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Ukrainian Premier League

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Ukrainian Premier League
Foundedfrom 1991 to 2008 (Vyshcha Liha)
since 2008 (Premier League)
CountryUkraine
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams12
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toUkrainian First League
Domestic cup(s)Ukrainian Cup
Ukrainian Super Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
Current championsShakhtar Donetsk (11th title)
(2017–18)
Most championshipsDynamo Kyiv (15 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website
Current: 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League

The Ukrainian Premier League (Ukrainian: "Прем'єр-ліга") or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha (Top League) it was formed in 1991 as part of the 1992[1] Ukrainian football championship upon discontinuation of the 1991 Soviet football championship and included the Ukraine-based clubs that competed previously in the Soviet competitions. In 1996 along with the other professional football leagues of Ukraine, the Top League became a member of the Professional Football League of Ukraine.[1][2]

In 2008[3][4] it was withdrawn from Professional Football League of Ukraine and reformed into a self governed entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine, officially changing its name to the current one. Its rank was 8th highest in Europe as rated by UEFA as of 2017.

Among Ukrainian fans the most popular Ukrainian clubs are Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.[5] Other popular clubs include FC Dnipro, Karpaty Lviv and Chornomorets Odesa.[5]

General overview and format

The 2017–18 season is the league's tenth after the restructuring of professional club football in 2008 and the 27th season since establishing of professional club's competition independent from the Soviet Union. As of 2017, Shakhtar Donetsk is the reigning Ukrainian Premier League champion. To summarise, Tavriya Simferopol won the first championship, while all the subsequent titles have gone to either Dynamo Kyiv or Shakhtar Donetsk. Only 3 teams, Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk have participated in all previous 26 Ukrainian Top League competitions. The central feature of the league is a game between Dynamo and Shakhtar which is developed into the Klasychne (Classic).

On 15 April 2008 the new Premier-Liha (Premier League) was formed. The new sports organization consists of 12 football club organizations that take control of the league's operations under the statues of Football Federation of Ukraine, UEFA, and FIFA. With the new reorganization the format of the League was preserved, while the changes that were made were exclusively administrative. Competitions continued to be conducted in a double round robin format among 16 clubs. There were couple seasons when the 14-clubs league's composition was experimented. Since the 2014 Russian aggression, the league was reduced to 12 members, while its format also has changed. The season is still being played in a double round robin in the first half of a season, after which the league splits in half into two groups of six (6) teams. Both the top six and the bottom six play another a double round robin tournament with the clubs of own group.

The teams that reach the top ranks 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 clubs (usually two) are relegated to the First League (part of the lower Professional Football League) and replaced by the top clubs from that league. All the participants of the Premier League enter the National Cup competition and enter it at the round of 32 (1/16th of the final) or Round of 16 stage. Also the winner of the League at the beginning of every next season plays against the winner of the National Cup for the Ukrainian Super Cup (under administration of the Premier League).

Emblem

Old emblem
New emblem
Season's emblem in 2016
with Pari-Match as sponsor

The old emblem depicts a football 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 (although in 2014 the league was shortened up to 14 teams the emblem was not changed). On the bottom the script says "Premier-League - Union of Professional Football Clubs of Ukraine".

As the old emblem, the new emblem also contains 16 stars. For the 2016-17 season there was added the sponsor's name.

Season's format and regulations

Season regulations is one of the two most important documents (other being the competition calendar) that are adopted by the Premier League prior to each season.

Premier League directly organizes and conducts competitions among member clubs. Competitions are conducted on principle of "Fair play" and according to competitions calendar which is approved by the Premier League General Assembly and the FFU Executive Committee 30 days before start of competitions. Until 2019[citation needed] all advertisement, commercial rights and rights on TV and radio broadcasting of games of championship and cup belong to the club that hosts them (the Super Cup of Ukraine and the "Gold game"). All advertisement, commercial rights and rights on TV and radio broadcasting of the game of Super Cup and the "Gold game". Before 2014 Premier League was also administering some rounds of the Ukrainian Cup (Round of 8, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals). The earlier rounds were administered by the Professional League and the final by the Federation. Since 2014 the organization of Ukrainian Cup competitions in full belongs exclusively to the Federation.

There are currently 12 club members of the league. All participants get approved by the Premier League General Assembly. Each club fields each team for senior competitions, and competitions for under 21 and under 19 teams (three teams). A club is required to have a stadium (registered with FFU) and an education and training facility (or center). A club is also obligated to finance its own youth sports institution and a complex scientific-methodical group as well as to own and finance a number of youth teams. A Premier League club needs to ensure participation of at least four youth teams (ages groups between 14 and 17) in the Youth Football League of Ukraine. A club cannot field more than one team for a certain competition.

All club's staff members (coaches, physicians, massage specialists) have to be contracted and be UEFA licensed. All coaches should have A-diploma, while head coaches - PRO-diploma. Football players are listed in "A" and "B" rosters. "A" roster contains no more than 25 players, while "B" roster has unlimited number of players no older than 21 who have professional contracts or agreements for sports training. The 25-players "A" roster includes the number of slots allotted for players developed by the club.

During breaks in competitions in summer and winter there are two periods for registering players.

Beside the main championship among senior teams, the Premier League also organizes youth championship which was adopted from the previous Vyshcha Liha championship of doubles (reserves). Since 2012 there was added another competition for junior teams, so the original youth championship was renamed into the Championship of U-21 teams and the new competition was named as the Championship of U-19 teams. Unlike the Championship of U-21 teams, in the Championship of U-19 teams beside all of the Premier League clubs' junior teams, there also compete teams of some lower leagues' clubs.

The league's championship among senior teams is conducted by manner of the round robin system in two cycles "fall-spring" with one game at home and another at opponent's field with each participant. A competition calendar is formed after a draw that is conducted based on the Premier League club rankings. The calendar of the second cycle repeats the first, while hosting teams are switched. There should be no less than two calendar days between official games of a club. All games take place between 12:00 and 22:00 local time. Any game postponement is allowed only in emergencies and on decision of the Premier League Administration (Dyrektsiya). Game forfeitures are controlled by technical win/loss nominations and fines, followed by additional sanctions of the FFU Control-Disciplinary Committee, and possible elimination from the league.

Competition calendar

Clubs play each other twice (once at home and once away) in the 26-match season. The league begins in mid-July and ends in mid-June. After 13 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 Simferopol surprised the pre-season favorite Dynamo Kyiv.

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 since 2002–03 season 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 Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk had earned the same number of points and Shakhtar won the championship by winning the golden match (2–1 after extra time).

History

See also: Football in Ukraine, Soviet Top League, Championship of the Ukrainian SSR, and Football Federation of the Ukrainian SSR

Vyshcha Liha and Professional Football League (1992–1999)

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the inaugural independent championship took place hastily at the start of spring 1992 after the creation of the Ukrainian Higher League (Ukrainian: Вища Ліга, Vyshcha 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 First League 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 Higher League along with the winner of the 1991 Ukrainian Cup which finished ninth in the same group (Soviet Second League B).

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, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Shakhtar Donetsk, Chornomorets Odesa, 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 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 Dnipropetrovsk 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 First League. In the 1995–96 season Shakhtar Donetsk had the worst year in the club's history, coming tenth. Chornomorets Odesa were relegated twice during that first decade after which manager Leonid Buryak was sacked. A few newly created teams have since emerged such as Arsenal Kyiv and Metalurh Donetsk, as well as Vorskla Poltava, who surprisingly came third in the club's first season at the Top Level in the 1997.

Dynamo–Shakhtar rivalry and Premier League (2000–2010)

See also: Ukrainian derby

The next decade was marked by fierce competition between Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk. Since 2000, Shakhtar Donetsk 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 Kyiv 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. 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 Dnipropetrovsk and Chornomorets Odesa, who were recent contenders for the title, had to put up a fierce fight against the newly established contenders Metalurh Donetsk and Metalist Kharkiv to qualify for the European competitions. Metalist Kharkiv shone brightly in the late 2000s (decade) by consistently finishing right behind Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk 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 2008–09 UEFA Cup, but lost on the away goals rule. That same 2008–09 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 2008–09 season the league earned the highest UEFA league coefficient in Europe for that season.

Areal duel between players of Shakhtar and Metalist in September of 2009 including Fernandinho and Marko Devic

On 15 November 2007 clubs' presidents of the Vyshcha Liha adopted a decision to create the Premier League (Premier Liha).[6] At the same meeting session there was created a supervisory board that consisted of Ravil Safiullin (Professional Football League), Vitaliy Danilov (FC Kharkiv), Petro Dyminskyi (FC Karpaty), and Vadym Rabinovych (FC Arsenal).[6] During the next three months that body curated a process on creation of the Premier League's regulation and statute as well as a procedure of launching the championship starting from the 2008-09 season.[6] On 15 April 2008 at one of the meetings among the presidents of clubs there was signed a protocol about establishing the Association of Professional Football Clubs of Ukraine "Premier-Liha"[6] as 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 2009–10 season and moving it to the spring half, while having the 14th round still playing in the fall. The representatives of five clubs: Arsenal Kyiv, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, and Metalist Kharkiv 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 Vadim Rabinovich.

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 was absent. This time most club presidents of the Premier League of Ukraine acknowledged Vitaliy Danilov legality. In the subsequent elections on 9 December 2011 Vitaliy Danilov was challenged by Andriy Kurhanskyi (through the proposal of 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. Vitaliy Danilov managed to retain his seat with nine votes for him.

New challenges of the Premier League (2011–present)

Starting from 2010 and until 2015, FC Shakhtar led by Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu obtained five national league titles in a row and making Lucescu the most successful coach in the league. In the 2013-14 season FC Dynamo for the first time since Ukrainian independence placed fourth in league's season ranking and led to dismissal of former national team coach and the legend of Soviet football Oleh Blokhin as the club's manager.

The 2017 Liha Pari-Match champions FC Shakhtar Donetsk with a pennant (Hrayemo Chesno, We Play Fair)

Because of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and cleaning of the league from the financially unreliable clubs (Metalist, Hoverla, Dnipro), the number of teams participating in the league was cut from 16 in the 2013–14 season to 14 in the following seasons.[7] With the continuation of the military conflict in the eastern oblasts (regions) of Ukraine since 2014, the league was forced to change its format again and will now be contested by 12 teams after being cut from 14 in the 2015–16 season.

Officials

Presidents

Directors

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

Clubs

Current clubs

The following teams are competing in the 2018–19 season. Note, in parenthesis shown the actual home cities and stadiums.

Team Home city Stadium Capacity Position in
2017–18 		First season
in PL 		Seasons
in PL
Arsenal Kyiv Kyiv Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium 16,873 FL:1st 1995-96 19
Chornomorets Odesa Odesa Chornomorets Stadium 34,164 11th 1992 24
Desna Chernihiv Chernihiv Chernihiv Stadium 12,060 FL:3rd 2018-19 0
Dynamo Kyiv Kyiv Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex 70,050 2nd 1992 28
Karpaty Lviv Lviv Ukraina Stadium 28,051 8th 1992 26
Lviv Lviv Arena Lviv 34,915 SL:5th 2008-09 1
Mariupol Mariupol Volodymyr Boiko Stadium 12,680 5th 1997-98 19
Oleksandriya Oleksandria CSC Nika Stadium 7,000 7th 2001-02 6
Olimpik Donetsk Donetsk (Kyiv) Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium 16,873 10th 2014-15 5
Shakhtar Donetsk Donetsk (Kharkiv) Metalist Stadium 40,003 1st 1992 28
Vorskla Poltava Poltava Oleksiy Butovsky Vorskla Stadium 24,795 3rd 1996-97 23
Zorya Luhansk Luhansk (Zaporizhia) Slavutych-Arena 12,000 4th 1992 18

Broadcasting

Free-to-air live matches from the Ukrainian Premier League will be broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays on satellite channel 2+2 (Sirius 5E). This is a list of television broadcasters which provide coverage of the Ukrainian Premier League, which is Ukrainian football's top level of competition.

International broadcasters

The main international broadcaster of the league in west Europe and some countries of Africa is the French Ma Chaîne Sport providing coverage for such countries like France, and satellite communities in Andorra, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia. Another broadcaster Sport Klub provides coverage in all countries of former Yugoslavia including Bosnia/Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. National broadcasters of some other counties include 12 TV (Armenia), CBC Sport (Azerbaijan), Polsat Futbol (Poland), Futbol (Russia), and Dolce Sport (Romania).

UEFA ranking and European competitions

See also: Ukrainian football clubs in European competitions

Ukrainian clubs being part of the Soviet Union competed in European competitions since 1960s when the Soviet clubs started to participate in continental competitions. In fact the very first Soviet club that took part in European competitions was Ukrainian club, FC Dynamo Kyiv, that took in the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the following Ukrainian clubs participated in European competitions: FC Dynamo Kyiv (1965), FC Karpaty Lviv (1970), FC Zorya Luhansk (1973), FC Chornomorets Odessa (1975), FC Shakhtar Donetsk (1977), FC Dnipro (1984), and FC Metalist Kharkiv (1988).

At least four clubs participated in top continental competitions the European Cup and the UEFA Champions League among which are FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Dnipro, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, and FC Metalist Kharkiv.

Two teams (Dynamo and Shakhtar) were able to obtain trophies of European competitions including two Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Supercup, and one UEFA Cup. One more team (Dnipro) came just short to join their company losing in the 2015 UEFA Europa League Final.

Club seeding

UEFA Club Ranking

Current
ranking 		Movement Last season
ranking 		Teams Coefficient
14 upward-facing green arrow (18) Shakhtar Donetsk 81.000
22 upward-facing green arrow (25) Dynamo Kyiv 62.000
43 downward-facing red arrow (38) Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 34.000
135 downward-facing red arrow (109) Chornomorets Odesa 9.000
135 upward-facing green arrow (136) Zorya Luhansk 9.000
142 upward-facing green arrow (165) Oleksandriya 2.500
142 upward-facing green arrow (154) Vorskla Poltava 2.000
142 downward-facing red arrow (98) Metalist Kharkiv 2.000
142 upward-facing green arrow (154) Metalurh Donetsk 1.000
142 upward-facing green arrow (new) Olimpik Donetsk 1.000

Note: Since 1999 the country index (coefficient) indicates the lowest possible value any team of that country will get in the ranking. Currently it's 6.866 for Ukraine. Teams ranked below their country's ranking are positioned by the ranking of their country rather its own. Teams in bold will be participating in the 2017–18 European football season.[11] Last Updated: 21 May 2018

Country ranking

UEFA Country Ranking

Current
ranking 		Movement Last season
ranking 		League Coefficient
6 Steady (6) Russia Russian Premier League 53.382
7 Steady (7) Portugal Primeira Liga 47.248
8 Steady (8) Ukraine Ukrainian Premier League 41.133
9 Steady (9) Belgium Belgian Pro League 38.500
10 Steady (10) Turkey Süper Lig 35.800

Last Updated: 21 May 2018.[12]

International relations

In 2009 The Ukrainian Premier League joined the European Professional Football Leagues.[13] 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.

Results by season

Main article: List of Ukrainian football champions

Top League (Vyshcha Liha)

Season Champion Runner-up Third place Top goalscorer Rank
1992 Tavriya Simferopol Dynamo Kyiv Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine Yuriy Hudymenko (Tavriya Simferopol, 12 goals) N/A[14]
1992–93 Dynamo Kyiv Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Chornomorets Odesa Ukraine Serhiy Husyev (Chornomorets Odesa, 17 goals) 28/39
1993–94 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Chornomorets Odesa Ukraine Tymerlan Huseinov (Chornomorets Odesa, 18 goals) 24/44
1994–95 Dynamo Kyiv Chornomorets Odesa Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Tajikistan Arsen Avakov (Torpedo Zaporizhya, 21 goals) 24/47
1995–96 Dynamo Kyiv Chornomorets Odesa Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine Tymerlan Huseinov (Chornomorets Odesa, 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 Vorobey (Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 goals) 13/51
2001–02 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine Serhiy Shyshchenko (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) Giorgi Demetradze (Metalurh Donetsk, 18 goals) 14/52
2004–05 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine Oleksandr Kosyrin (Chornomorets Odesa, 14 goals) 15/52
2005–06 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Chornomorets Odesa 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 Hladkyi (FC Kharkiv, 13 goals) 11/52
2007–08 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Bronze stripped * Serbia Marko Dević* (Metalist Kharkiv, 19 goals) 12/53

Premier League

Season Champion Runner-up Third place Top goalscorer Rank
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) 8/53
2011–12 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Metalist Kharkiv Ukraine Yevhen Seleznyov (Shakhtar Donetsk, 14 goals)
Brazil Maicon (Volyn Lutsk, 14 goals) 		9/53
2012–13 Shakhtar Donetsk Metalist Kharkiv Dynamo Kyiv Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar Donetsk, 25 goals) 7/53
2013–14 Shakhtar Donetsk Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Metalist Kharkiv Brazil Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk, 20 goals) 9/53
2014–15 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Brazil Alex Teixeira (Shakhtar Donetsk, 17 goals)
Romania Eric Bicfalvi (Volyn Lutsk, 17 goals) 		8/54
2015–16 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Brazil Alex Teixeira (Shakhtar Donetsk, 22 goals)
 8/54
2016–17 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Zorya Luhansk Ukraine Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kyiv, 15 goals) 8/55
2017–18 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Vorskla Poltava Argentina Facundo Ferreyra (Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 goal) 8/55

Notes:

Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-up Third place Winning years
Dynamo Kyiv 15 10 1 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2014–15, 2015–16
Shakhtar Donetsk 11 12 – 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18
Tavriya Simferopol 1 – – 1992
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk – 2 7
Chornomorets Odesa – 2 3
Metalist Kharkiv – 1 6
Metalurh Donetsk – – 3
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih – – 2
Vorskla Poltava – – 2
Karpaty Lviv – – 1
Zorya Luhansk – – 1
Total 27 27 26
Notes

Honored teams

A representative star is placed above the team's badge to indicate 10 league titles.[17] Dynamo Kyiv became the first Ukrainian team to achieve the prestigious honor of winning the Soviet Top 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. The two stars, however, were only added to the club's logo in 2007.[18] Earning its 10th national title in 2017, Shakhtar Donetsk has not yet adopted a star on its crest.

Currently (as of 2018) the following clubs earned the star element to be added to their crest.

Premier League players

All-time Premier League appearance leaders
Rank Player Games
1 Ukraine Oleksandr Shovkovskiy 426
2 Ukraine Oleh Shelayev 412
3 Ukraine Vyacheslav Checher 407
4 Ukraine Oleksandr Chizhevskiy 400
5 Ukraine Oleksandr Horyainov 391
6 Ukraine Ruslan Rotan 375
7 Ukraine Serhiy Nazarenko 373
8 Ukraine Serhiy Shyshchenko 363
9 Ukraine Ruslan Kostyshyn 359
10 Ukraine Serhiy Zakarlyuka 356
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League
Data as of 14 October 2018[19]
All-time Premier League scorers
Rank Player Goals Games
1 Ukraine Serhiy Rebrov 123 261
Uzbekistan Maksim Shatskikh 123[a] 341
3 Ukraine Yevhen Seleznyov 111 230
4 Ukraine Andriy Vorobey 105 315
5 Ukraine Andriy Yarmolenko 99 228
6 Ukraine Oleksandr Haydash 95[b] 258
7 Ukraine Serbia Marko Dević 90 219
Ukraine Serhiy Mizin 90 342
9 Ukraine Tymerlan Huseynov 85 215
10 Ukraine Oleksandr Kosyrin 84 240
Ukraine Oleksandr Hladkyy 84 300
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League
Data as of 14 October 2018[21]
Further information: Football records in Ukraine

Ex-Dynamo Kyiv strikers Maksim Shatskikh and Serhiy Rebrov hold the record for most Ukrainian Premier League goals with 123, with Shatskikh winning the top single season scorer title twice in 1999–2000 and 2002–03, Rebrov once in 1997-98. Since the first Ukrainian Premier League season in 1992, 22 different players have won or shared the top scorer's title. Only four players have won the title more than once, Tymerlan Huseynov, Maksim Shatskikh, Yevhen Seleznyov and Alex Teixeira. Henrikh Mkhitaryan holds the record for most goals in a season (25), Serhiy Rebrov and Maksim Shatskikh are the only two players to score at least 20 goals twice. The most prolific all-time scorers are Ivan Hetsko and Viktor Leonenko, respectively attaining 0.59 and 0.56 goals per game.

Premier League managers

All-time League games
Rank Coach Games
1 Ukraine Myron Markevych 620
2 Ukraine Mykola Pavlov 546
3 Romania Mircea Lucescu 355
4 Ukraine Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi 340
5 Ukraine Valeriy Yaremchenko 297
6 Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko 294
7 Ukraine Oleh Taran 273
8 Ukraine Semen Altman 249
9 Ukraine Vyacheslav Hrozny 214
10 Ukraine Oleksandr Ishchenko 204
Coaches in bold are still active in the League
Data as of 31 May 2017[22]
Winning managers
Rank Name Club(s)
1 Romania Mircea Lucescu Shakhtar 8 4 —
2 Ukraine Valery Lobanovsky† Dynamo 5 1 —
3 Ukraine Yozhef Sabo Dynamo 2 1 —
Ukraine Serhiy Rebrov Dynamo 2 1 —
5 Ukraine Oleksiy Mykhailychenko Dynamo 2 — —
Portugal Paulo Fonseca Shakhtar 2 — —
7 Russia Yuri Semin Dynamo 1 3 —
8 Ukraine Mykola Pavlov Dynamo(1)
Dnipro 		1 1 1
9 Ukraine Anatoliy Demyanenko Dynamo 1 1 —
10 Ukraine Anatoliy Zayaev† Tavria 1 — —
Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko Dynamo 1 — —
Italy Nevio Scala Shakhtar 1 — —
Data as of 13 May 2018

The league's record holder for winnings is Mircea Lucescu.

The league's record holder for games that the coach led a team in the league is Myron Markevych. Among other coaches who stayed in the league the longest, there are Volodymyr Bezsonov (197), Anatoliy Zayaev† (191), Yuriy Vernydub (187), Ihor Nadein† (184), and Leonid Buryak (180).

† – Managers that have retired out of sport. In bold are managers that are still active in the current season.

Current managers
Nat. Name Club Appointed Time as manager
Ukraine Yuriy Vernydub Zorya Luhansk 27 November 2011 12 years, 345 days
Ukraine Oleksandr Ryabokon Desna Chernihiv 16 March 2012 12 years, 235 days
Ukraine Roman Sanzhar Olimpik Donetsk 17 April 2013 11 years, 203 days
Ukraine Volodymyr Sharan Oleksandriya 8 June 2013 11 years, 151 days
Ukraine Vasyl Sachko Vorskla Poltava 10 June 2014 10 years, 149 days
Portugal Paulo Fonseca Shakhtar Donetsk 1 June 2016 8 years, 158 days
Belarus Alyaksandr Khatskevich Dynamo Kyiv 2 June 2017 7 years, 157 days
Ukraine Oleksandr Babych Mariupol 22 September 2017 7 years, 45 days
Bulgaria Angel Chervenkov Chornomorets Odesa 13 June 2018 6 years, 146 days
Italy Fabrizio Ravanelli Arsenal Kyiv 22 June 2018 6 years, 137 days
Portugal José Morais Karpaty Lviv 16 August 2018 6 years, 82 days
Ukraine Yuriy Bakalov FC Lviv 16 August 2018 6 years, 82 days

Premier League referees

All-time League games
Rank Coach City Games
1 Serhiy Shebek Kiev 226
2 Vitaliy Hodulian Odessa 202
3 Vasyl Melnychuk Simferopol 190
4 Ihor Ishchenko Khmelnytskyi / Kiev 186
5 Ihor Yarmenchuk Kiev 168
6 Andriy Shandor Lviv 149
7 Valeriy Onufer Uzhhorod 141
8 Serhiy Tatulian Kiev 137
9 Serhiy Dzyuba Kiev 136
10 Anatoliy Zhosan Kherson 134
Ihor Khiblin Khmelnytskyi
Referees in bold are still active in the League
Data as of 19 May 2014[23]

All-time participants

The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons.

Vyshcha Liha era (1992–2008)

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[c]         4 11 10 7 10 6 12 5 9 9 12 14 6
Borysfen Boryspil                         7 16      
Bukovyna Chernivtsi 10 12 17                            
Chornomorets Odesa 5 3 3 2 2 7 15   15     8 5 6 3 6 7
Dnipro 3 2 4 3 3 4 4 12 11 3 6 4 3 4 6 4 4
Dynamo Kyiv 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2
Hoverla Uzhhorod                     14     12 16   16
Karpaty Lviv 13 6 5 8 8 5 3 4 9 10 8 7 15     8 10
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
Mariupol             14 5 8 4 10 10 8 5 4 15  
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 Zaporizhya 11 7 16 9 5 8 9 8 6 8 4 15 11 10 8 7 9
Mykolaiv 18     13 16     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      
Odesa 20                                
Oleksandriya                     13 13          
Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk 17     11 11 13 13 15 14                
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 Zaporizhya 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
Zirka Kropyvnytskyi         6 10 11 11 16       16        
Zorya Luhansk 12 15 14 16 18                     11 11

Premier League era (2008–present)

08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19
Teams 16 16 16 16 16 16 14 14 12 12 12
Arsenal Kyiv 11 7 9 5 8 16         •
Chornomorets Odesa 10 15   9 6 5 11 11 6 11 •
Desna Chernihiv                     •
Dnipro 6 4 4 4 4 2 3 3 11    
Dynamo Kyiv 1 2 2 2 3 4 1 1 2 2 •
Hoverla Uzhhorod   16     15 12 12 13      
Karpaty Lviv 9 5 5 14 14 11 13 7 10 8 •
Kharkiv 16                    
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih 12 14 13 10 7            
Lviv 15                   •
Mariupol 14 12 14 11 9 10 14     5 •
Metalist Kharkiv 3 3 3 3 2 3 6 10      
Metalurh Donetsk 4 8 8 7 5 6 10        
Metalurh Zaporizhya 7 9 16   16 14 7 14      
Obolon Kyiv   11 10 15              
Oleksandriya       16       6 5 7 •
Olimpik Donetsk           8 9 5 4 9 •
Sevastopol     15     9          
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 •
Stal Kamianske               8 8 12  
Tavriya Simferopol 8 6 7 6 11 15          
Veres Rivne                   6  
Volyn Lutsk     11 12 13 13 9 12 12    
Vorskla Poltava 5 10 6 8 12 8 5 5 7 3 •
Zirka Kropyvnytskyi                 9 10  
Zorya Luhansk 13 13 12 13 10 7 4 4 3 4 •

Teams marking:

Competing in UPL (1st tier)
Competing in PFL (2nd tier)
Competing in PFL (3nd tier)
Competing in AAFU (4nd tier)
Competing in regional championships (below 4rd tier)
Defunct clubs

All-time table

All figures are correct through the 2017–18 season.[24][25][26] Promotion/relegation playoff games are not included.

  clubs that lost professional status or were dissolved
Rank Team Seasons P W D L GF GA Pts Achievement Other names used
1 Dynamo Kyiv 27 798 588 134 76 1724 519 1898 champions (15)
2 Shakhtar Donetsk 27 798 551 138 109 1674 598 1791 champions (11)
3 FC Dnipro 26 765 379 199 187 1127 718 1336 runners-up (2)
4 Chornomorets Odesa 23 683 258 171 254 762 786 945 runners-up (2)
5 Karpaty Lviv 25 735 245 209 281 809 898 944 3rd (1)
6 Metalist Kharkiv[d] 20 573 254 144 175 755 664 906 runners-up (1)
7 Tavriya Simferopol[e] 23 681 237 170 274 795 873 881 champions (1)
8 Vorskla Poltava 22 646 219 177 250 700 753 834 3rd (2) Vorskla-Naftogaz
9 Metalurh Zaporizhya[f] 24 702 206 173 323 699 949 791 5th (2)[g]
10 Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih[h] 21 634 201 173 260 633 786 776 3rd (2)
11 Metalurh Donetsk[i] 18 526 203 142 181 655 623 751 3rd (3)
12 Arsenal Kyiv[j] 18 536 184 151 201 628 619 703 4th (1)[k] CSKA, CSKA-Borysfen
13 FC Mariupol 18 528 164 127 237 589 752 619 4th (2) Illichivets, Metalurh
14 Zorya Luhansk 17 504 161 110 233 535 746 593 3rd (1) Zorya-MALS
15 Volyn Lutsk 16 472 140 102 230 473 710 519 6th (1)
16 Nyva Ternopil[l] 10 296 93 62 141 319 388 341 7th (3)
17 Zirka Kropyvnytskyi[m] 8 248 62 58 128 209 368 244 6th (1) Zirka-NIBAS
18 Torpedo Zaporizhya[n] 7 210 64 42 104 214 315 234 7th (2)
19 Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk[o] 7 206 55 52 99 215 315 217 10th (1)
20 Kremin Kremenchuk[p] 6 180 54 40 86 182 269 202 9th (2)
21 FC Oleksandriya[q] 6 176 46 58 72 174 239 196 5th (1) Polihraftekhnika, PFC Oleksandriya
22 Hoverla Uzhhorod[r] 9 256 41 64 151 186 421 187 12th (3) Zakarpattia
23 Obolon Kyiv[s] 6 180 44 44 92 153 253 176 6th (1)
24 Nyva Vinnytsia[t] 5 150 42 32 76 140 213 158 10th (1)
25 Veres Rivne[u] 4 130 34 39 57 117 171 141 6th (1)
26 Olimpik Donetsk 4 116 33 32 51 108 181 131 4th (1)
27 FC Kharkiv[v] 4 120 25 33 62 94 156 108 12th (1)
28 SC Mykolaiv 4 116 26 23 67 100 208 101 13th (1) Evis
29 Stal Kamianske 3 90 24 24 42 72 106 96 8th (2)
30 Temp Shepetivka[w] 3 86 24 16 46 79 113 88 9th (1)
31 Bukovyna Chernivtsi 3 82 23 18 41 69 99 87 11th (1)
32 Stal Alchevsk[x] 3 86 17 21 48 67 126 72 11th (1)
33 FC Sevastopol[y] 2 58 17 11 30 58 91 62 9th (1) PFC Sevastopol
32 Borysfen Boryspil 2 60 14 19 27 40 60 61 7th (1)
34 Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka 2 48 11 11 26 30 66 44 15th (1) Naftovyk
36 FC Lviv 1 30 6 8 16 24 39 26 15th
37 SC Odesa[z] 1 18 3 1 14 15 32 10 10th SKA Odesa
38 Desna Chernihiv recently promoted

Post-season play-offs

Golden matches

Third place matches

Relegation play-offs

Rivalries and city derbies

Klasychne derby

See also: Klasychne derby

The central feature of the league is a rivalry between Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv which has adopted its name as Klasychne derby. The rivalry started ever since the end of 1990s when both teams started consistently to place the top two places from season to season. The rivalry became really established when Shakhtar obtained its first national title in 2002.

Other championship contenders

The surprising win of the first season by SC Tavriya Simferopol has never turned the club into a real contender for another title and the club was not always successful to secure a place among the top five. In the beginning of 1990s, FC Chornomorets Odessa and the two-time Soviet champions FC Dnipro were also among the main contenders. The 1972 Soviet champions FC Zorya Luhansk until 2013 really struggled to stay in the top league. Among other contenders there were FC Metalist Kharkiv that were the league's runners-up in 2012–13 and FC Metalurh Donetsk that showed some consistent form in the early 2000s.

Other rivalries

There are few smaller regional rivalries such between Karpaty and Volyn, Metalist and Dnipro, Zorya and Shakhtar.

Among city derbies, there were no running city derbies in the league for the 2017–18 season. Among the most notable previously there were Zaporizhia derby between Metalurh and Torpedo, Kyiv derby between Dynamo and Arsenal (CSKA), Donetsk derby between Shakhtar and Metalurh. Other derbies existed in Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, West Ukrainian football derby and others.

Stadiums

Further information: List of football stadiums in Ukraine

Ukraine has several big stadiums with capacity of 30,000+ spectators and at least two stadiums with capacity of over 50,000 which also are considered to be by UEFA the elite stadiums. Since the 2014 Russian invasion and partial occupation of Ukraine, the access to some stadiums was restricted. Many stadiums in Ukraine and their surrounding infrastructure were renovated in preparation to the Euro 2012.

UEFA Elite Stadiums

# Stadium Capacity City Club Opened
1 Olimpiysky National Sports Complex 70,050 Kiev Ukraine, Dynamo Kyiv 1923, 2011
2 Donbass Arena 52,518 Donetsk Shakhtar Donetsk 2009

Other major stadiums

Among 30,000+ football stadiums or multi-use stadiums adopted for football are Arena Lviv, Chornomorets Stadium, Dnipro Arena, Metalist Stadium and others.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ On 22 July 2017 Ukrainian Premier League announced that Maksim Shatskikh might have scored 123 goals instead of 124 due to one of the autogoals (own goals) being counted towards his tally.[20]
  2. ^ Haidash who is recorded with 95 goals in reality did score 96, but the game in which he scored was cancelled along with his record.[20]
  3. ^ Arsenal Kyiv was renamed from CSKA Kyiv in 2001, the original CSKA Kyiv was recreated in the First League in place of CSCA-2 Kyiv.
  4. ^ the status of the club is disputed due the fact that current the Second League's FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv which features many footballers and coaching staff members of the original Metalist is de jure a different club, while the original Soviet club was denied license for failing to pay salary to its footballers and competes in regional competitions of Kharkiv Oblast
  5. ^ the original Soviet club was forced to be dissolved due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and in its place was created Russian FC TSK–Tavriya in Simferopol and later SC Tavriya in Beryslav
  6. ^ the original Soviet club was dissolved due to bankruptcy and was later revived based on amateur FC Rosso Nero
  7. ^ In 2001-02 Metalurh Zaporizhia placed fifth in the competition according to the season's regulations, however the FFU Executive Committee after reviewing granted the club the fourth place to allow Metalurh to participate in continental competitions.
  8. ^ the original Soviet club was dissolved due to bankruptcy and later was revived competing in regional competitions of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
  9. ^ the club was merged with FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk
  10. ^ the original club was dissolved due to bankruptcy and later revived based on its academy as FC Arsenal–Kyiv
  11. ^ Arsenal Kyiv's record includes the record of its predecessor CSKA Kyiv (when the club was sponsored by the Ministry of Defence). It does not include the 14 games that it played in 2013-14 and later annulled.
  12. ^ as the original professional Soviet club, Nyva was relegated to lower leagues then withdrew from professional competitions and later reformed in regional competitions of Ternopil Oblast
  13. ^ the original Soviet club due to bankruptcy was reformed in amateur competitions, but after unsuccessful season, in 2008 passed its name to a local football school Olimpik
  14. ^ the original Soviet club was dissolved due to bankruptcy
  15. ^ the original Soviet club FC Prykarpattia relegated to lower leagues and was dissolved due to bankruptcy, later attempts to revive it so far were not successful
  16. ^ the original Soviet club was dissolved due to bankruptcy and later was revived as municipal club
  17. ^ the original factory team Polihraftekhnika was dissolved and reformed as a city team which later was reformed based on the merger with lower league team FC UkrAhroKom
  18. ^ the original Soviet club was denied license for failing to pay salary to its footballers and later was dissolved
  19. ^ the original club that was established based on the Kyiv sports school was reformed FC Obolon-Brovar as part of the Obolon factory team and restarted from lower leagues
  20. ^ the original Soviet club was dissolved due to bankruptcy and later attempts revived so far are not very successful
  21. ^ the original Soviet club was relegated and after spending long time in lower leagues later was dissolved; in 2016 it was revived as a special project "people's team"
  22. ^ an unsuccessful spin-off of FC Arsenal Kharkiv
  23. ^ the original Soviet club was dissolved due to bankruptcy
  24. ^ the original Soviet club was dissolved due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine
  25. ^ the club was dissolved due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and its place was created Russian club SKChF which later changed its name to FC Sevastopol
  26. ^ the original Soviet club was merged with FC Chornomorets

References

  1. ^ a b Hunchenko, O., Kazakov, V., Kulikovska, O. Historic and geographic characteristics of football development in Ukraine (ІСТОРИКО-ГЕОГРАФІЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РОЗВИТКУ ФУТБОЛУ В УКРАЇНІ)
  2. ^ Historic profile. Professional Football League of Ukraine
  3. ^ There was adopted a decision on creation of the football Premier League of Ukraine (Прийнято рішення про створення футбольної Прем'єр-ліги України). Electronic Library of Ukraine.
  4. ^ In Ukraine was created Premier League (В Україні створено Прем’єр-лігу). Champion (Ukrayinska Pravda). 27 May 2008
  5. ^ a b Poll: 40% of Ukrainians consider themselves football supporters, most against idea of CIS league, Interfax-Ukraine (27 August 2013)
  6. ^ a b c d At first there was a decision... (Спочатку було рішення…). Ukrainian Premier League. 16 November 2017
  7. ^ Ukraine trying to revive Crimean champion football club, USA Today (19 June 2015)
  8. ^ Danilov re-elected as president of Ukrainian football premier league
  9. ^ Vitaliy Danilov is re-elected as the president of PL
  10. ^ Официально. Владимир Генинсон — новый президент УПЛ
  11. ^ UEFA Team Ranking 2017 (24 November 2016)
  12. ^ UEFA Country Ranking 2018
  13. ^ Profile of the Ukrainian Premier League at EPFL website
  14. ^ part of Soviet Union
  15. ^ Lausanne announced a verdict on the game Karpaty - Metalist (Лозанна озвучила вердикт по матчу "Карпаты" - "Металлист"). ua-football.com. August 2, 2013.
  16. ^ Football - Match Fixing Archived 15 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Court of Arbitration of Sport. Lausanne August 2, 2013.
  17. ^ Will Dynamo have two stars? Television Service of News (TSN). 12 June 2007
  18. ^ FC Dynamo Kyiv has a new emblem. Interfax Ukraine. 4 July 2011
  19. ^ All players
  20. ^ a b ...And on the horizon – Yarmolenko (…А на горизонті — Ярмоленко). Ukrainian Premier League. 22 July 2017
  21. ^ Allplayers.in.ua
  22. ^ All coaches
  23. ^ All referees
  24. ^ Grand tournament table of the Ukrainian Championship (1992-2015) Archived 8 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. ukr-football.org
  25. ^ Summarized table of championships. Ukrainskiy Futbol ot Dmitriya Troshchiya (Ukrainian Football from Dmitriy Troshchiy).
  26. ^ Summarized table of all years. Wildstat.
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