Ukrainian Premier League

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Ukrainian Premier League
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 Shakhtar Donetsk
(2010-11)
Most championships Dynamo Kyiv (13)
Website Official Site
2011–12 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 (Ukrainian: Вища ліга 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 8th highest in Europe as rated by UEFA as of August 2010.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The season 2010–11 is the league's fourth after the break-away from the Professional Football League (PFL) in 2008 and 20th season from the break-up of the Soviet Top League. Until 2007 the league was subsidized by the government and from an economical point of view was not a profitable organization. To solve that issue, the League have tried to attract a few sponsors since the 2007 season: Soyuz-Viktan(2007) and Biolaa(2008). On April 15, 2008 the new Premier-League[1] was formed. Since its formation the title sponsor of the League became the national network of the construction supermarkets EpiCentre K. The new sports organization is a completely independent entity and consists of 16 football club organizations under the guidance of the Football Federation of Ukraine.[2]

With the new reorganization the format of the League was preserved, while the changes that were made were exclusively administrative. The teams that reach the top of the competition table at the end of each season as always gain the chance to represent Ukraine internationally in several prestigious tournaments (continental club tournaments). Also at the end of the season, the bottom two clubs are relegated to the Persha Liha (supervised by the Professional Football League) and replaced by the two top clubs from that league. All the participants of the Premier League enter the National Cup competition at the round of 32 (1/16th of the final)stage. Also the winner of the League at the beginning of every next season plays against the winner of the National Cup for the Super Cup of Ukraine.

As of 2011, FC Shakhtar Donetsk is the reigning Ukrainian Premier League champion. To summarise, SC Tavriya Simferopol won the first championship, while all the subsequent titles have gone to either Dynamo or FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Only 4 teams, Dynamo, Shakhtar, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Tavria have participated in all 21 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 55 Ukrainian professional football clubs, which are represented by 62 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 in 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.

[edit] Emblem

Pl embl bb.jpg

The emblem depicts a soccer ball that is wrapped around by the blue-yellow stripe (the national colors of Ukraine) on the blue background. Across the top and around the ball there are 16 stars that represent the league's participants. On the bottom the script says "Premier-League - Union of Professional Football Clubs of Ukraine".

[edit] History

[edit] The first decade (1992–2000)

The inaugural independent championship took place hastily at the start of spring 1992 after the 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 the 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 which finished ninth in the same group. The 20 participants were split into two groups with the winners playing for the championship title and the runners-up playing for third place. Three teams from each group were to be relegated. As expected, the five favorites, Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk, Chornomorets Odessa, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, and Metalist Kharkiv finished 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 one), 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 Ukrainian championship, which 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 neck and neck and at the end they finished with the same number of points. The championship title was awarded to Dynamo Kyiv as they had a 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 as the total domination of Dynamo Kyiv. During this period 'the main Soviet protagonists' had changed as some of the best teams were facing 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.

[edit] 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 has proved to be the real challengers to Kiev's dominance. In 2000 Shakhtar earned their first qualification to the Champions League earning a 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 secure the Ukrainian Cup title as well. Since that time the issue of foreign players has become particularly acute and brought a series of court cases (see Players section). The FFU and PFL worked together to solve that issue, coming up with a plan to force the transitional limitation of foreign players over time. The clubs such as Dnipro and Chornomorets, who were recent contenders for the title, had to put up a fierce fight against the newly-established contenders Metalurh from Donetsk and Metalist from Kharkiv to qualify for the European competitions. FC Metalist Kharkiv shone brightly in the late 2000s by consistently finishing right behind Dynamo and Shakhtar in third place. Their most remarkable feat was their participation in the 2009 European season when they had to face Dynamo Kyiv to earn a place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup 2009, but unfortunately lost by the away goals rule. That same 2009 UEFA Cup competition was won for the first time by Shakhtar Donetsk, the first club of independent Ukraine to win the title. It was also the last UEFA cup title before it changed its name to the Europa league. In the 2008-2009 season the league earned the highest UEFA league coefficient in Europe for that season. On the political side of the League it was transformed on April 15, 2008 into an autonomous entity, parting away from the PFL. The Premier League has been split since the moment it was created in regards to its president. The dispute went as far as even canceling the 13th round of 2009–2010 season and moving it to the spring half, while having the 14th 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-channels other than the League official supplier. They justified their actions due to what they deem to be the illegal election of the Premier League president. The representatives of the above-mentioned clubs did not recognize the election in 2008 of Vitaliy Danilov as the president and believed that the elections should have been won by Vadym Rabynovych.

To resolve this conflict Vitaliy Danilov instigated the re-election of the Premier League president in September 2009, and on 1 December 2009 won the election again with 11 clubs voting for his candidature, 3 were against, 1 abstained, and 1 (Dnipro) was absent. This time most club presidents of the Premier League of Ukraine acknowledged Vitaliy Danilov legality. In the subsequent elections on December 9, 2011 Vitaliy Danilov was challenged by Andriy Kurhanskyi (on proposition of FC Karpaty Lviv). The other available candidates, Miletiy Balchos (president of the Professional Football League of Ukraine) and Yuriy Kindzerskyi, were not picked by any members of the Premier League. Danilov managed to retain his seat with nine votes for him from Shakhtar, Metalist, Illichivets, Zorya, Metalurh, Tavria, Vorskla, Chornomorets, and Obolon.

[edit] International Relations

In 2009 The Ukrainian Premier League joined the European Professional Football Leagues.[4] Along with the Premier League the Ukrainian Professional Football League joined the EPFL as an associate member. Also in 2009 the league signed a partnership with IMG of which during the first month of cooperation sold broadcasting rights for the Ukrainian Cup to Poland and Armenia. On its own initiative the Ukrainian Premier League sold broadcasting rights to Romania and Russia as well.

[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. This schedule 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 an exception, as it lasted only half a year. This was because the last Soviet league season ended in the autumn of 1991, and the Football Federation of Ukraine decided to shift the calendar from “spring-fall” to “fall-spring” football seasons. In the inaugural 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).

[edit] Players

Prior to 2000, only a handful of 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 tallied more than 30 players and by 2003–04 season, the figure had increased to 37% of the league's players.[5] 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.[6] 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 in 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 his working rights and is illegal under the Constitution of Ukraine. The courts however argued that no case exists due to the fact that players are not guaranteed first-team football, and subsequently the limit is not considered a violation of trade.[7]

[edit] Status regulations and transfers

Status and transfer policy of football players and staff in Ukraine is regulated by the Football Federation of Ukraine which primarily follows Article 5 of the FIFA statute, other respective regulations of FIFA, and the laws of Ukraine (see FFU regulations of player's status and transfer, 2010 edition[8]).

Player status

Any footballer that takes part in FFU competition has either the status of amateur or professional. A professional footballer is considered to be a player that has a written contract with a club and receives a salary for his services that surpasses his virtual expenditures. The professional status of footballer prevents him from competing at amateur level. The footballer receives a professional status and the respective rights and obligations according to the following conditions:

  • conclusion of a contract with a professional club,
  • registration with FFU, receiving a "Passport of a footballer",
  • including the footballer to the application list of the team that takes part in the competition of professional club teams.

The footballer who does not receive the above-mentioned salary and does not have a contract with a professional club is considered an amateur. A player that is registered as a professional cannot obtain an amateur status within 30 days of his last official game as a professional. A club cannot request compensation for a player from the club where the player obtained amateur status. However, each professional player after the expiration of his contract with a certain professional club is still registered for 30 months with that club which may apply for compensation. The 30 month term is defined from the time of his last official game for that club.

Each coach of a professional club team is required to receive a respective attestation organized by FFU. Each sports doctor and masseur of a professional club are required to receive a certificate from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health with the specialization "Sport doctor" and "Specialist in sport massage".

Contracts

A player is allowed to sign his first contract at 15 years of age with parental consent of no more than three years. A regular contract cannot be for more than five years.

Transfers

A football player that is registered with other associations than FFU cannot take part in any competitions in Ukraine until he is registered with the Football Federation of Ukraine. A football player of a foreign association and aged 12 years or older is required to submit an International transfer certificate in order to be registered with FFU. Registration and transfers are conducted during one of the two "registration periods" (transfer window): one is after the conclusion of a season and start of the next not exceeding a twelve-week period, and another in mid-season of no more than a four-week period. There are no set dates for the registration periods.

[edit] Presidents

[edit] Directors

  • General director: Olexandr Efremov
  • Executive director: Maksym Bondarev
  • Sport director: Petro Ivanov
  • Development director: Vadym Halahan

[edit] Sponsors

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

[edit] Previous

[edit] Current

[edit] Ukrainian Premier League 2011–12

In the 2011–12 season, the Ukrainian Premier League consists of the following teams:

Sevastopol and Metalurh Zaporizhzhya, the two least successful teams in the league in 2010–11, were relegated to the Ukrainian First League. Oleksandria and Chornomorets Odesa were promoted to take their place.

[edit] Broadcasting

Free-to-air live matches from the Ukrainian Premier League will be broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays on satellite channel Inter+ (Sirius 5E).[13]

[edit] UEFA Ranking

[edit] Club Seeding

UEFA Club Ranking for club seeding in 2011–12 European football season.

Current
Ranking
Movement Last Season
Ranking
Teams Coefficient
12 Substituted on (14) Shakhtar Donetsk 83.826
29 Substituted on (30) Dynamo Kyiv 61.826
43 Substituted on (59) Metalist Kharkiv 46.326
118 Substituted on (128) Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 13.826
130 Substituted on (152) Vorskla Poltava 12.326
130 Substituted on (145) Karpaty Lviv 12.326

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 8.826 for Ukraine. Teams in italics have either been eliminated or will not be participating in the 2011–12 European football season. February 17, 2012.[14]

[edit] Country Ranking

UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2011–12 European football season

Current
Ranking
Movement Last Season
Ranking
League Coefficient
5 steady (5) France French League 53.678
6 Substituted on (9) Portugal Portuguese League 51.596
7 Substituted off (6) Russia Russian League 44.707
8 Substituted off (7) Ukraine Ukrainian League 43.883
9 Substituted on (10) Netherlands Dutch League 40.129
10 Substituted on (11) Turkey Turkish League 35.050
11 Substituted on (12) Greece Greek League 34.166

Last Updated: May 30, 2011.[15] In bold are the leagues which clubs are still in competitions.

[edit] 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[16]
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
1995–96 Dynamo Kyiv Chornomorets Odessa Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine Timerlan Huseinov (Chornomorets Odessa, 20 goals) 19/48
1996–97 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Vorskla Poltava Ukraine Oleh Matveyev (Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 goals) 22/48
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 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalist Kharkiv Ukraine Yevhen Seleznyov (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 17 goals) 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.

[edit] Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-Up Third Place Winning Years
Dynamo Kyiv 13 7 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 6 10 0 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11
Tavriya Simferopol 1 0 0 1992
Chornomorets Odessa 0 2 3
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 0 1 5
Metalist Kharkiv 0 0 5
Metalurh Donetsk 0 0 3
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih 0 0 2
Vorskla Poltava 0 0 1
Karpaty Lviv 0 0 1

[edit] 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 the prestigious honor of winning the Soviet league for the 10th time in 1981. Dynamo Kyiv after having entered the Ukrainian championship has become the same dominant leader as during the Soviet times by earning its 20th national title at the top level in 1999. No other club in Ukraine has come close to such an honour as of yet. Only four other clubs have ever been national champions: Shakhtar Donetsk (6, all Ukrainian titles), Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2, all Soviet), and once Zorya Luhansk (Soviet Union) and Tavriya Simferopol (Ukraine).

The current (as of December 2010) officially sanctioned Premier League stars are:

[edit] Premier League Players

All-time League scorers
Rank Player Games Goals
1 Ukraine Serhiy Rebrov 261 123
2 Uzbekistan Maksim Shatskikh 256 111
3 Ukraine Andriy Vorobei 309 105
4 Ukraine Oleksandr Haidash 263 95
5 Ukraine Serhiy Mizin 344 90
6 Ukraine Timerlan Huseinov 215 85
7 Ukraine Oleksandr Kosyrin 230 83
8 Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko 164 81
9 Ukraine Oleh Matveyev 213 81
10 Ukraine Oleksandr Palyanytsia 260 79
(Italics denotes players still playing in Premier League)
Data through the mid 2010–11 season.
All-time League appearance leaders
Rank Player Games Goals
1 Ukraine Oleksandr Chizhevskiy 400 4
2 Ukraine Oleh Shelayev 392 34
3 Ukraine Serhiy Shyshchenko 363 54
4 Ukraine Oleksandr Shovkovsky 360 0
5 Ukraine Serhiy Zakarlyuka 356 75
5 Ukraine Ruslan Kostyshyn 356
7 Ukraine Oleksandr Zotov 351 31
8 Ukraine Ihor Shukhovtsev 348 0
9 Ukraine Oleksandr Horyainov 344 0
10 Ukraine Vladyslav Vaschuk 343
(Italics denotes players still playing in Premier League)
Data through the mid 2010–11 season.
All-time League foreign scorers
Rank Country/Player Games Goals
1 Uzbekistan Maksim Shatskikh 256 111
2 Brazil Brandão 140 65
3 Georgia (country) Vasil Gigiadze 234 61
4 Georgia (country) Avtandil Kapanadze 189 58
5 Georgia (country) Georgi Demetradze 130 52
6 Belarus Valiantsin Bialkevich 224 51
7 Nigeria Lucky Idahor 189 48
8 Brazil Diogo Rincón 129 47
9 Brazil Jadson 126 41
10 Georgia (country) Mikhail Potskhveria 126 40
(Italics denotes players still playing in Premier League)
Data through the mid 2010–11 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.

[edit] Notable foreign players

Americas
Europe
Soviet Commonwealth
Africa
Asia and Oceania

[edit] Top managers

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

Rating Name Club(s) 1st 2nd 3rd
1 Romania Mircea Lucescu FC Shakhtar Donetsk 5 2 -
2 Ukraine Valery Lobanovsky FC Dynamo Kyiv 5 1 -
3 Ukraine Yozhef Sabo FC Dynamo Kyiv 2 1 -
4 Ukraine Oleksiy Mykhailychenko FC Dynamo Kyiv 2 - -
5 Russia Yuri Semin FC Dynamo Kyiv 1 2 -
6 Ukraine Mykola Pavlov FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
FC Dynamo Kyiv
1 1 1
7 Ukraine Anatoliy Demyanenko FC Dynamo Kyiv 1 1 -
8-10 Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko FC Dynamo Kyiv 1 - -
Italy Nevio Scala FC Shakhtar Donetsk 1 - -
Ukraine Anatoliy Zayaev SC Tavriya Simferopol 1 - -
11 Ukraine Valery Yaremchenko FC Shakhtar Donetsk - 4 -
12 Ukraine Viktor Prokopenko FC Chornomorets Odessa
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
- 2 2
13 Ukraine Leonid Buriak FC Chornomorets Odessa - 2 -
14-17 Russia Anatoliy Byshovets FC Shakhtar Donetsk - 1 -
Russia Valery Gazzayev FC Dynamo Kyiv - 1 -
Ukraine Anatoliy Puzach FC Dynamo Kyiv - 1 -
Germany Bernd Schuster FC Shakhtar Donetsk - 1 -

This is a rating of the best managers in the League since its foundation in 1991. If during a season any club had multiple coach appointments then the club's achievement at the end of that season is assigned to the coach who spent at least one third of the season with the club and/or was the most recently appointed. There are over 20 managers who brought their teams to the top of the League over its history.[17]
^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 led 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 led the first team in 23 games in the 2003–04 season.

Rating Name Games Remarks
1 Ukraine Myron Markevych 478
2 Ukraine Mykola Pavlov 418
3 Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko 294
4 Ukraine Valeriy Yaremchenko 274
5 Ukraine Semen Altman 227
6 Ukraine Oleh Taran 220
7 Ukraine Oleksandr Ishchenko 205
8 Romania Mircea Lucescu 200
9 Ukraine Volodymyr Bezsonov 198
10 Ukraine Anatoliy Zayaev 190

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 the chance to join these ranks in the near future.

Mykhailychenko, Demyanenko, Taran, Bezsonov, and Zavarov are the only former annual national MVP holders that have become successful coaches in the Ukrainian Premier League.

Mircea Lucescu is by far the most successful foreign coach in Ukraine and the only foreign coach with over 100 games at the top level. His closest rivals Nikola Kostov (Bulgaria) and Aleh Kononov (Belarus) are yet to hit the 100 games mark.

Information for games played table is used from ua-football.com (Oct. 23, 2010)[18] while the rest is from uafootball.net (May 9, 2010)[19]


[edit] All-time participants

The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons. All figures are correct through the 2011–12 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 11/12
Teams 20 16 18 18 18 16 16 16 16 14 14 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
Arsenal Kyiv[20]         4 11 10 7 10 6 12 5 9 9 12 14 6 11 7 9 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   V
Dynamo Kyiv 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 V
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3 2 4 3 3 4 4 12 11 3 6 4 3 4 6 4 4 6 4 4 V
Illichivets Mariupol             14 5 8 4 10 10 8 5 4 15   14 12 14 V
Karpaty Lviv 13 6 5 8 8 5 3 4 9 10 8 7 15     8 10 9 5 5 V
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 13 V
Lviv                                   15      
Metalist Kharkiv 6 5 18         6 5 9 5 16   11 5 3 3 3 3 3 V
Metalurh Donetsk             7 14 7 5 3 3 4 3 9 9 12 4 8 8 V
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya 11 7 16 9 5 8 9 8 6 8 4 15 11 10 8 7 9 7 9 16  
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 10 V
Oleksandria                     13 13                 V
Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk 17     11 11 13 13 15 14                        
Mykolaiv 18     13 16     16                          
Odesa 20                                        
Sevastopol                                       15  
Shakhtar Donetsk 4 4 2 4 10 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 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 7 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         11 V
Vorskla Poltava           3 5 10 4 12 11 11 14 14 10 13 8 5 10 6 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 12 V

[edit] All-time table

Included all clubs that played over five seasons

Team Seasons GP W D L GS GA Pts Achievement
Dynamo Kyiv 20 594 443 103 48 1307 370 989 champion
Shakhtar Donetsk 20 594 394 112 88 1166 445 900 champion
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 20 593 290 155 148 837 549 735 vice-champion
Tavriya Simferopol 20 593 213 152 228 710 745 578 champion
Metalurh Zaporizhia 20 592 197 148 247 641 741 542 4th
Karpaty Lviv 18 532 196 147 189 601 606 539 3rd
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih 19 574 180 160 234 575 707 520 3rd
Chornomorets Odessa 16 480 201 107 172 582 530 509 vice-champion
Metalist Kharkiv 15 434 189 98 147 535 500 476 3rd
Arsenal Kyiv 16 476 160 133 183 550 551 453 4th
Metalurh Donetsk 14 412 159 112 141 503 474 430 3rd
Vorskla Poltava 15 442 145 116 181 459 518 406 3rd
Illichivets Mariupol 13 382 123 93 166 441 549 339 4th
Volyn Lutsk 10 300 96 63 141 306 440 255 6th
Nyva Ternopil 10 296 93 62 141 319 388 248 6th
Zorya Luhansk 10 300 80 58 162 251 483 218 11th
Torpedo Zaporizhia 7 210 64 42 104 214 315 170 7th
Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk 7 206 55 52 99 215 315 162 11th
Kremin Kremenchuk 6 180 54 40 86 182 269 148 9th
Zirka Kirovohrad 6 184 46 41 97 158 285 133 6th
Nyva Vinnytsia 5 150 42 32 76 140 213 116 10th
Obolon Kyiv 5 150 40 35 75 136 211 115 6th
Kharkiv 5 120 25 33 62 94 156 83 12th
Zakarpattia Uzhhorod 5 146 23 35 88 96 230 81 12th

[edit] Stadia

Major renovations
Rank Stadium Capacity[21] 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 of the Ukrainian Cup final.
2 Chornomorets Stadium N/A None at the moment The stadium belongs to Chornomorets, but currently undergoing full renovation. Former annual venue for the Ukrainian Super Cup.
Operational
Rank Stadium Capacity[21] Club Notes
1 Donbas Arena 51,504 Shakhtar Donetsk
2 Metalist Stadium 38,633 Metalist Kharkiv
3 Dnipro Stadium 31,003 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
4 Metalurh Stadium 29,734 Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
5 Ukraina Stadium 28,051 Karpaty Lviv Plans to upgrade to ~40,000 seats in prep for Euro 2012
6 Vorskla Stadium 24,795 Vorskla Poltava
7 Avanhard Stadium 22,288 Zorya Luhansk
8 RSC Lokomotiv 19,978 Tavriya Simferopol
9 Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium 16,873 Dynamo Kyiv
10 Illychivets Stadium 12,460 Illichivets Mariupol
11 Avanhard Stadium 12,000 Zakarpattya Uzhhorod
12 Slavutych Arena 11,756 Metalurh Zaporizhia
13 Avanhard Stadium 10,792 Volyn Lutsk
14 Kolos Stadium 5,654 Arsenal Kyiv
15 Metalurh Stadium 5,094 Metalurh Donetsk
16 Spartak Stadium 5,000 Chornomorets Odessa
17 Obolon Stadium 4,300 Obolon Kyiv
18 Knyazha Arena 3,500 FC Lviv
19 Bannikov Stadium 1,678 Arsenal Kyiv
Major stadiums outside the league
Rank Stadium Capacity[21] Club Notes
1 Shakhtar Stadium 31,718 None at the moment The stadium belongs to Shakhtar
2 RSK Olimpiyskiy 26,100 None at the moment The stadium belongs to Shakhtar
3 Yuvileiny Stadium (Sumy) 25,830 PFC Sumy[22]
4 Meteor Stadium 24,381 None at the moment The stadium belongs to Dnipro
5 Dynamo Stadium (Kharkiv) 9,000 None at the moment The stadium belonged to FC Kharkiv
6 Dynamo Training Center 750 Dynamo-2 Kyiv

[edit] League attendance

All attendance figures are correct through 08/09 season.[23]

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)

[edit] See also

[edit] 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. ^ Profile of the Ukrainian Premier League at EPFL
  5. ^ "Foreigners: limit or blasphemy?". Komanda Newspaper. http://www.dynamo.kiev.ua/Press/Kom0304/kom0320.htm. Retrieved May 21, 2007. [dead link]
  6. ^ "Foreigner limit is worsened in Ukraine". Terrikon. http://www.terrikon.dn.ua/posts/4432. Retrieved May 21, 2007. 
  7. ^ "Courts back Ukrainian quotas". UEFA. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=520447.html. Retrieved May 21, 2007. 
  8. ^ РЕГЛАМЕНТ Федерації футболу України зі статусу і трансферу футболістів (pdf)
  9. ^ Danilov re-elected as president of Ukrainian football premier league, Kyiv Post (December 2, 2009)
  10. ^ Vitaliy Danilov is re-elected as the president of PL (Віталій Данілов переобраний президентом ПЛ) (Premier League press release Dec.9,2011)
  11. ^ [http://www.ua-football.com/ukrainian/high/4ee1d916.html Vitaliy Danilov is re-elected as the president of PL (Виталий Данилов переизбран на пост президента Премьер-лиги) (ua-football.com Dec.9,2011)
  12. ^ Premier League presents its TV sponsor for 2009–2011
  13. ^ 'Inter+' Starts Live Airing of Ukrainian Premiere League Matches, Inter+ (June 26, 2009)
  14. ^ "UEFA Team Ranking 2012". Bert Kassies. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/trank2012.html. 
  15. ^ "UEFA Country Ranking 2011". Bert Kassies. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2010.html. 
  16. ^ part of Soviet Union
  17. ^ Rating of coaches is based on the article from Komanda – May 20, 2008 (dead link)
  18. ^ (Russian)Carpe diem section.
  19. ^ (Russian)Football from Dmitri Troshchi
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ a b c "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. 
  22. ^ Official site of PFC Sumy
  23. ^ "Ukrainian Soccer Net". UkrainianSoccer.Com. http://www.ukrainiansoccer.com. Retrieved July 4, 2008. 

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