# 2008–09 Ukrainian Premier League

The 2008–09 Ukrainian Premier League season was the eighteenth since its establishment. The league was restructured and split off from the Professional Football League of Ukraine. It was officially named as the EpiCentre Championship of Ukraine in football.
Shakhtar Donetsk were the defending champions of the past season, having won their fourth league title. The season began on 16 July 2008 with a scoreless draw between Tavriya Simferopol and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. The last round of matches were played on 26 May 2009. A total of 16 teams participated in the league, 14 of which had contested in the 2007–08 season, and two of which were promoted from the Persha Liha.
Vorskla Poltava's Ahmed Januzi scored the first goal of the tournament on 18 July 2008 in the 72nd minute of an away match against FC Kharkiv. Dynamo Kyiv won their title several games before the end of the season after a home win against Tavriya Simferopol. Dynamo finished with a 15-point lead over the defending champions and current runners-up Shakhtar Donetsk.

## Teams
### Promoted

* FC Illichivets Mariupol, champion of the 2007–08 Ukrainian First League – (returning after absence of a season)
* FC Lviv, runner-up of the 2007–08 Ukrainian First League – (debut)

### Location map
## Managers and captains

| Club | Coach | Captain | Replaced coach |
| Arsenal Kyiv | Oleksandr Zavarov | Vitaliy Reva | |
| Chornomorets Odesa | Viktor Hryshko | Vitaliy Rudenko | Vitaly Shevchenko |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | Volodymyr Bezsonov | Andriy Rusol | Oleh Protasov |
| Dynamo Kyiv | Yury Syomin | Badr El Kaddouri | |
| Illichivets Mariupol | Illya Blyznyuk | Ihor Shukhovtsev | Oleksandr Ishchenko |
| Karpaty Lviv | Oleg Kononov | Serhiy Pshenychnykh | |
| FC Kharkiv | Mykhailo Stelmakh | Vitaliy Komarnytskyi | Volodymyr Bezsonov |
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | Oleh Taran | Dorian Bylykbashi | |
| FC Lviv | Serhiy Kovalets | Maryan Marushchak | Stepan Yurchyshyn |
| Metalist Kharkiv | Myron Markevych | Oleksandr Horyainov | |
| Metalurh Donetsk | Nikolay Kostov | Vyacheslav Checher | |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | Oleh Lutkov | Oleksiy Hodin | Anatoliy Chantsev |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | Mircea Lucescu | Darijo Srna | |
| Tavriya Simferopol | Serhiy Puchkov | Oleksandr Kovpak | Mykhaylo Fomenko |
| Vorskla Poltava | Mykola Pavlov | Hennadiy Medvedyev | |
| Zorya Luhansk | Yuriy Dudnyk | Oleksiy Khramtsov | Anatoliy Volobuyev |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment | Table |
| Dnipro | Oleh Protasov | Resigned | 29 August 2008 | 6th | Volodymyr Bezsonov (acting) | 29 August 2008 | 6th |
| Dnipro | Oleksandr Ishchenko | Sacked | 5 September 2008 | 16th | Illya Blyznyuk (acting) | 5 September 2008 | 16th |
| Chornomorets | Vitaly Shevchenko | Resigned | 4 November 2008 | 9th | Viktor Hryshko (acting) | 4 November 2008 | 9th |

## Qualification to European competitions for 2009–10

* After the 23rd Round, Dynamo Kyiv qualified for European football for the 2009–10 season.
* After the 26th Round, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for European football for the 2009–10 season, while Dynamo Kyiv – for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League with an away 1–0 win over Zorya Luhansk.
* After the 27th Round, Metalist Kharkiv qualified for European football for the 2009–10 season, while Dynamo Kyiv won the League's title with 3–2 home win over Tavriya Simferopol.
* After the 28th Round, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League with an away 3–0 win over Zorya Luhansk.
* After the 30th Round, Metalurh Donetsk qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League with the 0–0 home draw against Arsenal Kyiv.
* After beating Shakhtar Donetsk in the final of the 2008–09 Ukrainian Cup (1–0), Vorskla qualified for the Europa League play-off round, which qualified Metalist for the Europa League third qualification round and Metalurh for the second qualification round
Timeline of qualification

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dynamo Kyiv (C) | 30 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 71 | 19 | +52 | 79 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 47 | 16 | +31 | 64 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Metalist Kharkiv | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 44 | 25 | +19 | 59 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Metalurh Donetsk | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 49 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Vorskla Poltava | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 49 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 6 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 48 | |
| 7 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 29 | 30 | −1 | 45 | |
| 8 | Tavriya Simferopol | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 41 | 45 | −4 | 37 | |
| 9 | Karpaty Lviv | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 34 | |
| 10 | Chornomorets Odesa | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 34 | 42 | −8 | 32 | |
| 11 | Arsenal Kyiv | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 32 | |
| 12 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 21 | 36 | −15 | 32 | |
| 13 | Zorya Luhansk | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 45 | −16 | 31 | |
| 14 | Illichivets Mariupol | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 31 | 54 | −23 | 26 | |
| 15 | FC Lviv (R) | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 39 | −15 | 26 | Relegation to Ukrainian First League |
| 16 | FC Kharkiv (R) | 30 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 19 | 50 | −31 | 12 | Relegation to Ukrainian First League |
* ↑ Chornomorets were docked 6 points for failing to satisfy contractual obligations with the Bosnian player Đorđe Inđić.
* ↑ On 6 May 2009 FC Kharkiv were docked 3 points by the Disciplinary Committee of the FPL (application fees).

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARK | CHO | DNI | DYN | ILL | KAR | KHA | KRY | LVI | MET | MDO | MZA | SHA | TAV | VOR | ZOR |
| Arsenal Kyiv | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Chornomorets Odesa | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Dnipro | 2–1 | 4–1 | — | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 5–0 |
| Illichivets Mariupol | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–4 | — | 1–5 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 |
| Karpaty Lviv | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| FC Kharkiv | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| FC Lviv | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Metalist Kharkiv | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Metalurh Donetsk | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Tavriya Simferopol | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Vorskla Poltava | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 |
| Zorya Luhansk | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — |
* ↑ The game was played in Kyiv.
* ↑ The game was played in Lutsk as the Lviv's home ground was temporarily suspended due to its poor pitch conditions (see Stadiums).

## Round by round

The following table is a historic representation of the team's position in the standings after the completion of each round.
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Arsenal Kyiv | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 11 |
| Chornomorets Odesa | 11 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 |
| Dnipro | 9 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Illichivets Mariupol | 15 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| Karpaty Lviv | 11 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 |
| FC Kharkiv | 11 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 12 |
| FC Lviv | 1 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| Metalist Kharkiv | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Metalurh Donetsk | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 11 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 15 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Tavriya Simferopol | 9 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Vorskla Poltava | 3 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Zorya Luhansk | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 |

## Top scorers

| # | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 1 | Oleksandr Kovpak | 17 (6) | Tavriya Simferopol |
| 2 | Ismaël Bangoura | 13 (1) | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2 | Oleksandr Aliyev | 13 (3) | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 4 | Jajá | 11 (1) | Metalist Kharkiv |
| 5 | Serhiy Kuznetsov | 10 | Karpaty Lviv |
| 5 | Parid Xhihani | 10 | Zorya Luhansk |
| 5 | Artem Milevskyi | 10 (1) | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 8 | Tiberiu Ghioane | 9 | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 9 | Oleksandr Kosyrin | 8 | Chornomorets Odesa |
| 9 | Marko Dević | 8 (2) | Metalist Kharkiv |
| 9 | Ricardo Fernandes | 8 (6) | Metalurh Donetsk |

## Season awards

The laureates of the 2008–09 UPL season were:
* Best player: Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk)
* Best coach: Mircea Lucescu (Shakhtar Donetsk)
* Best arbiter: Andriy Shandor (Lviv)
* Best goalscorer: Oleksandr Kovpak (Tavriya Simferopol)
* Fair play prize: Dynamo Kyiv

## Stadiums

FC Kharkiv played in Sumy, because Dynamo Stadium in Kharkiv which was recently bought by the club requires major renovations. The club returned to their home ground in April for their 24th Round game against Tavriya. Arsenal Kyiv, who also has a chronic problem with obtaining its own home ground, shared three stadiums in the first half of the season. Initially allowed to play at Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Arsenal was forced to seek another home venue during its times financial hardship. Arsenal was spotted by Obolon Kyiv that let the club utilize the Obolon Stadium. As the problem continues to be unresolved with Arsenal's home field, they could possibly relocate from Kyiv, with some speculations of moving to Sumy Oblast.
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk has moved this season to the newly built Dnipro Stadium, but still played some of its games at Stadium Meteor on occasion. Also Shakhtar Donetsk plans to move to the newly built Donbass Arena once it is completely built. FC Chornomorets Odesa, due to renovations at Chornomorets Stadium played its games in the second half of the season at Spartak Stadium.
Newly promoted FC Lviv decided to use Ukraina Stadium expecting to attract extra fans in Lviv. However, economic factors as well as poor performances and lack of support in the area the club decided after the winter break to return to their original home ground Kniazha Arena in Dobromyl. After one home game in atrocious conditions in early spring which damaged the pitch the club was forced to look to other venues (including Avanhard Stadium in Lutsk and Bannikov Stadium in Kyiv). Late in April FC Lviv returned for home fixtures at Kniazha Arena.

### List of home stadiums

| Rank | Stadium | Capacity | Club | Notes |
| 1 | Dnipro Stadium | 31,003 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | Moved from Stadium Meteor (12 games) |
| 2 | Metalurh Stadium | 29,783 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | |
| 3 | Ukraina Stadium | 28,051 | Karpaty Lviv | Stadium under renovations |
| 4 | RSK Olimpiyskiy | 25,831 | Shakhtar Donetsk | |
| 5 | Vorskla Stadium | 25,000 | Vorskla Poltava | |
| 6 | OSK Metalist | 22,757 | Metalist Kharkiv | Stadium under renovations |
| 7 | Avanhard Stadium | 22,320 | Zorya Luhansk | |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Stadium | 19,978 | Tavriya Simferopol | |
| 9 | Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium | 16,873 | Dynamo Kyiv Arsenal Kyiv | Temporarily leased to FC Arsenal |
| 10 | Illichivets Stadium | 12,680 | Illichivets Mariupol | |
| 11 | Slavutych Arena | 11,983 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | |
| 12 | Dynamo Stadium (Kharkiv) | 9,000 | FC Kharkiv | FC Kharkiv played only its last four games (all lost) |
| 13 | Metalurh Stadium | 5,300 | Metalurh Donetsk | |
| 14 | Spartak Stadium | 5,000 | Chornomorets Odesa | Chornomorets' secondary home ground. |
| 15 | Kniazha Arena | 3,220 | FC Lviv | FC Lviv's home ground in Dobromyl |

### Auxiliary or former home stadiums

| Rank | Stadium | Capacity | Club | Notes |
| 1 | Chornomorets Stadium | 34,362 | Chornomorets Odesa | Home ground for the first half (9 games) |
| 2 | Yuvileiny Stadium (Sumy) | 29,300 | FC Kharkiv | FC Kharkiv lease until April 2009 (11 games) |
| 3 | Ukraina Stadium | 28,051 | FC Lviv | Lent to FC Lviv in the first half. |
| 4 | Stadium Meteor | 24,381 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | Played only first three games |
| 5 | Avanhard Stadium | 11,574 | FC Lviv | Lent to FC Lviv for a single game |
| 6 | Dynamo Stadium (Kharkiv) | 9,000 | Metalist Kharkiv | Played the last game of season against Kryvbas |
| 7 | Obolon Stadium | 4,300 | Arsenal Kyiv | Lent to Arsenal Kyiv by Obolon Kyiv |
| 8 | Bannikov Stadium | 1,678 | Arsenal Kyiv, FC Lviv | Lent to Arsenal Kyiv and FC Lviv by FFU |
| 9 | Dynamo Club Stadium | 750 | Arsenal Kyiv | Lent to Arsenal Kyiv by Dynamo Kyiv |