2019–20 Ukrainian First League
| Longest winless run | 21 – Cherkashchyna (Round 6–26) |
|---|---|
| Longest losing run | 11 – Cherkashchyna (Round 15–26) |
| Highest attendance | 9,619 – Metalist 2–3 Mynai (Round 8) |
| Lowest attendance | 0 – Volyn 3–2 Prykarpattia (Round 3) |
| Total attendance | 269986 |
| Average attendance | 1776 |
← 2018–19 →
All statistics correct as of 13 August 2020. | |
The 2019–20 Ukrainian First League is the 29th since its establishment.
The competition began on 27 July 2019 with eight matches of Round 1, and went into recess for a winter break which started after the completion of Round 19 on 24 November 2019. The competition was to be resumed on 22 March 2020[1] and was expected to end 23 May 2020.[1] However, on 17 March 2020 the Ukrainian Association of Football adopted the decision to pause all football competitions in the country since 18 March 2020 for unspecified period of time (until adoption of the next decision to resume all football events) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
On 11 June 2020, the PFL Extraordinary Conference took the decision to resume the competition starting from 24 June with the conclusion on 11 August 2020. Additionally, the league will be expanded to 18 teams starting from the next season.[3] Later the last day of competition was extended due to some unforeseen circumstances (see below for details).
The
Summary
On 6 June 2019 the PFL Council of leagues presented its plan draft ("contours") for the next season for both its First and its Second leagues.[5] The final decision for the season was to be adopted at the next 27th PFL Conference which was scheduled for 27 June 2019.[5]
For the next from 2020 to 2021 season, Ukrainian First League will expand to 18 teams. The bottom two team from Ukrainian First League will battle relegation play-off to Ukrainian Second League. The top two teams of each group from Ukrainian Second League will gain promotion to Ukrainian First League next season. However, the third place team from Ukrainian Second League of each group will battle promotion play-off to Ukrainian First League.[3]
Revival of competitions and administrative crisis
On 21 May 2020, the PFL council of leagues at its open-air session at Obolon Arena adopted decision to end competitions in the Second League, while competitions in the First League were placed on hold as some clubs were against to renew the season and no consensus was reached.[6] In addition to issues with restart of competitions in the First League, FC Inhulets Petrove accused the Professional Football League in wrong interpretation of the season's regulation in placement of teams with the same number of points ("head-to-head tiebreak").[7] Earlier the president of Inhulets expressed its thoughts that the Ukrainian PFL should be dissolved and both its First and Second leagues added to the Ukrainian Premier League.[8] While some clubs insisted to continue the competitions from where they were left off, there were clubs that recommended to abandon the competitions and reset them by starting anew without rotation of teams between tiers. Among the latter clubs was MFC Mykolaiv.[9]
On 29 May 2020, an information has leaked that competitions are expected to resume on 23 June 2020.[10][11] On 5 June 2020 another meeting of the PFL council of leagues approved resuming competitions in the First League (Persha Liha) starting on 23 June 2020 and made some adjustments to its season regulations among which it was decided to expand the league for the next season to 18 teams (from 16 currently) and therefore the relegation zone was removed, but the last two teams are expected to play-off with the two third placed teams out of the Second League (Druha Liha).[12] The final decision in that regard is expected to be adopted at the next UAF Executive Committee meeting on 7 June 2020.[13][14] The UAF Executive Committee postponed with its decision and asked the PFL to call for its conference on 11 June where it is expected to confirm the PFL's decision about next season and check if it is possible to resume competitions in both its divisions.[15][16][17] The UAF Executive Committee also confirmed that the First League junior tournament is discontinued. The UAF President Pavelko also urged referee to prepare for the current season.[18]
On 27 July 2020 24 out of 34 PFL clubs expressed their vote of no confidence to the PFL president Serhiy Makarov.[19] On 5 August 2020 took place another PFL Council of leagues which ended in scandal and resignation of the PFL president Makarov.[20] In opinion of the PFL, the meeting's main task was a deliberate disruption of the First League (Persha Liha) competitions.[20]
Situation with promotions
On 9 July 2020, the president of Ahrobiznes Oleh Sobutskyi announced that his club will not apply on certification for the Ukrainian Premier League due to inadequate conditions of the club's stadium.[21] Similarly, back in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 FC Oleksandriya and FC Stal Alchevsk were also refusing to be promoted on various pretenses. Yet, back in the 2016–17 NK Veres Rivne was promoted ahead of FC Desna Chernihiv, because supposedly the Chernihiv club did not have adequate home stadium, yet Veres that is based in Rivne after promotion played in Lviv. On 9 July 2020 on the Sobutskyi's announcement, the Ukrainian PFL sports director Yevhen Moroz commented not to jump to conclusion considering that the UAF awards certifications depending on situation recalling couple of other examples.[22] On 24 July 2020, the UAF Control and Disciplinary Committee (CDC) issued an official warning to the PFL sports director for his comment which "damages image of the Association and the Ukrainian football in general".[23]
Teams
Promoted teams
The following teams have been promoted from the 2018–19 Ukrainian Second League:
- FC Mynai – first place of the 2018–19 Ukrainian Second League Group A (debut)
- Cherkashchyna-Akademiya Biloziria – second place of the 2018–19 Ukrainian Second League Group A, play-off win (returning after a season, previously competed as Cherkaskyi Dnipro competed in the 2017–18 season)
- Kremin Kremenchuk – first place of the 2018–19 Ukrainian Second LeagueGroup B (returning after a season)
- Metalurh Zaporizhya – second place of the 2018–19 Ukrainian Second League Group B, play-off defeat, but later promoted (debut, however another club named as Metalurh Zaporizhya competed in the 2011–12season)
Relegated teams
The following teams have been relegated from the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League:
- Chornomorets Odesa – 11th place of the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League, play-off defeat (returns after 8 seasons)
Reformed/reorganized teams
- FC Rukh Vynnyky has officially relocated to Lviv and reformed as FC Rukh Lviv. Those changes were approved by the 27th PFL Conference.[24]
- FC Cherkashchyna-Akademiya Biloziria was reorganized again as FC Cherkashchyna and moved back to Cherkasy. During winter break the senior team was abandoned by its owners and taken over by Football Federation of Cherkasy Oblast to avoid withdrawal of the club mid season.[25][26]
Withdrawn teams
- Arsenal Kyiv – 12th place of the 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League, was originally relegated, but later withdraw from the First League.[27] Arsenal Kyiv was replaced by Metalurh Zaporizhya that lost promotional play-offs to Ahrobiznes.[28]
Location map
The following displays the location of teams.
Home venues of teams in the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League.
Stadiums
The following stadiums are considered home grounds for the teams in the competition.
| Rank | Stadium | Location | Capacity | Club | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OSC Metalist | Kharkiv | 40,003 | Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | |
| 2 | Chornomorets Stadium | Odesa | 34,164 | Chornomorets Odesa | |
| 3 | Central City Stadium | Mykolaiv | 15,600 | MFC Mykolaiv | Since Round 20 field in reconstruction |
| 4 | Avanhard Stadium | Lutsk | 12,080 | Volyn Lutsk | |
| 5 | Slavutych-Arena | Zaporizhya
|
11,883 | Metalurh Zaporizhya
|
|
| 6 | Tsentralnyi Stadion |
Cherkasy | 10,321 | Cherkashchyna Cherkasy | |
| 7 | Sport Complex Podillya | Khmelnytskyi
|
6,800 | Ahrobiznes Volochysk | Used in Round 28 |
| 8 | MCS Rukh | Ivano-Frankivsk | 6,500 | Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk | Under passive reconstruction since 1986, only one stand out of four is active |
| 9 | Prapor Stadium | Kramatorsk | 6,000 | Avanhard Kramatorsk
|
|
| 10 | Obolon Arena | Kyiv | 5,100 | Obolon Brovar Kyiv
|
|
| 11 | Skif Stadium | Lviv | 3,742 | Rukh Lviv | |
| 12 | Lokomotyv Stadium | Poltava | 3,700 | Kremin Kremenchuk
|
Rounds 4 thru 15 |
| 13 | Yunist Stadium | Volochysk | 2,700 | Ahrobiznes Volochysk | |
| 14 | Yunist Stadium | Horishni Plavni | 2,500 | Kremin Kremenchuk
|
main Round 2 |
| 15 | Inhulets Stadium | Petrove | 1,869 | Inhulets Petrove | |
| 16 | Borys Tropanets Stadium | Zorya, Sarata Raion | 1,854 | Balkany Zorya | |
| 17 | Kremin Stadium | Kremenchuk | 1,500 | Kremin Kremenchuk
|
since Round 16 |
| 18 | Mynai Arena | Mynai | 1,312 | FC Mynai | |
| 19 | Arsenal Arena | Shchaslyve | 1,000 | Cherkashchyna Cherkasy | Used as home stadium since Round 17 |
| 20 | Central City Stadium (upper field) | Mykolaiv | 500 | MFC Mykolaiv | Before Round 20 |
Managers
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metalist 1925 Kharkiv |  Oleksandr Horyainov
|
Sacked | 4 June 2019[29] | Pre-season | Andriy Demchenko
|
19 June 2019[30] | Pre-season |
Metalurh Zaporizhya
|
Oleh Taran
|
Resigned | 13 June 2019[31] | Ivan Bohatyr
|
25 June 2019[32] | ||
| Ahrobiznes Volochysk | Andriy Donets
|
End of interim Vice president |
15 June 2019[33] | Ostap Markevych
|
15 June 2019[33] | ||
| FC Mynai |  Kirill Kurenko
|
Mutual consent | 18 June 2019[34] | Vasyl Kobin
|
19 June 2019[35] | ||
| Cherkashchyna Cherkasy | Oleksandr Kyrylyuk
|
Resigned | 5 September 2019[36] | 13th |  Vitaliy Kobzar (interim)
|
5 September 2019[37] | 13th |
| Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni | Volodymyr Mazyar
|
Mutual consent, health issues, signed with FC Lviv[38][39][40] |
9 September 2019[41] | 14th | Roman Pasichnychenko (interim)
|
15 September 2019[42] | 14th |
| Roman Pasichnychenko (interim)
|
End of interim | 16 September 2019[43] | 12th | Ihor Zhabchenko
|
16 September 2019[44][45] | 12th | |
| Chornomorets Odesa |  Angel Chervenkov
|
Resigned | 16 September 2019[46] | 10th | Vitaliy Starovik (interim)
|
16 September 2019[46] | 10th |
Kremin Kremenchuk
|
Ihor Stolovytskyi
|
Resigned | 17 September 2019[47] | 14th | Volodymyr Prokopynenko (interim)
|
17 September 2019[47] | 14th |
| Ahrobiznes Volochysk | Ostap Markevych
|
Mutual Consent | 6 October 2019[48] | 7th | Oleksandr Ivanov (interim)
|
6 October 2019[49] | 7th |
Metalurh Zaporizhya
|
Ivan Bohatyr
|
Mutual Consent | 7 October 2019[50] | 16th | Oleksiy Hodin (interim)
|
7 October 2019[50] | 16th |
| MFC Mykolaiv | Serhiy Shyshchenko
|
Sacked | 12 October 2019[51] | 12th | Yuriy Chaus (interim)
|
16 October 2019[52] | 12th |
| Chornomorets Odesa | Vitaliy Starovik (interim)
|
End of interim | 14 October 2019[53] | 11th | Ostap Markevych
|
14 October 2019[53] | 11th |
| Cherkashchyna Cherkasy | Vitaliy Kobzar (interim)
|
End of interim | 25 October 2019[54] | 15th | Oleksandr Kyrylyuk
|
25 October 2019[54] | 15th |
| Ahrobiznes Volochysk | Oleksandr Ivanov (interim)
|
End of interim | 6 December 2019[55] | 6th | Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi
|
10 December 2019[56] | 15th |
| MFC Mykolaiv | Yuriy Chaus (interim)
|
End of interim spell | 9 December 2019[57] | 12th | Illya Blyznyuk
|
13 January 2020[58] | 12th |
| Rukh Lviv |  Leonid Kuchuk
|
Mutual consent | 10 December 2019[59] | 1st | Yuriy Bakalov
|
14 December 2019[60] | 1st |
Obolon-Brovar Kyiv
|
Serhiy Kovalets
|
Mutual consent | 9 January 2020[61] | 5th | Oleh Mazurenko
|
13 January 2020[62] | 5th |
Kremin Kremenchuk
|
Volodymyr Prokopynenko (interim)
|
End of interim | 3 February 2020[63] | 13th | Volodymyr Prokopynenko
|
3 February 2020[63] | 13th |
| Volodymyr Prokopynenko
|
Resigned | 10 February 2020[64] | Serhiy Svystun
|
10 February 2020[65] | |||
| Chornomorets Odesa | Ostap Markevych
|
Mutual Consent | April 2020[66] | 10th | Serhiy Kovalets
|
13 May 2020[66] | 10th |
| Rukh Lviv | Yuriy Bakalov
|
Resigned (health concerns) | 15 June 2020[67] | 1st | Ivan Fedyk
|
16 June 2020[68] | 1st |
Obolon-Brovar Kyiv
|
Oleh Mazurenko
|
Took time off | 8 July 2020[69] | 7th | Valeriy Ivashchenko (interim)
|
8 July 2020[69] | 7th |
| Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | Andriy Demchenko
|
Mutual consent | 21 July 2020[70] | 7th | Vyacheslav Khruslov (interim)
|
21 July 2020[70] | 7th |
Avanhard Kramatorsk
|
Oleksandr Kosevych
|
Undisclosed | 10 August 2020[71] | 8th | Oleksiy Horodov (interim)
|
11 August 2020[72] | 8th |
Notes:
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mynai (C, P) | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 51 | 28 | +23 | 62 | Promotion to Ukrainian Premier League[73] |
| 2 | Rukh Lviv (P) | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 51 | 21 | +30 | 61 | |
| 3 | Inhulets Petrove (P) | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 47 | 22 | +25 | 60[a] | |
| 4 | Ahrobiznes Volochysk | 30 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 52 | 30 | +22 | 60[a] | |
| 5 | Volyn Lutsk | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 57 | 36 | +21 | 57 | |
| 6 | Obolon-Brovar Kyiv
|
30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 40 | 31 | +9 | 51[b] | |
| 7 | Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 51[b] | |
| 8 | Avanhard Kramatorsk
|
30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 37 | 40 | −3 | 45 | |
| 9 | Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 39[c] | |
| 10 | Chornomorets Odesa | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 39[c] | |
| 11 | Mykolaiv | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 34 | |
| 12 | Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk | 30 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 44 | 51 | −7 | 30 | |
| 13 | Kremin Kremenchuk
|
30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 35 | 57 | −22 | 27 | |
| 14 | Balkany Zorya[d] (R) | 30 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 51 | −24 | 25 | Relegation to Ukrainian Second League |
| 15 | Metalurh Zaporizhya (Q, R)
|
30 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 28 | 58 | −30 | 22 | Qualification to relegation play-offs[74][75] |
| 16 | Cherkashchyna Cherkasy (Q, R) | 30 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 23 | 74 | −51 | 7 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored.[76]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (R) Relegated
Notes:
