# 2017 Meistriliiga

The 2017 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 3 March 2017 and concluded on 4 November 2017. FCI Tallinn began the season as defending champions of the 2016 season.
Flora won their 11th Meistriliiga title following a 2–0 home win over Tammeka on 28 October 2017.

## Teams

A total of 10 teams contested the league, including 8 teams from the 2016 season. Tarvas were relegated after a winless season. Their spot was taken by Esiliiga champions Tulevik, making an immediate return after their 2015 relegation.
In the relegation play-off Pärnu Linnameeskond successfully defended their league spot by defeating challengers Maardu Linnameeskond, but on 11 January 2017 Pärnu Linnameeskond, a union of football clubs from Pärnu, broke up. Vaprus, one of the three clubs that had formed Linnameeskond, took over the league spot.
Defending champions Infonet underwent a name change due to the UEFA restrictions regarding sponsorship names and became FCI Tallinn.

### Venues

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FCI Tallinn | Tallinn | Infonet Lasnamäe Stadium | 500 |
| Flora | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 10,340 |
| Levadia | Tallinn | Kadriorg Stadium | 5,000 |
| Narva Trans | Narva | Narva Kreenholm Stadium | 1,065 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Tallinn | Hiiu Stadium | 650 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Paide | Paide linnastaadion | 268 |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Sillamäe | Sillamäe Kalev Stadium | 800 |
| Tammeka | Tartu | Tartu Tamme Stadium | 1,500 |
| Tulevik | Viljandi | Viljandi linnastaadion | 1,084 |
| Vaprus | Pärnu | Pärnu Rannastaadion | 1,501 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| FCI Tallinn | Aleksandar Rogić | Andrei Kalimullin | Joma | Infonet |
| Flora | Arno Pijpers | Brent Lepistu | Nike | Tele2 |
| Levadia | Igor Prins | Rimo Hunt | Adidas | Viimsi Keevitus |
| Narva Trans | Adyam Kuzyaev | Irié | Nike | Sportland |
| Nõmme Kalju | Sergei Frantsev | Vitali Teleš | Adidas | help.ee |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Andre Frolov | Nike | Enemat |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Irfan Ametov | Mihhail Starodubtsev | Uhlsport | Alexela |
| Tammeka | Mario Hansi Kaido Koppel | Kaarel Kiidron | Nike | Metec |
| Tulevik | Aivar Lillevere | Indrek Ilves | Joma | Viljandi Aken ja Uks |
| Vaprus | Marko Lelov | Karl Palatu | Nike | Coolbet |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Meelis Rooba | Mutual consent | 5 November 2016 | Pre-season | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | 7 November 2016 |
| Flora | Argo Arbeiter | Sacked | 10 November 2016 | Pre-season | Arno Pijpers | 2 January 2017 |
| Tammeka | Indrek Koser | Mutual consent | 29 November 2016 | Pre-season | Mario Hansi Kaido Koppel | 29 November 2016 |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Algimantas Briaunys | Resigned | 11 April 2017 | 8th | Vadym Dobizha (caretaker) | 11 April 2017 |
| FCI Tallinn | Aleksandr Puštov | Mutual consent | 30 June 2017 | 4th | Sergei Bragin (caretaker) | 30 June 2017 |
| FCI Tallinn | Sergei Bragin | End of caretaker spell | 29 July 2017 | 4th | Aleksandar Rogić | 29 July 2017 |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Vadym Dobizha | Resigned due to ill health | 12 September 2017 | 7th | Irfan Ametov (caretaker) | 12 September 2017 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Flora (C) | 36 | 28 | 6 | 2 | 100 | 28 | +72 | 90 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Levadia | 36 | 25 | 9 | 2 | 106 | 20 | +86 | 84 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Nõmme Kalju | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 101 | 32 | +69 | 78 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | FCI Tallinn | 36 | 20 | 5 | 11 | 103 | 47 | +56 | 65 | |
| 5 | Narva Trans | 36 | 13 | 6 | 17 | 46 | 63 | −17 | 45 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 6 | Paide Linnameeskond | 36 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 47 | 88 | −41 | 38 | |
| 7 | Tammeka | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 40 | 63 | −23 | 37 | |
| 8 | Tulevik | 36 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 34 | 95 | −61 | 28 | |
| 9 | Vaprus | 36 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 29 | 146 | −117 | 8 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Sillamäe Kalev (R) | 36 | 10 | 6 | 20 | 52 | 76 | −24 | 36 | Relegation to the Esiliiga |
* 1 2 Narva Trans qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round since the 2017–18 Estonian Cup winners FCI Levadia had already qualified for the competition based on their league position and FCI Tallinn merged with Levadia after the 2018 season.
* ↑ Relegation play-offs were not held as a league spot was vacated by the merger of FCI Tallinn and Levadia.
* ↑ Sillamäe Kalev were stripped of their Meistriliiga license due to financial troubles.

## Results

Each team plays every opponent four times, twice at home and twice away. A total of 180 matches will be played, with 36 matches played by each team.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Albert Prosa | FCI Tallinn | 27 |
| 1 | Rauno Sappinen | Flora | 27 |
| 3 | Rimo Hunt | Levadia | 20 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Volkov | Sillamäe Kalev | 18 |
| 5 | Zakaria Beglarishvili | Flora | 16 |
| 5 | Yevgeni Kharin | FCI Tallinn | 16 |
| 5 | Liliu | Nõmme Kalju | 16 |
| 5 | João Morelli | Levadia | 16 |
| 9 | Yevgeni Kobzar | Levadia | 12 |
| 10 | Nikita Andreev | Levadia | 11 |
| 10 | Artjom Dmitrijev | Nõmme Kalju | 11 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Dzmitry Kowb | Narva Trans | Paide Linnameeskond | 5–1 (A) | 4 March 2017 |
| Rimo Hunt | Levadia | Paide Linnameeskond | 7–0 (H) | 18 March 2017 |
| Yevgeni Kharin | FCI Tallinn | Vaprus | 6–0 (A) | 15 April 2017 |
| Yevgeni Kobzar | Levadia | Vaprus | 8–0 (H) | 28 April 2017 |
| Albert Prosa$^6$ | FCI Tallinn | Vaprus | 11–1 (H) | 22 May 2017 |
| Rauno Sappinen | Flora | Vaprus | 10–0 (A) | 16 June 2017 |
| João Morelli | Levadia | Paide Linnameeskond | 8–0 (H) | 5 August 2017 |
| Aleksandr Volkov | Sillamäe Kalev | Vaprus | 9–0 (H) | 12 August 2017 |
| Karl Mööl | Nõmme Kalju | Vaprus | 6–1 (A) | 15 August 2017 |
| Liliu | Nõmme Kalju | Vaprus | 6–0 (H) | 23 September 2017 |
| Aleksandr Volkov | Sillamäe Kalev | Vaprus | 7–2 (A) | 30 September 2017 |
| Rauno Sappinen$^4$ | Flora | Narva Trans | 7–0 (A) | 20 October 2017 |
$^4$ Player scored 4 goals; $^6$ Player scored 6 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away

### Average attendance

| Club | Average attendance |
| Nõmme Kalju FC | 531 |
| Tallinna FC Flora | 477 |
| Tartu JK Tammeka | 320 |
| Tallinna FC Levadia | 311 |
| Pärnu JK Vaprus | 255 |
| Viljandi JK Tulevik | 240 |
| Tallinna FC Infonet | 238 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | 164 |
| JK Narva Trans | 143 |
| JK Sillamäe Kalev | 137 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club |
| March | Igor Prins | Levadia | Igor Dudarev | Levadia | Viktor Plotnikov | Narva Trans |
| April | Arno Pijpers | Flora | Rimo Hunt | Levadia | Magnar Vainumäe | Paide Linnameeskond |
| May | Arno Pijpers | Flora | Artur Kotenko | Narva Trans | Brent Lepistu | Flora |
| June | Mario Hansi Kaido Koppel | Tammeka | Rauno Sappinen | Flora | Mark Oliver Roosnupp | Levadia |
| July | Sergei Frantsev | Nõmme Kalju | Aleksandr Volkov | Sillamäe Kalev | Robert Kirss | Nõmme Kalju |
| August | Aleksandar Rogić | FCI Tallinn | Yevgeni Kobzar | Levadia | Oleksandr Sukharov | Sillamäe Kalev |
| September | Igor Prins | Levadia | Josip Krznarić | Levadia | Geovane | Nõmme Kalju |
| October | Arno Pijpers | Flora | Brent Lepistu | Flora | João Morelli | Levadia |

### Player of the Round

| Round | Player of the Round | Player of the Round |
| Round | Player | Club |
| 1 | Rimo Hunt | Levadia |
| 2 | Zakaria Beglarishvili | Flora |
| 3 | João Morelli | Levadia |
| 4 | Rauno Sappinen | Flora |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Year | Rauno Sappinen | Flora |
| Goal of the Year | Viktor Plotnikov | Narva Trans |