The 2014–15

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

season was the 24th since its establishment. The competition commenced on 25 July when Metalurh Donetsk hosted Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. Due to the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

, the league reduced the number of teams.

Format

Initially, a new format was proposed to be introduced for this season by

FC Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

. 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 A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

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 The 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 23rd since its establishment. A total of sixteen teams participated in the league. Fifteen teams from last season's competition and one promoted club from the 2012–13 Ukrainian First 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

season only one team was relegated. Teams from

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, namely

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

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 FC Olimpik Donetsk ( ) is a Ukrainian inactive football team based in Donetsk, Ukraine. The club currently doesn't play in any Ukrainian competition due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since its promotion to Ukrainian Premier League in ...

, 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.

Location map

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.

Personnel and sponsorship

Managerial changes

Qualification to European competitions for 2015–16

* Since Ukraine finished in ninth place of the UEFA country ranking after the 2013–14 season, the league should have received the same number of qualifiers for

2015–16 UEFA Europa League The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Liverpoo ...

. However, due to the recent format change, Ukraine will have only three teams entering the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. The Ukrainian Cup winner qualifies for the

Group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

Qualified teams

* After the 20th Round,

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

qualified for European football for the 2015–16 season. * After the 21st Round, both Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

qualified for European football for the 2015–16 season. * After the 24th Round,

qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League Group Stage after they defeated Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. * After the Ukrainian Cup Semi-finals, with both finalists having qualified for European football the fifth placed team will be able to qualified for 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk was based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team currently plays its games at Slavutych-Arena in Zaporizhzhia. The modern club as a ...

can finish no worse than fifth and therefore qualify for Europa League third qualifying round. * After the 25th Round,

Vorskla Poltava FC Vorskla Poltava ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Poltava. The team set to compete in Ukrainian First League, the second tier of Football in Ukraine, Ukrainian football after relegation from Ukrainian Premier League in ...

qualified for the

, entering in the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

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Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...

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Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

shift:(-260,-4) from:01/01/1925 till:30/06/1928 color:E2 text:

Zorya Zorya (Literal translation, lit. "Dawn"; also many variants: Zarya, Zaria, Zorza, Zirnytsia, Zaranitsa, Zoryushka, etc.) is a figure in Slavic folklore, a feminine personification of dawn, possibly goddess. Depending on tradition, she may appear ...

shift:(-300,-4) from:01/01/1926 till:30/06/1928 color:E2 text:

Vorskla The Vorskla (; ) is a river that runs from Belgorod Oblast in Russia southwards into northeastern Ukraine, where it joins the Dnieper. Geography The river's source is on the western slopes of the Central Russian Upland north of Belgorod. Wi ...

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League table

Results

Positions by round

The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Hat-tricks

Awards

Monthly awards

Season awards

The laureates of the 2014–15 UPL season were:Визначено лауреатів сезону 2014/2015 в УПЛ
/ref> * Best player: Andriy Yarmolenko (

) * Best coach: Serhii Rebrov (

) * Best goalkeeper: Denys Boyko ( Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk) * Best arbiter: Yevhen Aranovsky (

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

) * Best young player: Valeriy Luchkevych ( Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk) * Best goalscorer:

Alex Teixeira Alex Teixeira Santos (; born 6 January 1990) is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club CR Vasco da Gama, Vasco da Gama. Teixeira ...

(

) * Fair play prize:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2014-15 Ukrainian Premier League Ukrainian Premier League seasons 1 Ukr Wartime seasons in Ukrainian football Sports events affected by the War in Donbas