2014–15 Ukrainian First League

The 2014–15 Ukrainian First League was the 24th since its establishment. The competition commenced on 26 July 2014 with seven matches.^[1] Due to sponsorship reasons the league is called Favbet League 1. The competition was on winter recess from 17 November until 20 March when the competition resumed with the Round 18 match between FC Ternopil and MFC Mykolaiv.

Ukrainian First League

Season	2014–15
Champions	FC Oleksandriya
Promoted	FC Oleksandriya Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk
Relegated	Bukovyna Chernivtsi Stal Al (withdrew)
Matches played	226
Goals scored	551 (2.44 per match)
Top goalscorer	21 – Stanislav Kulish (Stal Dni.)
Biggest home win	5 goals – Desna 6–1 Bukovyna (Round 26)
Biggest away win	5 goals – Mykolaiv 0–5 Hirnyk-Sport (Round 14)
Highest scoring	8 goals – Nyva 5–3 Bukovyna (ppd. Round 1)
Longest winning run	10 – Oleksandriya (Round 1–10)
Longest unbeaten run	14 – Oleksandriya (Round 1–11, 13–15)
Longest winless run	13 – Bukovyna (Rounds 3–9, ppd. 2, 11, 13, ppd. 1, 14–15)
Longest losing run	9 – Bukovyna (Rounds 3–9, ppd. 2, 11)
Highest attendance	6,400 – Oleksandriya–Zirka (Round 26)
Lowest attendance	200 – Dynamo-2–Stal Alchevsk (Round 2)
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

Teams

The number of teams for the competition was confirmed on 7 July 2014.^[2]

Promoted teams

Four teams were promoted from the 2013–14 Ukrainian Second League.

• Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk^[3] – champion (debut)
• Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk^[4] – 2nd placed runner-up (returning after an absence of 6 seasons)
• FC Ternopil^[5] – 3rd placed runner-up (debut)
• Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih^[6] – 4th placed runner-up (debut)

Relegated teams

No teams were relegated from the 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League. Tavriya Simferopol was to be relegated from the Ukrainian Premier League but the team terminated its existence after the annexation of Crimea by Russia.^[7]

Withdrawn teams

• Tytan Armyansk withdrew from the PFL and later terminated their existence due to the annexation of Crimea.^[8]

Suspended teams

• FC Avanhard Kramatorsk were suspended from the PFL due to the war in Donbas.^[2]

Merged teams

PFC Oleksandriya refused promotion to the Premier League.^[9] Prior to the season PFC Oleksandriya and UkrAhroKom Holovkivka merged into one club renaming themselves to FC Oleksandriya.^[10]

Location map

The following displays the location of teams.

Ternopil

Ternopil teams :
Nyva
Ternopil

Bukovyna

Desna

Dynamo-2

Helios

Hirnyk

Hirnyk-Sport

Mykolaiv

Naftovyk-Ukrnafta

Oleksandriya

Poltava

(Karlivka)

Stal D.

Sumy

Zirka

Stal A.

Home venues of teams in the 2014–15 Ukrainian First League.
Home towns in green are unused this season.
Teams in italics are from a conflict zone due to the war in Donbas and are playing their home games in different cities.

Stadiums

The following stadiums are considered home grounds for the teams in the competition.^[11]

Rank	Stadium	Capacity	Club	Notes
1	Metalurh Stadium, Kryvyi Rih	29,783	Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih
2	Yuvileiny Stadium, Sumy	25,800	FC Sumy
3	Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv	16,873	Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Used as home ground in Round 9
4	Central City Stadium, Mykolaiv	16,700	MFC Mykolaiv
5	Zirka Stadium, Kirovohrad	13,667	Zirka Kirovohrad
6	City Stadium, Ternopil	12,750	Nyva Ternopil
			FC Ternopil
7	Yuri Gagarin Stadium, Chernihiv	12,060	Desna Chernihiv
8	Bukovyna Stadium, Chernivtsi	12,000	Bukovyna Chernivtsi
9	CSC Nika Stadium, Oleksandria	7,000	FC Oleksandriya
10	Naftovyk Stadium, Okhtyrka	5,256	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka
11	Sonyachny Stadium, Kharkiv	4,924[12]	Helios Kharkiv
12	Metalurh Stadium, Dniprodzerzhynsk	2,900	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk
13	Lokomotov Stadium, Poltava	2,500	FC Poltava
14	Yunist Stadium, Komsomolsk	2,500	Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk
15	Mashynobudivnyk Stadium, Karlivka	1,300[13]	Stal Alchevsk	Used as home ground [14]
16	Dynamo Training Center, Kyiv	1,200	Dynamo-2 Kyiv

Managers

Club	Coach	Replaced coach
Bukovyna Chernivtsi	Yuriy Hiy
Desna Chernihiv	Oleksandr Ryabokon
Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Vadym Yevtushenko	Alyaksandr Khatskevich
Helios Kharkiv	Serhiy Syzykhin (interim)	Serhiy Yesin
Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih	Hennadiy Prykhodko
Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk	Ihor Zhabchenko
FC Oleksandriya	Volodymyr Sharan
MFC Mykolaiv	Vyacheslav Mazarati
Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	Vadym Kolesnyk
Nyva Ternopil	Roman Tolochko	Bohdan Samardak
FC Poltava	Oleh Fedorchuk	Ilya Blyznyuk
Stal Alchevsk	Vadym Plotnikov
Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk	Volodymyr Mazyar
FC Sumy	Yuriy Yaroshenko
FC Ternopil	Vasyl Ivehesh
Zirka Kirovohrad	Serhiy Lavrynenko	Anatoliy Buznyk Samir Hasanov

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing head coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming head coach	Date of appointment
FC Sumy	Serhiy Strashnenko (interim)	End interim		Pre-season	Yuriy Yaroshenko[15]
Zirka Kirovohrad	Anatoliy Buznyk[16]	Fired	October 28	11th	Samir Hasanov[16]	October 28
Zirka Kirovohrad	Samir Hasanov[17]	Resigns	November 12	14th	Serhiy Lavrynenko[17]	November 12
Dynamo-2 Kyiv	Alyaksandr Khatskevich[18]	Leaves for Belarus	December 4	5th	Vadym Yevtushenko[19]	December 15
FC Poltava	Ilya Blyznyuk[20]		January 11	7th	Oleh Fedorchuk[20]	January 11
Helios Kharkiv	Serhiy Yesin[21]	Fired	April 1		Serhiy Syzykhin (interim)	April 1
Nyva Ternopil	Bohdan Samardak[22]	Resigns	April 27	13th	Roman Tolochko[23]	April 30

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	FC Oleksandriya (C, P)	30	22	6	2	53	15	+38	72	Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League
2	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk[a] (P)	30	17	9	4	45	21	+24	60
3	Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk	30	16	9	5	44	24	+20	57
4	Zirka Kirovohrad	30	14	7	9	42	27	+15	49
5	Desna Chernihiv	30	12	11	7	44	27	+17	47
6	Dynamo-2 Kyiv	30	12	8	10	35	29	+6	44
7	Helios Kharkiv	30	12	8	10	30	25	+5	44
8	FC Sumy	30	12	7	11	35	41	−6	43
9	Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih	30	10	12	8	32	26	+6	42
10	FC Poltava	30	11	9	10	29	27	+2	42
11	FC Ternopil	30	11	8	11	33	49	−16	41
12	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	30	10	10	10	32	34	−2	40
13	Nyva Ternopil	30	8	3	19	25	52	−27	27
14	MFC Mykolaiv (O)	30	6	6	18	34	67	−33	24	Qualification to relegation play-offs[28]
15	Stal Alchevsk (D)	30	5	0	25	16	28	−12	15	Withdrew[b]
16	Bukovyna Chernivtsi (R)	30	4	3	23	24	61	−37	15	Relegated to Ukrainian Second League

Source: (in Ukrainian) Professional Football League of Ukraine^[30]
Rules for classification: ^[11] 1) points 2) goal difference 3) goals scored
4) head-to-head points 5) head-to-head goal difference 6) head-to-head goals scored
7) head-to-head fair play (all games) 8) draw or playoff
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. After the season completed the president of FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk announced that the club would merge with FC Metalurh Donetsk and were to replace them in the Premier League for the 2015–16 season.^[24][25] (14 June 2015) Initially, the club name attempted to use the name of FC Metalurh Donetsk^[26] but subsequently that club declared bankruptcy. Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk was promoted on decision of the Ukrainian Football Federation.^[27]
2. Stal Alchevsk temporarily withdrew from the competition during the winter break due to the war in Donbas with expectation to return possibly for the next season.^[29]

Results

As of 24 May 2015

Home \ Away	BUK	DES	DK2	HEL	HIR	HIS	MYK	NAF	NVT	OLK	POL	STA	STD	SUM	TNP	ZIR
Bukovyna Chernivtsi		0–2	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–3[a]	1–4	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	4–1	1–2	0–4
Desna Chernihiv	6–1		2–1	1–1	0–0	4–0	4–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	1–1	0–1	4–2	1–1	0–0	0–1
Dynamo-2 Kyiv	2–0	1–1		4–0	2–3	1–4	3–1	2–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	4–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–2
Helios Kharkiv	3–0[b]	1–1	0–1		1–1	0–0	2–2	2–0	0–1	1–3	1–2	+:-	1–2	0–1	1–0	1–0
Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0		0–1	3–1	1–1	4–0	0–2	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–2
Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk	2–1	4–1	1–1[c]	0–0	0–0		2–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	3–0	4–0	1–1
MFC Mykolaiv	0–4	3–2	0–0	1–2	3–2	0–5		1–2	0–2	1–4	2–4	1–0	1–2	3–3	1–3	0–1
Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–3	0–0		2–1	2–1	1–1	+:-	0–0	3–3	2–1	2–0
Nyva Ternopil	5–3[d]	0–2	1–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	3–1	1–1		0–1	0–1	+:-	1–5	2–0	2–2	0–2
FC Oleksandriya	4–1	2–1	4–0[e]	1–0	1–1	3–0	4–0	2–1	3–0		2–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	4–0	2–1
FC Poltava	2–0	0–0	1–0	0–2	1–2	0–1	3–3	1–0	3–0	0–1		+:-	3–2	0–1	0–0	0–0
Stal Alchevsk	-:+	-:+	0–1	0–2	-:+	-:+	-:+	1–2	1–2	-:+	1–2		0–2	1–2	-:+	3–1
Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk	4–1[f]	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	0–0	+:-		3–0	4–0	2–1
PFC Sumy	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	+:-	0–2		5–1	1–0
FC Ternopil	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–3	2–2	4–2	1–0	2–2[g]	0–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	3–2		1–4
Zirka Kirovohrad	4–1	0–2	2–0	0–0	2–2	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–0	5–1

Source: Calendar (in Ukrainian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. Round 2 match between Bukovyna Chernivtsi and MFK Mykolaiv postponed to a later date due to Bukovyna's lack of sponsorship and preparedness in starting to compete in the season.^[31] Match was played after Round 9.
2. Administration of Bukovyna Chernivtsi informed that the club would not travel to their Round 12 match against Helios Kharkiv, indicating that the club was in difficult financial state and would not travel to the match.^[32] Control Disciplinary Committee of the Football Federation of Ukraine awarded a 3–0 technical victory to Helios. (24 October 2014)^[33]
3. Dynamo-2 Kyiv postpones their Round 19 match away against Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk since five players were called for international duty.^[34] Match played after Round 27.
4. Round 1 match between Bukovyna Chernivtsi and Nyva Ternopil postponed to a later date due to Nyva's lack of sponsorship and the team not ready to start playing.^[35] The match was played after Round 13. (22 October 2014)
5. Dynamo-2 Kyiv postpones their Round 12 away match against FC Oleksandriya since several players were called for international duty.^[36] Match played after Round 20.
6. Round 10 match between Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk and Bukovyna postponed to a later date due to Stal Dniprodzerzhinsk's participation in the 1/8 Round of the 2014–15 Ukrainian Cup.^[37] Match played after Round 16.
7. Round 2 match between FC Ternopil and Nyva Ternopil postponed to a later date due to Nyva's unpreparedness for the season.^[38] Match was played after Round 7.

Position by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
FC Oleksandriya	4	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk	3	4	2	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk	5	1	3	2	2	2	4	4	5	6	5	2	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Zirka Kirovohrad	14	12	11	13	10	8	5	7	8	12	10	11	13	11	13	14	14	11	10	9	8	6	7	5	6	8	6	5	5	4
Desna Chernihiv	12	10	10	8	8	10	10	8	7	5	4	5	6	9	9	6	6	7	5	5	5	5	5	6	7	5	5	4	4	5
Dynamo-2 Kyiv	8	3	6	10	12	11	9	12	11	13	11	12	11	12	10	9	5	5	6	6	6	7	6	7	8	6	7	6	7	6
Helios Kharkiv	2	5	4	5	4	4	3	3	4	3	6	6	7	6	7	7	9	10	12	12	11	10	8	10	11	9	8	8	6	7
PFC Sumy	15	13	13	14	14	13	14	13	9	7	8	8	9	8	8	10	10	9	9	10	10	9	10	9	5	7	9	9	10	8
Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih	9	7	9	9	11	14	13	11	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	11	11	12	11	11	12	12	12	11	10	11	10	12	11	9
FC Poltava	13	11	8	6	6	6	6	6	6	8	9	9	8	7	5	8	7	8	7	8	7	8	11	12	12	12	12	11	8	10
FC Ternopil	6	8	7	4	5	5	7	5	3	4	3	4	3	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	7	9	11
Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka	16	16	16	11	13	12	12	9	10	9	7	7	5	4	6	5	8	6	8	7	9	11	9	8	9	10	11	10	12	12
Nyva Ternopil	11	15	15	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	12	10	12	13	13	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
MFC Mykolaiv	7	9	12	12	9	9	11	14	12	10	12	10	10	13	11	12	12	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Stal Alchevsk	1	6	5	7	7	7	8	10	13	11	13	13	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15
Bukovyna Chernivtsi	10	14	14	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Updated to match(es) played on 3 June 2015. Source: pfl.ua

Promotion/relegation play-off

A promotion/relegation home and away play-off is to be played by the 3rd place team of 2014–15 Ukrainian Second League against the 14th placed team of the 2014–15 Ukrainian First League competition. Seedings for the playoff were announced in Ukrainian House of Football on May 29.^[39]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
MFC Mykolaiv	1–0	FC Kremin Kremenchuk	0–0	1–0

First leg

7 June 2015

18:00

MFC Mykolaiv	0 – 0	Kremin Kremenchuk
	Report

Tsentralnyi Stadion, Mykolaiv

Attendance: 1,200

Referee: Vadym Saik

Second leg

11 June 2015

18:00

Kremin Kremenchuk	0 – 1	MFC Mykolaiv
	Report	Storublevtsev 62'

Oleh Babayev Kremin Arena, Kremenchuk

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Mykola Balakyn

MFC Mykolaiv wins 1–0 on aggregate and remains in First League

Top goalscorers

As of 3 June 2015

#	Scorer	Goals (Pen.)	Team
1	Stanislav Kulish	21	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk
2	Bohdan Semenets	14	FC Ternopil
3	Oleksiy Chychykov	11	Zirka Kirovohrad
4	Dmytro Bohachov	10	FC Sumy
	Vitaliy Ponomar	10	FC Oleksandriya
6	Serhiy Herasymets	9	Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk
	Serhiy Kravchenko	9 (3)	Helios Kharkiv
8	Volodymyr Korolkov	8 (3)	Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk
	Anton Kotlyar	8 (6)	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk
10	Maksym Kalenchuk	7	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk
	Yehor Kartushov	7	Desna Chernihiv
	Oleksiy Khoblenko	7	Dynamo-2 Kyiv
	Roman Loktionov[a]	7	Stal Alchevsk / Zirka Kirovohrad
	Ihor Zahalskyi	7 (2)	Zirka Kirovohrad
	Petro Kondratyuk	7 (3)	Desna Chernihiv
	Yuriy Solomka	7 (3)	FC Poltava

1. Roman Loktionov signed with Zirka Kirovohrad during the winter break.^[40]

See also

• 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League
• 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League Reserves and Under 19
• 2014–15 Ukrainian Second League
• 2014–15 Ukrainian Cup