The 2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 25th top-level football competitions since the fall of the Soviet Union and the eighth since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League. Because of sponsorship the league changed its title for 2015–16 season to League Parimatch. The competition commenced on 17 July when Metalurh Zaporizhzhia hosted Zorya Luhansk in Zaporizhzhia. The first sixteen rounds were played before the winter break which began 6 December 2015; the competition resumed on 5 March 2016. The season concluded on 15 May 2016. Dynamo Kyiv were the defending champions. With the continuation of the war in Donbas, the league remained at 14 teams after being cut from 16 in the 2013–14 season.Ukraine trying to revive Crimean champion football club, USA Today (19 June 2015)
Format It was confirmed that the championship would be played using a standard double round-robin tournament system. The last team would be relegated and would be replaced by the champion of the 2015–16 Ukrainian First League. 2015-16 Ukrainian Premier League regulations . Football Federation of Ukraine. In the event of a decision being made to expand the league to 16 teams next season, the last team will play a play-off game with a team that takes the third place of the 2015–16 Ukrainian First League, while the champion and runner-up would be promoted.
Teams
Promotions FC Oleksandriya, the champion of the 2014–15 Ukrainian First League – (returning for the first time since 2011–12 season, four seasons absence). Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk, the runner-up of the 2014–15 Ukrainian First League – (debut). Note: the club replaced FC Metalurh Donetsk (see below).
Metalurh Donetsk / Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk case After the previous season the president of FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk announced that the club will be merged with FC Metalurh Donetsk and replace them in the Premier League for the 2015–16 season because both clubs are owned by the Industrial Union of Donbas (ISD). On 11 July 2015, the owners of FC Metalurh Donetsk have sent a letter to the Football Federation of Ukraine announcing their withdrawal from the competitions. Металлург Д объявляет о банкротстве Right before the start of competitions it was uncertain which club will replace Metalurh either FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk or FC Illichivets Mariupol. Говерла остается в УПЛ; идет борьба между Ильичевцем и Сталью Кочетов: "Можем говорить, что Сталь является участником УПЛ" On 14 July 2015, the administration of Illichivets released a letter explaining its reason why the club should remain in the league. Illichivets came out with the official announcement. UA-Football. 14 July 2015 Because the Premier League members did not manage to gather a quorum, on 16 July 2015, the Football Federation of Ukraine Executive Committee voted on to include Stal to the Premier League (29 for, 7 against and 1 abstain). Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk will participate in the 2015-16 Ukrainian Premier League. Football Federation of Ukraine. 16 July 2015 FFU announced the results of voting on the UPL composition. Stal will play in the elite. UA-Football. 16 July 2015
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia case On 7 October 2015, FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia petitioned to the Premier League to withdraw the club from the competition's participation due to the lack of financing. On 24 November 2015, Metalurh Zaporizhzhia informed the Premier League about decision of a deliberate assembly of the Metalurh Zaporizhzhia members in regards to liquidation of the club. On 2 March 2016, the Premier League cancelled the 17th-round game for Metalurh Zaporizhzhia because there are only four players were registered for the second half and only five more are allowed to be registered outside of a transfer window. Also the club failed to inform the league and the visiting team about place and time of the upcoming game.
On 13 March 2016, it was announced that the club's academy the Sports School Metalurh, was handed over to the city authorities after the liquidation of the club.
On 7 April 2016, another Zaporizhzhia city club "Rosso Nero" successfully changed its name to Metalurh Zaporizhzhia and will participate in the 2016 Ukrainian Football Amateur League.
Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk scandal On 19 November 2015, there was appointed a new president of the club Vardan Israelian as the previous president Maksym Zavhorodniy changed his place of work. In a protest of appointing Vardan Israelian, the club's vice-president Mykola Kolyuchy resigned and replaced with Bohdan Napolov. On 24 December 2015, took place a meeting of members of FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk which decided discontinue contract with its U-19 team due to "a lack of patriotism" as well as liquidate contracts with number of players from the U-21 who were involved in corruption along with the team's head coach Serhiy Shyshchenko. Israelian informed that during his talk with Mazyar, the latter said that he will not work without Kolyuchy in the club.
Location map
Stadiums The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds:
RankStadiumClubCapacityHighestAttendanceNotes 1NSC OlimpiyskiyDynamo Kyiv 70,050 32,794Round 11 (Shakhtar)2OSC MetalistMetalist Kharkiv40,00316,855Round 7 (Shakhtar) 3Arena LvivShakhtar Donetsk 34,915 6,497 Round 24 (Dynamo)Used as home ground during seasonKarpaty Lviv14,656Round 18 (Dynamo)Used as home ground in round 184Chornomorets StadiumChornomorets Odesa34,16422,222Round 3 (Dynamo)Shakhtar Donetsk13,213Round 5 (Dnipro)Used as home ground in rounds 5 and 165Dnipro-ArenaDnipro Dnipropetrovsk31,00322,060Round 4 (Dynamo)6Ukraina StadiumKarpaty Lviv28,0517,328Round 7 (Zorya)7Vorskla StadiumVorskla Poltava24,79516,000Round 10 (Dynamo)8Meteor StadiumStal Dniprodzerzhynsk24,3815,500Round 11 (Dnipro)Used as home ground during season9Dynamo StadiumOlimpik Donetsk16,8732,500Round 14 (Dynamo)Used as home ground in Round 14Metalurh Zaporizhzhia4,800Round 16 (Dynamo)Used as home ground in Round 1610Avanhard StadiumVolyn Lutsk12,08010,280Round 8 (Dynamo)11Slavutych-ArenaMetalurh Zaporizhzhia12,0006,960Round 10 (Olimpik)Zorya Luhansk6,800Round 6 (Dynamo)Used as home ground during seasonShakhtar Donetsk6,751Round 14 (Zorya)Used as home ground in Round 14 & 2612Avanhard StadiumHoverla Uzhhorod12,0003,600Round 15 (Shakhtar)13CSC Nika StadiumOleksandriya7,0006,500Round 13 (Shakhtar)14Bannikov StadiumOlimpik Donetsk 1,678 1,050Round 9 (Shakhtar) Used as home ground during seasonShakhtar Donetsk1,354Round 8 (Stal)Used as home ground in Round 8
Note:
Round when attendance is noted as highest is the chronological number of the round, not the published round by the Ukrainian Premier League since some rounds were rescheduled for a later date.
Personnel and sponsorship TeamHome cityHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorChornomorets Odesa Odesa Oleksandr Babych (interim) Artem Filimonov Nike 2+2 Черноморец: новый спонсор — канал 2+2Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Dnipropetrovsk Myron Markevych Ruslan Rotan Nike БіолаDynamo Kyiv Kyiv Serhii Rebrov Oleksandr Shovkovskyi adidas —Hoverla Uzhhorod Uzhhorod Vyacheslav Hroznyi Dmytro Babenko adidas —Karpaty Lviv Lviv Oleh LuzhnyiKarpaty senior squad. FC Karpaty Lviv website. 3 April 2016 Ihor Plastun Joma Pari-MatchVideo of Round 2 game between Karpaty - Stal. youtube. 26 July 2015Metalist Kharkiv Kharkiv Oleksandr Pryzetko (interim) Volodymyr Pryyomov adidas VETEKMetalurh Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia Anatoliy Chantsev Vitaliy Lysytskyi Nike —FC Oleksandriya Oleksandriya Volodymyr Sharan Andriy Zaporozhan Nike УкрАгроКомOlimpik Donetsk Donetsk Roman Sanzhar Dmytro Hryshko Puma AltkomShakhtar Donetsk Donetsk Mircea Lucescu Darijo Srna Nike SCMStal Dniprodzerzhynsk Dniprodzerzhynsk Erik van der Meer Maksym Kalenchuk Nike«Сталь» повертається до успішних кольорів ISDVolyn Lutsk Lutsk Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi Serhiy Kravchenko adidas —Vorskla Poltava Poltava Vasyl Sachko Armend Dallku adidas FerrexpoZorya Luhansk Luhansk Yuriy Vernydub Mykyta Kamenyuka Nike —
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointmentMetalist Kharkiv Ihor RakhayevMutual consent4 June Pre-season Oleksandr Sevidov4 June Karpaty Lviv Igor Jovićević (interim)Change of contract1 September6th Igor Jovićević1 SeptemberStal Dniprodzerzhynsk Volodymyr Mazyarexisting contract until 2017undefined9th Erik van der Meer16 JanuaryKarpaty Lviv Igor JovićevićEnd of contract12 January8th Oleh Luzhnyi & Volodymyr Bezubyak 22 JanuaryMetalist Kharkiv Oleksandr SevidovResignedСевидов покинул Металлист18 April10th Oleksandr Pryzetko (interim)Changes in coaching staff. FC Metalist Kharkiv website. 18 April 201618 April
Qualification for 2016–17 European competitions Since Ukraine finished in eighth place of the UEFA country ranking after the 2014–15 season, the league will have the same number of qualifiers for 2016–17 UEFA Europa League — 3. The Ukrainian Cup winner qualifies for the Group stage.
Qualified teams After the 19th round and announcement made by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) in regards to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (see the standings table), both Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for European football for the 2016–17 season. After the quarter-finals second leg of the Ukrainian Cup, Zorya Luhansk qualified for European football for the 2016–17 season. After the 21st round, Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League as they secured a top 2 finish in the league. After the 22nd round, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League as they secured a top 2 finish in the league. At the same time, Zorya Luhansk qualified for the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League (third qualifying round) as they secured a top six finish in the league (see below for further information). Zorya Luhansk could still qualify for group stage instead, depending on cup winners. After the 23rd round, Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League (group stage) by winning the league three rounds ahead of finish. One of the last three games is against the expelled Metalurh Zaporizhzhia for which they guaranteed another three point. At the same time, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League (third qualifying round) as they secured the second place. After the 24th round, Vorskla Poltava qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League yet it still could qualify for group stage. After the 25th round, FC Oleksandriya qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League yet it still could qualify for group stage. After the 26th round, Zorya Luhansk qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League Group Stage by securing the third best league position eligible for the European competition and making the outcome of the 2016 Ukrainian Cup Final irrelevant for the European qualification. At the same time, Vorskla Poltava and FC Oleksandriya will start at the 2016-17 UEFA Europe League third qualification round.
League table
Results
Positions by round The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition played chronologically. Originally scheduled Round 12 has been scheduled to be played after Round 16.
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals(Pen.)1 Alex TeixeiraShakhtar Donetsk22 (5)2 Pylyp BudkivskyiZorya Luhansk143 Andriy YarmolenkoDynamo Kyiv13 (1)4 Eduardo da SilvaShakhtar Donetsk125 Yevhen SeleznyovDnipro Dnipropetrovsk 10 (2) Oleh HusyevDynamo Kyiv10 (4)7 Oleksandr KaravayevZorya Luhansk8 MarlosShakhtar Donetsk8 (2) Anton ShynderVorskla Poltava8 (2)10 Júnior MoraesDynamo Kyiv7 Dmytro KhlyobasVorskla Poltava7 Vitaliy PonomarFC Oleksandriya7 MatheusDnipro Dnipropetrovsk7 (1) Volodymyr PryyomovMetalist Kharkiv7 (1)
Notes: On 4 February 2016 it was announced that Alex Teixeira was sold to a Chinese club Jiangsu Suning F.C. for €50 million.Shakhtar officially announced about the transfer of Texeira to a Chinese club. UA-Football. 4 February 2016