Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the football league system">Football (association football)">football league system.
Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha it was formed in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the consequent discontinuation of the Soviet Top League. In the first season in 1992, the Ukrainian league included the Ukraine-based clubs that competed previously in the Soviet top three tiers competitions, as well as better clubs of the Ukrainian republican competitions. The initial season of the league featured six former Soviet Top League clubs among which were Dynamo Kyiv|Dynamo Kyiv], Shakhtar Donetsk|Shakhtar Donetsk], Chornomorets Odesa, Dnipro, Metalist Kharkiv|Metalist Kharkiv], Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, as well as four more clubs that previously also competed at the top league. The first edition was played during the first semester of the year, as it was decided to synchronise the Ukrainian football calendar with most European leagues. That first tournament was won by Tavriya Simferopol, a club based in Crimea. That was the only edition of the league not won by either Dynamo or Shakhtar.
The Ukrainian Premier League is also a public organization of professional clubs. In 1996 along with the other professional football leagues of Ukraine, a council of the Vyshcha Liha clubs became a member of the Professional Football League of Ukraine. In 2008 was withdrawn from Professional Football League of Ukraine and reformed into a separate self-governed entity of the Ukrainian Association of Football, officially changing its name to the current one.
As a leading club of the Soviet Top League, Dynamo Kyiv dominated the league in the 1990s, winning nine consecutive titles from 1993 to 2001, while since the mid-2000s the league has been contested between Dynamo and Shakhtar Donetsk. Three of Ukrainian clubs reached the finals of European club competitions: Dynamo, Shakhtar and Dnipro. Among Ukrainian fans the most popular Ukrainian clubs are Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk. Other popular clubs include Karpaty Lviv, Metalist Kharkiv, Chornomorets Odesa and Dnipro. The league was ranked the 12th highest in Europe by UEFA in 2021, however since the Russian invasion, the league has fallen to 23rd.
Since 2014, the operation of the league has been disrupted greatly on account of the Russo-Ukrainian War, worsening with the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The league has been affected by destruction of its sports infrastructure, many Ukrainian players choosing to join the military, and disruption to match attendances with games played behind closed doors, and many other facets of the league's operation.
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.On 15 April 2008 the new Premier-Liha 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. At the end of the season, the bottom clubs 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 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 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 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. 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. 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. A club is required to have a stadium and an education and training facility. 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 in the Youth Football League of Ukraine. A club cannot field more than one team for a certain competition.
All club's staff members 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. 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. 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 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. 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.
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, 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. 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.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|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 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. At the same meeting session there was created a supervisory board that consisted of Ravil Safiullin, Vitaliy Danilov, Petro Dyminskyi, and Vadym Rabinovych. 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. The other available candidates, Miletiy Balchos 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
- Volodymyr Heninson, 29 February 2016 – 6 April 2018
- Thomas Grimm, 6 April 2018 – 5 April 2020
- * 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
- Championship among under-21
- Championship among under-19
- Super Cup
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
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, CBC Sport, Polsat Futbol, and Dolce Sport.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 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. 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.
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
Higher League (Vyshcha Liha)
- Professional Football League of Ukraine was the governing body of the Top League from 1996 to 2008.
| Season | Champion | Runner-up | Third place | Top goalscorer | Rank | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Tavriya Simferopol | Dynamo Kyiv | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |  |1992efn|part of Soviet UnionPremier LeagueNotes: Rank column shows the position of Ukraine in the UEFA league coefficient.
Performance by clubNotes:
Honored teamsA 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 the following clubs earned the star element to be added to their crest. Prestige trophyFrom 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. The team that won the relegation group receives a consolation-type honorary award, the Prestige trophy.
Premier League playersEx-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, 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 managersThe league's record holder for winnings is Mircea Lucescu.
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