1996–97 Vyshcha Liha

The 1996–97 Vyshcha Liha season was the 6th since its establishment. FC Dynamo Kyiv were the defending champions.

Preseason changes

Number of teams in the league was reduced from 18 to 16. Vyshcha Liha became a member of the newly established Professional Football League of Ukraine.

Teams

Promotions

• Vorskla Poltava, the champion of the 1995–96 Ukrainian First League – (debut)

Renamed

Before the start of season CSKA-Borysfen Kyiv was renamed to CSKA Kyiv.

Location

Prykarpattia

Nyva V.

Chornomorets

Zirka-NIBAS

Dnipro

Dynamo
CSKA

Kryvbas

Karpaty

Kremin

Vorskla

Metalurh
Torpedo

Nyva T.

Tavriya

Shakhtar

Locations of teams home grounds in Ukrainian Premier League 1996-97

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Comments
1	Dynamo Kyiv (C)	30	23	4	3	69	20	+49	73	CL 1st Qualifying Round
2	Shakhtar Donetsk	30	19	5	6	72	28	+44	62	CWC Qualifying Round
3	Vorskla Poltava	30	17	7	6	50	26	+24	58	UC 1st Qualifying Round; new
4	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	30	14	13	3	48	19	+29	55	UC 1st Qualifying Round
5	Karpaty Lviv	30	15	7	8	36	23	+13	52
6	Tavriya Simferopol	30	13	5	12	36	46	−10	44
7	Chornomorets Odessa	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5	42
8	Metalurh Zaporizhzhya	30	12	5	13	48	44	+4	41
9	Nyva Ternopil	30	11	6	13	34	37	−3	39
10	Zirka-NIBAS Kirovohrad	30	11	3	16	31	55	−24	36
11	CSKA Kyiv	30	9	8	13	33	35	−2	35
12	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	30	9	6	15	24	48	−24	33
13	Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk	30	8	7	15	33	49	−16	31
14	Torpedo Zaporizhzhya	30	8	5	17	25	56	−31	29
15	Kremin Kremenchuk (R)	30	7	3	20	28	57	−29	24	Persha Liha
16	Nyva Vinnytsia (R)	30	4	6	20	19	48	−29	18	Persha Liha

Source:
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goal scored

Note:

• In bold are the participants of the 1997 Ukrainian Cup Final.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals (Pen.)
1	Oleh Matviiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	21 (6)
2	Serhiy Rebrov	Dynamo Kyiv	20 (6)
3	Serhiy Chuychenko	Vorskla Poltava	14 (2)
4	Oleksandr Haidash	Tavriya Simferopol	13
	Andriy Fedkov	Torpedo Zaporizhzhya	13 (3)
6	Serhiy Mizin	CSKA / Chornomorets	12 (3)
7	Serhiy Atelkin	Shakhtar Donetsk	11
	Valentyn Poltavets	Metalurh Zaporizhia	11
	Yakiv Kripak	Metalurh Zaporizhia	11 (3)
10	Hennadiy Moroz	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	10

Managers

Club	Coach	Replaced Coach	Home stadium
FC Dynamo Kyiv	Valery Lobanovsky	Yozhef Sabo 17 games(first half)	Dynamo Stadium
FC Shakhtar Donetsk	Valery Yaremchenko		Shakhtar Stadium
FC Vorskla Poltava	Viktor Pozhechevskyi		Vorskla Stadium
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Vyacheslav Hrozny		Meteor Stadium
FC Karpaty Lviv	Myron Markevych		Ukraina Stadium
SC Tavriya Simferopol	Mykola Pavlov	Serhiy Shevchenko 10 games Ivan Balan 5 games Valeriy Shvediuk 7 games	Lokomotyv Stadium
FC Chornomorets Odessa	Leonid Buriak		Black Sea Shipping Stadium
FC Metalurh Zaporizhia	Oleksandr Tomakh		Metalurh Stadium
FC Nyva Ternopil	Ihor Yavorskyi		City Stadium
FC Zirka Kirovohrad	Oleksandr Dovbiy	Oleksandr Ischenko 22 games Mykhailo Kalyta 1 game	Zirka Stadium
FC CSKA Kyiv	Volodymyr Lozynskyi		CSK ZSU Stadium
FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Oleksandr Lysenko	Oleksiy Cherednyk 12 games	Metalurh Stadium
FC Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk	Viktor Kolotov	Boris Streltsov 5 games	Elektron Stadium
FC Torpedo Zaporizhia	Viktor Matvienko	Ihor Nadein 27 games	AvtoZAZ Stadium
FC Kremin Kremenchuk	Mykhailo Byelykh		Dnipro Stadium
FC Nyva Vinnytsia	Oleksandr Ischenko	Pasha Kasanov 23 games Volodymyr Reva 2 games	Central City Stadium

Notes: Games between Dynamo Kyiv and CSKA Kyiv were played at the Republican Stadium.

Changes

Team	Outgoing head coac	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming head coach	Date of appointment	Table
FC Shakhtar Donetsk	Valeriy Rudakov			pre-season	Valery Yaremchenko		pre-season
SC Tavriya Simferopol	Anatoliy Zayayev			pre-season	Serhiy Shevchenko		pre-season
FC CSKA Kyiv	Viktor Chanov			pre-season	Volodymyr Lozynsky		pre-season
FC Karpaty Lviv	Volodymyr Zhuravchak			pre-season	Myron Markevych		pre-season
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Bernd Stange			pre-season	Viacheslav Hrozny		pre-season
FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Myron Markevych			pre-season	Oleksiy Cherednyk		pre-season
FC Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk	Ihor Yurchenko			pre-season	Boris Streltsov		pre-season
FC Kremin Kremenchuk	Valery Yaremchenko			pre-season	Mykhailo Bilykh		pre-season
FC Nyva Vinnytsia	Serhiy Morozov			pre-season	Pasha Kasanov		pre-season

See also

• 1996–97 Ukrainian First League
• 1996–97 Ukrainian Second League
• 1996–97 Ukrainian Cup

External links

• ukrsoccerhistory.com - source of information