The Ukrainian Football Championship consists of three professional leagues: UPL, First League and Second League. The elitism of the divisions is located in the same descending order, and an exchange takes place between them.
Quantity professional clubs in the Ukrainian Championship is constantly changing, so the number of clubs in the First and Second Leagues also changes before each season. The strongest league, the Premier League, currently consists of 12 teams and is played in two stages.
Stages of tours in the Ukrainian Premier League
The first stage includes 22 rounds. All UPL teams play two matches against each other (home and away), following which they are divided into two sixes - the highest and the lowest.
The second stage - 10 rounds. Teams of the Ukrainian Championship play each other within their sixes in two matches.
In 1 six the following is played:
Only the last place in the top six is left with nothing.
In the second six, the fight is exclusively for survival:
Current situation in the Ukrainian Championship
Now the Ukrainian Premier League is going through difficult times. Three championship teams are forced to play in cities other than their own:
- Zarya (Lugansk) plays in Zaporozhye;
- Shakhtar (Donetsk) - in Kharkov;
- Olympic (Donetsk) - in Kyiv.
In addition, financial opportunities in the Ukrainian football championship have significantly decreased in recent years. Only Shakhtar and Dynamo maintain a stable budget, but both clubs are forced to cut it as much as possible.
Previously, all UPL clubs could allow high salaries football players, thanks to which Football Premier The Ukrainian league looked like an attractive tournament for players from all over the world, except, of course, the top ones. But after the start of the crisis, all Ukrainian Championship clubs had to cut their budget several times, and some big clubs, like Dnepr and Metalist, simply did not survive.
However, thanks to the efforts of Shakhtar and Dynamo, the Ukrainian Championship maintains a place in the top ten in the UEFA coefficients table, which allows you to count on a direct ticket to group stage Champions League and a chance for the vice-champion in qualifying.
IN coaching staff Roman Shirokov was entered by a specialist from Spain, Eduardo Docampo.
Today, 10:300
Zinchenko extended his contract with Manchester City
Ukrainian Manchester City defender Alexander Zinchenko signed a new agreement with the English club.
Today, 10:110
The legendary Croatian defender of Shakhtar Darijo Srna will continue his career in the Donetsk club.
Yesterday, 15:290
The long-time captain of Shakhtar said goodbye to the Italian club.
Yesterday, 14:560
"Minaj" got a new head coach.
Yesterday, 12:280
Andrey Pavelko, President of the Ukrainian Football Association, spoke about the decision of the UEFA Appeal Committee in the case of Junior Moraes.
Yesterday, 10:090
With the arrival of Paulo Fonseca as the coach of Roma, there are more and more rumors about Shakhtar players moving to the Roman club.
18.06.2019, 15:15 0
Lviv Karpaty announced the name of the coach who will prepare the team for the 2019/20 season.
30.05.2019, 21:24 4
13.06.2019, 19:47 2
5.06.2019, 12:22 1
Shakhtar Donetsk has already decided who will lead the club if Paulo Fonseca leaves for Roma.
14.06.2019, 11:36 0
6.06.2019, 18:17 0
Brazil national team coach Tite found a replacement for the injured Neymar in the Ukrainian championship.
5.06.2019, 19:14 0
The agent of Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Tyson talks about his client’s immediate plans.
9.06.2019, 21:24 2
3.06.2019, 11:45 0
The team from Lugansk, now based in Zaporozhye, will be led by the ex-mentor of Olympic Donetsk Roman Sanzhar.
8.06.2019, 08:16 4
In Lviv, the blue-yellows won for the seventh time in a row.
30.05.2019, 21:24 4
Completed last matches the final, 32nd round of the Ukrainian Premier League.
4.06.2019, 19:19 3
Ruslan Malinovsky, who recently played for the Belgian Genk, shared his plans.
13.06.2019, 19:47 2
The European Football Union opened a disciplinary case following the results of the Euro 2020 qualifying match between Ukraine and Serbia (5:0).
9.06.2019, 21:24 2
Defender of Zorya Luhansk Alexander Karavaev fell into the sphere of interests of Genk.
7.06.2019, 13:43 2
Shakhtar coach Paulo Fonseca is getting closer to Roma.
3.06.2019, 17:44 2
Ghanaian midfielder Abdul Mohammed Kadiri has officially become a football player for Dynamo Kyiv.
Show all newsUkrainian Championship
The Ukrainian Football Championship is one of the leading football club tournaments in Eastern Europe. Football club championship started in the major league in 1992. The elite of Ukrainian club football was created on the basis of the teams of the highest and first leagues of the USSR football championship. First season in top division began in the spring of 1992 and included a group stage. The winners of the two groups competed in the final match to determine the champion team. FC Tavriya became the first champion of the country. All subsequent titles were shared between the two leading Ukrainian clubs Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Over the subsequent time, the number of participants constantly changed downward. The tournament regulations have also changed. Since 1992, the game calendar has been compiled taking into account games played according to the “autumn-spring” system, and the schedule of meetings assumed a two-round system, two games each between teams, away and at the home stadium.
Modernity and club football in Ukraine
In 2008, the football championship in the top division underwent a transformation. An association was created on the basis of professional clubs - the Premier League of Ukraine. The new structure received from the Football Federation of Ukraine all rights to host an elite football club tournament.
Starting from the 2016/17 season, the number of participating teams was reduced to 12. The UPL tournament format involves holding the tournament in two stages. At the first stage, participants play matches in two rounds, a home match and an away game. Based on the results of the first stage, the teams that took the first 6 lines in the standings continue to fight for the championship title.
The other six teams are gathered in another group, in which they are fighting for a place in the top division of Ukrainian football.
Today, the main news from the camp of Ukrainian clubs has a European Cup focus. The statistics of the domestic championship matches are not as brilliant as the matches involving Ukrainian teams in the Champions League and Europa League. Despite this, a fairly significant audience watches online broadcasts of UPL matches, follows reviews of past rounds and is interested in expert forecasts.
In the last edition of the Ukrainian Premier League, there was still more competition for first place. This time, Shakhtar even dealt with Dynamo in the standings with defiant ease, to say nothing of those pursuers who were located below the Kievites. While Alexander Khatskevich’s team scored approximately the same number of points as a year ago, the Pitmen significantly (by eight points) exceeded their last year’s achievement. Paulo Fonseca's charges were not prevented even by the sales of long-term and short-term leaders, which happened both in the summer and winter transfer windows. Alexandria pleasantly surprised its fans by jumping to historic third place. The fourth place was “Mariupol”, which in a tense fight overtook “Zarya”. Yuri Vernidub led his players into European competition for the last time, and resigned - Viktor Skripnik will continue to act at Zarya. The main loser of the year in the UPL was Arsenal, which finishing push was not enough for salvation - the Gunners were relegated to the First League. “Chernomorets” could well have ended up in the place of the Kievites, but still granted itself transition matches. We are summing up the results of the Ukrainian season together with the FNC.
Shakhtar are champions again.
For Shakhtar, the domestic season turned out just fine; the two trophies that the Pitmen quite confidently won can speak volumes about this. Although last summer everything was not at all rosy: Bernard, Fred, Facundo Ferreira and Dario Srna left the team. Each of the listed players successfully solved their very own problem in the well-oiled mechanism of Paulo Fonseca important role, the sale of each risked becoming an irreparable loss. As, by the way, was the subsequent sale of Yaroslav Rakitsky to Zenit in winter. At the same time, Shakhtar traditionally signed several promising Brazilians (Maicon, Fernando, Cipriano, and in the winter they also added Tete for big money). Later it became clear that only Maicon was able to fully demonstrate himself, and Tete played out at the end of the championship, but there were certain questions about the performances of Fernando and Cipriano.
The start of the season confirmed that Fonseca will have to do some serious work. Shakhtar lost the Super Cup to Dynamo, and in the third round of the UPL they again suffered a fiasco from their principle rival in Kyiv. In the fall, Shakhtar did not demonstrate a confident game (a draw with Zorya, a difficult victory over Desna), but the instability of their opponents played into the hands of the Pitmen. First of all, the team of Alexander Khatskevich, which began to lose points where no one expected it.
As a result, the championship was won ahead of schedule and with a clear advantage - right before the final match of the season against Dynamo. Probably, the Pitmen would like to win the title based on the results of the battle with their main and so important opponent, but these are secondary desires. Eleven points of advantage on Dynamo, the most dangerous attack in the UPL (19 goals more than the second place), the best defense (11 goals conceded versus 18 for the Kiev team) - the indicators are more than confident.
The decisive match of the Ukrainian Cup could have turned out to be more intriguing if Dynamo had come to a confrontation with Shakhtar (knocked out in the 1/4), Oleksandriya (stopped in the third round) or the same Zorya (lost in the semi-finals). But in the final, “Shakhtar” and “Inhulets”, modest in all respects, met. There was no sensation, a modest middle peasant from the First League high level dedication was enough for about half an hour, then the higher class of the “miners” was naturally confirmed and the matter ended in defeat.
In the Champions League, Shakhtar found themselves in a difficult group, but until the last they had the opportunity to reach the playoffs. An indecent defeat from Manchester City (0:6) did not interfere, but the French Lyon opposed, which won desired result on the Shakhtar field within final round. And in the Europa League the performance was not very long; in the 1/16 finals the Pitmen were eliminated by Eintracht Frankfurt, which was just beginning to surprise football Europe.
European Cup zone.
What can Dynamo Kiev boast of at the end of the season? Perhaps the fact that the Kiev team became the most visited in the Ukrainian Premier League. Otherwise, there were not many reasons for joy and pride among the fans of the Kyiv team. After the third round, when Dynamo beat Shakhtar, it might have seemed that there would be a serious fight for the title in the future, but a three-match streak without a win soon followed, and Shakhtar had the opportunity to relax. It can be noted that in four matches against the future champion, Dynamo won once, lost once and drew two matches. A draw in the sum of the four-match confrontation, which can serve as little consolation for the season in which Dynamo lost all the main tournaments to the Pitmen.
“Alexandria” won the historic third place. Vladimir Sharan has made an amazing journey from a head coach who was ready to resign at any moment due to unsatisfactory results, to a specialist who has become the creator of tremendous success for a modest team. Moreover, the Alexandrians won third position ahead of schedule, and could play out the end of the championship in a relaxed manner. In a situation where Alexandria began to have serious personnel problems caused by injuries, this was especially important. At some point in the season, the future bronze medalist even displaced Dynamo from second position, but not for long.
“Mariupol” only at the last moment snatched fourth position from “Zorya” and, presumably, an easier qualification bracket in the next Europa League. In general, the season for the Azov team, as well as for Alexandria, turned out to be historic, which I managed to declare more than once head coach team Alexander Babich. Remembering how this championship began for Mariupol, fourth place really should be called a great success.
“Zarya” is on the verge of big changes. Yuri Vernidub has long been wooed either to Dynamo Kiev or to another, slightly less status team, but few people connected experienced trainer with a team based in Zaporozhye for the next season. And indeed, Vernidub left without slamming the door, and was replaced by Viktor Skripnik, a man who had recently worked in the Bundesliga (albeit not for long). Under the leadership of Vernidub, Zorya progressed and progressed, and “progressed” for themselves a historic place in the Europa League and an unforgettable rivalry with Manchester United, however, in a situation where every transfer window the coach needs to reassemble the team, it is really difficult to work. Let's see how Skripnik copes with this difficult task.
"Prestige Cup", relegation zone.
The fight in the second six is traditionally and logically not as intense as in the top half of the championship. Still, the consolation cup, which is awarded to the seventh team in the table at the end of the season, does not motivate for a serious fight as much as the same ticket to European competition. Although, on the other hand, the cup can be placed in the club museum... One way or another, Vorskla has the opportunity to put it in its spacious museum room. Even the missed victory in the last round did not prevent the Poltava residents from rejoicing a little. Vasily Sachko, who had worked in Poltava since 2012 and who led Vorskla to European competition, also left the team. At first, Vitaly Kosovsky's tenure as head coach was not very good, but by the last rounds the results had improved.
The struggle for survival can also be interesting, this was once again confirmed by Chernomorets and Arsenal. The two teams spent the entire season at the bottom of the standings, and began to score points more or less often in the final stage of the season, when the threat of direct relegation seriously loomed. In the end, Chernomorets was luckier, as they were not affected by personnel changes during the season. The final point in the fight for 11-12 places was set following the results of the final round. Everything depended on Chernomorets - the Odessa residents won and went to play-offs together with Karpaty. The Lviv team were habitually unstable, and it was really not easy to be more unpredictable than the representatives of Olympic.
Symbolic team according to the FNK. Yuriy Pankiv (Alexandria) - Andrey Tsurikov (Alexandria), Nikita Burda (Dynamo K), Vladimir Adamyuk (Lviv), Sergei Myakushko (Karpaty) - Evgeniy Banada (Alexandria), Kirill Kovalets (Olexandriya), Viktor Tsygankov (Dynamo K), Taison (Shakhtar), Marjan Shved (Karpaty) – Moraes (Shakhtar).
Viktor Tsygankov is the player of the year according to FNK.
Even though Dynamo failed the next season and did not live up to the expectations of the fans, the fans should hardly blame Viktor Tsygankov. You can talk a lot about the spectacular goals that Tsygankov scored in sufficient quantities (and the lion’s share was also important), or you can simply note the fact that the Dynamo captain became the best in the “goal plus pass” system. 18 effective shots and 11 assists – it’s hard to argue with such indicators. Until recently, Shakhtar forward Moraes tried to do this, who eventually became the championship’s top scorer, one goal ahead of Tsygankov, but who was not so effective in playing along. Lately there have been a lot of rumors regarding Tsygankov’s possible departure to Napoli, and if this really happens, you definitely shouldn’t be too surprised - Tsygankov has definitely outgrown the level of the current Dynamo and has come close to meeting the requirements Italian Series A.
Vladimir Shcherban.
Competition history
Ukrainian Football Championship among teams Major League has been held since 1992, when, after the collapse of the USSR, representatives of several allied leagues were united within the framework of a new tournament.
The first champion in the history of independent Ukraine was Simferopol "Tavriya". Subsequently, only two teams won this title - Dynamo Kiev (15 times*) and Shakhtar Donetsk (10 times).
In the 2008/2009 season, the tournament changed its name - instead of the Major League, the Ukrainian Premier League (abbreviated UPL) appeared, which is held under the auspices of the Association of Professional football clubs Ukrainian Premier League.
Regulations
There are currently 12 teams taking part in the tournament. At the first stage of the championship, rivals play each other in two rounds (rounds 1 - 22). After this, the table is divided into two halves, where mini-tournaments are also held in two rounds (23 - 32 rounds).
The top six are fighting for five European competition places: two in the Champions League and three in the Europa League. In the bottom six, teams fight to retain their place in the top division. The team that takes last place is relegated to the First League. Teams that finish in tenth and eleventh places will play transition matches with opponents from the lower division.
According to the regulations, the winner is the one who scores the most points (3 is given for a win, 1 for a draw). If two or more teams have equal points, the total difference in goals scored and conceded is taken into account, then - more scored, then – points scored in face-to-face meetings, then – the difference in goals scored and conceded in head-to-head matches, then – the greater number of goals scored in head-to-head matches. If all these indicators are equal, the winner is determined by lot.
Representation in European Cups
Based on the UEFA club ratings and the Football Association ratings, in the 2017/2018 season the winner of the Ukrainian Premier League championship receives a guaranteed place in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. Silver medalist receives the right to participate in Champions League qualification. Teams that take 3-4 places receive the right to participate in the Europa League.
The club that takes fifth place also receives the right to play in the Europa League, provided that the Ukrainian Cup is won by one of the teams that finishes in places one through four in the standings.
Ukrainian Premier League on UA-Football
A team of journalists and editors of the UA-Football website has been covering the Ukrainian Championship among Major League teams since its founding - the summer of 2002. During this time, an extensive correspondent network has been created, covering all the cities in which Ukrainian Premier League clubs are based.
The UA-Football website presents both news and analytical materials, as well as interviews, photos and videos of matches of the Ukrainian Premier League, live text broadcasts of all matches of the tournament, as well as live video broadcasts of key matches.
Statistics system
The statistics system contains standings Championship table top scorers, assistants, best players using the “goal+pass” system, the attendance of all matches of the tournament is recorded, and the schedule of UPL games is presented, as well as data on television broadcasts of matches and a television program.
Dossiers on each club participating in the tournament are presented, as well as dossiers on all players participating in the championship.
An archive is also saved in the section statistics system previous seasons, thanks to which fans of football statistics have the opportunity to get the maximum full information about the tournament.
