The 2013 Meistriliiga (also known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Meistriliiga, the first level in the Estonian football system. The season began on 2 March 2013 and ended on 9 November 2013. Nõmme Kalju, the defending champions, finished runners-up behind Levadia, who won their 8th title.
Teams 2012 Esiliiga champions Infonet, who lost out to Kuressaare in the promotion/relegation play-off as Esiliiga Runners-up in 2011, were promoted to this season's Meistriliiga making their first appearance in the top division. Esiliiga runners-up Tarvas lost out on promotion as Meistriliiga's 9th placed club Tallinna Kalev defeated them 3–1 on aggregate in the Promotion/relegation play-off.
Tammeka finished at the bottom of the 2012 season but escaped relegation due to dissolving of seventh place Viljandi.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium Seating capacity Flora Tallinn A. Le Coq Arena 9,692 Infonet Tallinn Sportland Arena 540 Kuressaare Kuressaare Kuressaare Linnastaadion 1,000 Levadia Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium 5,000 Narva Trans Narva Kreenholm Stadium 1,065 Nõmme Kalju Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium 5,000 Paide Linnameeskond Paide Paide linnastaadion 368 Sillamäe Kalev Sillamäe Sillamäe Kalev Stadium 800Tallinna Kalev Tallinn Kalevi Keskstaadion 11,500 Tammeka Tartu Tamme Stadium 1,750
Personnel and kits Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorFlora Norbert Hurt Sander Post NikeInfonet Aleksandr Puštov Jevgeni GurtšioglujantsJomaInfonetKuressaare Sergei Zamogilnõi Sander ViiraJoma Saaremaa LihatööstusLevadia Marko Kristal Roman Smishko Adidas Viimsi KeevitusNarva Trans Valeri Bondarenko Stanislav KittoNike SportlandNõmme Kalju Igor Prins Alo BärengrubAdidas MaximaPaide Linnameeskond Meelis Rooba Carl TubarikNike VerstonSillamäe Kalev Sergei Ratnikov Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko Uhlsport AlexelaTallinna Kalev Frank Bernhardt Ats Sillaste Jako Viking LineTammeka Uwe Erkenbrecher Kristjan TiirikNike Tartu
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointmentTallinna Kalev Sergei Ratnikov Mutual agreement 18 November 2012 Pre-season Frank Bernhardt 4 December 2012Tammeka Joti Stamatopoulos Resigned22 November 2012 Uwe Erkenbrecher 8 January 2013Sillamäe Kalev Algimantas BriaunysContract terminated 2 April 2013 4th Sergei Ratnikov 2 April 2013Narva Trans Aleksei Yagudin Mutual agreement 8 April 2013 10th Valeri Bondarenko 8 April 2013Flora Marko Lelov Sacked 20 July 2013 3rd Norbert Hurt (caretaker) 21 July 2013
Player transfers Transfers made during the 2012–13 winter transfer window:
Transfers made during the 2013 summer transfer window:
League table
Relegation play-offs Tammeka as 9th-placed team faced 2013 Esiliiga side Rakvere Tarvas in a two-legged play-off for the spot in next year's competition.
Tammeka won 6–2 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2014 season.
Results Each team plays every opponent four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 36 games.
First half of season
Second half of season
Season statistics Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Vladimir VoskoboinikovNõmme Kalju232 Rimo HuntLevadia223 Kassim AidaraSillamäe Kalev174 Albert ProsaFlora16 Vjatšeslav ZahovaikoSillamäe Kalev6 Hidetoshi WakuiNõmme Kalju157 Sander PostFlora148 Tarmo NeemeloNõmme Kalju119 Yevgeni KabaevSillamäe Kalev1010 Rauno AllikuFlora9 Nikolai MashichevSillamäe Kalev Artur RättelLevadia
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Sander van de Streek Flora Paide Linnameeskond 6–0 (A) 9 March 2013 Sander Post 4 Flora Kuressaare 6–0 (H) 21 May 2013 Vladimir Voskoboinikov Nõmme Kalju Flora 4–3 (H) 31 May 2013 Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko Sillamäe Kalev Tammeka 3–0 (A) 3 August 2013 Rimo Hunt Levadia Tallinna Kalev 4–1 (A) 20 August 2013 Yevgeni Kabaev Sillamäe KalevTammeka 6–0 (H) 26 October 2013 Kassim Aidara Sillamäe Kalev Tallinna Kalev 9–0 (A) 2 November 2013 Rimo Hunt Levadia Kuressaare 4–2 (A) 9 November 2013 Vladimir Voskoboinikov Nõmme KaljuTammeka 3–0 (A) 9 November 2013
4 Player scored 4 goals.
Average attendance
+ Club Average attendance Tartu JK Tammeka 357 Tallinna FC Flora 336 Tallinna FC Levadia 305 Nõmme JK Kalju 250 JK Sillamäe Kalev 180 Paide Linnameeskond 178 Tallinna FC Infonet 155 JK Tallinna Kalev 147 FC Kuressaare 138 JK Narva Trans 107+ League average 215
Awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthManagerClubPlayerClubMarch Marko KristalLevadia Hidetoshi WakuiNõmme KaljuApril Meelis RoobaPaide Linnameeskond Rimo HuntLevadiaMay Valeri BondarenkoNarva Trans Vladimir VoskoboinikovNõmme KaljuJune Uwe ErkenbrecherTammeka Nikolai MashichevSillamäe KalevJuly Sergei RatnikovSillamäe Kalev Lauri VarendiPaide LinnameeskondAugust Marko KristalLevadia Kassim AidaraSillamäe KalevSeptember Igor PrinsNõmme Kalju Allan KimbaloulaNõmme KaljuOctober Marko KristalLevadia Rimo HuntLevadia
See also 2013 Esiliiga 2013 Esiliiga B 2012–13 Estonian Cup 2013–14 Estonian Cup
References