attendance figures for the 17th season of Ukrainian Premier League". UA Football. http://www.ua-football.com/ukrainian/high/46b0c2e0.html. Retrieved August 3, 2007. 
  18. ↑ Official site of PFC Sumy
  19. ↑ "Ukrainian Soccer Net". UkrainianSoccer.Com. http://www.ukrainiansoccer.com. Retrieved July 4, 2008. 

External links

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