The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian 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.Hunchenko, O., Kazakov, V., Kulikovska, O. Historic and geographic characteristics of football development in Ukraine (ІСТОРИКО-ГЕОГРАФІЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РОЗВИТКУ ФУТБОЛУ В УКРАЇНІ) 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, Shakhtar Donetsk, Chornomorets Odesa, Dnipro, 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 (Top League) clubs became a member of the Professional Football League of Ukraine.Historic profile. Professional Football League of Ukraine In 2008There was adopted a decision on creation of the football Premier League of Ukraine (Прийнято рішення про створення футбольної Прем'єр-ліги України). Electronic Library of Ukraine.In Ukraine was created Premier League (В Україні створено Прем’єр-лігу). Champion (Ukrayinska Pravda). 27 May 2008 was withdrawn from Professional Football League of Ukraine and reformed into a separate self-governed entity of the Ukrainian Association of Football (previously Football Federation of Ukraine), 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 Ukrainian clubs have reached the finals of European club competitions: Dynamo (as Soviet club), 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.Poll: Dynamo is ahead of Shakhtar in popularity (Опитування: "Динамо" випереджає "Шахтар" за популярністю) . UNIAN. 12 September 2013. 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 (Classic).
On 15 April 2008 the new Premier-Liha (Premier League) 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 (continental club tournaments). At the end of the season, the bottom clubs (usually two) 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 (1/16th of the final) 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 (Professional Football League top tier) was Russian-Ukrainian alcoholic beverage company "Soyuz-Viktan", in the 2006–07 Ukrainian championship.Ukrainian football championship . Kick-off.by.Igor Nitsak. The "Soyuz-Viktan" group of companies became a partner of the Ukrainian championship as well as the Ukraine national and youth teams (Группа компаний «Союз-Виктан» стала партнером Чемпионата Украины, а также национальной и молодежной команд страны) . Sport.ua. 20 July 2006"Soyuz-Viktan" became a title sponsor of Ukrainian football championship ("Союз-Виктан" стал титульным спонсором ЧУ по футболу) . Kommersant.ru. 20 July 2006 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.Godskiy. Everyone gets own (Каждому свое) . Football.ua / Opinion column. 24 July 2007A lion in its own juice (Лев в собственном соку) . Pressing. 3 August 2007
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.The Ukrainian championship received its title sponsor (Чемпионат Украины получил титульного спонсора) . Korrespondent.net. 20 July 2006 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 leaders of the "Soyuz-Viktan" firm were convicted to 15 years of imprisonment (РУКОВОДИТЕЛИ ФИРМЫ «СОЮЗ-ВИКТАН» ПРИГОВОРЕНЫ К 15 ГОДАМ ЛИШЕНИЯ СВОБОДЫ) . Mirror Weekly. 23 August 2002. The reputation of "Soyuz-Viktan" was questioned on several occasions.Andrei Dneprov. The Ukrainian vodka "Soyuz-Viktan" will be taught to respected the Russian laws (Украинскую водку «Союз-Виктан» научат уважать российские законы? (ФОТО)) . Newdaynews.ru. 1 March 2007
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.Aleksandr Khlepytko. Evolution of the UPL emblem: from "Epitsentr" to bookmakers (Эволюция эмблемы УПЛ: от «Эпицентра» до букмекеров) . Tribuna.com. 7 August 2019 The sum of the contract was announced as $3.6 million,"Epitsentr" is a title sponsor of the Ukrainian football championship («ЭпиЦентр» – Титульный спонсор Чемпионата Украины по футболу) . Sport.ua. 29 July 2008 while just three months before there were speculations that the new sponsor would pay no less than $5 million.A title sponsor of the Ukrainian championship will pay more than $5 million (Титульный спонсор чемпионата Украины заплатит более ? 5 млн) . Championat. 8 April 2008 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.Oleg Barkov. The official name of the 2015–16 Ukrainian championship is "Liha Pari-Match" (Официальное название чемпионата Украины в сезоне 2015/16 – "Лига Пари-Матч") . Footboom. 17 June 2015The Liha Pari-Match: 43 million hryvnias for two years (Лига Пари-Матч: 43 млн гривен за два года) . Football.ua. 25 June 2015The Pari-Match was deprived of the opportunity to carry out financial obligations for the Premier League (Пари-Матч лишен возможности выполнять финансовые обязательства перед Премьер-лигой) . UA-Football. 1 December 2015
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 (other being the competition calendar) that are adopted by the Premier League prior to each season.