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.В клубе Первой лиги сообщили о формате и рабочей дате начала нового чемпионата. UA-Football. 2 July 2022
The competitions were officially approved by the Ukrainian Association of Football Executive Committee only two days before the start of the season.ВИКОНКОМ УАФ ЗАТВЕРДИВ РІШЕННЯ, ЯКІ СТОСУЮТЬСЯ ЗАПУСКУ ФУТБОЛЬНИХ ЗМАГАНЬ. womensfootball.com.ua. 25 July 2023 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,Олександр Каденко: Ми змогли об’єднатися та провести історичний чемпіонат в умовах війни. Sport Arena. 31 May 2023 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.УПЛ і ПФЛ визначилися з обміном між лігами. Sport.ua. 15 June 2023 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.На фініші чемпіонату Першої ліги «золоті» очки враховуватися не будуть. sport.ua. 21 October 2023
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)ФК Агробізнес розпочав підготовку до сезону. fcab.com.ua. 12 June 2023 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)“Вікторія” повертається!. fcviktoria.sumy.ua. 6 June 2023Лівий берег, Олімпік, Краматорськ на паузі через війну. Чи зіграють вони в Першій лізі наступного сезону?. ukrfootball.ua. 22 December 2022 Livyi Bereh Kyiv – Group A second place (debut)"Починаємо все з початку". Київський клуб "Лівий берег" оголосив про повернення до професійного футболу. suspilne.media. 31 January 2023
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.Олімпік, Волинь, Нікополь та ще два клуби виключені з ПФЛ. Sport Arena. 21 June 2023
Teams with "conservated membership" FC Lviv (relegated),ФК Львов прекратит существование – Источник. UA-Football. 22 May 2023Новини львівських футбольних клубів: в «Карпатах» звільнення, ФК «Львів» припиняє своє існування. www.lmn.in.ua. 26 May 2023Безсмертний та гравці Львова оголосили демарш керівництву клубу – вони бойкотують матч з Колосом. football24.ua. 4 June 2023Джерело: "Львів" припиняє існування, Безсмертний очолить "Вікторію". www.footboom1.com. 6 June 2023 Skoruk Tomakivka,ОФІЦІЙНО. Скорук пропустить наступний сезон у Першій лізі. Sport.ua. 15 June 2023Всі гравці Скорука стали вільними агентами. Sport.ua. 15 June 2023 FC Uzhhorod, FC Kramatorsk, VPK-Ahro Shevchenkivka
Teams with "conservated membership" removed Olimpik Donetsk, Volyn Lutsk
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.Президент Кудрівки Солодаренко став новим власником Ниви з Бузової. sportarena.com. 14 December 2023 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.«Для нас це маленький шок»: реакція головного тренера Ниви Бузова Жабченка на зняття команди з Першої ліги. ukrfootball.ua. 1 December 2023 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. Following the merger, Nyva Buzova changed its name to Kudrivka-Nyva.Кудрівка-Нива підсилилася чемпіоном Європи: якісний форвард має серйозний досвід виступів за кордоном. ukrfootball.ua. 1 February 2024
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. RankStadiumLocationCapacityClubNotes 1Ukraina Stadium Lviv 27,925 Karpaty Lviv 2Yuvileiny Stadium Sumy 25,830 Viktoriya Sumy 3Ternopil City Stadium Ternopil 15,150 Nyva Ternopil 4Bukovyna Stadium Chernivtsi 12,000 Bukovyna Chernivtsi 5Avanhard Stadium Uzhhorod 10,383 Metalist Kharkivused as home ground during the season 6Central Stadium Uman 7,552 Metalurh Zaporizhzhiaused as home ground during the season 7Sport Complex Podillia Khmelnytskyi 6,800 Podillia Khmelnytskyi 8MCS Rukh Ivano-Frankivsk 6,200 Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk 9Kolos Stadium Boryspil 5,400 FSC Mariupolused as home ground during the season 10Karpaty Stadium Khust 5,200 FC Khust 11Arena Livyi Bereh Zolochivska hromada 4,700 Livyi Bereh Kyiv 12Yunist Stadium Chernihiv 3,000 FC Chernihiv 13Yunist Stadium Volochysk 2,700 Ahrobiznes Volochysk 14Yunist Stadium Horishni Plavni 2,500 Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni 15Tonkocheyev Stadium Kamianets-Podilskyi 2,500 Epitsentr Kamianets-PodilskyiЭпицентр в Первой лиге будет играть в Каменце-Подольском. UA-Football. 29 July 2022 16Inhulets Stadium Petrove 1,869 Inhulets Petrove 17Kremin Stadium Kremenchuk 1,566 Kremin Kremenchuk 18Yuvileinyi Stadium Bucha 1,200"Ювілейний" Буча. pfl.ua Nyva Buzova 19Molodizhnyi Stadium Poltava 680 SC Poltava 20Dinaz Stadium Demydiv 550 Dinaz Vyshhorod
Personnel and sponsorship TeamPresidentHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor Ahrobiznes Volochysk Oleh Sobutskyi Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi Andrey Popovich Nike Ahrobiznes Bukovyna Chernivtsi Andriy Safronyak Valeriy Kryventsov Maksym Lopyryonok Nike Тайстра Chernihiv Yuriy Synytsya Valeriy Chornyi Vitaliy Mentey Jako – Dinaz Vyshhorod Yaroslav Moskalenko Oleksandr Holovko Andriy Voloshyn Nike Цар ХлібСергій Старенький: Діназ робитиме акцент на молоді. ukr-futbol.com. 29 June 2023 Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Chernonoh Serhiy Nahornyak Andriy Bezhenar Macron Епіцентр Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni Petro Kaplun Valeriy Kutsenko Yevheniy Moroz Jako Ferrexpo Inhulets Petrove Oleksandr Povoroznyuk Vladyslav Lupashko Oleksandr Kozak Macron etg.ua Karpaty Lviv Stepan Yurchyshyn Myron Markevych Ambrosiy Chachua Nike Львівське Khust Mykhaylo Madyarchyk Volodymyr Tsytkin Bohdan Pavlych Joma — Kremin Kremenchuk Serhiy Kovnir Ihor Klymovskyi Orest Panchyshyn SWIFT TERMINAL-MK Livyi Bereh Kyiv Mykola Lavrenko Vitaliy PervakЕкстренер "Олександрії" прийняв "Лівий берег". www.footboom1.com. 1 January 2023Екс-тренер Олександрії Первак очолив Лівий берег. sportarena.com. 1 January 2023 Andriy Spivakov Nike — Mariupol Oleksandr Yaroshenko Oleh Krasnopyorov Ivan Mochevinskyi Joma KOD Zdorovia Metalist Kharkiv Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi Andriy Anishchenko Gabriel Gomes Joma DCH Metalurh Zaporizhzhia Maksym Lupashko Anton Hai (caretaker) Volodymyr Blyznyuk Legea Weltum Nyva Buzova Roman Solodarenko(Oktay Efendiyev) Roman Loktionov Yevhen Misiura Nike — Nyva Ternopil Oleksandr Stadnyk Oleksandr Stakhiv Roman Volokhatyi Jako — Podillya Khmelnytskyi Yevhen Beiderman Vitaliy Kostyshyn Oleksandr Tsybulnyk Kelme — Poltava Serhiy Ivashchenko Volodymyr Sysenko Dmytro Shcherbak Joma КВП Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk Vasyl Olshanetskyi Oleh Rypan Vasyl Tsyutsyura Joma Morshynska Viktoriya Sumy Serhiy Bondarenko Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi Andriy Nelin Puma — Notes:
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni Serhiy Diryavka Fired 30 May 2023Pre-season Valeriy Kutsenko 19 June 2023Nyva Buzova Serhiy KarpenkoResigned1 June 2023 Ihor Zhabchenko5 June 2023Metalist Kharkiv Perica Ognjenović (interim)Resigned8 June 2023 Andriy Anishchenko24 June 2023Inhulets Petrove Vladyslav Lupashko (interim)Change of role15 June 2023 Vladyslav Lupashko15 June 2023Nyva Ternopil Serhiy Atlasyuk (interim)Sacked21 June 2023 Vasyl Malyk21 June 2023Viktoriya Sumy Volodymyr Romanenko (interim) Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi28 June 2023Nyva Ternopil Vasyl MalykSacked19 September 20234th Oleksandr Stakhiv (caretaker)20 September 2023Kremin Kremenchuk Roman LoktionovResigned24 September 20238th Ihor Klymovskyi27 September 2023Nyva Buzova Ihor ZhabchenkoAdministrative changes3 December 20234th Roman Loktionov5 January 2024Nyva Ternopil Oleksandr Stakhiv (caretaker)Change of role4 December 20238th Oleksandr Stakhiv4 December 2023Metalurh Zaporizhzhia Volodymyr MykytinLeft the club21 March 202411th Anton Hai (caretaker)15 March 2024Bukovyna Chernivtsi Andriy MelnychukSacked13 May 202412th Hryhoriy Churilov (interim)13 May 2024 Hryhoriy Churilov (interim)End of interim24 May 202411th Valeriy Kryventsov24 May 2024
Group A league table
Results
Group A results by week
Group A goalscorers