Ukrainian Premier League
Founded1991 (1991)
as Vyshcha Liha
2008 (2008)
as Ukrainska Premier Liha
CountryUkraine
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toUkrainian First League
Domestic cup(s)
International cup(s)
Current championsShakhtar Donetsk (14th title)
(2022–23)
Most championshipsDynamo Kyiv (16 titles)
Most appearancesOleksandr Shovkovskyi (426)
Top goalscorerSerhii Rebrov, Maksim Shatskikh (123)
TV partners
WebsiteUPL.ua
Current: 2023–24 Ukrainian Premier League

The Ukrainian Premier League (Ukrainian: "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", Ukrainska Premier Liha) or UPL as a sports competition is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha (Ukrainian: Вища ліга, Top League) it was formed in 1991 during 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 top three tiers competitions as well as better clubs of the Ukrainian republican competitions. The initial season of the league featured six former Soviet Top League clubs among which were Dynamo, Shakhtar, Chornomorets, Dnipro, Metalist, Metalurh as well as four more clubs that previously also competed at the top league.

The Ukrainian Premier League is also a public organization of professional clubs. In 1996 along with the other professional football leagues of Ukraine, a council of the Vyshcha Liha (Top League) clubs became a member of the Professional Football League of Ukraine.[1][2] In 2008[3][4] was withdrawn from Professional Football League of Ukraine and reformed into a separate self-governed entity of the Ukrainian Association of Football (previously Football Federation of Ukraine), officially changing its name to the current one.

As a leading club of the Soviet Top League, Dynamo Kyiv continues to be the league's "flagship club", while since the mid 2000s the league has been dominated by Shakhtar Donetsk. Three of Ukrainian clubs reached the finals of European club competitions: Dynamo (as Soviet club), Shakhtar and Dnipro. Among Ukrainian fans the most popular Ukrainian clubs are Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.[5] Other popular clubs include Karpaty Lviv, Metalist Kharkiv, Chornomorets Odesa and Dnipro.[5] Its rank was 12th highest in Europe as rated by UEFA as of 2021.

Since 2014, the operation of the League has been disrupted greatly on account of the Russo-Ukrainian War, worsening with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The league has been affected by destruction of its sports infrastructure, many Ukrainian players choosing to join their military, and disruption to match attendances and many other facets of the league's operation.

General overview and format

The 2020–21 season is the league's thirteenth after the restructuring of professional club football in 2008 and the 30th season since establishing of professional club's competition independent from the Soviet Union. As of 2021, 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 2 teams, Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk have participated in all previous 29 Ukrainian Top League competitions. The central feature of the league is a game between the same Dynamo and Shakhtar, which developed into the Klasychne (Classic).

On 15 April 2008 the new Premier-Liha (Premier League) was formed. It consists of 12 football clubs 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 a couple of seasons when the league experimented with a 14 club composition.

In 2014, the league was reduced to 12 members, while its format 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 teams. Both the top six and the bottom six play another a double round robin tournament with the clubs of their grouping. For 2019-20 a post-season play-off for qualification for the European club competitions was introduced.

The teams that reach the top ranks of the competition table at the end of each season, gain the chance to represent Ukraine internationally in several prestigious tournaments (continental club tournaments). 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 are 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.

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 Liha. Beside Super Cup game and championship among senior teams of the league's clubs, the league conducts competitions among junior teams, including under 21s and under 19s. The champion of the under 19 championship qualifies for the UEFA Youth League.

Emblem

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

The old emblem depicts a football wrapped by a blue-yellow stripe, the national colors of Ukraine, on a blue background. Across the top and around the ball there are 16 stars that represent the league's participants. In 2014 when the league was reduced to 14 teams, the emblem wasn't changed. On the bottom, the script says "Premier-League – Union of Professional Football Clubs of Ukraine".

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

Title sponsors

A banner with Soyuz(S•V)Viktan in 2007 at Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium

Since at least 2006, the league has placed its sponsors' names in its seasons' titles. The first sponsor was Russian-Ukrainian alcoholic beverage company "Soyuz-Viktan", in the 2006–07 Ukrainian championship.[6][7][8] While the contract was signed for five years and officially presented by the presidents of the Football Federation of Ukraine and the Professional Football League of Ukraine as a title sponsor, Soyuz-Viktan was expected to stay for couple of seasons. But in 2007 a new title sponsor, "Biola" from Dnipro was announced.[9][6][10]

Previously "Soyuz-Viktan" was sponsoring the Russian ice hockey team and its Hockey Super League. In 2006 it also became the sponsor of the newly established Channel One Cup.[11] Back in 2002, Mirror Weekly published an article that leaders of "Soyuz-Viktan" were convicted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to 15 years imprisonment.[12] The reputation of "Soyuz-Viktan" was questioned on several occasions.[13]

Soon after the establishment of the Premier-Liha, in 2008 a contract was signed with a new sponsor, Epicentr K, a network of home improvement stores.[6][14] The sum of the contract was announced as $3.6 million,[15] while just three months before there were speculations that the new sponsor would pay no less than $5 million.[16] In 2013 the contract expired.

A new contract was established in 2015 with a bookmaking company Pari-Match, which lasted for a couple of seasons.[14][17][18][19]

Season's format and regulations

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

The Premier League directly organizes and conducts competitions among member clubs. Competitions are conducted on the principle of "Fair play" and according to the competition 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 (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 the 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 (21 after extra time).

History

Creation

Before 1992, Ukrainian domestic football league competitions were conducted among Ukrainian teams that competed in one of groups within the Soviet third tier consisting of around 20 teams. Beside that championship another over 20 teams competed in two upper tiers where they played along with other teams across the Soviet Union. Also, at the same time there were conducted competitions among KFK (amateur teams) at lower level. With the Soviet Union tumbling down (as one classic once called it, "the biggest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century"),[26] in late 1991 there arose discussion about creation of separate competition which would include all better Ukrainian clubs. Following the failed 1991 August putsch, the Ukrainian parliament declared a state independence and appointed a date of referendum to confirm the decision.

Despite the failed putsch and declaration of independence by number of Soviet union republics, the Football Federation of the Soviet Union continued with planning of the 1992 football season.[26] In September 1991 in Soviet magazine "Futbol" appeared some comments from head coaches of Ukrainian clubs playing in the Soviet First League (Tavriya and Bukovyna).[26] The Tavriya head coach Anatoliy Zayaev said that the club is strongly against participation in Ukrainian championship and intend to continue to play in Soviet championship.[26] The Bukovyna head coach Yukhym Shkolnykov said that the club does not have any wishes to return to the Ukrainian group as planned by the republican federation and no one should let politics transverse football.[26]

In October 1991 some Moscow press took a big interview from FC Dnipro head coach Yevhen Kucherevsky titled "How to live on?" His direct speech had started with a phrase "Dnipro is definitely for the Soviet championship".[26] Next Yevhen Mefodiyich told about possible isolation of Ukrainian football, because if Ukraine would not be recognized by the World, there is nothing to think about membership in FIFA or UEFA.[26] After that recalling some kind of World Basket League, Kucherevsky discussed the topic that "people are uniting , but we..."[26] When questioned "what is the mood among coaches of other Ukrainian teams", he firmly answered "Almost all are for the united championship and against separate Ukrainian".[26]

In particular, Kucherevsky mentioned his talks with head coach of Shakhtar Valeriy Yaremchenko.[26] According to Kucherevsky, the majority of Dnipro's fans, judging by their letters and telephone calls also consider that conducting of Ukrainian championship not in time.[26] Ended his interview Kucherevsky with a phrase that "he wants to hope that the situation when they have to play in a separate championship will never come".[26] The coach even allowed the thought that Ukraine could be recognized as an independent state, but proposes an idea of the "Soviet open championship", referring to... the case with NHL.[26]

In general Kucherevsky was speaking of true situation.[26] Among all Ukrainian teams of the Soviet Top League, only Dynamo was clearly and firmly for its own independent championship. Other clubs took position from "strongly against" to "possibly for, but".[26] For example, Metalurh Zaporizhya that was playing its first season at such level was for the Soviet championship.[26] Yet, Metalist that was struggling to stay in, took a tricky position: "If we are would relegate to the First Union League, we will be for Ukrainian championship, if we would stay at the top, we will be for Soviet championship".[26]

In September 1991 there took place a session of the Football Federation of the Ukrainian SSR Executive Committee (ispolkom), which started with raising of blue-and-yellow flag that was given by a member of parliament Vyacheslav Chornovil.[27] On proposition of Viktor Bannikov who at time was heading the football federation, the struggle for independent championship had to take place under national colors.[27] The executive committee decided that blue-and-yellow flags had to flown over all stadiums where were playing Ukrainian teams.[27] Some members of the executive committee have spoken about the independent Ukrainian championship, but did not rush with a decision.[27] For that it was decided to wait until the Federation's plenum on 13–14 December 1991.[27]

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)

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 Kyiv'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 Ukraine 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.

Aerial duel between players of Shakhtar and Metalist in September 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).[28] 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).[28] 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.[28] 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"[28] 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.

Big Four and two-round league (2011–present)

Results of the 'Big Four' during the late 2000s–early 2010s
SeasonDNIDYNMETSHA
2005–066251
2006–074132
2007–084231
2008–096132
2009–104231
2010–114231
2011–124231
2012–134321
2013–142431
2014–153162
Top four810810
Finishes out of 10
  League champions
  Champions League
  UEFA Cup / Europa League group stage
  UEFA Cup / Europa League qualification
  UEFA Intertoto Cup

Starting from 2010 and to 2014 season, FC Shakhtar led by Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu obtained five national league titles in a row, making Lucescu the most successful manager in the history of the league with 9 titles. At the same time, in the beginning of the 2010s the so-called "Big Four" of clubs eventually formed, consisting from Shakhtar, Dynamo, Metalist and Dnipro.[29] These four clubs consecutively took all the top 4 places for five seasons from 2009–10 to 2013–14 and displayed the biggest financial abilities in the league.[30]

In 2012–13, Metalist Kharkiv finished second and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time, the achievement which was repeated by Dnipro in the next season. In the same 2013–14 season Dynamo Kyiv for the first time since Ukrainian independence placed as low as fourth in league's season ranking, which led to dismissal of former national team coach and the legend of Soviet football Oleh Blokhin as the club's manager. In European football, new club achievements were set in these years for Shakhtar in 2010–11 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and for Metalist in 2011–12 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.

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

On account of the Russo-Ukrainian War and subsequent cleaning of the league from the clubs that became financially unreliable (Metalist, Hoverla, Metalurh Donetsk, Dnipro), the number of teams participating in the league was cut from 16 in the 2013–14 season to 14 in the following two seasons.[31] Both of the seasons were won by Dynamo Kyiv with Serhii Rebrov as manager. With the continuation of the military conflict in the eastern oblasts of Ukraine since 2014 and its economic impact, the league was forced to change its format again and started to be contested by 12 teams after being cut from 14 after the 2015–16 season, introducing the two stages of the competition: after the standard two rounds of games the league would split into two 6-team groups according to their positions.

Under the new format, Shakhtar Donetsk under the manager Paulo Fonseca managed to win three league titles in a row from 2016–17 to 2018–19, runner-up in all the three seasons being Dynamo Kyiv. In 2019–20 season, Shakhtar set the record of the earliest title win in the history, win 5 rounds remaining.[32] In 2019, the decision was adopted to expand the league to 14 teams from the 2020–21 and to 16 teams from the 2021–22 season.[33] In April 2022, it was announced that the current UPL season has been terminated due to the extension of martial law in Ukraine.[34] The football clubs of the UPL also expressed their support for the termination, since it is not possible to end the championship due to the country's current state. Thus, it was concluded that the standings as of February 24, 2022 will be the final standings of the 2021/22 season, and there will be no winners to be awarded.[34]

Officials

Presidents

Directors

  • General director: Oleksandr Yefremov[42]
  • Executive director: Yevhen Dykyi
  • Sport director: Petro Ivanov
  • Development director: Vadym Halahan

Competitions

Clubs

A total of 43 clubs have played in the Premier League up to 2019–20 season, 20 of which were the founding members of the inaugural 1992 season and 23 other were promoted in the later seasons.

Current clubs

The following teams are competing in the 2023–24 season. Note, in parentheses shown the actual home cities and stadiums.

Team Home city Stadium Capacity Position in
2022–23
First season
in PL
Seasons
in PL
Chornomorets Odesa Odesa Stadion Chornomorets 34,164 9th 1992 26
Dnipro-1 Dnipro (Uzhhorod) Stadion Avanhard 12,000 2nd 2019–20 4
Dynamo Kyiva Kyiv Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex 70,050 4th 1992 32
Kolos Kovalivka Kovalivka Stadion Kolos 5,000 8th 2019–20 4
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih Stadion Hirnyk 2,500 7th 1992–93 22
LNZ Cherkasy Cherkasy Cherkasy Arena 10,321 FL:3rd debut
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv Kharkiv (Kyiv) Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex 70,050 12 2021–22 2
Mynai Mynai Mynai Arena 1,312 10th 2020–21 3
Obolon Kyiv[lower-alpha 1] Kyiv Obolon Arena 5,100 FL:2nd debut
Oleksandriya Oleksandria (Kyiv) Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex 70,050 6th 2001–02 11
Polissia Zhytomyr Zhytomyr Tsentralnyi Stadion 5,928 FL:1st debut
Rukh Lviv Lviv Arena Lviv 34,915 11th 2020–21 3
Shakhtar Donetska Donetsk (Kyiv) Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex 70,050 1st 1992 32
Veres Rivne Rivne Stadion Avanhard 4,650 13th 1992–93 6
Vorskla Poltava Poltava Stadion Vorskla imeni Butovskoho 24,795 5th 1996–97 27
Zorya Luhansk Luhansk (Kyiv) Stadion Dynamo 16,873 3rd 1992 22

a: Team played in every Ukrainian top flight season

Maps

Broadcasting

The UPL broadcaster in the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons is Setanta Sports. All matches are broadcast on the OTT platform. Also, at least 4 matches of the tour are broadcast on the company's linear TV channels, and 1-2 matches of the tour are broadcast free of charge on the Setanta YouTube channel.

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, 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

Shakhtar Donetsk against Arsenal in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League

Ukrainian clubs being part of the Soviet Union competed in European competitions since the 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 Odesa (1975), FC Shakhtar Donetsk (1977), FC Dnipro (1984), and FC Metalist Kharkiv (1988).

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

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

Ukrainian Premier League and European Super League

In 2023 talks about creation of the European Super League resurfaced with a decision of the European Court of Justice on 21 December 2023.

Number of Ukrainian football clubs came out with official statements on that matter.

International relations

In 2009 The Ukrainian Premier League joined the European Professional Football Leagues.[46] 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

Higher 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[lower-alpha 2]
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 Zaporizhzhia, 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 Serhii 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 * UkraineSerbia 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 Milevskyi (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
2018–19 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Oleksandriya UkraineBrazil Júnior Moraes (Shakhtar Donetsk, 19 goals) 9/55
2019–20 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Zorya Luhansk Ukraine Júnior Moraes (Shakhtar Donetsk, 20 goals) 10/55
2020–21 Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Zorya Luhansk Ukraine Vladyslav Kulach (Vorskla Poltava, 15 goals) 12/55
2021–22 Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Zorya Luhansk Ukraine Artem Dovbyk (SC Dnipro-1, 14 goals) 13/55
2022–23 Shakhtar Donetsk SC Dnipro-1 Zorya Luhansk Ukraine Artem Dovbyk (SC Dnipro-1, 24 goals) 14/55

Notes:

Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-up Third place Winning years
Dynamo Kyiv 16 13 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, 2020–21
Shakhtar Donetsk 14 13 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23
Tavriya Simferopol 1 1992
Dnipro 2 7
Chornomorets Odesa 2 3
Metalist Kharkiv 1 6
Dnipro-1 1
Zorya Luhansk 4
Metalurh Donetsk 3
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih 2
Vorskla Poltava 2
Karpaty Lviv 1
Oleksandriya 1
Total313130
  • Note: Defunct teams marked in Italics.

Honored teams

A representative star is placed above the team's badge to indicate 10 league titles.[49] 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 were added to the club's logo in 2007.[50] Earning its 10th national title in 2017, Shakhtar Donetsk has not yet adopted a star on its crest.

Currently (as of 2020) the following clubs earned the star element to be added to their crest.

Prestige trophy

From 2016–17 to 2019–20 seasons, the league conducted season competition in two rounds, where after the first double round robin tournament the league is split in half into two groups of six teams. Then, top six play second double round robin for the title, while the bottom six play to determine teams to be relegated (and Europa League playoff participants in the 2019–20 season). The team that won the relegation group receives a consolation-type honorary award, the Prestige trophy.[51]

Season Prestige trophy
2016–17 Vorskla Poltava
2017–18 FC Oleksandriya
2018–19 Vorskla Poltava
2019–20 SC Dnipro-1

Premier League players

Ex-Dynamo Kyiv strikers Maksim Shatskikh and Serhii 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 five players have won the title more than once, Tymerlan Huseynov, Maksim Shatskikh, Yevhen Seleznyov, Alex Teixeira and Júnior Moraes.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan holds the record for most goals in a season (25), Serhii 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 0.57 goals per game.

All-time Premier League appearance leaders
Player Games Years
Ukraine Oleksandr Shovkovskyi 426 1994–2017
Ukraine Oleh Shelayev 412 1994–2014
Ukraine Vyacheslav Checher 410[52] 1994–2017
Ukraine Oleksandr Chizhevskiy 400 1992–2006, 2008, 2010
Ukraine Oleksandr Horyainov 391 1994–2015
Ukraine Ruslan Rotan 375[52] 2000–2018
Ukraine Serhiy Nazarenko 373 2000, 2002–2017
Ukraine Serhiy Shyshchenko 363 1993–2010
Ukraine Ruslan Kostyshyn 359 1997–2012
Ukraine Oleksandr Hladkyi 359 2005–2023
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League
Data as of 14 November 2023[53][54]
All-time Premier League scorers
Player Goals Games Years
Uzbekistan Maksim Shatskikh 124[lower-alpha 3] 341 2000–2015
Ukraine Serhii Rebrov 123 261 1992–2000, 2006–2008
Ukraine Yevhen Seleznyov 117 257 2007–2017, 2020–2023
Ukraine Andriy Vorobey 105 315 1998–2013
Ukraine Júnior Moraes[lower-alpha 4] 103 189 2013–2022
Ukraine Andriy Yarmolenko 103 234 2008–2018, 2023–
Ukraine Oleksandr Hladkyy 99 359 2005–2018, 2020–2023
Ukraine Oleksandr Haydash 95[lower-alpha 5] 259[lower-alpha 6] 1993–2004
Ukraine Marko Dević[lower-alpha 7] 90 219 2005–2014
Ukraine Serhiy Mizin 90 342 1993–2008
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League
Data as of 21 December 2023[52][56][57]
All-time Premier League goalkeepers
Player C/S Games Total Games Years
Ukraine Oleksandr Shovkovskyi 233 426 1994–2017
Ukraine Andriy Pyatov 174 344 2003–2023
Ukraine Oleksandr Horyainov 151 391 1994–2015
Ukraine Vitaliy Reva 128 341 1996–2014
Ukraine Dmytro Shutkov 122 266 1992–2008
Ukraine Serhiy Dolhanskyi 96 328 1993–2013
Ukraine Ihor Shukhovtsev 94 349 1992–2013
Ukraine Mykola Medin 91 205 1993–2006
Ukraine Vyacheslav Kernozenko 86 195 1997–2010
Ukraine Yuriy Pankiv 268 2012–2023
Players in bold are still playing in Premier League
Data as of 4 January 2024[58]

Premier League managers

Former Shakhtar Donetsk and current Dynamo Kyiv manager Mircea Lucescu is the most successful manager in Ukrainian Premier League history with 9 championships and the only who won it with multiple clubs.
Myron Markevych has managed the most games in Ukrainian Premier League, participating in every season from the inaugurational 1992 to 2015–16 (with the exception of 2004–05).

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

Winning managers
Manager Club(s) Wins Winning years
Romania Mircea Lucescu Shakhtar Donetsk
Dynamo Kyiv
9 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2020–21
Ukraine Valery Lobanovsky Dynamo Kyiv 5 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
Portugal Paulo Fonseca Shakhtar Donetsk 3 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
Ukraine Yozhef Sabo Dynamo Kyiv 2 1993–94, 1995–96
Ukraine Oleksiy Mykhailychenko 2002–03, 2003–04
Ukraine Serhii Rebrov 2014–15, 2015–16
Ukraine Anatoliy Zayaev Tavriya Simferopol 1 1992
Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko Dynamo Kyiv 1992–93
Ukraine Mykola Pavlov 1994–95
Italy Nevio Scala Shakhtar Donetsk 2001–02
Ukraine Anatoliy Demyanenko Dynamo Kyiv 2005–06
Russia Yuri Semin 2008–09
Portugal Luis Castro Shakhtar Donetsk 2019–20

The league's record holder for games in the league is Myron Markevych.

All-time top-10 managers with league games
Rank Coach Games First Last
1 Ukraine Myron Markevych 622 7 March 1992 15 May 2016
2 Ukraine Mykola Pavlov 549 7 March 1992 30 May 2015
3 Romania Mircea Lucescu 432 22 May 2004 3 November 2023
4 Ukraine Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi 340 23 September 1994 31 May 2017
5 Ukraine Valeriy Yaremchenko 297 7 March 1992 2 October 2011
6 Ukraine Mykhailo Fomenko 293 13 March 1993 27 September 2008
7 Ukraine Oleh Taran 273 9 July 1997 1 November 2014
8 Ukraine Yuriy Vernydub 266 3 December 2011
9 Ukraine Volodymyr Sharan 265 29 September 2007 10 November 2023
10 Ukraine Semen Altman 257 7 August 1999 10 May 2012
Coaches in bold are still active in the League
Data as of 8 January 2024[59][60]
Current managers (2023–24 season)
Nat. Name Club Appointed Time as manager
UkraineValeriy IvashchenkoObolon Kyiv5 May 20212 years, 249 days
UkraineYuriy KalitvintsevPolissya Zhytomyr13 June 20212 years, 210 days
UkraineYaroslav VyshnyakKolos Kovalivka28 November 20212 years, 42 days
UkraineRoman HryhorchukChornomorets Odesa30 December 20212 years, 10 days
UkraineYuriy VernydubKryvbas Kryvyi Rih21 June 20221 year, 202 days
UkraineRuslan RotanFC Oleksandriya21 December 20221 year, 19 days
UkraineVitaliy PonomaryovRukh Lviv20 March 2023295 days
BelarusOleg DulubLNZ Cherkasy30 August 2023132 days
UkraineYuriy MaksymovSC Dnipro-114 September 2023117 days
Bosnia and HerzegovinaMarino PušićShakhtar Donetsk24 October 202377 days
UkraineOleksandr ShovkovskyiDynamo Kyiv4 November 202366 days
UkraineYuriy Koval (caretaker)Zorya Luhansk11 November 202359 days
SerbiaŽeljko LjubenovićFC Mynai18 November 202352 days
UkraineOleh ShandrukVeres Rivne12 December 202328 days
UkraineViktor SkrypnykMetalist 1925 Kharkiv20 December 202320 days
UkraineSerhiy Dolhanskyi (caretaker)Vorskla Poltava4 January 20245 days

All-time participants

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

Vyshcha Liha era (1992–2008)

Season199292/9393/9494/9595/9696/9797/9898/9999/0000/0101/0202/0303/0404/0505/0606/0707/08
Teams 20 16 18 18 18 16 16 16 16 14 14 16 16 16 16 16 16
CSKA Kyiv–Arsenal Kyiv[lower-alpha 8]         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             6 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 7 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 Zaporizhzhia 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)

Season08/0909/1010/1111/1212/1313/1414/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/2121/2222/2323/24
Teams 16 16 16 16 16 16 14 14 12 12 12 12 14 16 16 16
Arsenal Kyiv 11 7 9 5 8 16         12          
Chornomorets Odesa 10 15   9 6 5 11 11 6 11 11     13 9
Desna Chernihiv                     8 4 6 7    
Dnipro 6 4 4 4 4 2 3 3 11              
Dnipro-1                       7 7 3 2
Dynamo Kyiv 1 2 2 2 3 4 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 4
Hoverla Uzhhorod   16     15 12 12 13                
Inhulets Petrove                         12 14 14  
Karpaty Lviv 9 5 5 14 14 11 13 7 10 8 10 12        
Kharkiv 16                              
Kolos Kovalivka                       6 4 8 8
KryvbasKryvbas (2020) 12 14 13 10 7                   7
LNZ Cherkasy                              
Lviv 15                   6 11 8 12 16  
Mariupol 14 12 14 11 9 10 14     5 4 8 11 16    
Metalist Kharkiv 3 3 3 3 2 3 6 10             15  
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv                           10 12
Metalurh Donetsk 4 8 8 7 5 6 10                  
Metalurh Zaporizhya 7 9 16   16 14 7 14                
Mynai                         14 15 10
Obolon Kyiv–Obolon (2013)   11 10 15                      
Oleksandriya       16       6 5 7 3 5 9 6 6
Olimpik Donetsk           8 9 5 4 9 9 9 13      
Polissia Zhytomyr                              
Rukh Lviv                         10 11 11
Sevastopol     15     9                    
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1
Stal Kamianske               8 8 12            
Tavriya Simferopol 8 6 7 6 11 15                    
Veres Rivne                   6       9 13
Volyn Lutsk     11 12 13 13 9 12 12              
Vorskla Poltava 5 10 6 8 12 8 5 5 7 3 7 10 5 5 5
Zirka Kropyvnytskyi                 9 10            
Zorya Luhansk 13 13 12 13 10 7 4 4 3 4 5 3 3 4 3

Teams marking (as of 2023–24):

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

All-time table

All figures are correct through the 2022–23 season.[61][62][63] Promotion/relegation playoff games are not included. Teams in bold currently compete in Premier League. Numbers in bold indicate the record values for each column.

  clubs that lost professional status or were dissolved
Rank Team Seasons P W D L GF GA GD Pts Achievement Other names used
1 Dynamo Kyiv 32 936 680 159 97 2001 621 +1380 2199 champions (16)
2 Shakhtar Donetsk 32 936 666 171 121 1999 685 +1274 2129 champions (14)
3 FC Dnipro 26 765 379 199 187 1127 718 +409 1336 runners-up (2)
4 Vorskla Poltava 27 784 273 210 301 859 926 −67 1029 3rd (2) Vorskla-Naftohaz
5 Chornomorets Odesa 26 763 278 191 294 850 915 −65 1025 runners-up (2)
6 Karpaty Lviv 27 800 255 227 318 872 1003 −131 992 3rd (1)
7 Metalist Kharkiv[lower-alpha 9] 21 603 259 151 193 782 722 +60 928 runners-up (1)
8 Tavriya Simferopol[lower-alpha 10] 23 681 237 170 274 795 873 −78 881 champions (1)
9 Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih[lower-alpha 11] 22 664 213 178 273 659 816 −157 817 3rd (2)
10 Zorya Luhansk 22 610 225 129 256 730 847 −117 804 3rd (4) Zorya-MALS
11 Metalurh Zaporizhya[lower-alpha 12] 24 702 206 173 323 699 949 −250 791 4th (1)
12 Metalurh Donetsk[lower-alpha 13] 18 526 203 142 181 655 623 +32 751 3rd (3)
13 FC Mariupol 22 638 197 153 288 715 932 −217 744 4th (3) Illichivets, Metalurh
14 Arsenal Kyiv[lower-alpha 14] 19 568 191 156 221 654 675 −21 729 4th (1)[lower-alpha 15] CSKA, CSKA-Borysfen
15 Volyn Lutsk 16 472 140 102 230 473 710 −237 519 6th (1)
16 FC Oleksandriya[lower-alpha 16] 11 315 99 96 120 354 414 −60 393 3rd (1) Polihraftekhnika, PFC Oleksandriya
17 Nyva Ternopil 10 296 93 62 141 319 388 −69 341 7th (3)
18 Zirka Kropyvnytskyi[lower-alpha 17] 8 248 62 58 128 209 368 −159 244 6th (1) Zirka-NIBAS
19 Torpedo Zaporizhzhia[lower-alpha 18] 7 210 64 42 104 214 315 −101 234 7th (2)
20 Olimpik Donetsk 7 206 56 55 95 210 324 −114 223 4th (1)
21 Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk[lower-alpha 19] 7 206 55 52 99 215 315 −100 217 10th (1)
22 Kremin Kremenchuk[lower-alpha 20] 6 180 54 40 86 182 269 −87 202 9th (2)
23 Veres Rivne[lower-alpha 21] 6 178 48 51 79 167 236 −69 195 6th (1)
24 Hoverla Uzhhorod[lower-alpha 22] 9 256 41 64 151 186 421 −235 187 12th (3) Zakarpattia
25 SC Dnipro-1[lower-alpha 23] 4 107 57 15 35 175 128 +47 186 runner-up (1)
26 Obolon Kyiv[lower-alpha 24] 6 180 44 44 92 153 253 −100 176 6th (1)
27 Desna Chernihiv 4 108 46 22 40 154 133 +21 160 4th (1)
28 Nyva Vinnytsia[lower-alpha 25] 5 150 42 32 76 140 213 −73 158 10th (1)
29 FC Lviv 6 168 34 41 93 131 269 −138 143 6th (1)
30 Kolos Kovalivka 4 108 39 22 47 111 145 −34 139 4th (1)
31 FC Kharkiv[lower-alpha 26] 4 120 25 33 62 94 156 −62 108 12th (1)
32 SC Mykolaiv 4 116 26 23 67 100 208 −108 101 13th (1) Evis
33 Stal Kamianske[lower-alpha 27] 3 90 24 24 42 72 106 −34 96 8th (2)
34 Temp Shepetivka[lower-alpha 28] 3 86 24 16 46 79 113 −34 88 9th (1)
35 Bukovyna Chernivtsi 3 82 23 18 41 69 99 −30 87 11th (1)
36 Rukh Lviv 3 73 17 27 29 74 97 −23 78 10th (1)
37 Stal Alchevsk[lower-alpha 29] 3 86 17 21 48 67 126 −59 72 11th (1)
38 Inhulets Petrove 3 73 16 22 35 59 81 −22 70 12th (1)
39 FC Sevastopol[lower-alpha 30] 2 58 17 11 30 58 91 −33 62 9th (1) PFC Sevastopol
40 Borysfen Boryspil 2 60 14 19 27 40 60 −20 61 7th (1)
41 FC Mynai 3 74 13 22 39 50 110 −60 61 10th (1)
42 Metalist 1925 Kharkiv 2 48 12 15 21 40 71 −31 51 10th (1)
43 Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka[lower-alpha 31] 2 48 11 11 26 30 66 −36 44 15th (1) Naftovyk
44 SC Odesa[lower-alpha 32] 1 18 3 1 14 15 32 −17 10 20th SKA Odesa
45 Polissia Zhytomyr new club
46 LNZ Cherkasy
47 Obolon Kyiv
List of bankrupt clubs
Club Notes
FC Dnipro (formerly Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk) soon after playing at the 2015 UEFA Europa League Final, the club was forced into relegation due to ignoring the FIFA sanctions and eventually its first team was dissolved
FC Metalist Kharkiv denied license due to heavy debts[64]
FC Hoverla Uzhhorod denied license due to heavy debts[65]
FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih denied license for failure to provide evidence of stable financial support[66]
FC Kharkiv denied license for giving false documentation about financial condition in the club[67]
FC Arsenal Kyiv club was not able to finish the 2013–14 season[68]
FC Arsenal-Kyiv Kyiv is considered a direct successor of Arsenal Kyiv (2001–2013) soon after relegation in 2019 it announced about liquidation of its first team[69]
FC Karpaty Lviv was not able to finish the 2019–20 and announced that it is a bankrupt, but allowed to keep professional status and restart at the third tier. In 2020 it was split and original club following 2020–21 was dissolved, while the newly formed was admitted to the third tier from amateurs.
SC Tavriya Simferopol playing since 1958, the club became liquidated in 2014 by the Russian authorities following occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. In 2016 it was revived based out of neighboring Kherson Oblast and playing in lower tiers until the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
FC Metalurh Zaporizhia during the 2015–16 season on 2 March 2016, Metalurh was recognized as bankrupt on decision of the commercial court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and a liquidation procedure was initiated.[70]
FC Metalurh Donetsk was merged with FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk in 2015, due to hardship caused by the 2014 Russian aggression against Ukraine
FC Mariupol in connection with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia and occupation of the city of Mariupol as well as financial inability of to keep the club, on 27 April 2022 it was announced that the club withdraws from national competitions and dissolves.

List of the UPL recognized successions

  • FC Arsenal Kyiv, it is considered a successor of the club that appeared in national competitions in 1993 as FC Boryspil that was admitted to the third tier in place of FC Nyva Myronivka (Nyva-Borysfen). In 1995 it was already promoted to the top tier as a joint venture along the Ministry of Defense and named as CSKA-Borysfen Kyiv, while the original CSKA team was kept playing in lower tiers. In 1996 the merger was dissolved creating a new FC Borysfen Boryspil and until 2001 in the top tier competed CSKA Kyiv while in the second tier competed its reserves CSKA-2 Kyiv. In mid season 2001–02 the club was sold to the city of Kyiv and renamed to Arsenal Kyiv in honour of another club that existed back in the 1960s. Around 2008-2010 it ran a campaign to claim heritage of the Arsenal Kyiv factory club, SC Arsenal. Unable to finish the 2013–14, in 2013 it folded. Yet, already in 2014 it was revived as Arsenal-Kyiv Kyiv and soon it made through several tiers back to the top tier where after a single season folded again in 2019.
  • FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, renewed its participation in national competitions in 2018 as FC Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih (another club from Kryvyi Rih) which, while playing in lower tiers, had bankrupted in 2016, in 2020 FC Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih changed its name to Kryvbas allowing to continue on the legacy with all its colors and logos of bankrupted FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, while at the same time keeping its academy's name as Hirnyk.
  • NK Veres Rivne, revived in 2015 as "people's club" it is successor of FC Veres Rivne that was relegated in the 1990s and went bankrupt in 2011. During 2017–18 the club voluntarily made a "swap" yielding its place in the UPL to the 3rd tier FC Lviv.
  • FC Lviv is a successor of FC Lviv that briefly appeared in the 2008-09 season.
  • FC Metalist Kharkiv, created in 2019 as Metal Kharkiv, in 2021 it was officially recognized as a successor of the Metalist that bankrupted back in 2016.

Other internationally recognized successions

  • FC Karpaty Lviv, it joined Ukraine national competitions already as a phoenix club of the same club that was merged with SKA Lviv and later revived in 1989. In 2020 Karpaty were expelled from the Premier League due to financial hardship. The same year the club was recreated for the second time being split between two entities one joining the third tier competition, while another the fourth. In 2021 the split was resolved by one of the clubs becoming disbanded.

Heritage claims

  • FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, created in 2016, it lays claims also to heritage of the Metalist that bankrupted in 2016.
  • FC Chornomorets Odesa, created in 1958, it lays claims also to heritage of Pischevik Odesa (1938–1950, 1955–1957), Metalurh Odesa and Dynamo Odesa (1936–1939).
  • FC Oleksandriya, originally created as factory team of printing machines manufacturer, lays claims to Shakhtar Oleksandriya (1948–1991) which was a team of local miners. Since 2014 the club is sponsored by an agricultural company.
  • FC Arsenal Kyiv, appeared in 2001, the club lays heritage to a factory team of the Kiev Arsenal Factory that existed during the Soviet period.
  • FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi, created in 1950s based on Torpedo Kirovohrad, lays claims to a factory team that was mentioned in local printed media in 1911 as its establishment date.
  • FC Zorya Luhansk, created in 1960s, lays claims to a factory team that existed since 1923 and was dissolved in 1959.
  • FC Vorskla Poltava, created in 1980s, lays claims to an agricultural trade union team that existed since 1950s.

Heritage denials

  • FC Obolon Kyiv and Ukrainian Premier League do not recognize any heritage of the club (FC Obolon Kyiv) that existed before 2013.
  • SC Dnipro-1 is not officially the same club as FC Dnipro due to international sanctions and heavy debts to players and coaching personnel of the latter.

Administrative promotion/relegation

  • In 2018 NK Veres Rivne yielded its place to the 3rd tier FC Lviv and took over the place of FC Lviv.
  • In 1996 FC CSKA Kyiv that competed in the 2nd tier took over place of CSKA-Borysfen (a joint venture of MoD and private organization). While football team of CSKA is part of the Central Sports Club of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in 1996–2001 its first team retained its special status being sponsored by a state contracting company Kiev-Donbass rather than the Ukrainian Armed Forces sports club. Based on the first team, in 2001 mayor of Kyiv Oleksandr Omelchenko created new club Arsenal Kyiv that competed at the Kyiv's city competitions. The administration of Borysfen was forced to restart from the 3rd tier skipping the season.

Post-season play-offs

There were several instances when the games outside of regular double round-robin tournament and split group seasons were scheduled or required. They were held either for determining the league position (golden and third place matches), international competitions qualification (Europa League play-off) or promotion or relegation (relegation play-off).

Golden matches

League finals for Premier League took place on two occasions. In the inaugural 1992 season, the league was conducted in two groups of 10 teams due to transition to the autumn-spring competition calendar. The teams in each group played a double round-robin tournament, after which the winners of both groups faced each other in the one-match league final at neutral field. The final was played on 21 June 1992, crowning Tavriya Simferopol as the first champions of independent Ukraine after their 1–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv.

Starting from the 2005–06 season, if multiple teams finish tied on points on the top of the table, Golden match is required to determine the champion. In the same season, this rule came into effect for the first and only to the moment time: Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv both finished with 75 points after the regular season. In the following final game, Shakhtar managed to win the title after the 100th-minute goal from Julius Aghahowa which concluded their 2–1 extra-time win.

Season Winner Result Runner-up Venue Date
1992 Tavriya Simferopol 1–0 Dynamo Kyiv Ukraina Stadium, Lviv 21 June 1992
2005–06 Shakhtar Donetsk 2–1 (a.e.t.) Dynamo Kyiv Metalurh Stadium, Kryvyi Rih 14 May 2006

Third place matches

Similarly to the league final, in the inaugural 1992 season the third place match was played between the runners-up of both 10-team groups that formed the league in the season. In the game at neutral field, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk from Group B defeated Shakhtar Donetsk from Group A 3–2 and won their first bronze medals in the league.

Season Group A team Result Group B team Venue Date
1992 Shakhtar Donetsk 2–3 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Metalurh Central Stadium, Zaporizhzhia 20 June 1992

Europa League play-offs

In the 2019–20 season, play-offs for qualification to the UEFA Europa League are played for the first time between the 5th and 6th teams from the Championship round and two top teams from the Relegation round (7th and 8th). The play-off consists of the semi-final and final stages, with ties in both played as single matches on the field of the team ranked higher in the season standings.

Season Home team Result Away team Venue Date
2019–20 Semi-finals
FC Oleksandriya 1–2 FC Mariupol CSC Nika Stadium, Oleksandriya 25 July 2020
Kolos Kovalivka 4–1 Dnipro-1 NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kyiv 25 July 2020
Final
Kolos Kovalivka 1–0 (a.e.t.) FC Mariupol NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kyiv 29 July 2020

Relegation play-offs

For the first tome, play-off to determine the participant of the next Vyshcha Liha season was held unplanned at the end of the 1998–99 season. Third-placed team of 1998–99 First League, Torpedo Zaporizhzhia, who was to be promoted, filed for bankruptcy at the end of the season. The league regulations at the time did not specify what actions are needed to be taken in such situation, so PFL made a decision to held a play-off game between the highest-ranked relegated team, Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk, and highest-ranked not promoted team, FC Cherkasy at neutral field in Kyiv. The game ended with Prykarpattia defending their league place 3–1.[71][72]

In the 2001–02 season, due to league enlargement play-off was held between the second-lowest Vyshcha Liha team, Polihraftekhnika Oleksandriya, and fourth First League team, Polissya Zhytomyr. The game on a neutral field in Kyiv ended 1–0 in favour of Oleksandriya.[72]

Since 2017–18 season, the play-offs are held in home-and-away format between the 10th and 11th teams from Premier League, and 2nd and 3rd from First League. During this time, 3 teams were promoted by play-offs, and another 1 managed to defend its place. However, in the 2019–20 season and 2020–21 season there were no playoffs because of the league enlargement and three teams were promoted from First League directly.[73] In the 2021–22 season play-offs were not conducted as championship ceased halfway due to the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Season Premier League team Result First League team Venue Date
1998–99 Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk 3–1 FC Cherkasy Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv 4 July 1999
2001–02 Polihraftekhnika Oleksandriya 1–0 Polissya Zhytomyr CSK ZSU Stadium, Kyiv 16 June 2002
2017–18 Zirka Kropyvnytskyi 1–1
0–4
Desna Chernihiv Home and away 23 and 27 May 2018
Chornomorets Odesa 1–0
0–3 (a.e.t.)
FC Poltava
2018–19 Karpaty Lviv 0–0
3–0*
Volyn Lutsk 4 and 8 June 2019
Chornomorets Odesa 0–0
0–2
Kolos Kovalivka
2022–23 Inhulets Petrove 1–1
1–2
LNZ Cherkasy 10 and 14 June 2023
Veres Rivne 6–1
0–1
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia

Rivalries and city derbies

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 the 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 the 1990s, FC Chornomorets Odesa 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 Zaporizhzhia 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 and attendance

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 aggression against 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

#StadiumCapacityCityClubOpened
1Olimpiysky National Sports Complex70,050KyivUkraine, Dynamo Kyiv1923, 2011
2Donbass Arena52,518DonetskShakhtar Donetsk2009

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.

Other UEFA 4-category stadiums in the league:

#StadiumCapacityCityClubOpenedUEFA category
1Metalist Stadium40,003KharkivMetalist Kharkiv
Metalist 1925 Kharkiv
1926
2Arena Lviv34,915LvivLviv
Rukh Lviv
2011
3Chornomorets Stadium34,164OdesaChornomorets Odesa1935[lower-alpha 33]
4Dnipro-Arena31,003DniproDnipro
Dnipro-1
1940[lower-alpha 34]
5Butovsky Vorskla Stadium24,795PoltavaVorskla Poltava1951
6Slavutych-Arena11,883ZaporizhzhiaMetalurh Zaporizhya
Zorya Luhansk
1938[lower-alpha 35]

Attendance

Source:

See also

Notes

  1. Obolon refuses acknowledge achievements of its predecessor.
  2. part of Soviet Union
  3. 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.[55] Other time, the same news outlet claims that Shatskikh indeed scored 124.[52] Later again, UPL acknowledged that Shatskikh indeed scored 124.[56]
  4. naturalized Brazilian
  5. 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.[55]
  6. Some records indicate that Haidash played 258 games.[55]
  7. naturalized Serbian
  8. 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.
  9. Club was denied license in 2016 for failing to pay debts and ceased operations afterwards
  10. The original club was forced to be dissolved due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, it was later re-established and plays home games in Beryslav, Kherson oblast
  11. The club lost profession status due to bankruptcy and later was revived as an amateur club, competing in regional competitions of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
  12. The original club dissolved due to bankruptcy. Later it was revived in 2016–2018 based on amateur club FC Rosso Nero, and in 2017 replaced with municipal club
  13. Due to financial situation and hardship being forced to play away from home because of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, in 2015 the club merged with FC Stal Kamianske.
  14. Being reorganized based on the first team of CSKA Kyiv in 2001–02, the club dissolved due to bankruptcy and was later revived based on its academy as FC Arsenal–Kyiv
  15. 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 that were annulled later.
  16. The club was reformed in 2004 as a city team, in 2014 merged with FC UkrAhroKom Holovkivka
  17. The original club dissolved in 2006 due to bankruptcy, was later revived based on the local football school Olimpik. In 2019 team withdrew from professional competitions again
  18. The club dissolved due to bankruptcy
  19. The original club FC Prykarpattia dissolved due to bankruptcy, later a new team with the same name was formed
  20. The club was dissolved and revived again two times
  21. The original club was liquidated in 2011 and in 2015 was revived as NK Veres Rivne. In 2018 it merged with FC Lviv, at the same time re-entering Second League
  22. The club was denied license in 2016 for failing to pay salary to players and later was dissolved
  23. The off-shot club that was created after the FIFA sanctions were applied to FC Dnipro forcing the latter to be relegated to amateurs
  24. The club was administratively reorganised in 2013 and had to change its name and start from the lower leagues
  25. The club dissolved two times in 2005 and 2012 and both times was later revived
  26. The club folded in 2010
  27. The club dissolved in 2018
  28. The club dissolved in 1995
  29. The club dissolved due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine
  30. The club dissolved due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and in its place was created Russian club SKChF which later changed its name to FC Sevastopol
  31. The club dissolved in 2018
  32. The club merged with FC Chornomorets in 1999
  33. The Central Stadium of the Black Sea Shipping Company was completely rebuilt in 2011
  34. Original Metalurh Stadium was completely rebuilt in 2008
  35. Original Metalurh Stadium was completely rebuilt in 2006

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  66. FFU deprived Kryvbas of license (ФФУ лишила Кривбасс лицензии) Archived 2 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Sport.ua. 31 May 2013
  67. The license of FC Kharkiv is withdrawn Archived 19 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. UA-Football. 23 June 2010
  68. On 29 October 2013, the general director of FC Arsenal Kyiv Viktor Holovko announced that the club was filing for bankruptcy and withdrawing from competitions as it was unable to find any sponsors. "Arsenal Kyiv director general says club out of all competitions, bankruptcy procedures launched". Interfax-Ukraine. 1 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2021."FC Arsenal (Kyiv) starts bankruptcy procedure, drops out of competition, says director". Interfax-Ukraine. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
    The General Assembly of the Ukrainian Premier League was unable to reach a quorum and hence no decision was made on the expulsion of the club from the UPL.Гендиректор УПЛ пояснив, чому Данілов не приїхав на Загальні збори [General Director of UPL explained why Danilov did not come to the General Assembly] (in Ukrainian). ua-football.com. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2021. (18 December 2013)
    On 12 February 2014 Arsenal Kyiv was officially expelled from the league and all club's results were annulled."Decision #53 League Directory" (PDF) (in Ukrainian). 12 February 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  69. Арсенал-Киев продолжит существование, но без профессиональной команды Archived 6 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. UA-Football. 23 July 2019
  70. Ex-sports director of Metalurh Zaporizhzhia Mike Snoei wants to sue the club more than 15 mln hryvnia (Екс-спортдиректор запорізького Металурга Майк Снуі хоче відсудити у клубу понад 15 млн гривень) Archived 7 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Football 24. 6 December 2017
  71. In 1999 play-off match was held for the first time in the Vyshcha Liha history. It was introduced because of Torpedo's collapse (В 1999 впервые в истории Высшей лиги состоялся стыковой матч. Его придумали из-за развала Торпедо) Archived 8 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine. UA-Football. 25 May 2020
  72. 1 2 How and why after-seasons were played in Ukrainian football (Як і чому гралися післясезоння в українському футболі) Archived 3 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine. UA-Football. 25 May 2020
  73. UAF Executive Committee approved a system of team exchange between leagues at the conclusion of 2019/2020 season (Виконком УАФ затвердив систему обміну команд між лігами за підсумками сезону-2019/2020) Archived 9 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Ukrainian Association of Football. 25 May 2020
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