# 2011–12 Ukrainian First League

The 2011–12 Ukrainian First League was the 21st since its establishment. Eighteen teams competed in the competition. Two teams were promoted from the 2010–11 Ukrainian Second League. Two teams were relegated from the 2010–11 Ukrainian Premier League
The competition began on July 16, 2011 with seven matches. The competition had a winter break starting on November 22, 2011 and the competition resumed on March 24, 2012 and completed on May 30, 2012.

## Team changes
### Promoted teams

These two teams were promoted from the 2010–11 Ukrainian Second League

#### Group A

* MFK Mykolaiv – Second League champion (returning after three seasons)

#### Group B

* Olimpik Donetsk – Second League champion (debut)

### Relegated teams

Two teams were relegated from the 2010–11 Ukrainian Premier League
* FC Sevastopol – 15th place (returning after a season)
* Metalurh Zaporizhzhia – 16th place (debut)

### Renamed teams

* Dnister Ovidiopol moved their operations to Odesa and renamed themselves to FC Odesa.
* Zakarpattia Uzhhorod was renamed to Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod.

## Team locations
### Map

The following displays the location of teams.

### Stadiums

The following stadiums were used during the season.
| Rank | Stadium | Capacity | Club | Notes |
| 1 | Ukraina Stadium | 28,051 | FC Lviv | Used as home ground in Round 28 |
| 2 | Central Stadium, Vinnytsia | 24,000 | Nyva Vinnytsia | |
| 3 | Army Sports Club Stadium, Lviv | 23,040 | FC Lviv | Used as home ground in Round 21 |
| 4 | Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium | 16,873 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv | Used as home ground in Round 23 |
| 5 | Central Stadium, Mykolaiv | 16,700 | MFK Mykolaiv | |
| 6 | Zirka Stadium, Kirovohrad | 13,667 | Zirka Kirovohrad | |
| 7 | Labor Reserve, Bila Tserkva | 13,500 | Arsenal Bila Tserkva | |
| 8 | Avanhard Zakarpattya, Uzhhorod | 12,000 | Zakarpattya Uzhhorod | |
| 9 | Bukovyna Stadium, Chernivtsi | 12,000 | Bukovyna Chernivtsi | |
| 10 | Slavutych Arena | 11,983 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | |
| 11 | Stal Stadium, Alchevsk | 8,632 | Stal Alchevsk | |
| 12 | Kolos Stadium, Boryspil | 5,654 | Arsenal Bila Tserkva | Used by Arsenal as home ground after the winter break |
| 13 | SK Sevastopol, Sevastopol, Crimea | 5,511 | FC Sevastopol | |
| 14 | Naftovyk Stadium, Okhtyrka | 5,256 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | |
| 15 | Spartak Stadium, Odesa | 4,610 | FC Odesa | |
| 16 | Khimik Stadium, Krasnoperekopsk, Crimea | 4,116 | Tytan Armyansk | Used as home ground after the winter break |
| 17 | Khimik Stadium, Armyansk, Crimea | 3,450 | Tytan Armyansk | |
| 18 | ST Sport Arena, Ahrarne, Crimea | 3,250 | Krymteplitsia Molodizhne | |
| 19 | Lofort Arena, Dobromyl | 3,220 | FC Lviv | |
| 20 | Enerhetyk Stadium, Burshtyn | 3,000 | Enerhetyk Burshtyn | |
| 21 | Helios Arena, Kharkiv | 2,057 | Helios Kharkiv | |
| 22 | Dukov Dnister Stadium, Ovidiopol | 1,500 | FC Odesa | Used as home ground in Round 23 |
| 23 | Avanhard Stadium (artificial turf), Luhansk | 1,000 | Stal Alchevsk | Reserve ground - Used as home ground in Round 26 |
| 24 | Dynamo Club Stadium, Chapayevka | 750 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv |
| 25 | Sports Complex Olimpik, Donetsk | 680 | Olimpik Donetsk | |
* ↑ After the winter break Arsenal Bila Tserkva played their Round 22 fixture at Kolos Stadium in Boryspil due to not having a lease signed to use Trudovi Reservy.
* ↑ After the winter break Tytan Armyansk played their home games at Khimik Stadium, Krasnoperekopsk, Crimea due to reseeding of the pitch at their stadium.

## Managers

| Club | Coach | Replaced coach |
| Arsenal Bila Tserkva | Ihor Artymovych | |
| Bukovyna Chernivtsi | Vadym Zayats | |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | Andriy Husin | |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | Volodymyr Kovalyuk | Mykola Vitovskiy (caretaker) Bohdan Blavatskyi |
| Helios Kharkiv | Volodymyr Shekhovtsov (caretaker) | |
| Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod | Oleksandr Sevidov | |
| Krymteplytsia Molodizhne | Mykola Fedorko (caretaker) | |
| FC Lviv | Volodymyr Zhuravchak | Roman Marych (caretaker) Roman Laba (caretaker) |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | Serhiy Zaytsev (caretaker) | |
| MFC Mykolaiv | Ruslan Zabranskyi | |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | Yevhen Yarovenko | Vadym Kolesnyk (caretaker) Serhiy Mizin |
| Nyva Vinnytsia | Oleh Shumovytskyi (caretaker) | Oleh Fedorchuk |
| FC Odesa | Andriy Parkhomenko | |
| Olimpik Donetsk | Ihor Petrov | |
| FC Sevastopol | Serhiy Puchkov | Oleksandr Ryabokon |
| Stal Alchevsk | Anatoliy Volobuyev | |
| Tytan Armyansk | Oleksandr Haydash | Serhiy Kozlov (interim) Mykola Fedorenko |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | Vadym Yevtushenko | Anatoliy Buznyk Ihor Zhabchenko Andriy Antonov (caretaker) |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | Hryhoriy Nehiryev (caretaker) | End as caretaker | 1 June | Pre-season | Serhiy Zaytsev (caretaker) | 13 June |
| FC Sevastopol | Angel Chervenkov | Resigned | 14 June | Pre-season | Oleksandr Ryabokon | 28 June |
| FC Lviv | Oleksandr Ryabokon | Leaves for PFC Sevastopol | 28 June | Pre-season | Roman Laba (caretaker) | 28 June |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | Anatoliy Buznyk | Resigned | 22 August | 13th | Ihor Zhabchenko | 22 August |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | Bohdan Blavatskyi | Resigned | 16 September | 18th | Mykola Vitovskiy (caretaker) | 17 September |
| FC Lviv | Roman Laba (caretaker) | End as caretaker | 24 September | 16th | Roman Marych (caretaker) | 24 September |
| FC Sevastopol | Oleksandr Ryabokon | Sacked | 17 October | 4th | Serhiy Puchkov | 18 October |
| Nyva Vinnytsia | Oleh Fedorchuk | Resigned | 20 October | 17th | Oleh Shumovytskyi (caretaker) | 20 October |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta | Serhiy Mizin | Resigned | 5 November | 9th | Vadym Kolesnyk (caretaker) | 7 November |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | Ihor Zhabchenko | Sacked | 9 November | 15th | Andriy Antonov (caretaker) | 9 November |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta | Vadym Kolesnyk (caretaker) | End as caretaker | 30 November | 8th | Yevhen Yarovenko | 30 November |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | Andriy Antonov (caretaker) | End as caretaker | 9 December | 15th | Vadym Yevtushenko | 9 December |
| FC Lviv | Roman Marych (caretaker) | End as caretaker | 1 February | 18th | Volodymyr Zhuravchak | 1 February |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | Mykola Vitovskiy (caretaker) | End as caretaker | 16 February | 16th | Volodymyr Kovalyuk | 16 February |
| Tytan Armyansk | Mykola Fedorenko | Resigned | 16 May | 13th | Serhiy Kozlov (interim) | 16 May |
| Tytan Armyansk | Serhiy Kozlov (caretaker) | End as caretaker | 23 May | 13th | Oleksandr Haydash | 23 May |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod (C, P) | 34 | 27 | 3 | 4 | 67 | 16 | +51 | 84 | Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 2 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia (P) | 34 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 77 | 32 | +45 | 76 | Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 3 | FC Sevastopol | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 60 | 22 | +38 | 76 | |
| 4 | Arsenal Bila Tserkva | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 62 | |
| 5 | Krymteplitsia Molodizhne | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 50 | 38 | +12 | 60 | |
| 6 | Bukovyna Chernivtsi | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 57 | |
| 7 | Stal Alchevsk | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 50 | |
| 8 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 50 | |
| 9 | Helios Kharkiv | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 48 | |
| 10 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 49 | 43 | +6 | 44 | |
| 11 | Zirka Kirovohrad | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 44 | |
| 12 | Olimpik Donetsk | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 38 | 44 | −6 | 40 | |
| 13 | Nyva Vinnytsia (D) | 34 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 21 | 39 | −18 | 32 | Withdrew |
| 14 | Tytan Armyansk | 34 | 9 | 5 | 20 | 33 | 59 | −26 | 32 | |
| 15 | FC Odesa | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 31 | |
| 16 | MFK Mykolaiv (O) | 34 | 9 | 4 | 21 | 33 | 51 | −18 | 28 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
| 17 | Enerhetyk Burshtyn (D) | 34 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 26 | 72 | −46 | 19 | Withdrew |
| 18 | FC Lviv (D) | 34 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 21 | 79 | −58 | 18 | Withdrew |
* ↑ Nyva Vinnystia withdrew from the PFL after the season.(13 July 2012)
* ↑ MFK Mykolaiv were deducted 3 points for failure of payments of financial obligations ordered by the PFL. (31 May 2012)
* ↑ Enerhetyk Burshtyn withdrew from the PFL after Round 32.
* ↑ FC Lviv were deducted 3 points for failure of payments of financial obligations ordered by the PFL. (31 May 2012)
* ↑ FC Lviv withdrew from the PFL after the season.(12 July 2012)

### Withdrawn Teams
#### Enerhetyk Burshtyn

On 22 May the president of Enerhetyk Burshtyn informed that the Round 32 match in Vinnytsia was the last match as a professional club and that the will not be competing in the last two games of the season. The rest of Enerhetyk's fixtures (2 games) are considered technical losses. The club played 32 games in the League and had a record of 5 wins, 4 draws and 23 losses with 26 goals scored and 72 against.

#### FC Lviv

Prior to the start of the 2012–13 Ukrainian Second League season the Sporting Director of the club informed the PFL that they are withdrawing from the league due to termination of their financial sponsor.

#### Nyva Vinnytsia

The club originally informed the PFL that they were to withdraw from the league when the draw for the 2012–13 season was made due to insufficient funds.(5 July 2012) However, the city and the oblast administration informed the PFL guaranteeing sufficient funds for the next season.(10 July 2012) The club was to participate in the 2012–13 Ukrainian Second League competition after readmission to the PFL but was dissolved not submitting proper documentation or license fees and was omitted from the competition.(13 July 2012)

### Promotion Relegation playoff

The promotion/relegation playoff stage consisted of two matches. At match one both second placed teams of the Second League groups played each other to determine the winner. At match two the match was played between the 16th place team of the First League and the winner of another playoff game between the second placed clubs from each group of the Second League.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Desna Chernihiv | 0–1 | Avanhard Kramatorsk |
| MFC Mykolaiv | 4–3 | Avanhard Kramatorsk |

#### Match two

MFK Mykolaiv remain in the First League.

#### Playoff bracket

| Match one | Match one | Match one | Match two | Match two | Match two |
| | | | 1L | MFC Mykolaiv | 4 |
| 2L | Desna Chernihiv | 0 | 2L | Avanhard Kramatorsk | 3 |
| 2L | Avanhard Kramatorsk | 1 | | | |
* 1L – First League
* 2L – Second League

## Results

    As of May 30, 2012
| Home \ Away | ABT | BUK | DK2 | ENE | HEL | HOV | KRM | LVI | NAF | NYV | MZA | MYK | ODS | OLD | SEV | STA | TYA | ZIR |
| Arsenal Bila Tserkva | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Bukovyna Chernivtsi | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 0–2 | 3–0 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | 2–3 | 0–0 | -:+ | | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–5 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Helios Kharkiv | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Hoverla Uzhhorod | 5–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Krymteplytsia Molodizhne | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| FC Lviv | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | +:- | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 5–1 |
| Nyva Vinnytsia | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 5–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 4–1 |
| MFC Mykolaiv | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| FC Odesa | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 5–2 | 1–3 |
| Olimpik Donetsk | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–4 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Sevastopol | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Stal Alchevsk | 3–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Tytan Armyansk | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | | 0–2 |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | |
* 1 2 Two Round 3 fixtures were postponed for a day due to the mining disaster at the Suhodolskaya-Vostochnaya coal mine when a day of mourning was announced by the President of Ukraine. (30 July 2011)
* ↑ Round 33 match was not played. Enerhetyk Burshtyn's management informed the PFL that they would withdraw the club from the competition. (24 May 2012)
* ↑ Round 28 match was not played. Enerhetyk Burshtyn's management informed the PFL that they would not travel to Okhtyrka due to their financial state. (27 April 2012) The PFL Disciplinary committee awards a 3–0 technical victory to Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka. (May 17, 2012)
* ↑ Round 16 match was not played. Stal' players and fans arrived to the ground with police and safety workers on hand at the ground. Five minutes prior to the game an announcement was made that due to Nyva Vinnytsia's financial situation the match would not take place. The PFL Disciplinary committee awards a 0–3 technical victory to Stal' Alchevsk. (October 27, 2011)
* ↑ Originally this fixture was scheduled in Round 11 but was postponed due to FC Lviv's financial difficulties. Match was played on 13 October 2011 after Round 15.
* ↑ Round 22 was rescheduled to 24 April 2012 due to the state of Stal's Alchevsk home stadium.

## Top scorers

    As of May 30, 2012
| | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 1 | Oleksandr Kosyrin | 19 | FC Odesa/Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod |
| 2 | Serhiy Kuznetsov | 16 (1) | FC Sevastopol |
| 3 | Oleksandr Kochura | 14 (1) | Zirka Kirovohrad |
| 4 | Viktor Raskov | 13 | Helios Kharkiv |
| 4 | Oleksiy Byelik | 13 (2) | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia |
| 6 | Ivan Matyazh | 12 (1) | Olimpik Donetsk/Metalurh Zaporizhzhia |
| 6 | Artur Karnoza | 12 (5) | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka |
| 8 | Yevhen Pisotskyi | 10 | Metalurh Zaporizhia |
| 8 | Lasha Jakobia | 10 (1) | Hoverla-Zakarpattia Uzhhorod |
| 8 | Ruslan Hunchak | 10 (3) | Bukovyna Chernivtsi |
| 8 | Valentyn Poltavets | 10 (3) | FC Odesa |
* ↑ FC Odesa did not renew its contract with Oleksandr Kosyrin during the winter break. Hoverla-Zakarpattia signed Kosyrin to a multi year deal. (17 January 2012)
* ↑ Ivan Matyazh during the winter break signed a contract with Metalurh Zaporizhzhia. (24 February 2012)