2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League
The 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 24th since its establishment. The competition commenced on 25 July when Metalurh Donetsk hosted Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Lviv. With the continuation of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk the Football Federation of Ukraine, the league reduced the number of teams. Format. Initially, a new format was proposed to be introduced for this season by FC Shakhtar Donetsk. The first stage was to be a regular round robin of home/away format. In the second stage the championship was to have  an additional play-off format where participants, upon completion of the regular round robin, were to be split into three groups of 4 (1–4 places), 4 (5–8 places) and 6 (9–14 places) teams. The points earned in the first stage were to be preserved. The first two groups of four teams would each have a regular round robin home/away format, while the third group of six was to play each other only once. However, on 22 July 2014, it was confirmed that the championship would be played using a standard double round-robin tournament system. The last team would  be relegated and would be replaced by the champion of the 2014–15 Ukrainian First League. Teams. Initially, a total of 16 teams were expected to participate in the league, the best 14 sides of the 2013–14 season and two promoted clubs from the 2013–14 Ukrainian First League. The fifteenth-placed team of the 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League, Tavriya Simferopol was relegated to the 2014–15 Ukrainian First League at the end of the season. A second team was to be relegated but with the withdrawal of Arsenal Kyiv during the 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League season only one team was relegated. Teams  from Crimea, namely Sevastopol and Tavriya Simferopol, will not participate in the Ukrainian competition since they ceased their existences and applied (under new names) for a Russian license after the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014. The relegated team and the vacant position were to be replaced by the champions of the 2013–14 Ukrainian First League, FC Olimpik Donetsk, and the runners-up, PFC Oleksandriya. But PFC Oleksandriya refused the promotion to the Premier League and merged with FC UkrAhroKom Holovkivka. On 2 June 2014, Premier League published two preliminary projects of possible season schedule with 16 and  12 teams respectively. On 27 June 2014, it was confirmed that 14 teams will play in the 2014–15 season. Stadiums. The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds: Note: Round when attendance is noted as highest is the chronological number of the round, not the published round by the Ukrainian Premier League since some rounds were rescheduled for a later date. League table. Positions by round. The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition. Awards. Season awards. The laureates of the 2014–15 UPL season were: