2023–24 Ukrainian First League
Football league season
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The 2023–24 Ukrainian First League was the 33rd football league since its establishment. The league competition consisted of 20 teams. The competition took place during the ongoing war with the Russia since late February 2022. It was decided to conduct competitions in two groups.[1]
23 March – 25 May 2024 (second stage)
June 2024 (play-offs)
(1st title)
Karpaty Lviv
Livyi Bereh Kyiv (via mini-tournament)
| Season | 2023–24 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 27 July – 25 November 2023 (first stage) 23 March – 25 May 2024 (second stage) June 2024 (play-offs) |
| Champions | Inhulets Petrove (1st title) |
| Promoted | Inhulets Petrove Karpaty Lviv Livyi Bereh Kyiv (via mini-tournament) |
| Relegated | Chernihiv-ShVSM Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni |
| Matches | 280 |
| Goals | 701 (2.5 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Andriy Khoma (Prykarpattia) Dmytro Shcherbak (Poltava) Vasyl Palahnyuk (Bukovyna) (14 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Prykarpattia 7–0 Khust (28 August 2023) |
| Biggest away win | Kremin 0–6 Poltava (28 August 2023) Khust 1–7 Dinaz (25 May 2024) |
| Highest scoring | Khust 1–7 Dinaz (25 May 2024) |
| Longest winning run | Inhulets Petrove Karpaty Lviv Livyi Bereh Kyiv (7 matches) |
| Longest unbeaten run | Karpaty Lviv (14 matches) |
| Longest winless run | Metalist Kharkiv Dinaz Vyshhorod (11 matches) |
| Longest losing run | Khust (9 matches) |
| Total attendance | 0 |
| Average attendance | 0 |
← 2022–23 2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of end of season
| |
The competitions were officially approved by the Ukrainian Association of Football Executive Committee only two days before the start of the season.[2] Matches of the First League were the first games of the 2023–24 season.
Format
Due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, the league competitions changed its usual format. The Professional Football League of Ukraine (PFL) Conference adopted changes to the 2022–23 season after some 24 PFL teams were forced to suspend their activities or dissolve. It was decided to keep the number of participants at 20,[3] but split them in two groups of 10.
The competitions are scheduled to consist of two stages. At the first stage two groups of 10 would conduct a usual double round-robin tournament. At the second stage, the top five from each group form the promotion group, while the bottom five from each group – the relegation group. Points earned at the first stage will be kept for the second, while teams would only be playing with participants of the group. So, in total each team is expected to play 28 games. The top two teams of the promotion group receive direct promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League (UPL), while the 3rd and the 4th would play promotion relegation play-off with the 14th and the 13th teams of UPL, respectively.[4] In case if Desna and Mariupol would decide to return, play-off games will be canceled and the UPL will be expanded.
Later it was clarified that for the second stage teams will be keeping all their points, unlike in the previous season when clubs only kept points with their opponents that joined them for the second stage from the first stage.[5]
Teams
This season, Ukrainian First League consisted of 20 teams.
Promoted and returning teams
Two teams were promoted at the end of the 2022–23 Ukrainian Second League.
- Nyva Buzova – first place (debut)
- FC Khust – playoff winner (debut)
Two more teams were allowed to return as members of the 2021–22 Ukrainian First League.
- Ahrobiznes Volochysk – (returning after a season)[6]
- Podillya Khmelnytskyi – (returning after a season)
Two more were promoted from the 2021–22 Ukrainian Second League.
- Viktoriya Sumy – merger (debut, in place of Alians Lypova Dolyna)[7][8]
- Livyi Bereh Kyiv – Group A second place (debut)[9]
Relegated teams
Two teams were relegated at the end of the 2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League.
- Metalist Kharkiv – 15th placed (returning after a season)
- Inhulets Petrove – playoff losing team (returning after two seasons)
Relocated teams
Due to the Russian military aggression, three clubs in the league were forced to relocate.
- FC Metalist Kharkiv moved to Uzhhorod
- FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia moved to Uman
- FSC Mariupol moved to Boryspil
Withdrawn teams
The 31st PFL Conference stripped five clubs of their membership in the Professional Football League due to no reply and non-payment of dues. The conference approved to reserve membership for some other clubs without their actual active participation in competitions this season.[10]
Teams with "conservated membership"
FC Lviv (relegated),[11][12][13][14] Skoruk Tomakivka,[15][16] FC Uzhhorod, FC Kramatorsk, VPK-Ahro Shevchenkivka
Teams with "conservated membership" removed
Reorganization
- Nyva Buzova changed its owner. On 14 December 2023 it was announced that original owner abandoned the club, and it was passed on to another club FC Kudrivka (Second League) which plans to relocate to Kyiv suburb of Irpin next season.[17] The announcement appeared a day before the second stage draw. Earlier on 1 December 2023 Ihor Zhabchenko has confirmed the club's intent to withdraw from competitions.[18] On 5 January 2024 it was announced that the head coach of the second tier Kudrivka Roman Loktionov became the head coach of Nyva Buzova.[19] Following the merger, Nyva Buzova changed its name to Kudrivka-Nyva.[20]
Location map
The following displays the location of teams. Group A teams marked in red. Group B teams marked in green.
Stadiums
The following stadiums were used as home grounds for the teams in the competition.
Personnel and sponsorship
Notes:
- FC Inhulets Petrove does not have an established team captain and a footballer with such designation changes from one match to another.
- Since the second half of the season FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia does not have an established team captain and a footballer with such designation changes from one match to another.
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni |  Serhiy Diryavka |
Fired | 30 May 2023[32] | Pre-season | Valeriy Kutsenko |
19 June 2023[33] |
| Nyva Buzova | Serhiy Karpenko |
Resigned | 1 June 2023[34] | Ihor Zhabchenko |
5 June 2023[35] | |
| Metalist Kharkiv |  Perica Ognjenović (interim) |
Resigned | 8 June 2023[36] | Andriy Anishchenko |
24 June 2023[37] | |
| Inhulets Petrove | Vladyslav Lupashko (interim) |
Change of role | 15 June 2023[38] | Vladyslav Lupashko |
15 June 2023 | |
| Nyva Ternopil | Serhiy Atlasyuk (interim) |
Sacked | 21 June 2023[39][40] | Vasyl Malyk |
21 June 2023 | |
| Viktoriya Sumy | Volodymyr Romanenko (interim) |
Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi |
28 June 2023[41] | |||
| Nyva Ternopil | Vasyl Malyk |
Sacked | 19 September 2023[42][43] | 4th (Group A) |
Oleksandr Stakhiv (caretaker) |
20 September 2023[44] |
| Kremin Kremenchuk | Roman Loktionov |
Resigned | 24 September 2023[45][46] | 8th (Group B) |
Ihor Klymovskyi |
27 September 2023[47] |
| Nyva Buzova | Ihor Zhabchenko |
Administrative changes | 3 December 2023[48] | 4th (Group A) |
Roman Loktionov |
5 January 2024[19] |
| Nyva Ternopil | Oleksandr Stakhiv (caretaker) |
Change of role | 4 December 2023 | 8th (Group A) |
Oleksandr Stakhiv |
4 December 2023[49][50] |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | Volodymyr Mykytin |
Left the club | 21 March 2024 | 11th | Anton Hai (caretaker) |
15 March 2024[51] |
| Bukovyna Chernivtsi | Andriy Melnychuk |
Sacked | 13 May 2024[52][53] | 12th | Hryhoriy Churilov (interim) |
13 May 2024[52][53] |
| Hryhoriy Churilov (interim) |
End of interim | 24 May 2024[54] | 11th | Valeriy Kryventsov |
24 May 2024[54] | |
Group A league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karpaty Lviv | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 10 | +24 | 45 | Qualified to the Promotion group |
| 2 | Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 27 | 21 | +6 | 31 | |
| 3 | Ahrobiznes Volochysk | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 15 | +5 | 29 | |
| 4 | Nyva Buzova | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 27 | |
| 5 | Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 26 | |
| 6 | Bukovyna Chernivtsi | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 23 | −7 | 21 | Qualified to the Relegation group |
| 7 | Podillia Khmelnytskyi | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 20[a] | |
| 8 | Nyva Ternopil | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 19 | −4 | 20[a] | |
| 9 | Metalist Kharkiv | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 27 | −14 | 14 | |
| 10 | Khust | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 37 | −22 | 11 |
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 in all games; 6) Goals scored in all games (Note: calculation by criteria indicated in rules 2, 3, 4 is conducted with consideration of all teams that have an equal number of tournament points at the moment of calculation and not only among those which after preliminary criteria have appeared more successful).[55]
Notes:
- Head-to-head points: Podillia 4, Nyva T. 1
Results
Group A results by week
Group A goalscorers
As of 24 November 2023[update][57]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group A clean sheets
As of 24 November 2023[update][58]
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andriy Kozhukhar |
Karpaty Lviv | 12 |
| 2 | Maksym Mekhaniv |
Nyva Ternopil | 7 |
 Andrey Popovich |
Ahrobiznes Volochysk | 7 | |
| 4 | 1 player | 5 | |
| 5 | 2 players | 4 | |
| 7 | 2 players | 3 | |
| 9 | 5 players | 2 | |
| 14 | 3 players | 1 | |
Group B league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inhulets Petrove | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 41 | 13 | +28 | 42 | Qualified to the Promotion group |
| 2 | Livyi Bereh Kyiv | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 40 | 11 | +29 | 36 | |
| 3 | Mariupol | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 22 | 14 | +8 | 31 | |
| 4 | Viktoriya Sumy | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 18 | +1 | 30 | |
| 5 | Poltava | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 29 | |
| 6 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 18 | +5 | 25 | Qualified to the Relegation group |
| 7 | Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 32 | −16 | 17 | |
| 8 | Kremin Kremenchuk | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 40 | −26 | 14 | |
| 9 | Chernihiv-ShVSM | 18 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 20 | 44 | −24 | 13[a] | |
| 10 | Dinaz Vyshhorod | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 28 | −13 | 13[a] |
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 in all games; 6) Goals scored in all games (Note: calculation by criteria indicated in rules 2, 3, 4 is conducted with consideration of all teams that have an equal number of tournament points at the moment of calculation and not only among those which after preliminary criteria have appeared more successful).[55]
Notes:
- Head-to-head points: Chernihiv 6, Dinaz 0
Results
Group B results by week
Group B goalscorers
As of 25 November 2023[update][57]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group B clean sheets
As of 25 November 2023[update][58]
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitaliy Chebotaryov |
Livyi Bereh Kyiv | 8 |
| Illya Karavashchenko |
FSC Mariupol | 8 | |
| Oleksiy Palamarchuk |
Inhulets Petrove | 8 | |
| 4 | 1 player(s) | 6 | |
| 5 | 1 player(s) | 4 | |
| 6 | 5 player(s) | 3 | |
| 11 | 2 players | 2 | |
| 13 | 2 players | 1 | |
Promotion group league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inhulets Petrove (C, P) | 28 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 60 | 17 | +43 | 67 | Promotion to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 2 | Karpaty Lviv (P) | 28 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 49 | 20 | +29 | 65 | |
| 3 | Livyi Bereh Kyiv (O, P) | 28 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 59 | 21 | +38 | 54 | Qualification to promotion play-offs Qualification to mini tournament |
| 4 | Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi | 28 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 44 | |
| 5 | Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 35 | 30 | +5 | 40[a] | |
| 6 | Kudrivka-Nyva | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 32 | 34 | −2 | 40[a] | merged with FC Kudrivka |
| 7 | Viktoriya Sumy | 28 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 23 | 27 | −4 | 39 | |
| 8 | Ahrobiznes Volochysk | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 38 | |
| 9 | Mariupol | 28 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 37[b] | |
| 10 | Poltava | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 49 | 45 | +4 | 37[b] |
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 in all games; 6) Goals scored in all games (Note: calculation by criteria indicated in rules 2, 3, 4 is conducted with consideration of all teams that have an equal number of tournament points at the moment of calculation and not only among those which after preliminary criteria have appeared more successful).[55]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:
Promotion group results
Promotion group results by week
Promotion group goalscorers
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Promotion group clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andriy Kozhukhar | Karpaty Lviv | 16 |
| 2 | Oleksiy Palamarchuk | Inhulets Petrove | 14 |
| 3 | Maksym Mekhaniv | Nyva T. → Livyi Bereh | 10 |
| 4 | Illya Karavashchenko | FSC Mariupol | 9 |
| Oleksandr Lytvynenko | Viktoriya Sumy | 9 | |
| Andriy Popovych | Ahrobiznes Volochysk | 9 | |
| 7 | 1 player(s) | 8 | |
| 8 | 1 player(s) | 6 | |
| 9 | 4 player(s) | 4 | |
| 13 | 2 player(s) | 3 | |
| 15 | 2 player(s) | 2 | |
| 17 | 3 player(s) | 1 | |
Relegation group league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Bukovyna Chernivtsi | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 41 | |
| 12 | Podillia Khmelnytskyi | 28 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 36 | 26 | +10 | 39 | |
| 13 | Nyva Ternopil | 28 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 36 | |
| 14 | Metalist Kharkiv | 28 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 30[a] | |
| 15 | Dinaz Vyshhorod | 28 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 31 | 38 | −7 | 30[a] | |
| 16 | Khust | 28 | 9 | 2 | 17 | 34 | 53 | −19 | 29 | Qualification to relegation play-off (both later avoided relegation) |
| 17 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 27 | 48 | −21 | 28 | |
| 18 | Kremin Kremenchuk | 28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 20 | 48 | −28 | 25 | Avoided relegation |
| 19 | Chernihiv-ShVSM (R) | 28 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 34 | 66 | −32 | 23[b] | Relegation to Ukrainian Second League |
| 20 | Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni (R) | 28 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 24 | 49 | −25 | 23[b] |
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 in all games; 6) Goals scored in all games (Note: calculation by criteria indicated in rules 2, 3, 4 is conducted with consideration of all teams that have an equal number of tournament points at the moment of calculation and not only among those which after preliminary criteria have appeared more successful).[55]
(R) Relegated
Notes:
Relegation group results
Relegation group results by week
Relegation group goalscorers
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relegation group clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Ponomarenko | Bukovyna Chernivtsi | 8 |
| 2 | 2 player(s) | 7 | |
| 4 | 2 player(s) | 6 | |
| 6 | 2 player(s) | 5 | |
| 8 | 1 player(s) | 3 | |
| 9 | 3 players | 2 | |
| 12 | 9 players | 1 | |
Awards
Monthly awards
| Month | Player of the Month | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | ||
| August 2023 | Vladyslav Voytsekhovskyi |
Livyi Bereh Kyiv | [61] |
| September 2023 | Nazar Prykhodko |
Khust | [62] |
| October 2023 | Ambrosiy Chachua |
Karpaty Lviv | [63] |
| March 2024 | Vladyslav Chaban |
Khust | [64] |
| April 2024 | Yevhen Pidlepenets |
Karpaty Lviv | [65] |
Round awards
- Fall half
- Spring half
| Round | Player | Coach | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | Reference | Coach | Club | Reference | |
| winter break | ||||||
| Round 1 | Pavlo Polehenko |
Karpaty Lviv | [84] | Vitaliy Pervak (5) |
Livyi Bereh Kyiv | [84] |
| Round 2 | Andriy Andreychuk |
Bukovyna Chernivtsi | [85] | Oleksandr Holovko |
Dinaz Vyshhorod | [85] |
| Round 3 | Yevhen Pidlepenets |
Karpaty Lviv | [86] | Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi |
Ahrobiznes Volochysk | [86] |
| Round 4 | Bohdan Shmyhelskyi |
SC Poltava | [87] | Myron Markevych (2) |
Karpaty Lviv | [87] |
| Round 5 | Vasyl Palahnyuk (2) |
Bukovyna Chernivtsi | [88] | Vladyslav Lupashko (3) |
Inhulets Petrove | [88] |
| Round 6 | Andriy Kozhukhar |
Karpaty Lviv | [89] | Roman Loktionov |
Kudrivka-Nyva | [89] |
| Round 7 | Artem Sitalo |
Inhulets Petrove | [90] | Volodymyr Tsytkin (2) |
FC Khust | [90] |
| Round 8 | Vyacheslav Studenko |
Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni | [91] | Vitaliy Kostyshyn (2) |
Podillia Khmelnytskyi | [91] |
| Round 9 | Roman Bodnia |
Bukovyna Chernivtsi | [92] | Vitaliy Pervak (6) |
Livyi Bereh Kyiv | [92] |
| Round 10 | Serhiy Panasenko |
Inhulets Petrove | [93] | Vladyslav Lupashko (4) |
Inhulets Petrove | [93] |
Relegation play-offs
The relegation play-offs were scheduled to take place between the 6th and 7th-placed teams in the Relegation group of the First League and the 2nd and 3rd-placed teams from the Second League. It was FC Khust and Metalurh Zaporizhia from the First League that qualified for the play-offs.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Khust | 1 – 2 | PFC Zviahel | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| UCSA Tarasivka | 7 – 1 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 3–1 | 4–0 |
First match-up
| FC Khust | 1 – 1 | PFC Zviahel |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| PFC Zviahel | 1 – 0 | FC Khust |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Zviahel won 2–1 on aggregate and was promoted to the 2024–25 Ukrainian First League. Khust was relegated to the 2024–25 Ukrainian Second League. Due to the withdrawal of Druzhba Myrivka, Khust was reinstated. Later, Zviahel also withdrew.
Second match-up
| UCSA Tarasivka | 3 – 1 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 0 – 4 | UCSA Tarasivka |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
UCSA Tarasivka won 7–1 on aggregate and was promoted to the 2024–25 Ukrainian First League. Metalurh Zaporizhzhia was relegated to the 2024–25 Ukrainian Second League. Due to withdrawal of Dnipro-1, Metalurh was reinstated.
