Ukrainian Premier League

Ukrainian Premier League

Founded	1991 (Vyshcha Liha) 2008 (Premier League)
Country	Ukraine
Confederation	UEFA
Number of clubs	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Ukrainian First League
Domestic cup(s)	Ukrainian Cup Ukrainian Super Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Current champions	Dynamo Kyiv (14th title) (2014–15)
Most championships	Dynamo Kyiv (14 titles)
Website	Official website
Current: 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League

The Ukrainian Premier League (Template:Lang-uk) is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha (Supreme League) it was formed in 1991 upon discontinuation of the Soviet championship and included the Ukrainian-based clubs that competed in the Soviet competitions. In 1996 along with all the professional football leagues of Ukraine, the Supreme League became a member of the Professional Football League of Ukraine.

In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of both the Professional League and 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 2014.

Among Ukrainian fans the most popular Ukrainian clubs are Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk. Far behind those two are trailing Metalist Kharkiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Karpaty Lviv and Chornomorets Odesa.

Overview

The season 2014–15 is the league's seventh after the break-away from the Professional Football League (PFL) in 2008 and 24th season from the break-up of the Soviet Top League. Until 2007 the league was subsidized by the government and from an economic 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 Biola^a(2008). On 15 April 2008 the new Premier-League 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 14 football club organizations under the guidance of the Football Federation of Ukraine.

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 First League (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 Ukrainian Super Cup.

As of 2015, Dynamo Kyiv 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 24 Ukrainian Vyshcha Liha competitions.

The league cooperates with the Professional Football League of Ukraine which governs the lower divisions. The PFL is an association that represents 38 Ukrainian professional football clubs, which are represented by 40 teams (only 2 clubs now have more than one team which plays in different divisions). The professional league was organized in 1996 and until 2008 was responsible for the competitions in the Top division as well. Before that, Vyshcha 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.

Emblem

The 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 th emblem was not changed). On the bottom the script says "Premier-League - Union of Professional Football Clubs of Ukraine".

Season 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 all advertisement, commercial rights and rights on TV and radio broadcasting of games of championship and cup belong to the club that hosts them (except for the Ukrainian Cup final, the Super Cup of Ukraine, and the "Gold game"). All advertisement, commercial rights and rights on TV and radio broadcasting of the Ukrainian Cup final belong to the Football Federation of Ukraine, while the game of Super Cup and the "Gold game" - to the Premier League.

There are 14 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 also obligated to finance its own youth sports institution and a complex scientific-methodical group as well as to own and finance 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.

A championship is conducted after 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.

History

See also: Football in Ukraine and Championship of the Ukrainian SSR in football

Prior to 1992, the championship of Ukraine was conducted by the Football Federation of the Ukrainian SSR. There were two championships, the championship among the masters' teams (Template:Lang-uk) and among the fitness clubs (Template:Lang-uk).

• 1921 - 1936 Championship among regional assembled teams (Cities championship)
• 1936 - 1959 Championship of sports societies and associations (industrial teams)
  • 1941 - 1945 National competitions suspended (World War II)
• 1960 - 1969 Class B of the Soviet Championship
• 1970 - 1970 Second Group A of the Soviet Championship
• 1971 - 1989 Second League of the Soviet Championship
• 1989 - 1991 Lower Second League of the Soviet Championship
• 1992 - 2008 Supreme League
• 2008–present Premier League

The first decade (1992–2000)

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 Supreme League (Template:Lang-uk, 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 Supreme 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.

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

Main article: 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 2008-2009 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 15 April 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 2009–10 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.

International relations

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

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. After the unlawful Russian annexation of Crimea this number was changed to 14 as Tavriya and Sevastopol were coerced by the Russian authorities into dissolving. UEFA plans to administer Crimea as a special zone.

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).

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 Vyshcha Liha tallied more than 30 players and by 2003–04 season, the figure had increased to 37% of the league's players. Only 2 players from Ukraine's domestic leagues competed in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, while at the 2006 FIFA World Cup the Vyshcha 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 Vyshcha 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 national team coach Oleh Blokhin, who threatened to quit the national team if the limit was not made stricter.

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 Giorgi 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.

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).

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.

Presidents

• Vitaliy Danilov (president of FC Kharkiv) 27 May 2008 – 1 July 2009 (temporary acting president)
• Vitaliy Danilov (president of FC Kharkiv) 1 July 2009 – 9 December 2011
• Vitaliy Danilov 9 December 2011 – present

Directors

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

2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League

In the 2014–15 season, the Ukrainian Premier League consisted of the following teams:

Chornomorets Odesa Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Dynamo Kyiv Hoverla Uzhhorod Illichivets Mariupol Karpaty Lviv Metalist Kharkiv

Metalurh Donetsk Metalurh Zaporizhya Olimpik Donetsk Shakhtar Donetsk Volyn Lutsk Vorskla Poltava Zorya Luhansk

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

Europe (UEFA)

Country	Language	Broadcasters
Andorra	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Armenia	Armenian	12 TV
Azerbaijan	Azerbaijani	Idman Azerbaycan
Belgium	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnian	SportKlub
Croatia	Croatia	SportKlub
France	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Greece	Greek	Action 24
Luxembourg	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Republic of Macedonia	Serbia	SportKlub
Monaco	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Montenegro	Serbia	SportKlub
Poland	Polish	Polsat Futbol
Romania	Romanian	Dolce Sport
Russia	Russian	Futbol
Serbia	Serbia	SportKlub
Slovenia	Serbia	SportKlub
Switzerland	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Turkey	Turkish	-
Ukraine	Ukrainian	Kanal Futbol,2+2

Africa (CAF)

Country	Language	Broadcasters
Algeria	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Morocco	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Tunisia	French	Ma Chaine Sport

UEFA ranking

Club Seeding

UEFA Club Ranking for club seeding in 2014–15 European football season.

Current Ranking	Movement	Last Season Ranking	Teams	Coefficient
18		(18)	Shakhtar Donetsk	86.033
27		(34)	Dynamo Kyiv	65.033
36		(70)	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	52.033
43		(48)	Metalist Kharkiv	47.033
106		(121)	Chornomorets Odesa	18.033
143		(146)	Karpaty Lviv	12.533
155		(146)	Vorskla Poltava	11.033
155		(146)	Metalurh Donetsk	11.033
158		N/A	Zorya Luhansk	10.533
158		(166)	Tavriya Simferopol	10.533
168		(174)	Arsenal Kyiv	10.033

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 9.033 for Ukraine.

Teams in italics have either been eliminated or will not be participating in the 2014–15 European football season.Last Updated: 15 May 2015.

Country ranking

UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2014–15 European football season

Current Ranking	Movement	Last Season Ranking	League	Coefficient
7		(8)	Russian Premier League	46.998
8		(9)	Eredivisie	44.312
9		(7)	Ukrainian Premier League	40.966
10		(11)	Belgian Pro League	36.300
11		(10)	Süper Lig	34.200

Last Updated: 30 July 2014.

Champions and top goalscorers

Main article: List of Ukrainian football champions

Season	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Position	Top Goalscorer	Rank
1992	Tavriya Simferopol	Dynamo Kyiv	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Yuriy Hudymenko (Tavriya Simferopol, 12 goals)	N/A
1992–93	Dynamo Kyiv	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Chornomorets Odesa	Serhiy Husyev (Chornomorets Odesa, 17 goals)	28/39
1993–94	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Chornomorets Odesa	Tymerlan Huseinov (Chornomorets Odesa, 18 goals)	24/44
1994–95	Dynamo Kyiv	Chornomorets Odesa	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Arsen Avakov (Torpedo Zaporizhya, 21 goals)	24/47
1995–96	Dynamo Kyiv	Chornomorets Odesa	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Tymerlan Huseinov (Chornomorets Odesa, 20 goals)	19/48
1996–97	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Vorskla Poltava	Oleh Matveyev (Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 goals)	22/48
1997–98	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Karpaty Lviv	Serhiy Rebrov (Dynamo Kyiv, 22 goals)	17/49
1998–99	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kyiv, 18 goals)	15/50
1999–00	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo Kyiv, 20 goals)	12/50
2000–01	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Andriy Vorobey (Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 goals)	13/51
2001–02	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv	Metalurh Donetsk	Serhiy Shyshchenko (Metalurh Donetsk, 12 goals)	13/51
2002–03	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Metalurh Donetsk	Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo Kyiv, 22 goals)	14/52
2003–04	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Giorgi Demetradze (Metalurh Donetsk, 18 goals)	14/52
2004–05	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv	Metalurh Donetsk	Oleksandr Kosyrin (Chornomorets Odesa, 14 goals)	15/52
2005–06	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv	Chornomorets Odesa	Brandão (Shakhtar Donetsk, 15 goals) Emmanuel Okoduwa (Arsenal Kyiv, 15 goals)	13/52
2006–07	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Metalist Kharkiv	Oleksandr Hladkyi (FC Kharkiv, 13 goals)	11/52
2007–08	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv	bronze stripped*	Marko Dević* (Metalist Kharkiv, 19 goals)	12/53
2008–09	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Metalist Kharkiv	Oleksandr Kovpak (Tavriya Simferopol, 17 goals)	7/53
2009–10	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv	Metalist Kharkiv	Artem Milevsky (Dynamo Kyiv, 17 goals)	7/53
2010–11	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv	Metalist Kharkiv	Yevhen Seleznyov (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, 17 goals)	8/53
2011–12	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv	Metalist Kharkiv	Yevhen Seleznyov (Shakhtar Donetsk, 14 goals) Maicon (Volyn Lutsk, 14 goals)	9/53
2012–13	Shakhtar Donetsk	Metalist Kharkiv	Dynamo Kyiv	Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar Donetsk, 25 goals)	7/53
2013–14	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Metalist Kharkiv	Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk, 20 goals)	9/54
2014–15	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Alex Teixeira (Shakhtar Donetsk, 17 goals) Eric Bicfalvi (Volyn Lutsk, 17 goals)	8/54

Notes:

• Rank column shows the ranking of the league amongst members of UEFA.
• In bold are the league winners that also won the Ukrainian Cup. (Season Double)
• In italic are the league runner-up that also won of the Cup competition.
• Metalist Kharkiv had been stripped of their bronze award for 2007–08 season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne ruled against the game Karpaty – Metalist (April 19, 2008).
• A citizen of Serbia, Marko Devich was granted the Ukrainian citizenship after the 2007–08 season.

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-Up	Third Place	Winning Years
Dynamo Kyiv	14	8	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
Shakhtar Donetsk	9	11	0	2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
Tavriya Simferopol	1	0	0	1992
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	0	2	6
Chornomorets Odesa	0	2	3
Metalist Kharkiv	0	1	6
Metalurh Donetsk	0	0	3
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	0	0	2
Vorskla Poltava	0	0	1
Karpaty Lviv	0	0	1

• Note: Defunct teams marked in italics.

Post season play-offs

Golden Matches

• 1992 – Ukraina Stadium (Lviv) 21 June 1992
• 2006 – Metalurh Stadium (Kryvyi Rih) 14 May 2006

Relegation play-offs

• 1999 – Dynamo Stadium (Kiev) 4 July 1999
• 2002 – CSK ZSU Stadium (Kiev) 16 June 2002

Third place match

• 1992 – Metalurh Central Stadium (Zaporizhia) 20 June 1992

Honored teams

A representative star is placed above the team's badge to indicate 10 league titles. 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. No other club in Ukraine has come close to such an honour yet.

Only four other clubs have ever been national champions: Shakhtar Donetsk (9, all Ukrainian titles), Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2, all Soviet), and once Zorya Luhansk (Soviet Union) and Tavriya Simferopol (Ukraine).

The current (as of June 2012) officially sanctioned Premier League stars are:

• Dynamo Kyiv (26, the second received in 1999).
• Shakhtar Donetsk (9, all Ukrainian titles)

Premier League Players

All-time Premier League appearance leaders

Rank	Player	Games
1	Oleh Shelayev	412
2	Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi	400
3	Oleksandr Horyainov	388
4	Oleksandr Shovkovskiy	387
5	Serhiy Shyshchenko	363
6	Ruslan Kostyshyn	359
7	Serhiy Zakarlyuka	356
8	Oleksandr Zotov	351
9	Ihor Shukhovtsev	349
10	Serhiy Mizin	344
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League Data as of 7 October 2014

All-time Premier League scorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Games
1	Maksim Shatskikh	124	341
2	Serhiy Rebrov	123	261
3	Andriy Vorobey	105	315
4	Yevhen Seleznyov	100	211
5	Oleksandr Haydash	95	258
6	Marko Dević	90	219
	Serhiy Mizin	90	342
8	Tymerlan Huseynov	85	215
9	Oleksandr Kosyrin	84	240
10	Andriy Shevchenko	83	172
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League Data as of 30 May 2015

Further information: Football records in Ukraine

Ex-Dynamo Kyiv striker Maksim Shatskikh holds the record for most Ukrainian Premier League goals with 124, winning the top single season scorer title twice in 1999–2000 and 2002–03.

Since the first Ukrainian Premier League season in 1992, 22 different players have won or shared the top scorer's title. Only three players have won the title more than once, Tymerlan Huseynov, Maksim Shatskikh and Yevhen Seleznyov. Henrikh Mkhitaryan hold 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.

League managers

All-time League games

Rank	Coach	Games
1	Myron Markevych	569
2	Mykola Pavlov	520
3	Mircea Lucescu	304
4	Valeriy Yaremchenko	297
5	Mykhailo Fomenko	294
6	Oleh Taran	263
7	Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi	256
8	Semen Altman	249
9	Oleksandr Ishchenko	204
10	Volodymyr Bezsonov	197
Coaches in bold are still active in the League Data as of 19 May 2014

Winning managers

Rank	Name	Club(s)
1	Mircea Lucescu	Shakhtar	8	3	—
2	Valery Lobanovsky†	Dynamo	5	1	—
3	Yozhef Sabo	Dynamo	2	1	—
4	Oleksiy Mykhailychenko	Dynamo	2	—	—
5	Yuri Semin	Dynamo	1	3	—
6	Mykola Pavlov	Dynamo(1) Dnipro	1	1	1
7	Anatoliy Demyanenko	Dynamo	1	1	—
8	Anatoliy Zayaev†	Tavria	1	—	—
	Mykhailo Fomenko	Dynamo	1	—	—
	Serhiy Rebrov	Dynamo	1	—	—
	Nevio Scala	Shakhtar	1	—	—
Data as of 2015

With the ongoing Shakhtar Donetsk champion's run, Mircea Lucescu set a record of winning league titles in the Ukrainian Premier League surpassing the Ukrainian and Soviet legendary coach Valeriy Lobanovsky. A notice is deserved by Myron Markevych who coached most of the games in the league yet not winning a single title as well as Mykola Pavlov who however earned one title with Dynamo Kyiv.

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

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

All-time participants

The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons. All figures are correct through the 2013–14 season. Teams marking: green – member of the Premier League, blue – member of the First League, gray – member of the Second League, pink – no longer member of PFL.

	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	12/13	13/14
Teams	20	16	18	18	18	16	16	16	16	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Arsenal Kyiv					4	11	10	7	10	6	12	5	9	9	12	14	6	11	7	9	5	8	16
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	10	15		9	6	5
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	3	2	4	3	3	4	4	12	11	3	6	4	3	4	6	4	4	6	4	4	4	4	2
Dynamo Kyiv	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	1	2	1	2	2	2	3	4
Hoverla Uzhhorod											14			12	16		16		16			15	12
Illichivets Mariupol							14	5	8	4	10	10	8	5	4	15		14	12	14	11	9	10
Karpaty Lviv	13	6	5	8	8	5	3	4	9	10	8	7	15			8	10	9	5	5	14	14	11
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	10	7
Lviv																		15
Metalist Kharkiv	6	5	18					6	5	9	5	16		11	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3
Metalurh Donetsk							7	14	7	5	3	3	4	3	9	9	12	4	8	8	7	5	6
Metalurh Zaporizhya	11	7	16	9	5	8	9	8	6	8	4	15	11	10	8	7	9	7	9	16		16	14
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					11	10	15
Odesa	20
Oleksandriya											13	13									16
Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk	17			11	11	13	13	15	14
Sevastopol																				15			9
Shakhtar Donetsk	4	4	2	4	10	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	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	8	6	7	6	11	15
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					11	12	13	13
Vorskla Poltava						3	5	10	4	12	11	11	14	14	10	13	8	5	10	6	8	12	8
Zirka Kirovohrad					6	10	11	11	16				16
Zorya Luhansk	12	15	14	16	18											11	11	13	13	12	13	10	7

All-time table

All figures are correct through the 2012–13 season.

Rank	Team	Seasons	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Achievement
1	Dynamo Kyiv	22	652	482	114	56	1418	415	1560	champions
2	Shakhtar Donetsk	22	652	440	118	94	1308	486	1438	champions
3	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	22	651	323	167	161	889	584	1136	runners-up
4	Tavriya Simferopol	22	651	227	165	259	768	827	846	champions
5	Chornomorets Odesa	18	538	223	124	191	644	594	793	runners-up
6	Karpaty Lviv	20	590	208	166	216	628	657	790	3rd
7	Metalist Kharkiv	17	492	221	118	153	643	561	781	runners-up
8	Metalurh Zaporizhya	21	620	199	154	267	660	795	751	4th
9	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	20	604	189	166	249	597	745	733	3rd
10	Metalurh Donetsk	16	470	183	125	162	583	550	674	3rd
11	Arsenal Kyiv	17	506	174	142	190	594	578	664	4th
12	Vorskla Poltava	17	500	164	136	200	533	599	628	3rd
13	Illichivets Mariupol	15	440	141	105	194	496	624	528	4th
14	Volyn Lutsk	12	358	110	75	173	356	534	402	6th
15	Zorya Luhansk	12	358	97	75	186	320	571	366	11th
16	Nyva Ternopil	10	296	93	62	141	319	388	341	6th
17	Torpedo Zaporizhya	7	210	64	42	104	214	315	234	7th
18	Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk	7	206	55	52	99	215	315	217	11th
19	Kremin Kremenchuk	6	180	54	40	86	182	269	202	9th
20	Zirka Kirovohrad	6	184	46	41	97	158	285	179	6th
21	Obolon Kyiv	6	180	44	44	92	153	253	176	6th
22	Nyva Vinnytsia	5	150	42	32	76	140	213	158	10th
23	Hoverla Uzhhorod	6	154	30	40	104	122	269	130	12th
24	Kharkiv	4	120	25	33	62	94	156	108	12th
25	Veres Rivne	3	98	27	25	46	89	141	106	12th
26	Mykolaiv	4	116	26	23	67	100	208	101	9th
27	Temp Shepetivka	3	86	24	16	46	79	113	88	9th
28	Bukovyna Chernivtsi	3	82	23	18	41	69	99	87	6th
29	Olexandriya	3	86	16	25	45	71	140	73	13th
30	Stal Alchevsk	3	86	17	21	48	67	126	72	11th
31	Sevastopol	2	58	17	11	30	58	91	62	15th
32	Borysfen Boryspil	2	60	14	19	27	40	60	61	7th
33	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	2	48	11	11	26	30	66	44	12th
34	Lviv	1	30	6	8	16	24	39	26	15th
35	Odesa	1	18	3	1	14	15	32	10	10th

Stadiums

Rank	Stadium	Capacity	Club
1	NSC Olimpiyskiy	70,050	Dynamo Kyiv
2	Donbass Arena	52,518	Shakhtar Donetsk
3	OSC Metalist	40,003	Metalist Kharkiv
4	Arena Lviv	34,915	Karpaty Lviv
5	Chornomorets Stadium	34,164	Chornomorets Odesa
6	Dnipro-Arena	31,003	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
7	Ukraina Stadium	28,051	Karpaty Lviv
8	Vorskla Stadium	24,795	Vorskla Poltava
9	Avanhard Stadium	22,288	Zorya Luhansk
10	RSC Lokomotiv	19,978	Tavriya Simferopol
11	Dynamo Stadium	16,873	Arsenal Kyiv
12	Illichivets Stadium	12,680	Illichivets Mariupol
13	Avanhard Stadium	12,080	Volyn Lutsk
14	Avanhard Stadium	12,000	Hoverla Uzhhorod
15	Slavutych-Arena	11,983	Metalurh Zaporizhya
16	SC Sevastopol	5,576	Sevastopol
17	Metalurh Stadium	5,094	Metalurh Donetsk

See also

• Ukrainian First League
• Ukrainian Second League
• Ukrainian derby
• Football records in Ukraine
• List of foreign Ukrainian Premier League players

External links

• Official website
• Soccerway
• Ukraine - List of Champions, RSSSF.com