# 2015–16 Ukrainian First League

The 2015–16 Ukrainian First League was the 25th since its establishment. The competition commenced on 26 July 2015 with eight matches. The competition had a winter break which began after Round 18 on November 22. The competition resumed on 26 March 2016 and completed on 1 June 2016.

## Teams

The number of teams for the competition was confirmed on 19 June 2015.

### Promoted teams

Two teams were promoted from the 2014–15 Ukrainian Second League.
* Cherkaskyi Dnipro – champion (returning as a successor of FC Dnipro Cherkasy that last participated in the 2007–08 Ukrainian First League, 7 seasons absence)
* Obolon-Brovar Kyiv – 2nd place runner-up (returning as a successor of FC Obolon Kyiv after an absence of three seasons)

### Relegated teams

One team was promoted from the 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League.
* Illichivets Mariupol – 14th place (returning after an absence of seven seasons)

### Reinstated teams

* Avanhard Kramatorsk – special case (returning after an absence of one season)

### Location map

The following displays the location of teams.

### Stadiums

The following stadiums are considered home grounds for the teams in the competition.
| Rank | Stadium | Capacity | Club | Notes |
| 1 | Metalurh Stadium, Kryvyi Rih | 29,783 | Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih | |
| 2 | Yuvileiny Stadium, Sumy | 25,800 | FC Sumy | |
| 3 | Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv | 16,873 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv | Used as home ground in Round 14 and 17 |
| 4 | Central City Stadium, Mykolaiv | 16,700 | MFC Mykolaiv | |
| 5 | Zirka Stadium, Kirovohrad | 13,667 | Zirka Kirovohrad | |
| 6 | Labor Reserve, Bila Tserkva | 13,500 | Desna Chernihiv | Used as home ground |
| 7 | City Stadium, Ternopil | 12,750 | Nyva Ternopil | |
| 7 | City Stadium, Ternopil | 12,750 | FC Ternopil | |
| 8 | Illichivets Stadium, Mariupol | 12,680 | Illichivets Mariupol | |
| 9 | Yuri Gagarin Stadium, Chernihiv | 12,060 | Desna Chernihiv | |
| 10 | Central Stadion, Cherkasy | 10,321 | Cherkaskyi Dnipro | |
| 11 | Naftovyk Stadium, Okhtyrka | 5,256 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | |
| 12 | Obolon Arena, Kyiv | 5,100 | Obolon-Brovar Kyiv | |
| 13 | Sonyachny Stadium, Kharkiv | 4,924 | Helios Kharkiv | |
| 14 | Avanhard Stadium, Kramatorsk | 2,500 | Avanhard Kramatorsk | |
| 15 | Lokomotov Stadium, Poltava | 2,500 | FC Poltava | |
| 16 | Yunist Stadium, Komsomolsk | 2,500 | Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk | |
| 17 | Dynamo Training Center, Kyiv | 1,200 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv | |
* ↑ Due to reconstruction of their home ground Yuri Gagarin Stadium, Desna Chernihiv played their Round 12 home game in Bila Tserkva

## Managers

| Club | Coach | Replaced coach |
| Avanhard Kramatorsk | Yakiv Kripak | |
| Cherkaskyi Dnipro | Ihor Stolovytskyi | |
| Desna Chernihiv | Oleksandr Ryabokon | |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | Vadym Yevtushenko | |
| Helios Kharkiv | Serhiy Syzykhin | |
| Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih | Hennadiy Prykhodko | |
| Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk | Ihor Zhabchenko | |
| Illichivets Mariupol | Valeriy Kriventsov | |
| MFC Mykolaiv | Ruslan Zabranskyi | |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | Volodymyr Knysh | |
| Nyva Ternopil | Petr Badlo (interim) | Roman Tolochko |
| Obolon-Brovar Kyiv | Sergei Soldatov | |
| FC Poltava | Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi (interim) | Oleh Fedorchuk |
| FC Sumy | Yuriy Yaroshenko | |
| FC Ternopil | Vasyl Ivehesh | |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | Serhiy Lavrynenko | |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment |
| Helios Kharkiv | Serhiy Syzykhin (interim) | Change of contract | 1 July 2015 | Pre-season | Serhiy Syzykhin | 1 July 2015 |
| Nyva Ternopil | Roman Tolochko | Resigns | 9 September 2015 | 15th | Petr Badlo (interim) | 9 September 2015 |
| FC Ternopil | Vasyl Ivehesh | Hospitalized | 13 May 2016 | 15th | Ivan Maruschak (interim) | 14 May 2016 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Zirka Kirovohrad (C, P) | 30 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 22 | +27 | 65 | Promoted to Ukrainian Premier League |
| 2 | Cherkaskyi Dnipro | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 45 | 27 | +18 | 55 | |
| 3 | Obolon-Brovar Kyiv | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 54 | |
| 4 | Illichivets Mariupol | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 53 | |
| 5 | Helios Kharkiv | 30 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 33 | 24 | +9 | 51 | |
| 6 | Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih (D) | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 39 | 27 | +12 | 49 | Withdrew after the season |
| 7 | MFC Mykolaiv | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 34 | 27 | +7 | 44 | |
| 8 | Desna Chernihiv | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 40 | |
| 9 | Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 40 | |
| 10 | FC Poltava | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 29 | 32 | −3 | 38 | |
| 11 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv (D) | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 36 | Withdrew after the season |
| 12 | Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 30 | 35 | −5 | 33 | |
| 13 | Avanhard Kramatorsk | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 28 | 42 | −14 | 32 | |
| 14 | FC Sumy | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 35 | 54 | −19 | 30 | Avoided relegation playoff |
| 15 | FC Ternopil | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 18 | 47 | −29 | 22 | Avoided relegation |
| 16 | Nyva Ternopil (D) | 30 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 10 | 26 | −16 | 7 | Withdrew during the season |
* ↑ Several weeks after the season completed the administration of Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih announced that the club would withdraw from the PFL. (23 June 2016)
* 1 2 3 The Control Disciplinary Committee of the Football Federation of Ukraine deducted three points and fined the clubs Nyva Ternopil, FC Ternopil and MFC Mykolaiv for match fixing during the 2014–15 season. (2 September 2015)
* ↑ The management of the senior club FC Dynamo Kyiv prior to the last game of the season announced that the reserve club, Dynamo-2 Kyiv would be terminating after the completion of the season.
* ↑ Originally the fourteenth placed was to have played in a promotion-relegation playoff series against the third team in the Second League competition. However, two days before the end of the season, on 30 May 2016 the PFL ruled that due to sporting principles to keep 16 teams in the First League the promotion-relegation playoff match between the third placed team in the Second League against the 14th placed team in the First League was cancelled and that the third placed team in the Second League would be automatically promoted to the First League.
* ↑ Originally, as per competition regulations, the fifteenth placed team, FC Ternopil was to be relegated to the Ukrainian Second League. However, after the season at the Conference of the PFL in preparation for the 2016–17 Ukrainian First League season the committee decided to expand the competition to eighteen teams and include FC Ternopil.
* ↑ Nyva Ternopil announced that it will not play the first games of the spring half of the competition. The club indicated that it would compete in the Ternopil Oblast competition. The Football Federation of Ukraine formally expelled the club from the competition on 1 April 2016. Later In April 2016, the club joined the 2016 Ukrainian Football Amateur League.

### Results

    As of 1 June 2016
| Home \ Away | AVK | CHD | DES | DK2 | HEL | HIR | HIS | ILL | MYK | NAF | NVT | OBK | POL | SUM | TNP | ZIR |
| Avanhard Kramatorsk | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | +:- | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Cherkaskyi Dnipro | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Desna Chernihiv | 3–1 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | +:- | 0–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Helios Kharkiv | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | +:- | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Illichivets Mariupol | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| MFC Mykolaiv | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 4–0 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 4–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | +:- | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Nyva Ternopil | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | -:+ | -:+ | 0–1 | 0–0 | -:+ | -:+ | 0–1 | | -:+ | 0–1 | 0–4 | -:+ | 0–1 |
| Obolon-Brovar Kyiv | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| FC Poltava | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | +:- | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| PFC Sumy | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| FC Ternopil | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 1–2 |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | +:- | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | |
* ↑ Illichivets Mariupol postpones their Round 12 away match against Helios Kharkiv since several players were called for international duty. Match was played after Round 16.
* 1 2 Nyva Ternopil informed the PFL that they would not arrive for their Round 10 match against Helios Kharkiv due to their difficult financial situation. Control Disciplinary Committee of the Football Federation of Ukraine awarded a 3–0 technical victory to Helios. (12 November 2015)
* ↑ Round 4 match at Yunist Stadium between Hirnyk-Sport and Hirnyk was abandoned due to the waterlogged condition of the pitch due to torrential rain prior to the start of the match. The match was rescheduled and played after Round 12 on 14 October.
* ↑ Illichivets Mariupol postpones their Round 7 home match against Desna Chernihiv since several players were called for international duty. Match played after Round 9.
* ↑ Illichivets Mariupol postpones their Round 5 home match against FC Sumy since several players were called for international duty. Match played after Round 10.
* ↑ Nyva Ternopil informed the PFL that the club will not be able to take part in the first game of the spring half of the season. (23 March 2016) Later the FFU formally expelled the club and awarded technical victories to their opponents. (1 April 2016)

### Position by 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 |
| Zirka Kirovohrad | 13 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cherkaskyi Dnipro | 9 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Obolon-Brovar Kyiv | 1 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Illichivets Mariupol | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Helios Kharkiv | 10 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih | 14 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| MFC Mykolaiv | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Desna Chernihiv | 7 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Okhtyrka | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| FC Poltava | 6 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk | 12 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| Avanhard Kramatorsk | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| PFC Sumy | 5 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| FC Ternopil | 15 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Nyva Ternopil | 11 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |

## Top goalscorers

    As of 1 June 2016
| Rank | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 1 | Artem Favorov | 16 (3) | Obolon-Brovar Kyiv |
| 2 | Yevhen Chepurnenko | 11 (1) | Desna Chernihiv |
| 3 | Artem Sitalo | 10 (4) | Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih |
| 3 | Serhiy Vakulenko | 10 (6) | Illichivets Mariupol |
| 5 | Volodymyr Bayenko | 8 | Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih |
| 5 | Denys Skepskyi | 8 (2) | Cherkaskyi Dnipro |
| 7 | Borys Baranets | 7 | Zirka Kirovohrad |
| 7 | Oleksandr Batalskyi | 7 | Cherkaskyi Dnipro |
| Rank | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 7 | Oleksiy Chychykov | 7 | Zirka Kirovohrad |
| 7 | Ruslan Ivashko | 7 | Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk |
| 7 | Roman Loktionov | 7 | Zirka Kirovohrad |
| 7 | Vasyl Prodan | 7 | Obolon-Brovar Kyiv |
| 7 | Artur Zahorulko | 7 | Illichivets Mariupol |
| 7 | Denys Favorov | 7 (1) | FC Poltava/Desna Chernihiv |
| 7 | Ihor Sikorskyi | 7 (4) | MFC Mykolaiv |
* ↑ Denys Favorov signed with Desna Chernihiv during the winter break.