Ukrainian Premier League

Ukrainian Premier League

Country	Ukraine
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1991 (Vyshcha Liha) 2008 (Premier League)
Number of teams	12
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 (15th title) (2015–16)
Most championships	Dynamo Kyiv (15 titles)
Website	Official website
2016–17 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 (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.^[1] Far behind those two are trailing Metalist Kharkiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Karpaty Lviv and Chornomorets Odesa.^[1]

Overview

The 2015–16 season is the league's eighth after the break-away from the Professional Football League (PFL) in 2008 and 25th 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 (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 25 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 43 Ukrainian professional football clubs, which are represented by 44 teams (only 1 club now has more than one team which plays in a different division). 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.

Emblem

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 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.

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).

Match Fixing

On March 27, 2015 Chornomorets Odessa hosted Olimpik Donetsk at their training base for a friendly during an international break. The match finished 4-0 in favor of Chornomorets Odessa. The game was not shown on TV and only 100 fans came. It soon emerged that over $200,000 had been placed on the outcome of the match. The Ukrainian derby of Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv in late April in comparison was $100,000 placed in bets. The Chornomorets bets were placed at over 2.5 meaning there would be at least 3 goals scored. It was 0-0 until the 70th minute of the game, but suddenly Olimpik`s defence collapsed and conceded 3 goals and also another one - the amount needed to win.

Match fixing is not a common phenomenon in Ukraine. In the 1990s Dynamo Kyiv was disqualified from the UEFA Champions League for an attempt to bribe the referee.

In 2013, Metalist Kharkiv was disqualified from the Champions League after a fixed match with Karpaty in 2008.

History

Ukrainian clubs in the Soviet Top and First leagues

In 1936-1991 great number of teams from various cities of Ukraine participated in the top divisions of the Soviet football championship. There is even greater number of Ukrainian teams that played in lower divisions as well as republican level competitions, including the football championship of the Ukrainian SSR. During the Soviet period, football in Ukraine was administered by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union and assisted by the Football Federation of the Ukrainian SSR. Over the years Dynamo Kyiv became a flag team not only of the Ukrainian football, but the Soviet club football as well winning a record number of league titles.

Soviet Top League

Team	Seasons	First season	Last season	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals for	Goals against	Points1	1st	2nd	3rd
Dynamo Kyiv	54	1936	1991	1483	681	456	346	2306	1566	1810	13	11	3
Shakhtar Donetsk	44	1938	1991	1288	434	379	475	1522	1641	1241	–	2	2
Chornomorets Odesa	24	1965	1991	738	244	217	277	777	884	699	–	–	1
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	19	1972	1991	554	227	154	173	729	634	604	2	2	2
Metalist Kharkiv	14	1960	1991	438	133	124	181	413	530	390	–	–	–
Zorya Luhansk	14	1967	1979	412	125	135	152	416	469	377	1	–	–
Karpaty Lviv	9	1971	1980	244	68	85	91	250	301	218	–	–	–
Lokomotyv Kharkiv	4	1949	1954	34	23	57	47	112	176	91	–	–	–
Dynamo Odesa	2	1938	1939	51	16	13	22	64	102	45	–	–	–
SKA Odesa	2	1965	1966	68	4	19	45	38	121	27	–	–	–
Metalurh Zaporizhia	1	1991		30	9	7	14	27	38	25	–	–	–
Tavriya Simferopol	1	1981		34	8	7	19	27	54	23	–	–	–
Silmash Kharkiv	1	1938		25	8	6	11	34	45	22	–	–	–
Lokomotyv Kyiv	1	1938		25	8	5	12	43	64	21	–	–	–
Spartak Kharkiv	1	1938		25	5	7	13	43	63	17	–	–	–

Soviet First League

FC Dynamo Dnipropetrovsk, FC Dynamo Kharkiv, FC Silmash Kharkiv, Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv, FC Lokomotyv Kyiv, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, FC Zorya Luhansk, Spartak Kharkiv, Kharchovyk Odesa, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Lokomotyv Kharkiv, SKA Kyiv, Spartak Lviv, FC Krystal Kherson, FC Hoverla Uzhhorod, FC Metalist Kharkiv, FC Dynamo Luhansk, Bilshovyk Zaporizhia, Lokomotyv Zaporizhia, FC Avanhard Kramatorsk, FC Shakhtar Stakhanov, FC Mukacheve, Spartak Kyiv, Torpedo Kharkiv, Dynamo Chernivtsi, SKA Lviv, Trudovi Rezervy Luhansk, FC Metalurh Zaporizhia, SKCF Sevastopol, FC Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolos Poltava, SC Prometei Dniprodzerzhynsk, FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi, FC Dnipro Cherkasy, SC Tavriya Simferopol, FC Nyva Vinnytsia, FC Veres Rivne, FC Lokomotyv Donetsk, SKA Odesa, Temp Kyiv, FC Polissya Zhytomyr, FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, FC Chornomorets Odesa, FC Avanhard Ternopil, FC Shakhtar Horlivka, FC Bukovyna Chernivtsi, FC Volyn Lutsk, Naftovyk Drohobych, FC Desna Chernihiv, FC Podillya Khmelnytskyi, FC Sirius Zhovti Vody, FC Illichivets Mariupol, FC Khimik Sieverodonetsk, FC Frunzenets-Liha-99 Sumy, Trubnyk Nikopol, FC Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih, Shakhtar Oleksandriya, FC Karpaty Lviv, FC Kremin Kremenchuk, FC Elektrometalurh-NZF Nikopol.

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 (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 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 second decade (2001–2010) – 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.

The third decade (2011–present)

Because of the Ukrainian crisis in the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk the number of teams participating in the league was cut from 16 in the 2013–14 season to 14 in the following seasons.^[2] In June 2015 the Football Federation of Ukraine announced plans to expand the league back to 16 teams for the 2016–17 season.^[2]

Officials

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^[3]
• Vitaliy Danilov, 9 December 2011 – 29 February 2015^[4]
• Volodymyr Heninson, 29 February 2015 – present^[5]

Directors

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

Current clubs

The following teams are competing in the 2016–17 season:

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Chornomorets Odesa	Odesa	Chornomorets Stadium	34,164
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Dnipropetrovsk	Dnipro-Arena	31,003
Dynamo Kyiv	Kyiv	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex	70,050
Karpaty Lviv	Lviv	Arena Lviv	34,915
FC Oleksandriya	Oleksandria	CSC Nika Stadium	7,000
Olimpik Donetsk	Donetsk	Sports Complex Olimpik	3,000
Shakhtar Donetsk	Donetsk	Donbass Arena	52,187
FC Stal Kamianske	Kamianske	Metalurh Stadium	29,734
Volyn Lutsk	Lutsk	Avanhard Stadium	12,080
Vorskla Poltava	Poltava	Oleksiy Butovsky Vorskla Stadium	24,795
Zorya Luhansk	Luhansk	Slavutych-Arena	12,000
Zirka Kropyvnytskyi	Kropyvnytskyi	Zirka Stadium	13,667

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	CBC Sport
Belgium	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serbian	SportKlub
Croatia	Croatia	SportKlub
France	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Greece	Greek	Action 24
Luxembourg	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Macedonia	Macedonian	SportKlub
Monaco	French	Ma Chaine Sport
Montenegro	Serbian	SportKlub
Poland	Polish	Polsat Futbol
Romania	Romanian	Dolce Sport
Russia	Russian	Futbol
Serbia	Serbian	SportKlub
Slovenia	Slovenian	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 2016–17 European football season.

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 8.286 for Ukraine.

Teams in italics have either been eliminated or will not be participating in the 2016–17 European football season.^[6]Last Updated:24 November 2016.

Country ranking

UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2016–17 European football season

Last Updated: 20 June 2016.^[7]

International relations

In 2009 The Ukrainian Premier League joined the European Professional Football Leagues.^[8] 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.

Champions and top goalscorers

Top League (Vyshcha Liha)

• Professional Football League of Ukraine was the governing body of the Top League (Vyshcha Liha) since 1996 till 2008.

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place	Top Goalscorer	Rank
1992	Tavriya Simferopol	Dynamo Kyiv	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Yuriy Hudymenko (Tavriya Simferopol, 12 goals)	N/A[9]
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

Premier League

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place	Top Goalscorer	Rank
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
2015–16	Dynamo Kyiv	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Alex Teixeira (Shakhtar Donetsk, 22 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 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).^[10][11]
• 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	15	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, 2015–16
Shakhtar Donetsk	9	12	-	2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
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	-	-	1
Karpaty Lviv	-	-	1

Note:

•   identifies either defunct or teams that lost professional status.

Post-season play-offs

Golden matches

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

Third place matches

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

Relegation play-offs

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

Honored teams

A representative star is placed above the team's badge to indicate 10 league titles.^[12] 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.^[13] No other club in Ukraine has come close to such an honour yet.

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

• Dynamo Kyiv (28, the second received in 1999).
• Shakhtar Donetsk (9, all Ukrainian titles)
• Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2, all Soviet titles)
• Zorya Luhansk (1, Soviet Union)
• Tavriya Simferopol (1, Ukraine)

Premier League Players

All-time Premier League appearance leaders

Rank	Player	Games
1	Oleksandr Shovkovskiy	413
2	Oleh Shelayev	412
3	Oleksandr Chizhevskiy	400
4	Oleksandr Horyainov	391
5	Vyacheslav Checher	370
6	Serhiy Nazarenko	368
7	Serhiy Shyshchenko	363
8	Ruslan Kostyshyn	359
9	Serhiy Zakarlyuka	356
10	Oleksandr Hrytsay	353
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League Data as of 20 March 2016[14]

All-time Premier League scorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Games
1	Maksim Shatskikh	124	341
2	Serhiy Rebrov	123	261
3	Yevhen Seleznyov	110	227
4	Andriy Vorobey	105	315
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 20 March 2016[15]

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 four players have won the title more than once, Tymerlan Huseynov, Maksim Shatskikh, Yevhen Seleznyov and Alex Teixeira. 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	620
2	Mykola Pavlov	546
3	Mircea Lucescu	355
4	Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi	308
5	Valeriy Yaremchenko	297
6	Mykhailo Fomenko	294
7	Oleh Taran	273
8	Semen Altman	249
9	Vyacheslav Hrozny	214
10	Oleksandr Ishchenko	204
Coaches in bold are still active in the League Data as of 16 May 2016[16]

Winning managers

Rank	Name	Club(s)
1	Mircea Lucescu	Shakhtar	8	4	—
2	Valery Lobanovsky†	Dynamo	5	1	—
3	Yozhef Sabo	Dynamo	2	1	—
4	Oleksiy Mykhailychenko	Dynamo	2	—	—
	Serhiy Rebrov	Dynamo	2	—	—
6	Yuri Semin	Dynamo	1	3	—
7	Mykola Pavlov	Dynamo(1) Dnipro	1	1	1
8	Anatoliy Demyanenko	Dynamo	1	1	—
9	Anatoliy Zayaev†	Tavria	1	—	—
	Mykhailo Fomenko	Dynamo	1	—	—
	Nevio Scala	Shakhtar	1	—	—
Data as of 16 May 2016

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), Ihor Nadein (184), Leonid Buryak (180), and Yevhen Kucherevsky^† (176).

^† – 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[17]

All-time participants

The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons. All figures are correct through the 2014–15 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 UPL or 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	14/15	15/16
Teams	20	16	18	18	18	16	16	16	16	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	14	14
Arsenal Kyiv[18]					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	11	11
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	3	3
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	1	1
Hoverla Uzhhorod											14			12	16		16		16			15	12	12	13
Illichivets Mariupol							14	5	8	4	10	10	8	5	4	15		14	12	14	11	9	10	14
Karpaty Lviv	13	6	5	8	8	5	3	4	9	10	8	7	15			8	10	9	5	5	14	14	11	13	7
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	6	10
Metalurh Donetsk							7	14	7	5	3	3	4	3	9	9	12	4	8	8	7	5	6	10
Metalurh Zaporizhya	11	7	16	9	5	8	9	8	6	8	4	15	11	10	8	7	9	7	9	16		16	14	7	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				6
Olimpik Donetsk																								8	9
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	2	2
Stal Alchevsk										13					11	16
Stal Kamianske																									8
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	9	12
Vorskla Poltava						3	5	10	4	12	11	11	14	14	10	13	8	5	10	6	8	12	8	5	5
Zirka Kirovohrad					6	10	11	11	16				16
Zorya Luhansk	12	15	14	16	18											11	11	13	13	12	13	10	7	4	4

All-time table

All figures are correct through the 2015–16 season.^[19][20]

Rank	Team	Seasons	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Achievement
1	Dynamo Kyiv	25	734	545	123	66	1592	461	1758	champions (15)
2	Shakhtar Donetsk	25	734	502	130	102	1537	550	1636	champions (9)
3	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	25	733	371	186	176	1096	678	1299	runners-up (2)
4	Metalist Kharkiv	20	573	254	144	175	755	664	906	runners-up (1)
5	Tavriya Simferopol	23	681	237	170	274	795	873	881	champions (1)
6	Chornomorets Odesa	21	619	242	152	225	713	700	878	runners-up (2)
7	Karpaty Lviv	23	672	228	187	257	746	816	871	3rd (1)
8	Metalurh Zaporizhya	24	702	206	173	323	699	949	791	5th (2)[lower-alpha 1]
9	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	21	634	201	173	260	633	786	776	3rd (2)
10	Metalurh Donetsk	18	526	203	142	181	655	623	751	3rd (3)
11	Vorskla Poltava	20	582	194	161	227	631	683	743	3rd (1)
12	Arsenal-Kyiv Kyiv	19	550	187	152	211	636	637	713	4th (1)[lower-alpha 2]
13	Illichivets Mariupol	17	496	154	118	224	551	711	580	4th (2)
14	Volyn Lutsk	15	440	136	98	206	456	659	503	6th (1)
15	Zorya Luhansk	15	440	134	94	212	443	671	496	4th (2)
16	Nyva Ternopil	10	296	93	62	141	319	388	341	7th (3)
17	Torpedo Zaporizhya	7	210	64	42	104	214	315	234	7th (2)
18	Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk	7	206	55	52	99	215	315	217	10th (1)
19	Kremin Kremenchuk	6	180	54	40	86	182	269	202	9th (2)
20	Hoverla Uzhhorod	9	256	41	64	151	186	421	187	12th (3)
21	Zirka Kirovohrad	6	184	46	41	97	158	285	179	6th (1)
22	Obolon Kyiv	6	180	44	44	92	153	253	176	6th (1)
23	Nyva Vinnytsia	5	150	42	32	76	140	213	158	10th (1)
24	FC Oleksandriya	4	112	26	33	53	101	169	111	6th (1)
25	FC Kharkiv	4	120	25	33	62	94	156	108	12th (1)
26	Veres Rivne	3	98	27	25	46	89	141	106	12th (1)
27	Mykolaiv	4	116	26	23	67	100	208	101	13th (1)
28	Temp Shepetivka	3	86	24	16	46	79	113	88	9th (1)
29	Bukovyna Chernivtsi	3	82	23	18	41	69	99	87	11th (1)
30	Stal Alchevsk	3	86	17	21	48	67	126	72	11th (1)
31	Sevastopol	2	58	17	11	30	58	91	62	9th (1)
32	Borysfen Boryspil	2	60	14	19	27	40	60	61	7th (1)
33	Olimpik Donetsk	2	52	13	12	27	47	99	51	8th (1)
34	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	2	48	11	11	26	30	66	44	15th (1)
35	Stal Kamianske	1	26	7	8	11	22	31	29	8th
36	Lviv	1	30	6	8	16	24	39	26	15th
37	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

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ukrainian Premier League.

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