# 1996–97 Ukrainian Second League

The 1996–97 Ukrainian Second League was the sixth season of 3rd level professional football in Ukraine. The competition commenced on 10 August 1996 and ended on 21 June 1997.

## Teams
### Promoted teams

Six teams have been promoted from the 1995–96 Ukrainian Football Amateur League:
* Pokuttya Kolomyia - Group 1 winner (debut)
* Papirnyk Malyn - Group 3 winner (debut)
* Fakel Varva - Group 4 winner (debut)
* Lokomotyv Smila - Group 3 runner-up (debut)
* Avanhard Merefa - Group 4 third (debut)
* Portovyk Kerch - Group 6 winner (debut)
Two teams were added also without participation in the Ukrainian Football Amateur League:
* Nyva Bershad - undetermined (debut), supposedly instead of Sportinvest Kryvyi Rin (withdrew at the last season winter break, yet placed above the 18th position)
* FC Petrivtsi - undetermined (debut)

### Relegated teams

Two teams have been relegated from the 1995–96 Ukrainian First League:
* Ratusha Kamyanets-Podilskyi – 21st place (debut)
* Skala Stryi – 22nd place (debut)

### Withdrawn teams

* Ratusha Kamyanets-Podilskyi
* Skala Stryi
* Chayka Sevastopol
* Druzhba Berdiansk
* Dnistrovets Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
* Nyva-Kosmos Myronivka
* Avanhard Zhydachiv

### Merged and renamed teams

* Skhid Slavutch changed its name to Nerafa Slavutych.
* Khutrovyk Tysmenytsia changed its name to FC Tysmenytsia.
* Obolon Kyiv changed its name to Obolon-PPO Kyiv in cooperation with the Ukrainian Armed Forces (PPO is an abbreviation for Anti-Air Defense).
* During winter break, Avanhard Merefa moved to Kharkiv and changed its name to Avanhard-Metalist Kharkiv.

### Location map
## Group A
### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Desna Chernihiv (C, P) | 30 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 39 | 12 | +27 | 66 | Promoted to Persha Liha |
| 2 | Fakel Varva | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 40 | 20 | +20 | 61 | |
| 3 | Tysmenytsia | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 41 | 21 | +20 | 58 | |
| 4 | Obolon-PPO Kyiv | 30 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 34 | 17 | +17 | 56 | |
| 5 | Karpaty Mukacheve | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 43 | 24 | +19 | 52 | |
| 6 | Halychyna Drohobych | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 34 | 27 | +7 | 46 | |
| 7 | Pokuttia Kolomyia | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 44 | |
| 8 | Systema-Boreks Borodianka | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 28 | 31 | −3 | 41 | |
| 9 | Nyva Bershad | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 39 | second team of Nyva Vinnytsia |
| 10 | Haray Zhovkva | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 37 | |
| 11 | Kalush | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 35 | |
| 12 | Hazovyk Komarno | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 26 | −3 | 34 | |
| 13 | Papirnyk Malyn | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 32 | −16 | 31 | |
| 14 | Nerafa Slavutych | 30 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 24 | 56 | −32 | 27 | |
| 15 | Ros Bila Tserkva | 30 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 14 | 49 | −35 | 22 | Avoided relegation |
| 16 | Keramik Baranivka (D) | 30 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 15 | 27 | −12 | 16 | Withdrew |
* ↑ FC Ros Bila Tserkva was allowed to stay, but was reformed into FC Ryhonda for the next season.
* ↑ FC Keramik Baranivka stopped its participation after the first half.

### Top goalscorers

| | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 1 | Orest Atamanchuk | 11 (3) | Tysmenytsia |
| 2 | Volodymyr Kryzhanivsky | 10 | Kalush |
| 2 | Yuriy Ovcharenko | 10 | Ros / Desna |
| 4 | Valeriy Sanytsky | 9 | Fakel Varva |
| 5 | Vasyl Klymko | 8 | Halychyna Drohobych |
| 5 | Petro Pylypeiko | 8 | Desna Chernihiv |
| 5 | Oleksandr Shevchenko | 8 | Nyva Bershad |

## Group B
### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Avanhard-Industria Rovenky (C, P) | 32 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 50 | 17 | +33 | 76 | Promoted to Persha Liha |
| 2 | Tytan Armyansk | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 51 | 29 | +22 | 57 | |
| 3 | Oskil Kupiansk | 32 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 38 | 23 | +15 | 55 | |
| 4 | Petrivtsi | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 46 | 36 | +10 | 53 | |
| 5 | Metalurh Novomoskovsk | 32 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 52 | 34 | +18 | 50 | |
| 6 | Krystal Kherson | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 47 | |
| 7 | Shakhtar Stakhanov | 32 | 14 | 4 | 14 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 46 | |
| 8 | Viktor Zaporizhzhia | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 44 | |
| 9 | Shakhtar-2 Donetsk | 32 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 41 | |
| 10 | Torpedo Melitopol | 32 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 26 | 32 | −6 | 41 | |
| 11 | Portovyk Illichivsk | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 27 | 28 | −1 | 40 | |
| 12 | Olimpia FC AES | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 25 | 33 | −8 | 39 | |
| 13 | Lokomotyv Smila | 32 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 29 | 37 | −8 | 37 | |
| 14 | Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk | 32 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 32 | −12 | 36 | |
| 15 | Avanhard-Metalist Merefa | 32 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 24 | 49 | −25 | 33 | |
| 16 | Dynamo Saky (R) | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 23 | 43 | −20 | 32 | Relegated |
| 17 | Portovyk Kerch (D) | 32 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 27 | 57 | −30 | 23 | Dissolved |
* ↑ Avanhard-Metalist Merefa in the first half of the season was called Avanhard Merefa.
* ↑ Portovyk Kerch became the third post Soviet club that was relegated to amateurs.

### Top goalscorers

| | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 1 | Ihor Tolstov | 15 (3) | Hirnyk-Sport / Petrivtsi |
| 2 | Oleh Pokusa | 13 | Metalurh Novomoskovsk |
| 3 | Kostyantyn Vizyonok | 12 (1) | Tytan Armyansk |
| 4 | Oleksandr Kryvoruchko | 11 | Oskil Kupiansk |
| 4 | Oleksandr Lyubynsky | 11 (5) | Krystal Kherson |