The 2018–19 Ukrainian First League was the 28th since its establishment. The competition began on 21 July 2018 with the match between Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk and Balkany Zorya. The competition was in recess for a winter break which started after the completion of Round 18 on 18 November 2018. The competition resumed on 24 March 2019 and ended on 25 May 2019.
Format The format of the league was approved at the PFL Conference on 27 June 2018.(Конференція ПФЛ прийняла низку важливих рішень). PFL website. 28 June 2018 In some aspects it was similar to previous, but it was adopted in two versions in case if there will be decision to expand the Ukrainian Premier League back to 16 clubs for 2019–20 season.
As in the previous season the season winner will earn direct promotion to the top division, while two runners-up (2nd and 3rd places) will contest additional promotion berths through play-off games with weaker club of the UPL (10th and 11th places). At the same time in case of the UPL possible expansion the first four teams will earn promotion with the fifth team qualifying for play-off games with the UPL wooden spoon team. In regards to relegation it was decided that the last three teams will be relegated to the Second League, but in case of the UPL possible expansion only two teams will be relegated.
In mid-July 2018, due to withdrawal of FC Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka and FC Stal Kamianske (FC Feniks Bucha), the PFL adopted 16 teams league format.The First League. Instead of the planned 18 participants, there will compete only 16. (Перша ліга. Замість запланованих 18-ти учасників змагатиметься тільки 16). Football Federation of Ukraine. 19 July 2018
On 15 November 2018, in interview to Sport Arena the president of the PFL Ukraine Serhiy Makarov stated that teams that will place 16th and 15th places will be replaced with both winners of Druha Liha groups winners, while 13th and 14th place will contest their relegation with Druha Liha groups runners-up.Valerko, Artur. The PFL President: The Druha Liha format in three rounds-robin satisfies us (Президент ПФЛ: формат Другої ліги в три кола нас задовольняє). Sport Arena. 15 November 2018 If there will be an expansion of the UPL to 16 teams, the exchange between Persha and Druha leagues changes as well. The first and second places in each groups of Druha Liha will be promoted, while third places will play-off the other two promotional berths with the 15th and the 16th places of Persha Liha. The president pointed that with withdrawal of Kobra (Helios) and with expansion of the UPL, one of the third placed clubs in Druha Liha will be promoted to Persha Liha without play-offs.
Teams Promoted teams The following teams have been promoted from the 2017–18 Ukrainian Second League: Ahrobiznes Volochysk – first place of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Second League Group A (debut) Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk – second place of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Second League Group A (debut, another club named as Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk competed in the 2010–11 season) SC Dnipro-1 – first place of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Second League Group B (debut) Metalist 1925 Kharkiv – second place of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Second League Group B (debut, however another club named as Metalist Kharkiv competed in the 2003–04 season)
Relegated teams The following teams have been relegated from the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League: Zirka Kropyvnytskyi – 10th place of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League, play-off defeat (returns after 2 seasons) Chornomorets Odesa, 11th place of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League, was originally relegated after the relegation play-off defeat, however due to the withdrawal of newly promoted FC Poltava from the Ukrainian Premier League, the club remains in 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League to replace FC Poltava.
Withdrawn teams Stal Kamianske, 12th place of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League, was originally relegated, but later withdraw from the First League.Feniks and Skala won't play in the new season (Феникс и Скала не сыграют в новом сезоне). Sport.ua. 9 July 2018 The same day the PFL president confirmed that the league will consist of 16 teams.Samotkan, Yu. (9 July 2018). Serhiy Markov: "Sport principle is not compromised, in the First League are 16 teams" (Сергей Макаров: "Спортивный принцип не нарушаем - в первой лиге 16 команд"). Footboom. Originally, FC Stal Kamianske that were located in Kamianske played its games of the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League season in Kyiv. After relegation the club was admitted to the First League representing Bucha, Kyiv Oblast. Prior to the season commencing the club was renamed to FC Feniks Bucha. Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka, the Professional Football League allowed the club to keep its berth in the second tier even after its main sponsor announced that it will discontinue to fund the club. Helios Kharkiv, the club reorganized under new management under a new name as FC Kobra Kharkiv.Helios is not simply will be renamed as Kobra. It is a merger. (Гелиос не просто будет переименован в Кобру. Это слияние). Sport Arena. 27 June 2018 The club merged with another amateur club called the Kobra Football Academy which was playing in the Kharkiv Oblast Football Championship. On 15 August 2018 the club informed the Professional Football League of Ukraine about withdrawal from professional competitions, and were later officially expelled from the league. Zirka Kropyvnytskyi, the club withdrew as its management and owners were involved in corruption scandal.
Location map The following displays the location of teams.
Stadiums
The following stadiums are considered home grounds for the teams in the competition.
Rank Stadium Location Capacity Club Notes 1OSC Metalist Kharkiv 40,003Metalist 1925 Kharkiv 2Dnipro-Arena Dnipro 31,003SC Dnipro-1 3Ukraina Stadium Lviv 28,051 Rukh Vynnyky Used in Rounds 12, 14, 17, and 19 4 Yuvileiny Stadium Sumy 25,800 PFC Sumy 5 Central City Stadium Mykolaiv 16,700 MFC Mykolaiv 6 MCS Rukh Ivano-Frankivsk 15,000 Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk 7Zirka Stadium Kropyvnytskyi 13,667Zirka Kropyvnytskyi 8 Avanhard Stadium Lutsk 12,080 Volyn Lutsk 9 Naftovyk Stadium Okhtyrka 5,256 PFC Sumy Used in Rounds 15, 16, and 18 10 Obolon Arena Kyiv 5,100 Obolon-Brovar Kyiv 11Park Peremohy Stadium Mykolaiv 5,000 MFC MykolaivUsed in Rounds 19 and 21 12 Prapor Stadium Kramatorsk 4,000 Avanhard Kramatorsk 13Skif Stadium Lviv 3,742 Rukh VynnykyUsed in Round 21 14Yunist Stadium Volochysk 2,700 Ahrobiznes Volochysk 15Yunist Stadium Horishni Plavni 2,500 Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni 16Bohdan Markevych Stadium Vynnyky, Lviv 2,100 Rukh Vynnyky 17Boris Tropanets Stadium Zorya, Sarata Raion 1,854 Balkany Zorya 18Kolos Stadium Kovalivka, Vasylkiv Raion 1,850 Kolos Kovalivka 19Inhulets Stadium Petrove 1,720 Inhulets Petrove
Managers ClubHead coachReplaced coachAhrobiznes Volochysk Andriy Donets Avanhard Kramatorsk Oleksandr Kosevych Balkany Zorya Andriy Parkhomenko SC Dnipro-1 Dmytro Mykhaylenko Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni Volodymyr Mazyar Serhiy PuchkovInhulets Petrove Serhiy Lavrynenko Kolos Kovalivka Ruslan Kostyshyn Metalist 1925 Kharkiv Oleksandr Horyainov Serhiy ValyayevMFC Mykolaiv Serhiy Shyshchenko Ruslan ZabranskyiObolon-Brovar Kyiv Serhiy Kovalets Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk Volodymyr Kovalyuk Rukh Vynnyky Leonid Kuchuk Andriy Kikot Vitaliy Romanyuk (caretaker) Yuriy VirtPFC Sumy Oleh Lutkov Serhiy Zolotnytskyi Oleksandr Oliynyk Volyn Lutsk Andriy Tlumak Zirka Kropyvnytskyi Andriy Horban (interim)
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Volyn Lutsk Viktor Bohatyr Contract ended 31 May 2018Pre-season Andriy Tlumak 1 June 2018 Obolon-Brovar Kyiv Volodymyr Pyatenko Resigned 31 May 2018 Serhiy Kovalets 13 June 2018 Zirka Kropyvnytskyi Roman Monaryov Resigned 6 June 2018 Andriy Horban (interim) 13 June 2018 Rukh Vynnyky Andriy Kikot Resigned 9 September 201815th Vitaliy Romanyuk (caretaker) 11 September 2018 Metalist 1925 Kharkiv Serhiy Valyayev Fired 11 September 20187th Oleksandr Horyainov (caretaker) 11 September 2018Rukh Vynnyky Vitaliy Romanyuk (caretaker) End of caretaker spell 26 September 2018 14th Yuriy Virt 26 September 2018 Yuriy Virt Resigns 14 November 2018 13th Leonid Kuchuk 1 January 2019 MFC Mykolaiv Ruslan Zabranskyi Mutual consent 23 November 2018 9th Serhiy Shyshchenko 6 December 2018 Metalist 1925 Kharkiv Oleksandr Horyainov (caretaker) End of caretaker spell 10 December 2018 2nd Oleksandr Horyainov 10 December 2018 Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni Serhiy Puchkov End of contract 1 January 2019 12th Volodymyr Mazyar 1 January 2019PFC Sumy Serhiy Zolotnytskyi Resigned 4 January 2019 11th Oleksandr Oliynyk 3 February 2019 Oleksandr Oliynyk End of interim 19 March 2019 11th Oleh Lutkov 19 March 2019Lutkov became a new head coach of PFC Sumy (Лутков стал новым главным тренером ПФК Сумы). Sport Arena. 19 March 2019 Ahrobiznes Volochysk Andriy Donets admin. punishment 9 April 2019 14th Andriy Donets 9 April 2019
League table
Position by round
Results
Post season play-offs Promotion play-offs
Relegation play-offs The drawing for relegation playoff took place on 20 May 2019.The draw results for play-off games (Результати жеребкування матчів плей-офф). Professional Football League of Ukraine. 20 May 2019
First leg
Second leg
Ahrobiznes Volochysk won 4–1 on aggregate and has preserved its berth for the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League. Metalurh Zaporizhia has kept its berth for the 2019–20 Ukrainian Second League, but later gained promotion due to withdrawal of Arsenal-Kyiv from professional ranks.Official: Metalurh of Zaporizhia will replace Arsenal–Kyiv in the First League (Официально: Запорожский Металлург заменит Арсенал-Киев в Первой лиге). UA-Football. 24 July 2019
Cherkashchyna-Akademiya won 7–1 on aggregate and was promoted to the 2019–20 Ukrainian First League. PFC Sumy was relegated to the 2019–20 Ukrainian Second League. Later following the PFL Conference PFC Sumy were excluded from professional competitions.The PFL Conference has voted for exclusion of PFC Sumy and Myr from the Second League (Конференция ПФЛ проголосовала за исключение ПФК Сумы и Мира из Второй лиги). Sport Arena. 27 June 2019
Top goalscorers
RankScorerTeamGoals(Pen.)1 Stanislav KulishSC Dnipro-117 (5)2 Denys KozhanovVolyn Lutsk16 (8)3 Ihor KirienkoAvanhard Kramatorsk13 (1)4 Bohdan OrynchakPrykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk125 Ihor KohutSC Dnipro-111 Oleksandr AkymenkoInhulets Petrove11 (1) Yehor DemchenkoAvanhard Kramatorsk11 (2)8 Oleh SynytsyaMetalist 1925 Kharkiv10 (3) Yaroslav KonkolnyakPrykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk10 (5)10 Oleksiy ChychykovSC Dnipro-19 Oleksandr BondarenkoKolos Kovalivka9 (1)
Notes:
Awards Monthly awards MonthPlayer of the MonthPlayerClubReferenceAugust 2018 Oleksandr AkymenkoInhulets PetroveSeptember 2018 Oleksandr NazarenkoSC Dnipro-1October 2018 Serhiy RomanovMetalist 1925 KharkivNovember 2018 Bohdan OrynchakPrykarpattia Ivano-FrankivskMarch 2019 Orest KuzykSC Dnipro-1April 2019 Siavash Hagh NazariVolyn LutskMay 2019 Vitaliy HavryshKolos Kovalivka
Round awards