Kazakhstan Premier League

The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (Kazakh: Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League^[1][2] or simply the Premier League,^[3] is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the Kazakh football league system.

Kazakhstan Premier League

Founded	1992; 33 years ago (1992)
Country	Kazakhstan
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Number of clubs	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	First Division
Domestic cup(s)	Kazakhstan Cup Kazakhstan Super Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Conference League
Current champions	Kairat (4th title) (2024)
Most championships	Astana (7 titles)
Broadcaster(s)	Domestic Qazsport International Eleven Sports OneFootball
Website	kffleague.kz youtube.com/@kffleague
Current: 2025 Kazakhstan Premier League

The league is controlled by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan and was set up in 1992. The league is fed into by the First Division and starts in spring and finishes in late autumn because of the low temperatures in the winter, with each championship corresponding to a calendar year. The majority of matches have been played at weekends in recent seasons.

Name changes

• Top Division (1992–2001)
• Super League (2002–2007)
• Premier League (2008–present)

Current clubs

The following teams are competing in the 2025 season:

Team	Location	Venue	Capacity
Aktobe	Aktobe	Central Stadium	12,729
Astana	Astana	Astana Arena	30,200
Atyrau	Atyrau	Munaishy Stadium	8,900
Elimai	Semey	Spartak Stadium	8,000
Jenis	Astana	Astana Arena	30,200
Jetisu	Taldykorgan	Samat Suyumbayev Stadium	4,000
Kairat	Almaty	Central Stadium	23,804
Kaisar	Kyzylorda	Gany Muratbayev Stadium	7,500
Kyzylzhar	Petropavl	Karasai Stadium	11,000
Okzhetpes	Kokshetau	Torpedo Stadium	4,100
Ordabasy	Shymkent	Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium	20,000
Tobol	Kostanay	Central Stadium	9,500
Turan	Turkistan	Turkistan Arena	7,000
Ulytau	Jezkazgan	Metallurg Stadium	2,500

Soviet winners of republican level

Note that some teams such as Kairat Almaty participated in the upper leagues of the Soviet annual football competition. There was no solidly established independent Kazakh championship and the republican winner was conditionally picked by the Football Federation of Kazakh SSR. Since 1936 there was taken places republican football competition among sports societies and agencies and later among "collectives of physical culture" (CPhC → KFK). Since 1980 champion of the Soviet Kazakhstan was also awarded to "teams of masters" (professional teams) competing in football competitions of the Soviet Second League.

1936 : Alma-Aty City 1937 : Dinamo Alma-Ata[4] 1938 : Dinamo Alma-Ata[5][6] 1939–45 : No Championship[7] 1946 : Dinamo Alma-Ata[8] 1947 : Lokomotiv Jambul[9] 1948 : Trudovye Rezervy Alma-Ata[10] 1949 : Dinamo Karaganda 1950 : Alma-Aty City 1951 : Meliorator Chimkent 1952 : Meliorator Chimkent 1953 : Meliorator Chimkent 1954 : Dinamo Alma-Ata 1955 : Dinamo Alma-Ata 1956 : Alma-Aty City 1957 : Stroitel Alma-Ata 1958 : Spartak Alma-Ata 1959 : Spartak Alma-Ata 1960 : Yenbek Guryev

1961 : Avangard Petropavlovsk 1962 : ADK Alma-Ata 1963 : Tselinnik Semipalatinsk 1964 : ADK Alma-Ata 1965 : ADK Alma-Ata 1966 : Aktyubinets Aktyubinsk 1967 : Torpedo Kokchetav 1968 : Gornyak Jezkangan 1969 : Shakhtyor Saran' 1970 : Stroitel Temir-Tau 1971 : Yenbek Jezkangan 1972 : Traktor Pavlodar 1973 : Yenbek Jezkangan 1974 : Gornyak Nikol'sky 1975 : Meliorator Chimkent 1976 : Khimik Stepnogorsk 1977 : Khimik Stepnogorsk 1978 : Trud Shevchenko 1979 : Khimik Stepnogorsk

1980 : Meliorator Chimkent 1981 : Burevestnik Kustanay Zone 7 (3rd level, included teams from other republics) 1980 : Traktor Pavlodar 1981 : Aktyubinets Aktyubinsk Zone 8 (3rd level) 1982 : Shakhtyor Karaganda 1983 : Shakhtyor Karaganda 1984 : Tselinnik Tselinograd 1985 : Meliorator Chimkent 1986 : Meliorator Chimkent 1987 : Meliorator Chimkent 1988 : Traktor Pavlodar 1989 : Traktor Pavlodar Zone 8 (4th level) 1990 : Vostok Ust'-Kamenogorsk 1991 : Aktyubinets Aktyubinsk

Sources:

• Kazakhstan – List of Champions. RSSSF
• The Kazakh SSR Football Championship (Чемпионат Казахской ССР). Footballfacts. (in Russian)
• The Kazakh SSR Football Championship D2 (Чемпионат Казахской ССР D2). Footballfacts. (in Russian)

Best teams in republican competitions

7 – Meliorator Chimkent (1951, 1952, 1953, 1975, 1985, 1986, 1987) 5 – Dinamo Alma-Ata (1937, 1938, 1946, 1954, 1955) 4 – Traktor Pavlodar (1972, 1980, 1988, 1989) 2 – Alma-Ata {collective city team} (1936, 1950, 1956) 3 – ADK Alma-Ata (1962, 1964, 1965) 3 – Khimik Stepnogorsk (1976, 1977, 1979) 3 – Yenbek Jezkangan (1968, 1971, 1973) 3 – Aktyubinets Aktyubinsk (1966, 1981, 1991) 2 – Spartak Alma-Ata (1958, 1959) 2 – Shakhter Karaganda (1982, 1983)

1 – Lokomotiv Jambul (1947) 1 – Trudovye Rezervy Alma-Ata (1948) 1 – Dinamo Karaganda (1949) 1 – Stroitel Alma-Ata (1957) 1 – Yenbek Guryev (1960) 1 – Avangard Petropavlovsk (1961) 1 – Tselinnik Semipalatinsk (1963) 1 – Torpedo Kokchetav (1967) 1 – Shakhter Saran (1969) 1 – Stroitel Temir-Tau (1970) 1 – Gornyak Nikol'sky (1974) 1 – Trud Shevchenko (1978) 1 – Tselinnik Tselinograd (1984) 1 – Vostok Ust'-Kamenogorsk (1990)

Kazakhstan League Seasons

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place	Top Scorer(s) – Goals	Best Player
1992	Kairat	Ordabasy (Arsenal SKIF)	Irtysh (Traktor)	Kogai (KSR) – 21	Volgin (KRT)
1993	Irtysh (Ansat)	Ekibastuzets (Batyr)	Gornyak	Shmarikov (TAR) – 28	Kurganskiy (EKI)
1994	Elimai	Irtysh (Ansat)	Ordabasy (Zhiger)	Litvinenko (TAR) – 20	Musataev (ORD)
1995	Elimai	Taraz	Shakhter	Miroshnichenko (ELI) – 23	Miroshnichenko (ELI)
1996	Taraz	Irtysh	Elimai	Antonov (IRT) – 21	Voskoboynikov (TAR)
1997	Irtysh	Taraz	Kairat	Mazbaev (TAR) – 16	Voskoboynikov (TAR)
1998	Elimai	Ekibastuzets (Batyr)	Irtysh	Litvinenko (ELI) – 14	Voskoboynikov (KSR)
1999	Irtysh	Kyzylzhar (Access Esil)	Kairat	Agabaýew (KRT) – 24	Avdeev (KYZ)
2000	Jenis	Kyzylzhar (Access GG)	Irtysh	Mendes (IRT) – 21	Avdeev (KYZ)
2001	Jenis	Atyrau	Kyzylzhar (Esil B)	Tlekhugov (JEN) – 30	Tlekhugov (JEN)
2002	Irtysh	Atyrau	Tobol	Lunev (SHA) – 16	Lovchev (JEN)
2003	Irtysh	Tobol	Jenis	Finonchenko (SHA) – 18	Zhumaskaliyev (TOB)
2004	Kairat	Irtysh	Tobol	Bakaev (TOB) / Tlekhugov (KRT) – 22	Smakov (KRT)
2005	Aktobe	Tobol	Kairat	Tleshev (IRT) – 20	Zhumaskaliyev (TOB)
2006	Jenis (Astana)	Aktobe	Tobol	Irismetov (ALM) – 17	David Loria (JEN)
2007	Aktobe	Tobol	Shakhter	Irismetov (ALM) – 17	Smakov (AKT)
2008	Aktobe	Tobol	Irtysh	Tleshev (IRT) – 13	Smakov (AKT)
2009	Aktobe	Astana (Lokomotiv)	Shakhter	Tleshev (AKT) / Baýramow (TOB) – 20	Smakov (AKT)
2010	Tobol	Aktobe	Irtysh	Bakaev (TOB) – 16	Zhumaskaliyev (TOB)
2011	Shakhter	Jetisu	Aktobe	Bakaev (JET) – 18	Konysbayev (SHA)
2012	Shakhter	Irtysh	Aktobe	Bakaev (IRT) – 14	Bakaev (IRT)
2013	Aktobe	Astana	Kairat	Zenkovich (SHA) – 15	Finonchenko (SHA)
2014	Astana	Aktobe	Kairat	Foxi (AST) – 16	Islamkhan (KRT)
2015	Astana	Kairat	Aktobe	Gohou (KRT) – 22	Gohou (KRT)
2016	Astana	Kairat	Irtysh	Gohou (KRT) – 22	Islamkhan (KRT)
2017	Astana	Kairat	Orbadasy	Gohou (KRT) – 24	Gohou (KRT)
2018	Astana	Kairat	Tobol	Pizzelli (AKT) – 18	Pizzelli (AKT)
2019	Astana	Kairat	Orbadasy	Tomasov (AST) / Eseola (KRT) – 19
2020	Kairat	Tobol	Astana	João Paulo (ORD) – 12
2021	Tobol	Astana	Kairat	Tomasov (AST) – 17
2022	Astana	Aktobe	Tobol	Eugénio (AST) – 22
2023	Ordabasy	Astana	Aktobe	João Paulo (KRT) – 17
2024	Kairat	Astana	Aktobe	João Paulo (KRT) / Chesnokov (TOB) / Signevich (ATY) – 10

Notes:

• Historical names shown in brackets according to the season.
• Best Player Award by FFK (1992–2005, 2008, 2010–) and GOAL Journal (2006–2007, 2009).

List of champions

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Winning years
Astana	7	5	1	2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
Irtysh	5	4	6	1993, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003
Aktobe	5	4	5	2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013
Kairat	4	5	6	1992, 2004, 2020, 2024
Spartak	3	–	1	1994, 1995, 1998
Jenis	3	–	1	2000, 2001, 2006
Tobol	2	5	5	2010, 2021
Shakhter	2	–	3	2011, 2012
Taraz	1	2	–	1996
Ordabasy	1	–	2	2023
Kyzylzhar	–	2	1
Atyrau	–	2	–
Ekibastuzets	–	2	–
Tomiris	–	1	–
Jetisu	–	1	–
Gornyak	–	–	1
Zhiger	–	–	1
Total	33	33	33

Notes

• Teams in bold currently compete in Premier League.
• Italics identifies either defunct or teams that lost professional status.

Performance by clubs

As of end of the 2024 season.

#	Club	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	1st	2nd	3rd	Cup	SC	FD	Total
1	Kairat	1	11	11	9	6	3		3	4	5	7	7	1	3	7	13	10		10	11	10	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	3	4	4	1	4	5	6	9	1	1	26
2	Aktobe	12	9	4	14	10	11				8	5	5	4	1	2	1	1	1	2	3	3	1	2	3	6	9	7	12		7	2	3	3	5	5	4	2	3	1	20
3	Astana																		2	4	4	5	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	1	2	2	7	5	1	3	3		19
4	Irtysh	3	1	2	7	2	1	3	1	3	4	1	1	2	5	6	4	3	9	3	5	2	6	10	6	3	4	10	8	12					5	4	6	1			17
5	Tobol	13	8	10	12	11			8	7	6	3	2	3	2	3	2	2	4	1	7	6	7	7	7	7	5	3	4	2	1	3	8	5	2	5	5	1			13
6	Ordabasy	2	4	3	4	14	10	11	6	13	16		6	14	6	13	9	12	7	8	6	7	5	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	5	5	1	4	1	1	3	2	1	2	10
7	Shakhter	7	6	6	3	8	4	9	10	5	12	6	10	9	4	4	3	7	3	6	1	1	4	6	10	9	7	8	9	4	6	7	10	13	2		3	1	1		7
8	Zhenis	9	12	14	10	13	9	6	4	1	1	4	3	10	8	1	8	11																10	3		1	3			7
9	Kaisar	10	21			7	8	4	5	6	11	10	13	16		15	10	4	13		8	9		5	12		6	5	6	7	13		6	8				2		4	6
10	Elimai	14	17	1	1	3	7	1	9	8	7	8	9	19										12										6	3		1	1		1	6
11	Okzhetpes	20				18	11	8	16	10	10	12	17	11	9	11	15	9	11	12		14			8	5	12		7	11			12							5	5
12	Taraz	5	14	8	2	1	2	10	14	11	15		12	7	11	10	16		8	9	9	4	10	11	9	11	11		10	8	10	12			1	2		1			4
13	Kyzylzhar	19							2	2	3	9	11	6	7	12	11	13	14									11		9	4	10	5	9		2	1			1	4
14	Atyrau										2	2	4	5	10	14	14	15	6	5	10	11	8	9	5	8	8	9	11		11	11	7	7		2		1			3
15	Ekibastuzets	4	2	9	11	5	6	2	11	16	13		15	8	12	8	12																			2				1	3
16	Zhetysu	21	25		6	9			15	13	14		8	13	15		5	6	5	7	2	12	9	8	11	12		6	5	6	14		11	11		1				2	3
17	Vostok	11	10	12	8	12	5	5	7	11	9	11	14	12	14	9	7	16	10		12		11															1		1	2
18	Gornyak	8	3	13	5																																1				1
19	Akzhayik	16	16	16				14					16	17						11		8	12				10	12			9	14								1	1
20	Caspiy	15	20		16	4					17																			10	8	9	13							1	1
21	Aksu																															6	14							1	1
22	Turan																														12	13		12							0
23	Maktaaral																															8	9								0
24	Ulytau		22			15	14																																		0

League participation

Note: The tallies below include up to the 2025 season. Teams denoted in bold are current participants.

• 33 seasons: Shakhter
• 32 seasons: Kairat, Tobol
• 30 seasons: Aktobe
• 28 seasons: Irtysh, Taraz
• 27 seasons: Kaisar, Jetisu
• 26 seasons: Ordabasy
• 24 seasons: Atyrau, Okzhetpes
• 20 seasons: Vostok
• 19 seasons: Kyzylzhar, Jenis
• 17 seasons: Astana
• 14 seasons: Akzhayik, Ekibastuzets, Spartak
• 9 seasons: Caspiy, Zhiger
• 8 seasons: Shakhter-Bulat
• 5 seasons: Alma-Ata, Tomiris
• 4 seasons: CSKA Almaty, Gornyak, Turan, Turkestan, Ulytau
• 2 seasons: Aksu, Azhar, Ekibastuz, Elimai, Maktaaral
• 1 season: Arman, BGS, Dinamo Alma-Ata, Dostyk, Kazakhmys, Megasport, Namys Almaty, Nasha Kampaniya, Sunkar

Soviet Top League participation

• 24 seasons: Kairat

All time top scorers

As of 1 January 2015

Rank	Player	Games	Goals
1	Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev	405	157
2	Oleg Litvinenko	311	147
3	Nurken Mazbaev	400	142
4	Murat Tleshev	303	138
5	Andrei Miroshnichenko	242	115
6	Ulugbek Bakayev	183	109
7	Andrei Finonchenko	274	98
8	Aleksandr Shatskikh	275	96
9	Ruslan Imankulov	366	96
10	Kairat Aubakirov	302	94
11	Vladimir Loginov	339	87
12	Viktor Antonov	207	86
13	Ruslan Duzmambetov	230	86
As the end of 2014 season. (Bold denotes players still in Premier League)

See also

• Football in Kazakhstan
• Sports league attendances