2017 Esiliiga B

The 2017 Esiliiga B was the 5th season of the Esiliiga B, third-highest Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2013. The season began on 1 March 2017.

Esiliiga B

Season	2017
Champions	Kalju U21
Promoted	Kalju U21 Kalev U21 Keila
Relegated	Sillamäe U21
Matches played	180
Goals scored	618 (3.43 per match)
Top goalscorer	Karl Anton Sõerde (29 goals)
Biggest home win	Vändra Vaprus 8–2 Joker (29 October 2017)
Biggest away win	Sillamäe U21 0–8 Keila (27 August 2017)
Highest scoring	Vändra Vaprus 8–2 Joker (29 October 2017)
Longest winning run	7 matches Kalev U21
Longest unbeaten run	11 matches Vändra Vaprus
Longest winless run	8 matches Järve
Longest losing run	6 matches Sillamäe U21 Tammeka U21
← 2016 2018 →

Teams

Of the 10 participating teams 5 remain following the 2016 Esiliiga B. The 2016 champions Kuressaare and runners-up Elva were promoted to Esiliiga, while 9th place Flora U19 and 10th place Tulevik II were relegated.^[1] For this season those five teams will be replaced by the Esiliiga relegated Vändra Vaprus, Kohtla-Järve JK Järve and Nõmme Kalju U21 and II Liiga promoted Keila and Paide Linnameeskond U21. The 3rd placed Welco managed to earn a promotion, winning the promotion play-off, while 8th placed Viimsi remained in the league by winning the relegation play-off.^[2][3]

Stadia

Kalev U21
Kalju U21

Sillamäe U21

Keila

Joker

Vändra

Järve

Tammeka U21

Paide U21

Viimsi

Locations of the 2016 Esiliiga B teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Järve	Kohtla-Järve	Kohtla-Järve SPK Stadium	780[4]
Joker	Raasiku	Raasiku Stadium	200[5]
Keila	Keila	Keila Stadium	500[6]
Nõmme Kalju U21	Tallinn	Hiiu Stadium	650[7]
Paide Linnameeskond U21	Paide	Paide linnastaadion	268[8]
Sillamäe Kalev U21	Sillamäe	Sillamäe Kalev artificial turf	300[9]
Tallinna Kalev U21	Tallinn	Kalev Keskstaadion artificial turf	270[10]
Tammeka U21	Tartu	Sepa Stadium	508[11]
Vaprus	Vändra	Vändra Stadium	273[12]
Viimsi	Haabneeme	Viimsi KK Stadium	800[13]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Järve	Aleksandr Pushtov		Adidas	Euronics
Joker	Andre Ilves	Rene Lill	Joma	Unibox
Keila	Tiit Tikenberg	Kaspar Kaldoja	Adidas	Hole In One
Nõmme Kalju U21	Erko Saviauk		Adidas	help.ee
Paide Linnameeskond U21	Paul Kask	Rico Reinoja	Nike	Enemat
Sillamäe Kalev U21	Vadym Dobizha		Uhlsport	Alexela
Tallinna Kalev U21	Daniel Meijel		Nike
Tammeka U21	Marti Pähn		Nike	Goldtime
Vaprus	Ranet Lepik	Toomas Eier	Macron
Viimsi	Ivo Lehtmets		Joma

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Järve	Aleksei Tikhomirov	Mutual consent	6 November 2016	Pre-season	Roman Kozhukhovskyi	21 November 2016
Nõmme Kalju U21	Zaur Tšilingarašvili		25 November 2016[14]		Erko Saviauk	25 November 2016[14]
Tammeka U21	Timo Teniste		7 December 2016[15]		Marti Pähn	7 December 2016[15]
Paide Linnameeskond U21	Rauno Kald		16 December 2016		Paul Kask	16 December 2016
Viimsi	Urmas Kirs	Signed by Tarvas	31 December 2016		Ivo Lehtmets	1 January 2017
Järve	Roman Kozhukhovskyi	Mutual consent	23 July 2017[16]	4th	Andrei Škaleta	23 July 2016[16]
Järve	Andrei Škaleta	End of caretaker spell	11 August 2017	5th	Aleksandr Pushtov	11 August 2017[17]

Results

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Kalju U21 (C, P)	36	20	8	8	72	43	+29	68	Promotion to the Esiliiga
2	Kalev U21[a] (P)	36	19	7	10	71	40	+31	64
3	Vändra	36	19	5	12	75	67	+8	62	Qualification for the promotion play-offs
4	Keila (P)	36	18	6	12	75	55	+20	60	Got promoted, because other teams didn't want to get promoted.
5	Järve	36	15	6	15	55	48	+7	51
6	Tammeka U21	36	14	7	15	69	73	−4	49
7	Viimsi (R)	36	14	6	16	55	63	−8	48	Decided to play in II Liiga the following year.
8	Joker (R)	36	13	7	16	58	72	−14	46
9	Paide U21	36	9	7	20	50	79	−29	34	Stayed in Esiliiga B, because other teams were relegated.
10	Sillamäe Kalev U21 (R)	36	8	3	25	38	85	−47	27	Dissolved

Updated to match(es) played on 5 November 2017. Source: soccerway (in English), Esiliiga B (in Estonian)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-off (only if deciding champion); 3) Less matches awarded against; 4) Matches won; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Goal difference; 8) Goals scored; 9) Away goals scored; 10) Fairplay ranking.^[18]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion.

Results tables

First half of the season Home \ Away JOK JÄR KAL KEI NÕM PAI SIL TAM VAP VII Joker 1–2 4–0 4–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 6–1 1–2 2–0 Järve 1–0 0–0 3–0 3–1 1–2 3–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 Tallinna Kalev U21 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–2 4–0 3–2 2–1 0–4 1–1 Keila 5–2 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 3–2 3–0 3–0 Nõmme Kalju U21 0–1 0–0 4–2 3–2 1–1 3–0 1–0 4–2 3–1 Paide U21 3–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 1–1 3–1 0–6 3–1 1–2 Sillamäe Kalev U21 2–3 0–3 0–1 0–4 0–5 0–5 4–1 2–1 4–0 Tammeka U21 6–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 4–2 4–0 2–3 0–1 Vaprus 4–2 3–2 5–3 2–4 1–1 3–0 3–0 3–1 2–1 Viimsi 2–3 3–0 1–1 1–2 0–2 4–1 3–0 0–1 1–0 Updated to match(es) played on 4 September 2017. Source: Esiliiga B Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season Home \ Away JOK JÄR KAL KEI NÕM PAI SIL TAM VAP VII Joker 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 0–4 3–0 0–2 2–5 Järve 5–0 0–2 1–3 2–0 4–1 1–2 1–4 3–3 4–0 Tallinna Kalev U21 5–1 3–0 4–0 3–0 1–2 3–0 4–2 0–0 3–1 Keila 2–2 4–1 0–2 0–1 4–1 3–1 1–3 1–3 2–3 Nõmme Kalju U21 2–1 4–2 2–1 4–0 4–1 2–1 5–1 4–1 2–0 Paide U21 1–1 3–1 0–3 1–2 4–0 2–3 1–1 1–2 2–3 Sillamäe Kalev U21 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–8 3–3 0–2 1–2 1–2 1–3 Tammeka U21 1–1 2–0 0–4 4–1 0–4 4–0 3–0 1–1 3–0 Vaprus 8–2 0–3 1–8 2–1 2–2 3–1 0–2 3–1 3–1 Viimsi 2–2 0–1 3–2 2–2 1–1 3–3 + : - 3–3 4–0 Updated to match(es) played on 5 November 2017. Source: Esiliiga B Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers As of matches played on 5 November 2017[19] Rank Player Club Goals 1 Karl Anton Sõerde Kalev U21 29 2 Markko Kudu Raasiku FC Joker 20 Juhan Jograf Siim Kalev U21/Tammeka U21 4 Henry Rohtla Keila JK 17 Jevgeni Demidov Kalju U21 6 Oliver Suur Keila JK 16 7 Kaarel Saaremets Vaprus 12 8 German Narnitski Järve 11 Martin Pärn Vaprus 10 Aleksei Tihhonov Järve 10

Attendance Club Attendance home Avg. attendance home Attendance away Avg. attendance away Attendance overall Avg. attendance overall Keila 1692 94 1019 57 2711 75 Vaprus 1437 80 1045 58 2482 69 Joker 1443 80 968 54 2411 67 Järve 1180 66 1017 57 2197 61 Kalju U21 1010 56 1165 65 2175 60 Sillamäe U21 1006 56 1133 63 2139 59 Viimsi 971 54 1096 61 2067 57 Kalev U21 788 44 1243 69 2031 56 Tammeka U21 853 47 1109 62 1962 55 Paide U21 596 33 1181 66 1777 49

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
March[20]	Roman Kozhukhovskyi	Järve	Oliver Suur	Keila
April[21]	Tiit Tikenberg	Keila	Markko Kudu	Joker
May[22]	Ranet Lepik	Vaprus	Vladislav Zanfirov	Nõmme Kalju U21
June[23]	Andre Ilves	Joker	Kaarel Saaremets	Vaprus
July[24]	Daniel Meijel	Tallinna Kalev U21	Toomas Mangusson	Vaprus
August[25]	Ranet Lepik	Vaprus	Jevgeni Demidov	Nõmme Kalju U21
September[26]	Daniel Meijel	Tallinna Kalev U21	Karl Anton Sõerde	Tallinna Kalev U21
October[27]	Marti Pähn	Tammeka U21	Mart Paul Preiman	Tammeka U21

Esiliiga B Player of the Year

Karl Anton Sõerde was named Esiliiga B Player of the Year.^[28]

See also

• 2016–17 Estonian Cup
• 2017–18 Estonian Cup
• 2017 Meistriliiga
• 2017 Esiliiga