Ukrainian Premier League

General overview and format

The 2023–24 season is the league's sixteenth after the restructuring of professional club football in 2008 and the 33rd season since the establishing of professional club competitions independent from the Soviet Union. As of 2024, Shakhtar Donetsk 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 33 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. Besides the Super Cup game and the Premier Liha itself, 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

The first UPL emblem was created along with the establishment of the league in 2008 and replaced the Professional Football League of Ukraine emblem.

The original 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, 16 stars represent the league's participants. In 2014, when the league was reduced to 14 teams, the emblem was not 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

Since at least 2006, the league has placed its sponsors' names in its seasons' titles. During that period, the league's sponsors were selected through the efforts of the Ukrainian sports marketing company "Media Sport Promotion" that was headed by Serhiy Kharchenko. Following the separation of the Ukrainian Premier League from the Professional Football League of Ukraine, the cooperation was disrupted. The first known sponsor of the Vyshcha Liha (Professional Football League top tier) was Russian-Ukrainian alcoholic beverage company "Soyuz-Viktan", in the 2006–07 Ukrainian championship. 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.

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. 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. The reputation of "Soyuz-Viktan" was questioned on several occasions.

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. The sum of the contract was announced as $3.6 million, while just three months before there were speculations that the new sponsor would pay no less than $5 million. 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.

• 2006–07: Soyuz-Viktan.
• 2007–08: Biola.
• 2008–09 – 2011–12: Epicentr K.
• 2015–16 – 2016–17: Pari-Match.
• 2019–20 – 2020–21 FavBet.
• 2021–22 – VBet.

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 (2–1 after extra time).

History

Creation

Before 1992, Ukrainian teams played in the Soviet league system, and Dynamo Kyiv enjoyed great success, with the team being the team with the most Soviet league titles at 13. The only other Ukrainian teams that won the Soviet league were Dnipro and Zorya Luhansk. Shakhtar Donetsk was never able to win the Soviet Top League.

With the Soviet Union falling apart in late 1991, discussion arose about the creation of a separate Ukrainian league which would only include the top Ukrainian clubs. Following the failed 1991 coup d'état attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev, the Ukrainian parliament declared independence and set a date for an independence referendum to confirm the decision, which was ratified by the Ukrainian people.

Despite the failed putsch and declaration of independence by number of Soviet union republics, the Football Federation of the Soviet Union continued planning the 1992 football season. In September 1991, the Soviet magazine "Futbol" published some comments from head coaches of Ukrainian clubs playing in the Soviet First League, with those being Tavriya and Bukovyna. Tavriya head coach Anatoliy Zayaev said that the club was strongly against participation in Ukrainian championship and intended to continue to play in Soviet championship. The Bukovyna head coach Yukhym Shkolnykov said that the club did not have any wishes to return to the Ukrainian group as planned by the republican federation and no one should let politics transverse football. On May 1, 2024, Ukrainian journalist Ihor Tsyhanyk released a video-interview where he claimed that one of motivations to conduct the championship in the spring of 1992 was a financial situation of FC Dynamo Kyiv. He pointed to the fact that Dynamo won the 1990 Soviet Top League and qualified for the 1991–92 European Cup where it received prize money by participating in the last season of the European Cup before the competition rebranded as the UEFA Champions League. Tsyhanyk also mentioned that Dynamo was losing money due to poor business management of player transfers, but did not mention that in the Soviet period, when transferred of players was finally allowed, it was carried through a special department of the Football Federation of the Soviet Union, and Soviet clubs would receive only a portion of the transfer money. According to Tsyhanyk the administration of Dynamo along with the Football Federation of Ukraine, members of which were former players of the club saw an opportunity to gain financial support by fielding Ukrainian club which had a high ranking in the UEFA Champions League.

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". Next Yevhen Mefodiyich told about possible isolation of Ukrainian football, because if Ukraine would not be recognized by the world, there would be no membership in FIFA or UEFA. After that recalling some kind of World Basket League, Kucherevsky discussed the topic that "people are uniting, but we..." 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".

In particular, Kucherevsky mentioned his talks with head coach of Shakhtar Valeriy Yaremchenko. According to Kucherevsky, the majority of Dnipro's fans, judging by their letters and telephone calls also consider that conducting of Ukrainian championship was not in time. 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". 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.

In general, Kucherevsky was speaking of true situation. 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". For example, Metalurh Zaporizhzhia that was playing its first season at such level was for the Soviet championship. 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".

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. 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. The executive committee decided that blue-and-yellow flags had to flown over all stadiums where were playing Ukrainian teams. Some members of the executive committee have spoken about the independent Ukrainian championship, but did not rush with a decision. For that it was decided to wait until the Federation's plenum on 13–14 December 1991.

Vyshcha Liha and Professional Football League (1992–1999)

After 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 (, 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, the only one in their history, with Tavriya only losing once, to Temp Shepetivka. To this date, this is the only title that was not won either by Dynamo or Shakhtar. Tavriya went extinct in 2014.

After being stunned in the first championship by Tavriya Simferopol 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, their main rivals 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 they finished with the same number of points, and Dynamo Kyiv won the title on goal difference.

The next eight 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 Dynamo. 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.

On 15 November 2007 clubs' presidents of the Vyshcha Liha adopted a decision to create the Premier League (Premier Liha). 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). 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. 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" 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 (2011–2014)

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. 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.

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 league during the war in Donbas (2014-2022)

After the start of the war in Donbas in 2014, the number of teams participating in the league was cut from 16 in the 2013–14 season to 14 in the following two seasons. Teams from the Donbas would be forced to play outside the region as a consequence. 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, with 5 rounds remaining. 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.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022-present)

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the result of this for Ukrainian football was the suspension of football competitions in the country, and on 26 April 2022, it was announced that the 2021-22 season would be abandoned due to the extension of martial law in Ukraine. The football clubs of the UPL also expressed their support for the termination, since it would not possible to end the championship due to the state of war in the country. Thus, it was concluded that the standings as of 24 February 2022 would be the final standings of the 2021–22 season, and there would be no champion for the season.

In the 2022-23 season, the competition restarted, with matches being played behind closed doors, and with sometimes matches being interrupted by alert sirens. That season ended with Shakhtar Donetsk winning the tournament, which they also won in the following season. Dynamo Kyiv won the league in the 2024-25 season.

Officials

Presidents

• Vitaliy Danilov, 27 May 2008 – 29 February 2016 (until 1 July 2009 – temporary acting, as president of FC Kharkiv, reelected on 1 July 2009 and 9 December 2011)
• Volodymyr Heninson, 29 February 2016 – 6 April 2018
• Thomas Grimm, 6 April 2018 – 5 April 2020
  • (executive director, acting) Yevhen Dykyi
• Yevhen Dykyi, 23 May 2023 – present

Directors

• Sport director: Maksym Stepanenko, head of the Board of Directors
• Commercial director: Maksym Radchenko, director of the UPL TV
• Department of Security and Infrastructure: Serhiy Bukhalenkov
• Department of international relations and development: Roman Kryvoruchko
• Informational and Analytical department: Valeriy Strokach

Former officials

• General director: Oleksandr Yefremov

Competitions

• National championship (vbet Liha)
• Championship among under-21 (discontinued after 2020–21 season)
• Championship among under-19
• Super Cup (paused since 2021)

Clubs

A total of 51 clubs have played in the Premier League up to 2025–26 season.

The following clubs competed in the 2025–26 season. Note in parentheses shows the actual home cities and stadiums.

a: Team played in every Ukrainian topflight season

Maps

Several teams (Metalist 1925, Shakhtar, and Zorya) are playing their home games away from their cities due to ongoing hostilities.

Broadcasting

From the spring part of the 2023–24 season, the Ukrainian Premier League launched a new sports channel — UPL.TV, which will be distributed by 1+1 Media distribution. The broadcast of the TV channel includes pre-match and post-match studios, reviews, interviews with football players, coaches and leaders of Ukrainian football.

International broadcasters

The main international broadcaster of the league in Western Europe and some countries of Africa is the French Ma Chaîne Sport providing coverage for such countries like France, and many other countries like Andorra, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia. Another broadcaster Sport Klub provides coverage in all countries of former Yugoslavia including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. Other broadcasters of the Ukrainian league in other countries include 12 TV (Armenia), CBC Sport (Azerbaijan), Polsat Futbol (Poland), and Dolce Sport (Romania).

UEFA ranking and European competitions

Ukrainian clubs have been competing in European competitions since the 1960s, when the country was part of the Soviet Union. In fact the first Soviet club that took part in European competitions was Ukrainian club, Dynamo Kyiv, which took part in the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the following Ukrainian clubs participated in European competitions: Dynamo Kyiv, Karpaty Lviv, Zorya Luhansk, Chornomorets Odesa, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Dnipro, and Metalist Kharkiv.

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

Both Dynamo and Shakhtar were able to win European trophies. Dynamo won two European Cup Winners' Cups (1975 and 1986) and one UEFA Super Cup in 1975, Shakhtar Donetsk won the UEFA Cup in 2008. Dnipro also reached the 2015 UEFA Europa League Final, but lost to Sevilla.

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.

• FC Shakhtar Donetsk spoke against the European Super League (22 December). They declared full support of the European Club Association decision and close partnership of European Club Association with UEFA.
• FC Karpaty Lviv spoke against the European Super League (21 December).

International relations

In 2009, the Ukrainian Premier League joined the European Professional Football Leagues. Also in 2009 the league signed a partnership with IMG of which during the first month of cooperation sold broadcasting rights for the Ukrainian Cup to Poland and Armenia. On its own initiative, the Ukrainian Premier League sold broadcasting rights to Romania and Russia as well.

Results by season

Main article: List of Ukrainian football champions

Higher League (Vyshcha Liha)

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

Premier League

Notes:

• Rank column shows the position of Ukraine in the UEFA league coefficient.
• In bold are the league winners that also won the Ukrainian Cup (season double).
• ‡ – indicates a team that also won the Ukrainian Cup in the same season.
• The 2021–22 season was not completed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. No team was crowned champions in that season.
• Metalist Kharkiv was stripped of their bronze award for 2007–08 season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne ruled against the game Karpaty – Metalist (19 April 2008).
• A native of Serbia, Marko Dević was granted Ukrainian citizenship after the 2007–08 season.
• A native of Brazil, Júnior Moraes was granted Ukrainian citizenship in March 2019.

Performance by club

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Notes:

• Defunct teams marked in Italics.
• Kryvbas includes achievements of both the original Kryvbas and the 2020 Kryvbas.

Honored teams

A representative star is placed above the team's badge to indicate 10 league titles. Dynamo Kyiv became the first Ukrainian team to achieve the prestigious honor of winning the Soviet Top League for the 10th time in 1981. Dynamo Kyiv after having entered the Ukrainian championship has become the same dominant leader as during the Soviet times by earning its 20th national title at the top level in 1999. The two stars were added to the club's logo in 2007. Earning its 10th national title in 2017, Shakhtar Donetsk has not yet adopted a star on its crest. After winning the 2024–25 season, Dynamo Kyiv added a star to the club's badge.

Currently (as of 2025) the following clubs earned the star element to be added to their crest.

• [[File:Crystal Clear action bookmark.png|20px]] [[File:Crystal Clear action bookmark.png|20px]] [[File:Crystal Clear action bookmark.png|20px]] Dynamo Kyiv (13 in Soviet Union; 17 in Ukraine).
• [[File:Crystal Clear action bookmark.png|20px]] Shakhtar Donetsk (15 in Ukraine)
• Dnipro (2 in Soviet Union)
• Zorya Luhansk (1 in Soviet Union)
• Tavriya Simferopol (1 in Ukraine)

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.

Premier League players

Ex-Dynamo Kyiv strikers Maksim Shatskikh and Serhiy 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), Serhiy Rebrov and Maksim Shatskikh are the only two players to score at least 20 goals twice. The most prolific all-time scorers are Ivan Hetsko and Viktor Leonenko, respectively attaining 0.59 and 0.57 goals per game.

Premier League managers

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

• Notes:
  • Roberto De Zerbi was a manager of FC Shakhtar Donetsk during the war championship of 2021–22 which was not finished.

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

All-time participants

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

Vyshcha Liha era (1992–2008)

Premier League era (2008–present)

Teams marking (as of 2025–26):

Teams by region and city

All-time table

All figures are correct through the 2024–25 season. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Emergency mini tournament

On 22 July 2024, the UAF executive committee approved that the club that will replace SC Dnipro-1 should be the winner of the transitional tournament, the organization of which was awarded to the UPL. The draw of the tournament was scheduled for the same date. The tournament was decided to include three games (two semifinals and a final) on 26 and 30 July 2024. The tournament was won by Livyi Bereh that gained promotion to the 2024–25 Ukrainian Premier League.

Livyi Bereh Kyiv won the Mini tournament by beating in the final game Mynai, thus gaining promotion in place of SC Dnipro-1. Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi remained in the Ukrainian First League, while Mynai and Metalist 1925 Kharkiv both were relegated to the Ukrainian First League.

Relegation play-offs

For the first time, a play-off to determine the participants 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, which 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.

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

Since 2017–18 season, the play-offs have been held in a home-and-away format between the 10th and 11th teams from the Premier League, and the 2nd and 3rd from the 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 the First League directly. In the 2021–22 season play-offs were not conducted as the championship ceased halfway due to the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Notes:

• – a technical result, the match result was determined by the league's administration.

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

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:

Attendance

ImageSize = width:950 height:280 PlotArea = left:50 right:20 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:blue value:rgb(0.1,0.4,0.9) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:13000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:blue width:20 align:left bar:1992 from:0 till:5703 bar:92/93 from:0 till:5985 bar:93/94 from:0 till:5887 bar:94/95 from:0 till:5546 bar:95/96 from:0 till:5920 bar:96/97 from:0 till:5800 bar:97/98 from:0 till:5879 bar:98/99 from:0 till:7588 bar:99/00 from:0 till:8089 bar:00/01 from:0 till:9339 bar:01/02 from:0 till:9702 bar:02/03 from:0 till:7413 bar:03/04 from:0 till:7727 bar:04/05 from:0 till:7304 bar:05/06 from:0 till:7918 bar:06/07 from:0 till:9050 bar:07/08 from:0 till:8517 bar:08/09 from:0 till:7587 bar:09/10 from:0 till:9036 bar:10/11 from:0 till:9235 bar:11/12 from:0 till:11296 bar:12/13 from:0 till:12628 bar:13/14 from:0 till:11286 bar:14/15 from:0 till:6176 bar:15/16 from:0 till:5008 bar:16/17 from:0 till:4281 bar:17/18 from:0 till:3922 bar:18/19 from:0 till:4156 bar:19/20 from:0 till:4221 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1992 at: 5703 text: 5.703 shift:(-13,5) bar:92/93 at: 5985 text: 5.985 shift:(-13,5) bar:93/94 at: 5887 text: 5.887 shift:(-13,5) bar:94/95 at: 5546 text: 5.546 shift:(-13,5) bar:95/96 at: 5920 text: 5.920 shift:(-13,5) bar:96/97 at: 5800 text: 5.800 shift:(-13,5) bar:97/98 at: 5879 text: 5.879 shift:(-13,5) bar:98/99 at: 7588 text: 7.588 shift:(-13,5) bar:99/00 at: 8089 text: 8.089 shift:(-13,5) bar:00/01 at: 9339 text: 9.339 shift:(-13,5) bar:01/02 at: 9702 text: 9.702 shift:(-13,5) bar:02/03 at: 7413 text: 7.413 shift:(-13,5) bar:03/04 at: 7727 text: 7.727 shift:(-13,5) bar:04/05 at: 7304 text: 7.304 shift:(-13,5) bar:05/06 at: 7918 text: 7.918 shift:(-13,5) bar:06/07 at: 9050 text: 9.050 shift:(-13,5) bar:07/08 at: 8517 text: 8.517 shift:(-13,5) bar:08/09 at: 7587 text: 7.587 shift:(-13,5) bar:09/10 at: 9036 text: 9.036 shift:(-13,5) bar:10/11 at: 9235 text: 9.235 shift:(-13,5) bar:11/12 at: 11296 text: 11.296 shift:(-15,5) bar:12/13 at: 12628 text: 12.628 shift:(-15,5) bar:13/14 at: 11286 text: 11.286 shift:(-15,5) bar:14/15 at: 6176 text: 6.176 shift:(-13,5) bar:15/16 at: 5008 text: 5.008 shift:(-13,5) bar:16/17 at: 4281 text: 4.281 shift:(-13,5) bar:17/18 at: 3922 text: 3.922 shift:(-13,5) bar:18/19 at: 4156 text: 4.156 shift:(-13,5) bar:19/20 at: 4221 text: 4.221 shift:(-13,5) Source:

Notes

References

References

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15. [https://www.championat.com/football/news-101656-titulnyj-sponsor-chempionata-ukrainy-zaplatit-bolee-5-mln.html A title sponsor of the Ukrainian championship will pay more than $5 million (Титульный спонсор чемпионата Украины заплатит более ? 5 млн)] {{Webarchive. link. (27 September 2023 . Championat. 8 April 2008)
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50. [http://ua.interfax.com.ua/news/general/72912.html FC Dynamo Kyiv has a new emblem] {{Webarchive. link. (2 April 2015 . [[Interfax Ukraine]]. 4 July 2011)
51. [https://upl.ua/ua/news/view/4262 "Dnipro-1" is the owner of the Prestige trophy for the 2019–20 season («Дніпро-1» – володар Трофею престижу сезону 2019/20 років!)] {{Webarchive. link. (19 July 2020 . Ukrainian Premier League. 19 July 2020)
52. [https://web.archive.org/web/20231114131820/https://upl.ua/ua/news/view/8122 350th match of Taras Stepanenko in UPL]. upl.ua. 14 November 2023
53. [http://allplayers.in.ua/en/top_players Ukrainian football championship – List of players with 200 or more appearances since 1992] {{Webarchive. link. (14 March 2016 . Allplayers.in.ua)
54. [http://www.upl.ua/news/view/1097 ...And on the horizon – Yarmolenko (…А на горизонті – Ярмоленко)] {{Webarchive. link. (24 July 2017 . Ukrainian Premier League. 22 July 2017)
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58. [https://upl.ua/ua/news/view/8264 «Найсухіші» воротарі УПЛ] {{Webarchive. link. (6 January 2024 . upl.ua)
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64. [https://www.ua-football.com/ukrainian/news/1541003118-metallist-s-dolgom-112-mln-griven-vozglavil-antireyting-ukrainskih-predpriyatiy-dolzhnikov.html Metalist with a debt of 112 million hryvnia is heading the ranking of Ukrainian most indebted enterprises (Металлист с долгом 112 млн гривен возглавил рейтинг украинских предприятий-должников)] {{Webarchive. link. (2 January 2019 . UA-Football 31 October 2018)
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66. [https://sport.ua/news/191207-ffu-lishila-krivbass-litsenzii FFU deprived Kryvbas of license (ФФУ лишила Кривбасс лицензии)] {{Webarchive. link. (2 January 2019 . Sport.ua. 31 May 2013)
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69. [https://www.ua-football.com/ua/ukrainian/first/1563854803-arsenal-kiyiv-prodovzhit-isnuvannya-ale-bez-profesiynoyi-komandi.html Арсенал-Киев продолжит существование, но без профессиональной команды] {{Webarchive. link. (6 September 2021 . UA-Football. 23 July 2019)
70. [https://football24.ua/eks_sportdirektor_zaporizkogo_metalurga_mayk_snui_hoche_vidsuditi_u_klubu_ponad_15_mln_griven_n422579/ 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)] {{Webarchive. link. (7 September 2021 . Football 24. 6 December 2017)
71. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240804030229/https://ukrfootball.ua/upl/zherebkuvannya-stikovikh-matchiv-za-misce-v-upl-minai-metalist-1925-livii-bereg-i-epicentr-diznalisya-svoyu-paru/ Жеребкування стикових матчів за місце в УПЛ: Минай, Металіст 1925, Лівий берег і Епіцентр дізналися свою пару]. ukrfootball.ua. 22 July 2024
72. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240804025832/https://uaf.ua/article/51866 Офіційно. Виконком УАФ вирішив, що команда, яка замінить СК «Дніпро-1» в УПЛ, визначиться в перехідному турнірі]. uaf.ua. 22 July 2024
73. ''[https://www.ua-football.com/ukrainian/high/1590403068-v-1999-vpervye-v-istorii-vysshey-ligi-sostoyalsya-stykovoy-match-ego-pridumali-iz-za-razvala-torpedo.html 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)] {{Webarchive. link. (8 November 2023 ''. UA-Football. 25 May 2020)
74. ''[https://sportarena.com/football/ukraina-pervaya-liga/yak-i-chomu-gralisya-pislyasezonnya-v-ukrayinskomu/ How and why after-seasons were played in Ukrainian football (Як і чому гралися післясезоння в українському футболі)] {{Webarchive. link. (3 December 2018 ''. UA-Football. 25 May 2020)
75. ''[https://uaf.ua/article/37163 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)] {{Webarchive. link. (9 August 2020 ''. [[Ukrainian Association of Football]]. 25 May 2020)