The 2015–16 Ukrainian First League was the 25th since its establishment. The competition commenced on 26 July 2015 with eight matches. The competition had a winter break which began after Round 18 on November 22. The competition resumed on 26 March 2016 and completed on 1 June 2016.
Teams
The number of teams for the competition was confirmed on 19 June 2015.
Promoted teams Two teams were promoted from the 2014–15 Ukrainian Second League.
Cherkaskyi Dnipro – champion (returning as a successor of FC Dnipro Cherkasy that last participated in the 2007–08 Ukrainian First League, 7 seasons absence) Obolon-Brovar Kyiv – 2nd place runner-up (returning as a successor of FC Obolon Kyiv after an absence of three seasons)
Relegated teams One team was promoted from the 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League. Illichivets Mariupol – 14th place (returning after an absence of seven seasons)
Reinstated teams
Avanhard Kramatorsk – special case (returning after an absence of one season)
Location map The following displays the location of teams.
Stadiums
The following stadiums are considered home grounds for the teams in the competition.
Rank Stadium Capacity Club Notes 1Metalurh Stadium, Kryvyi Rih29,783Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih 2 Yuvileiny Stadium, Sumy 25,800 FC Sumy 3Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv 16,873 Dynamo-2 KyivUsed as home ground in Round 14 and 17 4 Central City Stadium, Mykolaiv 16,700 MFC Mykolaiv 5 Zirka Stadium, Kirovohrad 13,667 Zirka Kirovohrad 6 Labor Reserve, Bila Tserkva 13,500 Desna Chernihiv Used as home ground 7 City Stadium, Ternopil 12,750 Nyva Ternopil FC Ternopil 8 Illichivets Stadium, Mariupol 12,680 Illichivets Mariupol 9 Yuri Gagarin Stadium, Chernihiv 12,060 Desna Chernihiv 10 Central Stadion, Cherkasy 10,321 Cherkaskyi Dnipro 11 Naftovyk Stadium, Okhtyrka 5,256 Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka 12 Obolon Arena, Kyiv 5,100 Obolon-Brovar Kyiv 13 Sonyachny Stadium, Kharkiv 4,924 Helios Kharkiv 14 Avanhard Stadium, Kramatorsk 2,500 Avanhard Kramatorsk 15Lokomotov Stadium, Poltava 2,500 FC Poltava 16Yunist Stadium, Komsomolsk 2,500 Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk 17 Dynamo Training Center, Kyiv 1,200 Dynamo-2 Kyiv
Managers ClubCoachReplaced coach Avanhard Kramatorsk Yakiv Kripak Cherkaskyi Dnipro Ihor Stolovytskyi Desna Chernihiv Oleksandr Ryabokon Dynamo-2 Kyiv Vadym Yevtushenko Helios Kharkiv Serhiy Syzykhin Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih Hennadiy Prykhodko Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk Ihor Zhabchenko Illichivets Mariupol Valeriy Kriventsov MFC Mykolaiv Ruslan Zabranskyi Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka Volodymyr Knysh Nyva Ternopil Petr Badlo (interim) Roman TolochkoObolon-Brovar Kyiv Sergei Soldatov FC Poltava Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi (interim) Oleh Fedorchuk FC Sumy Yuriy Yaroshenko FC Ternopil Vasyl Ivehesh Zirka Kirovohrad Serhiy Lavrynenko
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Helios Kharkiv Serhiy Syzykhin (interim) Change of contract 1 July 2015 Pre-season Serhiy Syzykhin 1 July 2015 Nyva Ternopil Roman Tolochko Resigns 9 September 2015 15th Petr Badlo (interim) 9 September 2015 FC Ternopil Vasyl Ivehesh Hospitalized 13 May 2016 15th Ivan Maruschak (interim) 14 May 2016
League table
Results
Position by round
Top goalscorers Full roster at UA-Football RankScorerGoals(Pen.)Team1 Artem Favorov16 (3)Obolon-Brovar Kyiv2 Yevhen Chepurnenko11 (1)Desna Chernihiv 3 Artem Sitalo10 (4)Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih Serhiy Vakulenko10 (6)Illichivets Mariupol5 Volodymyr Bayenko8Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih Denys Skepskyi8 (2)Cherkaskyi Dnipro7 Borys Baranets7Zirka Kirovohrad Oleksandr Batalskyi7Cherkaskyi Dnipro
RankScorerGoals(Pen.)Team7 Oleksiy Chychykov7Zirka Kirovohrad Ruslan Ivashko7Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk Roman Loktionov7Zirka Kirovohrad Vasyl Prodan7Obolon-Brovar Kyiv Artur Zahorulko7Illichivets Mariupol Denys Favorov7 (1)FC Poltava/Desna Chernihiv Ihor Sikorskyi7 (4)MFC Mykolaiv
See also 2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League 2015–16 Ukrainian Second League 2015–16 Ukrainian Cup
References