The 2016–17 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 26th top-level football club competitions since the fall of the Soviet Union and the ninth since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League. The league played its first 18 rounds before the winter break (10 December 2016 – 25 February 2017) finishing its first stage of tournament in March. The second stage started on 1 April 2017 and finished on 31 May 2017.
The league's title sponsor for 2016–17 season as for the previous season is a bookmaker company Parimatch, the title of which is displayed on the season shield.
With the continuation of the military conflict in the eastern oblasts (regions) of Ukraine since 2014 and the Russian occupation of Crimea (see the map), the league was forced to change its format again and will now be contested by 12 teams after being cut from 14 in the 2015–16 season.
Dynamo Kyiv were the two-time defending champions. On 6 May 2017 in Kharkiv, Shakhtar Donetsk secured its 10th championship title with a win over Zorya Luhansk and four more rounds to play in the season.The first star for the "miners" (Перша зірочка для «гірників»). Ukrainian Premier League. 6 May 2017 The 10th title that Shakhtar earned this season would allow the club to place a star on the club's crest to indicate this feat.
Changes and announcements On 29 February 2016, the Ukrainian Premier League administration announced that there will be changes to the competition format for the 2016–17 season. New season format. Ukrainian Premier League. 29 February 2016 It was confirmed that the championship would be played in two different phases, the first phase will be using a standard double round-robin tournament system and the second phase will be broken into two groups one from 1st to 6th place which will play for the championship and the European spots and the second group made up of teams from 7th place to 12th which will play to avoid relegation. The bottom two teams will be relegated and would be replaced by the champion and the runner-up of the 2016–17 Ukrainian First League. The points gained in the first stage are passed on to the second stage.
The new format was to be presented by the FFU Executive Committee. The working group prepared the final draft of the new format for Ukrainian Championship. UA-Football. 20 February 2016 On 29 April 2016, the FFU Executive Committee approved the changes to the new UPL format for 2016–17 season. FFU approved changes to the UPL regulations. UA-Football. 29 April 2016 The fixtures were announced on 7 June 2016. The competition commenced on 21 July when Shakhtar Donetsk hosted Zirka Kropyvnytskyi in Lviv. The first eighteen rounds will be played before winter break which will begin after 10 December 2016. The competition is to resume 25 February 2017. The first phase will end on 18 March 2017 after which the league will split according to the first phase final standings with the second phase starting on 1 April 2017. The season will be concluded on 31 May 2017.
On 7 March 2017, the official website of Dynamo announced that the draw for the second stage of 2016–17 Ukrainian Premier League on 10 March 2017 at the VIP-lounge of Olympiyskyi NSC at 12:00 LST.Draw of the second stage of 2016-17 UPL took place on 10 March (Жеребьевка второго этапа УПЛ состоится 10 марта). Sport Arena. 7 March 2017 On 10 March 2017 at Olimpiyskyi NSC took place a draw for the second stage of the tournament.There became known the calendar of the Liha Pari-Match second stage (Став відомий календар другого етапу Ліги Парі-Матч) . Ukrainian Premier League. 10 March 2017
Teams
Promoted teams Zirka Kropyvnytskyi – the champion of the 2015–16 Ukrainian First League (returning for the first time since 2003–04 season, 13 seasons absence).
Renamed teams As part of ongoing decommunization in Ukraine, several populated places in Ukraine changed their names, therefore the league adopted the same changes and applied them to the respective clubs in parentheses. FC Dnipro is shown as out of Dnipro.Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro) . Ukrainian Premier League FC Stal Kamianske is shown as out of Kamianske.Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk (Kamianske) . Ukrainian Premier League FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi is shown as out of Kropyvnytskyi.Zirka Kirovohrad (Kropyvnytskyi) . Ukrainian Premier League
Location map
Stadiums The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds:
RankStadiumClubCapacityStadiums . Ukrainian Premier League.Notes 1NSC OlimpiyskiyDynamo Kyiv70,050 2OSC MetalistShakhtar Donetsk40,003Used as home ground in round 7 and second half of season3Arena LvivKarpaty Lviv34,915Shakhtar DonetskUsed as home ground during first half of seasonOlimpik DonetskUsed as home ground in round 19Olimpik signed an agreement about playing its games at Arena Lviv (Олимпик подписал договор о проведении матчей на Арене Львов). Sport Arena. 17 February 2017Nedbailo, A. Geninson: Olimpik will not be based in Lviv (Генинсон: Олимпик не будет базироваться во Львове). Sport Arena. 21 February 20174Chornomorets StadiumChornomorets Odesa34,1645Dnipro-ArenaDnipro31,0036Yuvileiny StadiumOlimpik Donetsk 25,830 Used as home ground during first half of season7Vorskla StadiumVorskla Poltava24,795Olimpik DonetskUsed as home ground in round 21Olimpik will play against Vorskla in Poltava (Олимпик сыграет против Ворсклы в Полтаве). Sport Arena. 25 February 2017A referee for the game between "Olimpik" and "Vorskla" will be Yurii Mozharovskyi («Олимпик» и «Ворсклу» рассудит Юрий Можаровский) . Sport Arena. 7 March 2017Cherkasy is ready to host Olimpik, but the local club against that (Черкассы готовы принять Олимпик, но местный клуб против). Sport Arena. 2 March 20178Meteor StadiumStal Kamianske24,381Used as home ground during season9Lobanovsky Dynamo StadiumOlimpik Donetsk16,873Used as home ground in the second half10Zirka StadiumZirka Kropyvnytskyi13,667Olimpik DonetskUsed as home ground in round 311Avanhard StadiumVolyn Lutsk12,08012Slavutych-ArenaZorya Luhansk11,883Used as home ground during seasonZirka KropyvnytskyiUsed as home ground in round 1713Tsentralnyi StadionOlimpik Donetsk10,321Used as home ground in round 1714CSC Nika StadiumFC Oleksandriya7,000
Personnel and sponsorship TeamPresidentHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorChornomorets Odesa Leonid Klimov Oleksandr Babych Serhiy Lyulka Legea 2+2Dnipro Ihor Kolomoyskyi Dmytro Mykhaylenko (caretaker) Ruslan Rotan Nike BiolaDynamo Kyiv Ihor Surkis Serhii Rebrov Andriy Yarmolenko adidas — Karpaty Lviv Petro Dyminskyi Oleg Dulub Ihor Khudobyak Joma Pari-MatchFC Oleksandriya Serhiy Kuzmenko Volodymyr Sharan Andriy Zaporozhan Nike UkrAhroKomOlimpik Donetsk Vladyslav Helzin Roman Sanzhar Dmytro Hryshko Joma AltkomShakhtar Donetsk Rinat Akhmetov Paulo Fonseca Darijo Srna Nike SCMStal Kamianske Vardan Israelian Leonid Kuchuk Maksym Kalenchuk Joma ISDVolyn Lutsk Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi Anatoliy Didenko Joma —Vorskla Poltava Roman Cherniak Vasyl Sachko Volodymyr Chesnakov adidas FerrexpoZirka Kropyvnytskyi Maksym Berezkin Roman Monaryov Federico Pereyra Joma —Zorya Luhansk Yevhen Heller Yuriy Vernydub Mykyta Kamenyuka Nike —
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointmentShakhtar Donetsk Mircea LucescuResigned21 May 2016Pre-season Paulo Fonseca1 June 2016Karpaty Lviv Volodymyr BezubyakEnd of contract8 May 2016 Valeriy Yaremchenko6 June 2016Karpaty Lviv Valeriy YaremchenkoResigned17 June 2016 Anatoliy Chantsev (caretaker)17 June 2016Dnipro Myron MarkevychResigned30 June 2016Маркевич: "Подаю в отставку" Dmytro Mykhaylenko (caretaker)30 June 2016Karpaty Lviv Anatoliy Chantsev (caretaker)Resigned (state of health)5 July 2016 Serhiy Zaytsev (caretaker)5 July 2016Stal Kamianske Erik van der Meer Resigned (family circumstances)10 August 2016Офіційно. Ван дер Меєр залишив Сталь7th Joop Gall (caretaker) Joop Gall10 August 2016Zirka Kropyvnytskyi Serhiy Lavrynenko Mutual consent19 August 201611th Dario Drudi (caretaker)19 August 2016Karpaty Lviv Serhiy Zaytsev (caretaker)End as caretaker7 October 2016Олег Дулуб – головний тренер ФК «Карпати»12th Oleg Dulub 7 October 2016Zirka Kropyvnytskyi Dario Drudi (caretaker)Mutual consent15 November 2016Official announcement of the Football Club "Zirka" (Офіційна заява Футбольного клубу «Зірка»). FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi. 15 November 20169th Viktor Dohadailo (caretaker, until end of 2016) Roman Monaryov (caretaker)15 November 2016Stal Kamianske Joop GallMutual consent11 January 20179th(winter break) Leonid Kuchuk15 January 2017Chornomorets Odesa Oleksandr Babych (caretaker)Received "PRO" license25 February 2017Chornomorets: Babych was confirmed as the head coach, Lelyuk – captain (Черноморец: Бабича утвердили главным тренером, Люлька - капитан). UA-Football. 25 February 20177th(winter break) Oleksandr Babych25 February 2017Zirka Kropyvnytskyi Roman Monaryov (caretaker)Signed permanent contract11 May 20179th Roman Monaryov11 May 2017
Notes:
First stage First stage table
First stage results
First stage positions by round The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition played chronologically.
Championship round
Championship round table
Championship round results
Championship round positions by round
Relegation round
Relegation round table
Relegation round results
Relegation round positions by round
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
The season top goalscorers were:
RankPlayerClubGoals(Pen.)1 Andriy YarmolenkoDynamo Kyiv15 (5)2 Facundo FerreyraShakhtar Donetsk13 (1)3 Gustavo Blanco LeschukKarpaty / Shakhtar114 Júnior MoraesDynamo Kyiv10 (2)5 Artem BesyedinDynamo Kyiv9 Denys HarmashDynamo Kyiv97 Dmytro KhlyobasVorskla Poltava88 Viktor KovalenkoShakhtar Donetsk7 Anton PostupalenkoOlimpik Donetsk7 Kwame KarikariStal Kamianske7 (1) Dmytro KorkishkoChornomorets Odesa7 (1)
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Júnior MoraesDynamo KyivOleksandriya 23 July 2016Dynamo–Oleksandriya game report at UA-Football Andriy BohdanovOlimpik DonetskDnipro 11 September 2016Olimpik–Dnipro game report at Official UPL Site Júnior MoraesDynamo KyivVolyn Lutsk 26 November 2016Dynamo–Volyn game report at Official UPL Site Stanislav Kulish(4)OleksandriyaVolyn Lutsk 25 February 2017Oleksandriya–Volyn game report at Official UPL Site Kwame KarikariStal KamianskeOleksandriya 18 March 2017Stal–Oleksandriya game report at Official UPL Site
(number) Player scored (number) goals if more than 3
Awards Monthly awards On 16 November 2016, the Premier League administration announced start of voting for the Best player of the month.Premier-liha announces start of voting for the Best player of month (Прем’єр-ліга анонсує старт голосування за «Найкращого гравця місяця»). Ukrainian Premier League. 16 November 2016 MonthPlayer of the MonthPlayerClubReferenceOctober 2016 Roman YaremchukFC OleksandriyaNovember 2016 MarlosShakhtar DonetskMarch 2017 Ihor KhudobyakKarpaty LvivApril 2017 Oleksandr HladkyyKarpaty LvivMay 2017 MarlosShakhtar Donetsk
Round awards On 17 November 2016, the Premier League administration along with Pari-Match introduced another award, "Best player of the round".Valeriy Luchkevych is the best player of the Liha Pari-Match Round 15! (Валерій Лучкевич — найкращий гравець 15 туру Ліги Парі-Матч!). Ukrainian Premier League. 22 November 2016 On 1 March 2017, the All-Ukrainian association of Football Coaches introduced award "Best coach of the round".