# 2009–10 Ukrainian First League

The 2009–10 Ukrainian First League was the nineteenth since its establishment. There were 18 teams competing. Two teams were relegated from the 2008–09 Ukrainian Premier League. Three teams were promoted from the 2008–09 Ukrainian Second League. Due to the 2009 flu pandemic which affected Ukraine in late October the PFL decide to break for winter earlier than they originally scheduled. The second half of the season began March 11, 2010.

## Teams
### Promoted teams

These three teams were promoted from Druha Liha at the start of the season:

#### Group A

* Nyva Ternopil – Druha Liha champion (Returning after seven seasons)
* Arsenal Bila Tserkva - Playoff Winner (Debut)

#### Group B

* Zirka Kirovohrad – Druha Liha champion (Returning after six seasons)

### Relegated teams

Two teams were relegated from the Ukrainian Premier League 2008–09 season
* FC Lviv – 15th place (Returning after a season)
* FC Kharkiv – 16th place (Previously as FC Arsenal Kharkiv)

### Map

The following displays the location of teams.

## Playoff game

Prior to the beginning of the season FC Ihroservice Simferopol failed to pay their license dues for the season. To allow an extra team to be promoted, the PFL determined that a playoff game between the 2nd placed teams from Druha Liha – Arsenal Bila Tserkva and FC Poltava would determine the vacancy. This playoff game was played July 12, 2009.

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | PFC Sevastopol (C, P) | 34 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 68 | 27 | +41 | 76 | Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 2 | Volyn Lutsk (P) | 34 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 71 | 30 | +41 | 74 | Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 3 | Stal Alchevsk | 34 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 55 | 35 | +20 | 65 | |
| 4 | FC Lviv | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 49 | 22 | +27 | 63 | |
| 5 | PFC Oleksandria | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 58 | 34 | +24 | 63 | |
| 6 | Krymteplitsia Molodizhne | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 53 | 28 | +25 | 59 | |
| 7 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 45 | 37 | +8 | 57 | |
| 8 | Desna Chernihiv (D) | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 48 | Withdrew |
| 9 | Arsenal Bila Tserkva | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 46 | |
| 10 | Helios Kharkiv | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 42 | 47 | −5 | 46 | |
| 11 | Dniester Ovidiopol | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 44 | 47 | −3 | 44 | |
| 12 | Zirka Kirovohrad | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 38 | 40 | −2 | 43 | |
| 13 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 35 | 46 | −11 | 41 | |
| 14 | Feniks-Illichivets Kalinine | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 39 | 52 | −13 | 37 | |
| 15 | Enerhetyk Burshtyn | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 49 | −17 | 35 | |
| 16 | Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | 34 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 26 | 68 | −42 | 22 | |
| 17 | FC Kharkiv (D) | 34 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 23 | 76 | −53 | 14 | Withdrew (expelled) from PFL |
| 18 | Nyva Ternopil (R) | 34 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 18 | 72 | −54 | 7 | Relegated to Ukrainian Second League |
* ↑ Desna Chernihiv completed the season but failed attestation for the 2010-11 season and their licence was removed. (June 21st, 2010)
* ↑ Zirka Kirovohrad deducted 3 points for failure of payment to contracted players. (January 28th, 2010)
* ↑ FC Kharkiv were relegated to the Second League. After the season completed the club failed attestation and their license was withdrawn by the respective committee of the Football Federation of Ukraine for providing false information of the club's affairs.(June 23rd, 2010)
* ↑ Nyva Ternopil initially deducted 3 points for failure of payment of license fees. (October 2nd, 2009) Another 3 points were for non payment to players. (June 9th, 2010)

## Results

| Home \ Away | ABT | DES | DNR | DK2 | ENE | FEN | HEL | KHA | KRM | LVI | NAF | NVT | OLK | PIF | SEV | STA | VOL | ZIR |
| Arsenal Bila Tserkva | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–4 | 2–7 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Desna Chernihiv | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Dnister Ovidiopol | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–0 |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–4 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| Feniks-Illichovets Kalinino | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Helios Kharkiv | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 0–1 | 0–4 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| FC Kharkiv | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–5 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| Krymteplytsia Molodizhne | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| FC Lviv | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Nyva Ternopil | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–4 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| FC Oleksandriya | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Sevastopol | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 3–4 | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| Stal Alchevsk | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 3–3 |
| Volyn Lutsk | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 4–0 |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | |
* ↑ Seven matches from Round 17 were postponed due to the 2009 flu pandemic which affected Ukraine in late October.
* ↑ In this game in FC Kharkiv was represented by the youth squad of FC Arsenal Kharkiv, U-17.
* ↑ Round 33 match between FC Kharkiv and Enerhetyk Burshtyn did not take place due to FC Kharkiv's players boycotting the game due to not payment of wages and no contracts for next season. PFL awards a 3–0 technical victory to Enerhetyk Burshtyn.
* ↑ Match on March 14 FC Lviv – PFC Sevastopol was not played due to the condition of the pitch. The Disciplinary Committee of the PFL awarded a 3–0 technical victory to PFC Sevastopol. (21 April 2010) However, with PFC Sevastapol's agreement the league decided to play the fixture on 2 June 2010.
* ↑ Round 33 match between Stal Alchevsk and Desna Chernihiv did not take place due to Desna not arriving to play. PFL awards a 3–0 technical victory to Stal Alchevsk.

## Top scorers

| | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 1 | Serhiy Kucherenko | 19 (3) | Krymteplitsia Molodizhne |
| 2 | Yuriy Pleshakov | 17 | PFC Sevastopol |
| 3 | Valentyn Poltavets | 15 (5) | Dnister Ovidiopol |
| 4 | Serhiy Hrybanov | 14 (3) | Desna Chernihiv |
| 5 | Maicon | 13 (3) | Volyn Lutsk |
| 6 | Andriy Shevchuk | 12 (4) | PFC Sevastopol |
| 7 | Yevhen Pavlov | 11 | Volyn Lutsk |
| 7 | Souleymane Diaby | 11 | Krymteplitsia Molodizhne |
| 7 | Oleksandr Mandzyuk | 11 (1) | FC Lviv |
| 10 | Anton Mukhovykov | 10 | Stal Alchevsk |

## Managers

| Club | Coach | Replaced coach |
| Arsenal Bila Tserkva | Ihor Artymovych | |
| Desna Chernihiv | Oleksandr Ryabokon | |
| Dniester Ovidiopol | Andriy Parkhomenko | |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | Hennadiy Lytovchenko | |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | Mykola Prystay | |
| Feniks-Illichovets Kalinine | Ivan Maruschak | |
| Helios Kharkiv | Serhiy Kandaurov | |
| FC Kharkiv | Rinat Morozov | Mykhaylo Stelmakh |
| Krymteplitsia Molodizhne | Oleksandr Sevidov | Gennady Morozov |
| FC Lviv | Viktor Ryashko (caretaker) | Algimantas Liubinskas Ihor Yavorskyi Yuriy Benyo Vyacheslav Mavrov |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | Serhiy Shevchenko | Valeriy Horodov |
| Nyva Ternopil | Ihor Biskup (interim) | Viktor Ryashko |
| PFC Oleksandria | Volodymyr Sharan | Serhiy Kovalets Yuriy Koval |
| Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | Serhiy Ptashnyk | |
| PFC Sevastopol | Oleh Leschynskyi | |
| Stal Alchevsk | Anatoliy Volobuyev | Vadym Plotnikov |
| Volyn Lutsk | Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi | |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | Ihor Zhabchenko | |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment |
| Krymteplitsia | Mykhaylo Sachko | Contract expired | 15 July 2009 | Pre-season | Gennady Morozov | 15 July 2009 |
| Desna | Mykhaylo Dunets | Contract expired | 17 July 2009 | Pre-season | Oleksandr Ryabokon | 17 July 2009 |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta | Valeriy Horodov | Mutual consent | 5 August 2009 | | Serhiy Shevchenko | 5 August 2009 |
| FC Lviv | Yuri Benio | Mutual consent | 8 August 2009 | 5 | Vyacheslav Mavrov (caretaker) | 8 August 2009 |
| FC Lviv | Vyacheslav Mavrov (caretaker) | Interim manager | 19 August 2009 | 5 | Ihor Yavorsky | 19 August 2009 |
| PFC Oleksandria | Yuriy Koval | Mutual consent | 28 August 2009 | 10 | Serhiy Kovalets | 28 August 2009 |
| Krymteplitsia | Gennady Morozov | Mutual consent | 20 October 2009 | 12 | Oleksandr Sevidov | 20 October 2009 |
| FC Stal Alchevsk | Vadym Plotnikov | Mutual consent | 5 November 2009 | 4 | Anatoliy Volobuyev | 5 November 2009 |
| FC Lviv | Ihor Yavorsky | Dismissed | 10 November 2009 | 2 | Algimantas Liubinskas | 1 January 2010 |
| PFC Oleksandria | Serhiy Kovalets | Leaves for Obolon | 12 January 2010 | 6 | Volodymyr Sharan | 31 January 2010 |
| Nyva | Viktor Ryashko | Leaves for FC Lviv | 11 March 2010 | 17 | Ihor Biskup (interim) | 11 March 2010 |
| FC Kharkiv | Mykhaylo Stelmakh | Sacked | 18 April 2010 | 18 | Rinat Morozov | 18 April 2010 |
| FC Lviv | Algimantas Liubinskas | Mutual terms | 19 April 2010 | 2 | Viktor Ryashko (caretaker) | 19 April 2010 |

### Stadiums

The following stadiums were used during the season.
| Rank | Stadium | Capacity | Club | Notes |
| 1 | Zirka Stadium, Kirovohrad | 13,667 | Zirka Kirovohrad | |
| 2 | Labor Reserve, Bila Tserkva | 13,500 | Arsenal Bila Tserkva | With stadium under construction capacity is reduced to 5,000. |
| 3 | Avanhard Stadium, Lutsk | 12,080 | Volyn Lutsk | |
| 4 | Yuriy Haharyn Stadium, Chernihiv | 12,060 | Desna Chernihiv | |
| 5 | City Stadium, Ternopil | 11,300 | Nyva Ternopil | |
| 6 | Stal Stadium, Alchevsk | 8,632 | Stal Alchevsk | |
| 7 | MCS Rukh, Ivano-Frankivsk | 6,500 | Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | |
| 8 | KSC Nika, Oleksandria | 5,692 | PFC Oleksandria | |
| 9 | Naftovyk Stadium, Okhtyrka | 5,256 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | |
| 10 | Druzhba Stadium, Bakhchisaray, Crimea | 4,500 | PFC Sevastopol | Temporary home stadium used by Sevastopol in the first half of the season |
| 11 | SK Sevastopol, Sevastopol, Crimea | 3,500 | PFC Sevastopol | Return to their home stadium after the winter break |
| 12 | ST Sport Arena, Ahrarne, Crimea | 3,250 | Krymteplitsia Molodizhne | |
| 13 | Kniazha Arena, Dobromyl | 3,220 | FC Lviv | |
| 14 | Central Stadium, Makariv, Kyiv Oblast | 3,100 | Arsenal Bila Tserkva | Club forced to play away from home due to construction. |
| 15 | Enerhetyk Stadium, Burshtyn | 3,000 | Enerhetyk Burshtyn | |
| 16 | Dynamo Stadium, Kharkiv | 2,500 | FC Kharkiv | |
| 17 | Sport Complex Obukhivsky Raion, Obukhiv, Kyiv Oblast | 2,064 | Arsenal Bila Tserkva | Club forced to play away from home due to state of home ground pitch. |
| 18 | Helios Arena, Kharkiv | 2,057 | Helios Kharkiv | |
| 19 | Dukov Dniester Stadium, Ovidiopol | 1,500 | Dniester Ovidiopol | |
| 20 | Arsenal-Spartak Stadium, Kharkiv | 1,500 | FC Kharkiv | Used as temporary home ground after the winter break because of weather conditions. |
| 21 | Stadium Yunist, Kalinino, Crimea | 1,050 | Feniks-Illichovets Kalinine | |
| 22 | Dynamo Club Stadium, Chapayevka | 750 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv Desna Chernihiv Arsenal Bila Tserkva | Used as temporary home ground for Desna and Arsenal because of weather conditions. |
| 23 | YFA Sport Club Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv | 400 | Helios Kharkiv | Used as temporary home ground after the winter break because of weather conditions. |
Notes:
* ↑ Arsenal Bila Tserkva played three home games at Central Stadium, Makariv, Kyiv Oblast – Round 21, 23 and 25.
* ↑ Arsenal Bila Tserkva played their Round 28, 32 and 34 games at SCOR Stadium, Obukhiv, Kyiv Oblast
* ↑ Arsenal-Spartak Stadium (home ground of FC Arsenal Kharkiv) is an all weather stadium with artificial turf.
* ↑ Weather conditions in March forced the PFL to reschedule home games for Arsenal and Desna to Dynamo Training Center which has an artificial pitch. On March 24, three games from Round 19 were played at the complex in one day, including a home game for Dynamo-2.
* ↑ Youth Football Academy Sport Club Metalist Stadium is a sporting complex that has an artificial turf pitch.