# 2008–09 Ukrainian First League

The 2008–09 Ukrainian First League was the eighteenth since its establishment. The Professional Football League (PFL) decreased the number of teams in the league. This season, there are 18 teams instead of 20 teams competing. Two of the teams were relegated from the 2007–08 Ukrainian Premier League and two were promoted from the 2007–08 Ukrainian Second League. To decrease the number of teams in the competition 4 teams were relegated from the 2007–08 Ukrainian First League season.

## Teams
### Promoted teams

Both of the following two teams were promoted from Druha Liha and debuting in the Ukrainian First League:

#### Group A

* Knyazha Schaslyve – Druha Liha champion (debut)

#### Group B

* Komunalnyk Luhansk – Druha Liha champion (debut)

### Relegated teams

Two teams were relegated from the Ukrainian Premier League 2007–08 season after finishing on the bottom of the competition:
* Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka – 15th place (Returning after a seasons)
* Zakarpattia Uzhhorod – 16th place (Returning after a seasons)

### Withdrawn teams

On June 26, 2008 MFC Mykolaiv was withdrawn from competitions. On July 1, 2008, the club was announced about the official disbandment. Due to the public pressure and with help of Hryhoriy Surkis, it became possible to preserve the club in professional competitions. MFK Mykolaiv was admitted to the 2008–09 Ukrainian Second League instead of the third team of Dynamo, FC Dynamo-3 Kyiv.

### Location
## Competition information

Placing of teams in table of standings are done in the following order:
* number of accumulated points
* number of wins
* difference(GD) between goals for(GF) and goals allowed(GA)
* number of goals for(GF)
* The League Fair-play ranking
The next tie-break is a simple draw.

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Zakarpattia Uzhhorod (C, P) | 32 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 55 | 28 | +27 | 69 | Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 2 | Obolon Kyiv (P) | 32 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 74 | 40 | +34 | 63 | Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 3 | PFC Oleksandria | 32 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 54 | |
| 4 | PFC Sevastopol | 32 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 51 | |
| 5 | Volyn Lutsk | 32 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 48 | 46 | +2 | 50 | |
| 6 | Krymteplytsia Molodizhne | 32 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 40 | 39 | +1 | 49 | |
| 7 | Desna Chernihiv | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 47 | |
| 8 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 32 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 43 | 42 | +1 | 47 | |
| 9 | Dniester Ovidiopol | 32 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 43 | |
| 10 | Stal Alchevsk | 32 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 43 | Fair Play Award |
| 11 | Ihroservice Simferopol (D) | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 42 | 47 | −5 | 42 | Withdrew (expelled) from PFL |
| 12 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 32 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 41 | |
| 13 | Feniks-Illichovets Kalinine | 32 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 33 | 38 | −5 | 38 | |
| 14 | Enerhetyk Burshtyn | 32 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 29 | 43 | −14 | 31 | |
| 15 | Helios Kharkiv | 32 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 28 | 44 | −16 | 30 | |
| 16 | Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | 32 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 26 | 54 | −28 | 28 | Avoided relegation |
| 17 | Knyazha Schaslyve (D) | 32 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 20 | Withdrew (expelled) from PFL |
| – | Komunalnyk Luhansk (D) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 31 | — | 0 | Withdrew (expelled) from PFL |
* ↑ After the season completed, Ihroservice Simferopol withdrew due to licensing issues for the next season'"`UNIQ--ref-00000009-QINU`"'
* ↑ Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka deducted 3 points by the Ukrainian Football Federation (January 22, 2009)
* ↑ Due to the licensing issues of Ihroservice Simferopol, Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk who finished in 16th place were not relegated by the PFL.
* ↑ Knyazha Schaslyve withdrew after the winter break;'"`UNIQ--ref-0000000D-QINU`"' Komunalnyk Luhansk was withdrawn from the league and its results were annulled'"`UNIQ--ref-0000000E-QINU`"'

## Results

| Home \ Away | DES | DNR | DK2 | ENE | FEN | HEL | IHS | KNY | KRM | NAF | OBO | OLK | PIF | SEV | STA | VOL | HOV |
| Desna Chernihiv | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Dnister Ovidiopol | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | +:- | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | +:- | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Feniks-Illichovets Kalinino | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | | 2–3 | 0–0 | +:- | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Helios Kharkiv | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | +:- | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Ihroservice Simferopol | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Knyazha Schaslyve | -:+ | 0–2 | 2–2 | -:+ | 1–2 | 1–1 | -:+ | | -:+ | 3–0 | 1–2 | -:+ | -:+ | -:+ | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Krymteplytsia Molodizhne | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–2 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–4 | +:- | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Obolon Kyiv | 3–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | | 4–3 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 6–2 | 4–3 | 0–0 |
| FC Oleksandriya | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | 0–0 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | | 2–6 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–3 |
| Sevastopol | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 |
| Stal Alchevsk | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | +:- | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Volyn Lutsk | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | +:- | 0–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 3–2 |
| Hoverla Uzhhorod | 3–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | |

## Top scorers

| Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| Oleksandr Pyschur | 22 (4) | Volyn |
| Charles Newuche | 16 (1) | Zakarpattia |
| Valeriy Kutsenko | 14 (2) | Obolon |
| Matviy Bobal | 14 (6) | Ihroservice |
| Andriy Shevchuk | 13 | PFC Sevastopol |
| Vitaliy Prokopchenko | 12 (1) | Feniks-Illichovets / Zakarpattia |
| Oleksandr Savanchuk | 11 (3) | Feniks-Illichovets / Naftovyk-Ukrnafta |
| Pavlo Onysko | 10 (2) | Obolon |
| Artem Miroshnychenko | 9 | Obolon |
| Oleksandr Mandzyuk | 9 | Knyazha |
| Souleymane Diaby | 9 | Krymteplitsia |
| Dmytro Viter | 9 (3) | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta |
* ↑ Bobal signed with Premier League club Tavriya Simferopol (November 22, 2008)
* ↑ Prokopchenko transferred to Zakarpattia (March 24, 2009)
* ↑ Savanchuk transferred to Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka (March 24, 2009)
* ↑ Mandzyuk signed with Premier League club FC Lviv (February 25, 2009)

## Managers

| Club | Coach | Replaced coach |
| Desna Chernihiv | Mykhaylo Dunets | Oleksandr Ryabokon’ |
| Dniester Ovidiopol | Andriy Parkhomenko | Ihor Nehara |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | Henadiy Lytovchenko | |
| Enerhetyk Burshtyn | Mykhaylo Savka | |
| Feniks-Illichovets Kalinine | Oleksandr Haidash | |
| Helios Kharkiv | Serhiy Kandaurov | Yuriy Pohrebnyak |
| Ihroservice Simferopol | Serhiy Shevchenko | |
| Knyazha Schaslyve | Vitaliy Levchenko | |
| Komunalnyk Luhansk | Yuriy Malyhin | Mykhaylo Dunets |
| Krymteplitsia Molodizhne | Mykhaylo Sachko | |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | Valeriy Horodov | |
| Obolon Kyiv | Yuriy Maksymov | |
| PFC Oleksandria | Yuriy Koval | |
| Prykarpattya Ivano-Frankivsk | Mykola Prystay | Stepan Matviyiv |
| PFC Sevastopol | Oleh Leschynskyi | Serhiy Puchkov |
| Stal Alchevsk | Vadym Plotnikov | |
| Volyn Lutsk | Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi | |
| Zakarpattia Uzhhorod | Mykhaylo Ivanytsya | Volodymyr Vasyutyk |

## Withdrawn teams
### Komunalnyk Luhansk

After competing in thirteen rounds of the competition Komunalnyk Luhansk withdrew from the PFL on October 17, 2008. The PFL annulled all the results from the competition and adjusted the standings. Komunalnyk had a record of 2 wins, 1 draw and 10 losses scoring 12 goals and having 31 goals scored against them in the thirteen games that they played in. At the end of the 13th round Komunalnyk was in 17th place in the standings. Yuri Kudinov was the team's leading goal scorer with 8 goals (3 penalties).

### Knyazha Schaslyve

Knyazha withdrew on the March 25, 2009. The PFL will award technical victories to teams that are to play against Knyazha after the winter break. Knyazha in 18 games had a record of 5 wins, 5 draws, and 8 losses scoring 22 goals and having 23 goals scored against them. At the end of the 18th round Knyazha was in 14th place in the standings. Oleksandr Mandziuk was the team's leading goal scorer with 9 goals.

### Ihroservis Simferopol

Ihroservis failed to pay league dues on time and were excluded from competitions for the next season.

## Awards

* Best coach – Yuri Maximov (Obolon)
* Best official – Yevhen Aranovsky (Kyiv)
* Best player – Oleksandr Pischur (Volyn)
* Best scorer – Oleksandr Pischur (Volyn)
* Fair Play Champion – FC Stal Alchevsk