The 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League season was the nineteenth since its establishment and second since its reorganization. Dynamo Kyiv were the defending champions, having won their 13th league title. A total of 16 teams participated in the league, 14 of which participated in the 2008–09 season, and two of which were promoted from the Ukrainian First League.
The season began on 17 July 2009. The winter break in the season was from 13 December 2009 until 28 February 2010. The last round of the season was played on 9 May 2010.
On 5 May 2010, Shakhtar Donetsk regained the title after a 1–0 win against rivals Dynamo Kyiv.
FC Zakarpattia Uzhhorod, champion of the 2008-09 Ukrainian First League – (returning after absence of a season)
FC Obolon Kyiv, runner-up of the 2008-09 Ukrainian First League – (returning after absence of 4 seasons)
Managers and captains
Note:
At the start of the season, Artem Milevskiy was selected to captain the side by manager Gazzayev, but on signing Andriy Shevchenko before Round 6, club president Ihor Surkis appointed Shevchenko captaincy in the club. However, Gazzayev informed the media that Milevskiy would remain the captain and Shevchenko would be the club leader.
Since Ukraine finished in seventh place of the UEFA country ranking after the 2008–09 season, the league will gain one more qualification spot for UEFA Europa League 2010–11. The Ukrainian Cup winner will now qualify for the play-off round.
After the 24th Round, both Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for European football for the 2010–11 season.
After the 26th Round, both Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for 2010–11 UEFA Champions League.
After the 27th Round, Metalist Kharkiv qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.
After the 28th Round, both Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Karpaty Lviv qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.
Shakhtar Donetsk captured the championship after a 1–0 win against rivals Dynamo Kyiv in the 29th Round, thus securing a place in the Champions League group stage. Dynamo Kyiv enters the Champions League third qualification round as runners up.
Metalist Kharkiv's 4–1 away victory over Zorya Luhansk in the 29th Round secured them a third-place finish in the competition and a place in the Europa League play-off round. Also in the same round, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk completed a 4–1 home victory against Illichivets which secured fourth-place and entry into Europa League third qualification round, since Karpaty Lviv lost 0–2 at home to Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, leaving them in fifth place and qualification into the second qualification round.
Timeline of qualification
Source: Premier League website (Ukrainian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th fair play
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Source: Premier League website (Ukrainian)
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Additional Notes:
^(2) Original game ended in a 4–1 victory to Obolon. A technical 3–0 victory was awarded to Metalurh Zaporizhya as a result of four players from Obolon Kyiv using a banned substance administered to them during the game. FC Obolon Kyiv protested the decision and entered arbitration via the Appellate Committee of the Ukrainian Football Federation. The decision was overturned 20 November 2009.
^(3) Match took place in Dnipropetrovsk at the Meteor Stadium.
The following table is a historic representation of the team's position in the standings after the completion of each round.
Source: Dynamo Kyiv's Official Site (Ukrainian)
Due to the participation of Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2009 UEFA Super Cup on 28 August 2009, their Round 5 match against Metalist Kharkiv was rescheduled to 23 September 2009 (after Round 7). Upon completion of this game Metalist moved from 6th to 5th in the standings.
All Round 13 matches were cancelled due to a strike by the referees, delegates and inspectors from the Football Federation of Ukraine. Games were to be played 7 November and 8. The first match was played on 9 December 2009 initiating Round 16. The rest of the matches are scheduled after the winter break to be played 24 March 2010, and 7 April 2010. For historical tabulation purpose the Round-by-Round displays chronologically when the round was played and not the name used by the FPL.
Last updated: 9 May 2010
By the competition's statute, the following awards will be presented. The award presentation will take place on 15 June 2010 at InterContinental in Kiev.
Top scorer - Artem Milevskiy (Dynamo)
Best coach - Mircea Lucescu (Shakhtar)
Best player - Darijo Srna (Shakhtar)
Best referee - Viktor Shvetsov (Odesa)
Best goalkeeper - Andriy Pyatov (Shakhtar)
Fair-play - Metalurh Donetsk
Pride of flag
Pride of flag is a club award given to the club who provided the most players for the National Team and youth teams: U-21, U-19, U-17.
In 2009 the award was given to Dynamo Kyiv, while the first runner-up was Shakhtar Donetsk and second - Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. No data is available for the 2010 season yet.
(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Note: Players in italic are those whose playing position is uncertain.
