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Ukrainian First League
Founded	1991
Country	; Ukraine;
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	2
; Promotion to	Ukrainian Premier League
; Relegation to	Ukrainian Second League
Domestic cup(s)	Ukrainian Cup
Current champions	; FC Arsenal Kyiv ; (2017–18)
Most championships	3 – FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv, FC Hoverla Uzhhorod, FC Zirka Kirovohrad;
Top goalscorer	116 – Vadym Plotnikov and Serhiy Chuichenko (2018)
Website	pfl.ua
	; 2018–19 Ukrainian First League;

The Persha Liha (Ukrainian: Перша ліга) or Ukrainian First League is a football league in Ukraine and the second tier of national football competitions. Members of the league also participate in the Ukrainian Cup. Unlike the Ukrainian Premier League, Persha Liha does not conduct a parallel tournament for junior teams of its clubs.

History

The very first round of games that took place for this league was on March 14, 1992. The league itself was organized just a few months before that and consisted mostly of those clubs that previously competed in the Soviet Second League (see Ukrainian Soviet competitions). To the league were also added some Soviet Top League reserve squads of the Soviet Top League reserve squads competition and the best performers of the Ukrainian football championship among amateurs, KFK (Fitness clubs).

The Persha Liha (First League) is lower than the Vyshcha Liha (Top League) (currently known as the Ukrainian Premier League) and is the second division of the Ukrainian professional football league system.

The First League was incorporated into the PFL organization that combined all the football leagues of non-amateur clubs (Top, First, and Second). On May 26, 1996 the Constituent Conference of non-amateur clubs took place which created the professional league, and confirmed its statute as well as its administration. Most of the clubs that had previously participated in the Ukrainian football league competitions were reorganized as professional, a process that actually started in the late 1980s. On July 17 the professional league signed an agreement with several other national football organizations to organize competitions among the professional clubs (its members). According to the newspaper Halychyna (Ivano-Frankivsk) the annual budget of league's clubs varied between 6 mln to 30 mln hryvnias in 2010.^[2]^[3]

The League officially became the top league of the Professional Football League (PFL) from April 15, 2008 when the Ukrainian Premier League reorganized itself into a self-governed entity. Usually the top two teams from the First League are promoted to the Premier League, while the two lowest teams from the Premier League are demoted to the First League. Because each club is only allowed to be represented with a single squad per each league, the second squad's promotion often is voided, thus, allowing the promotion of the third placed club during a season. One of the most successful second squads is of Dynamo Kyiv (FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv).

Format of competition

The league conducts its competition in a regular single round-robin format, yet some details change from one season to another including the league's composition and inter-league rotations. The league conducts its competitions from fall to springs, however due to climate conditions in Ukraine, a mid-season break is usually longer than the break between seasons. Since 1995 the league also follows the same system of points calculation that is adopted throughout the whole European continent, 3 points for win, one for draw, and none for loss.

During its history the number of members in the league has fluctuated. In its first years the league consisted of 20 or more participants. Later there was an idea to decrease the number of members in all leagues in order to improve the quality of competition.

The amount of relegated clubs was changing also almost annually and several times reaching up to five. The amount of promoted clubs usually stays at two. Only once three teams were promoted to the top division. The league's winner and usually the second placed runner-up get accepted to the Premier League. However, there is a well established understanding that a second team of the club cannot be promoted when its senior team plays in a higher tier. Due to the rule, on few occasions the third placed runner up was admitted to the top division. In 2013 there was set a precedent when a club on its own will has refused to be promoted. In 2017 there was created another precedent when a club that earned promotion was denied it based on administrative speculations.

The relegation or promotion play-offs were previously usually organized under unforeseen circumstances such as a team's withdrawal from the league and often were not scheduled until after the season had concluded. Since 2011 relegation play-offs has become a well established tradition.

Since the turn of the millennium the frequency of withdrawals in the First League has increased among the competing clubs. In order to fight this, the league has been applying a stricter approach to every club's financial situation to avoid withdrawals during a season.

Since the 2009-10 season the First League has started to broadcast selected matches over the internet in order to increase its popularity.

The most successful clubs in the league are FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv, FC Hoverla Uzhhorod, and FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi. All of those teams were either disbanded or went through some sort of reorganizations. In 2016 Dynamo Kyiv withdrew its second team from professional competitions, while FC Hoverla was refused in attestation. Previously in 2008 FC Zirka that went through reorganization was re-established based on a local youth football club FC Olimpik Kropyvnytskyi and in 2016 won its third championship in the league.

Results by season

Promoted teams are in bold.

Season	Group	Champion	Runner-up	Third place

1992	A	Veres Rivne	Pryladyst Mukacheve	Polihraftekhnika Oleksandria
1992	B	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Metalurh Nikopol	Artania Ochakiv

1992–93		Nyva Vinnytsia	Temp Shepetivka	Naftovyk Okhtyrka

1993–94		Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk	Evis Mykolaiv	Polihraftekhnika Oleksandria

1994–95		Zirka-NIBAS Kirovohrad	CSKA-Borysfen Boryspil	Metalurh Nikopol

1995–96		Vorskla Poltava	Bukovyna Chernivtsi	Stal Alchevsk

1996–97		Metalurh Donetsk	Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Metalurh Mariupol

1997–98		SC Mykolaiv	Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Metalist Kharkiv

1998–99		Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Chornomorets Odessa	Torpedo Zaporizhia

1999–00		Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Stal Alchevsk	FC Cherkasy

2000–01		Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Zakarpattia Uzhhorod	Polihraftekhnika Oleksandria

2001–02		SC Volyn-1 Lutsk	Chornomorets Odessa	Obolon Kyiv

2002–03		Zirka Kirovohrad	Borysfen Boryspil	Dynamo-2 Kyiv

2003–04		Zakarpattia Uzhhorod	Metalist Kharkiv	Naftovyk Okhtyrka

2004–05		Stal Alchevsk	Arsenal Kharkiv	Zorya Luhansk

2005–06		Zorya Luhansk	Karpaty Lviv	Obolon Kyiv

2006–07		Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	Zakarpattia Uzhhorod	Obolon Kyiv

2007–08		Illichivets Mariupol	FC Lviv	Obolon Kyiv

2008–09		Zakarpattia Uzhhorod	Obolon Kyiv	PFC Oleksandria

2009–10		PFC Sevastopol	Volyn Lutsk	Stal Alchevsk

2010–11		PFC Oleksandria	Chornomorets Odesa	Stal Alchevsk

2011–12		Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod	Metalurh Zaporizhya	FC Sevastopol

2012–13		FC Sevastopol	Stal Alchevsk^[4]	PFC Oleksandria^[5]

2013–14		FC Olimpik Donetsk	PFC Oleksandria^[5]	Stal Alchevsk

2014–15		FC Oleksandriya	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk	Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk

2015–16		Zirka Kirovohrad	Cherkaskyi Dnipro	Obolon-Brovar Kyiv

2016–17		Illichivets Mariupol	Desna Chernihiv	Veres Rivne

2017–18		Arsenal Kyiv	FC Poltava	Desna Chernihiv

Post-season play-offs

Post-season play-offs are not common feature of the First League competition. Over the years there were several instances when clubs contested promotion or relegation berths. The first post-season feature consisted of a relegation mini tournament that took place in July 1998 in Kiev and Boryspil. It involved three group winners of the Second League and Bukovyna that placed 18th place in the First League. The tournament identified clubs which would qualify for the 1998–99 Ukrainian First League. The next year the league featured its first promotion play-off.

Promotion play-offs

Season	Premier League team	Score	First League team	Place

1998–99	FC Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk	3–1	FC Cherkasy	in Kiev

2001–02	FC Polihraftekhnika Oleksandriya	1–0	FC Polissya Zhytomyr	in Kiev

2017–18	FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi	1–1, 0–4	FC Desna Chernihiv	home/away

	FC Chornomorets Odesa	1–0, 0–3 (a.e.t.)	FC Poltava

Relegation play-offs

Season	First League team	Score	Second League team	Place

2010–11	FC Enerhetyk Burshtyn	2–0	PFC Sumy	in Uman

2011–12	MFC Mykolaiv	4–3	FC Avanhard Kramatorsk	in Khmelnytskyi

2012–13	FC Odesa	0–2, 1–4	FC Nyva Ternopil	home/away

	FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv	1–1, 1–0	FC Shakhtar Sverdlovsk

2014–15	MFC Mykolaiv	0–0, 1–0	FC Kremin Kremenchuk	home/away

2015–16	FC Ternopil	cancelled	FC Bukovyna Chernivtsi	home/away

2016–17	PFC Sumy	2–0, 1–1	FC Balkany Zoria	home/away

Statistics

Performance by club

Club	Winner	Runners-up	Third place	Seasons won
Dynamo-2 Kyiv	3	2	1	1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01
Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod	3	2	0	2003–04, 2008–09, 2011–12
Zirka Kirovohrad	3	0	0	1994–95, 2002–03, 2015–16
FC Oleksandriya	2	1	5	2010–11, 2014–15
FC Sevastopol	2	0	1	2009–10, 2012–13
Illichivets Mariupol	2	0	1	2007–08, 2016–17
Stal Alchevsk	1	2	4	2004–05
MFC Mykolaiv	1	1	0	1997–98
Volyn Lutsk	1	1	0	2001–02
Arsenal Kyiv	1	1	0	2017–18
Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	1	0	2	2006–07
Zorya Luhansk	1	0	1	2005–06
Veres Rivne	1	0	1	1992 (group winner)
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	1	0	0	1992 (group winner)
Nyva Vinnytsia	1	0	0	1992–93
Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk	1	0	0	1993–94
Vorskla Poltava	1	0	0	1995–96
Metalurh Donetsk	1	0	0	1996–97
Olimpik Donetsk	1	0	0	2013–14

Notes:

indicates that the club does not have professional status.

indicates that the club currently plays in the league.

League winners by region

Number	Region	Winners
5	Kirovohrad Oblast	Zirka Kropyvnytskyi (3), FC Oleksandriya (2)
4	Donetsk Oblast	Illichivets Mariupol (2), Metalurh Donetsk, Olimpik Donetsk
4	Kiev	Dynamo-2 Kyiv (3), Arsenal Kyiv
3	Zakarpattia Oblast	Hoverla Uzhhorod (3)
2	Sevastopol	FC Sevastopol (2)
2	Luhansk Oblast	Stal Alchevsk, Zorya Luhansk
1	Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
1	Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk
1	Mykolaiv Oblast	Mykolaiv
1	Poltava Oblast	Vorskla Poltava
1	Rivne Oblast	Veres Rivne
1	Sumy Oblast	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka
1	Vinnytsia Oblast	Nyva Vinnytsia
1	Volyn Oblast	Volyn Lutsk

All-time table

Top-20. All figures are correct through the 2017–18 season.^[6] Clubs' status is current at the start of the 2018–19 season.

PL	Team	Seasons	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts	Achievement
1	Dynamo-2 Kyiv	25	888	403	219	266	1312	882	1428	champion
2	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	24	856	378	201	277	1131	891	1335	champion
3	Stal Alchevsk	21	752	361	155	236	1082	786	1238	champion
4	Oleksandriya	18	652	312	164	176	903	595	1100	champion
5	Mykolaiv	19	675	276	149	250	816	758	977	champion
6	Hoverla Uzhhorod	15	550	246	107	197	678	666	845	champion
7	Desna Chernihiv	14	484	189	112	183	581	536	679	vice-champion
8	FC Cherkaskyi Dnipro	14	513	184	109	220	561	643	661	3rd
9	Volyn Lutsk	11	402	189	64	149	544	461	631	champion
10	Elektrometalurh-NZF Nikopol	11	418	183	71	164	498	506	620	vice-champion
11	Helios Kharkiv (Kobra)	13	433	162	116	155	448	463	602	4th
12	Zirka Kropyvnytskyi	11	370	166	93	111	476	363	591	champion
13	Bukovyna Chernivtsi	12	442	162	94	186	485	536	580	vice-champion
14	Nyva-V Vinnytsia	11	394	157	98	139	441	405	569	champion
15	Polissya Zhytomyr	12	444	153	93	198	461	579	552	4th
16	CSKA Kyiv	13	464	153	88	223	433	586	547	5th
17	Obolon-Brovar Kyiv	10	339	150	72	117	436	343	522	vice-champion
18	Podillya Khmelnytskyi	10	380	131	103	146	412	459	496	4th
19	Spartak Sumy	11	372	129	77	166	400	475	464	9th
20	Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk	9	320	128	76	116	369	348	460	champion

Players

Among notable players of the league are its top scorers. The title of the league's top scorer earned on multiple occasions the following players, Serhiy Chuichenko (4 times, Polihraftekhnika Oleksandriya), Oleh Hrytsai (2 times, FC Cherkasy), Oleksandr Aliyev (2 times, Dynamo-2 Kyiv), Matviy Bobal (2 times, Ihroservis Simferopol), Oleksandr Akymenko (2 times, Stal / Inhulets).

Stadiums

Considered to be as second tier competitions, the league has number of big stadiums with capacity of 20,000+, among which the most notable is Yuvileiny Stadium in Sumy and Shakhtar Stadium in Donetsk. Just before the Euro 2012, the First League clubs also played at the RSC Olimpiyskiy also located in Donetsk. Among smaller stadiums (10,000 – 20,000) are Central Stadium in Mykolaiv, Dynamo Stadium in Kiev, Avanhard Stadium in Lutsk, Chernihiv Stadium in Chernihiv and Central Stadium in Cherkasy.

Attendance

Most attended games in the league (1992-2017) recorded at Yuvileiny Stadium (Sumy)^[7]

2002-03 Spartak Sumy - Naftovyk Okhtyrka 1:0 (29,300)

1997-98 SC Mykolaiv - Dynamo-2 Kyiv 1:0 (27,000)

2002-03 Spartak Sumy - Shakhtar-2 Donetsk 2:1 (25,200)

2002-03 Spartak Sumy - Zirka Kirovohrad 1:0 (23,000)

2005-06 Zorya Luhansk - Karpaty Lviv 1:0 (21,000)

The most attended seasons were in the beginning of 1990s and the beginning of 2000s.^[7]

References

^ Samotkan, Yu. First League: patience of Chuichenko, "corrections" of Plotnikov, and perspectives of Akymenko (Первая лига: спокойствие Чуйченко, "дорисовки" Плотникова и перспективы Акименко). Footboom. 19 January 2018

^ Last one and half months worth several years (in Ukrainian)

^ Original source on August 19, 2010 by Bohdan Biletsky (in Ukrainian)

^ "FC Stal refuses to participate in Ukrainian Premier League". Interfax-Ukraine. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em

^ ^a^b "In Ukrainian Premier League will be 14 teams: Oleksandriya do not need the elite division". LB. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.

^ http://wildstat.ru/p/2104/cht/213/stat/summary Чемпионат Украины, первая лига (Суммарная таблица за все годы)

^ ^a^b Valerko, A. Which game is the most attended in history of the Persha Liha? (Який матч – найвідвідуваніший в історії Першої ліги?). Sport Arena. 30 September 2016 (first ed.)

External links

Official website of the Professional Football League of Ukraine

[1] Samotkan, Yu. First League: patience of Chuichenko, "corrections" of Plotnikov, and perspectives of Akymenko (Первая лига: спокойствие Чуйченко, "дорисовки" Плотникова и перспективы Акименко). Footboom. 19 January 2018

[2] Last one and half months worth several years (in Ukrainian)

[3] Original source on August 19, 2010 by Bohdan Biletsky (in Ukrainian)

[fans-4] "FC Stal refuses to participate in Ukrainian Premier League". Interfax-Ukraine. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em

[oleksandriya-5] "In Ukrainian Premier League will be 14 teams: Oleksandriya do not need the elite division". LB. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.

[6] ttp://wildstat.ru/p/2104/cht/213/stat/summary Чемпионат Украины, первая лига (Суммарная таблица за все годы)

[ymnip-7] Valerko, A. Which game is the most attended in history of the Persha Liha? (Який матч – найвідвідуваніший в історії Першої ліги?). Sport Arena. 30 September 2016 (first ed.)

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