# 2023 Meistriliiga

The 2023 Meistriliiga, also known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga due to sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992. It was the first Meistriliiga season with video assistant referee (VAR).
The winners (Flora, their second consecutive title and fifteenth overall) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The runners-up (FCI Levadia), third-placed team (Tallinna Kalev), and fourth-placed team (Paide Linnameeskond) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The ninth-placed team (Tammeka) qualified for the Meistriliiga play-off, winning to retain their place in the league. The bottom-placed team (Harju) were relegated to the 2024 Esiliiga.

## Teams

The league consisted of ten teams; the top nine teams of the previous season, and one team promoted from the Esiliiga. Flora entered the season as defending champions.

### Team changes

| Promoted from 2022 Esiliiga | Relegated to 2023 Esiliiga |
| Harju | Legion |

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FCI Levadia | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 14,336 |
| Flora | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 14,336 |
| Harju | Laagri | Laagri Stadium | 500 |
| Kuressaare | Kuressaare | Kuressaare linnastaadion | 1,000 |
| Narva Trans | Narva | Narva Kreenholm Stadium | 1,065 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Tallinn | TNTK Stadium | 800 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Paide | Paide linnastaadion | 500 |
| Tallinna Kalev | Tallinn | Kadriorg Stadium | 5,000 |
| Tammeka | Tartu | Tartu Tamme Stadium | 1,500 |
| Vaprus | Pärnu | Pärnu Rannastaadion | 1,501 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| FCI Levadia | Curro Torres | Rasmus Peetson | Macron | Admirals, Viimsi Keevitus |
| Flora | Jürgen Henn | Konstantin Vassiljev | Nike | Optibet |
| Harju | Victor Silva | Andre Järva | Adidas | Enemat |
| Kuressaare | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | Märten Pajunurm | Nike | Visit Saaremaa |
| Narva Trans | Aleksei Eremenko | Elysée | Nike | Sportland |
| Nõmme Kalju | Nikita Andreev | Yohan Mannone | Adidas | Marsbet |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Ivan Stojković | Andre Frolov | Nike | Exmet, Verston |
| Tallinna Kalev | Aivar Anniste Daniel Meijel | Marek Kaljumäe | Macron | Unibet |
| Tammeka | Marti Pähn | Taijo Teniste | Nike | Giga Ehitus |
| Vaprus | Igor Prins | Magnus Villota | Nike | Coolbet |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Vaprus | Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs | End of contract | 12 November 2022 | Pre-season | Igor Prins | 14 November 2022 |
| FCI Levadia | Nikita Andreev | End of interim spell | 1 December 2022 | Pre-season | Curro Torres | 1 December 2022 |
| Narva Trans | Aleksei Yagudin | End of interim spell | 31 December 2022 | Pre-season | Sergei Terehhov | 31 December 2022 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Kaido Koppel | Contract terminated | 28 April 2023 | 4th | Nikita Andreev | 28 April 2023 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Karel Voolaid | Contract terminated | 25 May 2023 | 7th | Ats Sillaste (interim) | 27 May 2023 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Ats Sillaste | End of interim spell | 30 May 2023 | 7th | Ivan Stojković | 30 May 2023 |
| Narva Trans | Sergei Terehhov | Contract terminated | 8 August 2023 | 8th | Valeri Bondarenko (interim) | 11 August 2023 |
| Narva Trans | Valeri Bondarenko | End of interim spell | 20 August 2023 | 8th | Aleksei Eremenko | 20 August 2023 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Flora (C) | 36 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 74 | 24 | +50 | 79 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | FCI Levadia | 36 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 67 | 24 | +43 | 77 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Tallinna Kalev | 36 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 49 | 41 | +8 | 53 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Paide Linnameeskond | 36 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 50 | 34 | +16 | 53 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Nõmme Kalju | 36 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 49 | |
| 6 | Vaprus | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 48 | |
| 7 | Kuressaare | 36 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 36 | 60 | −24 | 43 | |
| 8 | Narva Trans | 36 | 12 | 2 | 22 | 32 | 64 | −32 | 38 | |
| 9 | Tammeka (O) | 36 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 33 | 65 | −32 | 27 | Qualification for the Meistriliiga play-off |
| 10 | Harju (R) | 36 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 27 | 61 | −34 | 23 | Relegation to the Esiliiga |
* ↑ The 2023–24 Estonian Cup winners also qualified for the Conference League first qualifying round. Since the cup winners (FCI Levadia) qualified based on league position, the Conference League spot was passed to the fourth-placed team.
* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Tallinna Kalev 8, Paide Linnameeskond 2.

## Results

| Home \ Away | LEV | FLO | HAR | KUR | NAR | NÕM | PLM | KAL | TAM | VAP | LEV | FLO | HAR | KUR | NAR | NÕM | PLM | KAL | TAM | VAP |
| FCI Levadia | — | 0–0 | 6–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Flora | 0–2 | — | 4–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Harju | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–4 |
| Kuressaare | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Narva Trans | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 |
| Nõmme Kalju | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | — | 3–3 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 6–3 | 3–0 |
| Tallinna Kalev | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Tammeka | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–7 | — | 0–0 |
| Vaprus | 0–0 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — |

## Meistriliiga play-off

The ninth-placed club (Tammeka) faced the second-placed club from the 2023 Esiliiga (Viimsi) for the final place in the following season's Meistriliiga.

### Second leg
## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Tristan Koskor | Narva Trans | 16 |
| 2 | Konstantin Vassiljev | Flora | 14 |
| 3 | Mollo | FCI Levadia | 13 |
| 4 | Sergei Zenjov | Flora | 12 |
| 5 | Ernest Agyiri | FCI Levadia | 11 |
| 6 | Kevin Mätas | Tammeka | 10 |
| 6 | Tristan Toomas Teeväli | Tallinna Kalev | 10 |
| 8 | Sten Reinkort | Flora/Kuressaare | 9 |
| 9 | Bourama Fomba | FCI Levadia | 8 |
| 9 | Kevin Kauber | Vaprus | 8 |
| 9 | Mattias Männilaan | Kuressaare | 8 |
| 9 | Foday Trawally | Tallinna Kalev | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Ernest Agyiri | FCI Levadia | Nõmme Kalju | 3–0 (H) | 9 July 2023 |
| Herol Riiberg | Paide Linnameeskond | Tammeka | 6–3 (H) | 19 August 2023 |

### Average attendance

| Club | Average attendance |
| FCI Levadia | 750 |
| Pärnu JK Vaprus | 664 |
| Tallinna FC Flora | 530 |
| JK Tallinna Kalev | 374 |
| Tartu JK Tammeka | 333 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | 309 |
| Nõmme Kalju FC | 294 |
| Harju JK Laagri | 285 |
| JK Narva Trans | 221 |
| FC Kuressaare | 196 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| March | Igor Prins | Vaprus | Uku Kõrre | Vaprus |
| April | Curro Torres | FCI Levadia | Ernest Agyiri | FCI Levadia |
| May | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Sergei Zenjov | Flora |
| June/July | Curro Torres | FCI Levadia | Ebrima Jarju | Paide Linnameeskond |
| August | Nikita Andreev | Nõmme Kalju | Andre Fortune II | Nõmme Kalju |
| September | Victor Silva | Harju | Mollo | FCI Levadia |
| October | Aivar Anniste Daniel Meijel | Tallinna Kalev | Konstantin Vassiljev | Flora |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Season | Konstantin Vassiljev | Flora |
| Goalkeeper of the Season | Karl Andre Vallner | FCI Levadia |
| Defender of the Season | Bourama Fomba | FCI Levadia |
| Midfielder of the Season | Konstantin Vassiljev | Flora |
| Forward of the Season | Mollo | FCI Levadia |
| Under-21 Player of the Season | Mollo | FCI Levadia |
| Manager of the Season | Aivar Anniste Daniel Meijel | Tallinna Kalev |
| Goal of the Season | Mark Maksimkin | Narva Trans |

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Average attendance |
| 1 | FCI Levadia Tallinn | 763 |
| 2 | Pärnu JK Vaprus | 664 |
| 3 | FC Flora Tallinn | 518 |
| 4 | JK Tallinna Kalev | 374 |
| 5 | JK Tammeka Tartu | 333 |
| 6 | Paide Linnameeskond | 309 |
| 7 | JK Nõmme Kalju | 294 |
| 8 | Harju JK Laagri | 285 |
| 9 | JK Narva Trans | 221 |
| 10 | FC Kuressaare | 196 |