Ukrainian Cup

Current format

The format of this competition consists of two stages: a qualification stage with two rounds followed by the main event (four rounds and the final game). The competition involves all professional clubs plus the two finalists of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup (since 2011).

Past variations of the competition involved a home-away type of elimination, but the Ukrainian Cup has since changed to a single game per round format. In recent years, a conditional replay game was introduced to avoid penalty shootouts. Cup draws may be conducted for two consecutive rounds, but usually occur before each following round. The lower division teams are usually awarded the home-field advantage (or the first leg at home in case of a two-leg round).

Ukrainian Football Amateur Association

The modern Ukrainian Cup competition is primarily limited to professional level clubs. Prior to 1996, however, the Cup was open to cup winners of all Ukrainian regional teams. In 1996, amateur clubs were omitted from participation in the Ukrainian Cup. In 1997 and 1998, only winners of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup were allowed to participate. In 1999, a new tournament, the Ukrainian Second League Cup, was established; with that change, amateur clubs were excluded from the Ukrainian Cup competition. In 2006, amateur clubs once again were allowed to compete by qualifying as the winner of the Amateur Cup. Since 2011, both finalists have qualified for the Ukrainian Cup.

Professional clubs

From the Round of 32, which is officially considered to be the first round of competition, the tournament is administrated by the Ukrainian Premier League (PFL, created in 2008). Earlier rounds are under the administration of the PFL Ukraine. Until the organization of the PFL in 1996, the tournament and league competitions were both administered by the Football Federation of Ukraine.

History

The All-Ukrainian Cup competitions began in 1937, involving top tier clubs in the nation (for example, Dynamo Kyiv). After World War II, subsequent editions of the national Cup were downgraded to a regional cup competition that was limited to amateur clubs participating in the KFK (clubs of fitness collectives). Those competitions included the Cup of Ukrainian SSR as the supplemental elimination tournament along with league competition.

The first Cup competition in independent Ukraine had an unlikely winner, similar to the championship of 1992. The main contender, Dynamo Kyiv, settled for a draw in its first game at home against a team that was an amateur club in Soviet times, Skala Stryi. In the following quarter-finals round, the team faced defeat by Torpedo Zaporizhia. Eventually that competition was won by Chornomorets Odesa.

In 2008, the Football Federation of Ukraine signed a contract with the company Datagroup, naming the company as the main sponsor of the tournament for the next four years. Datagroup introduced its new version of the cup trophy, the first winner of which became Shakhtar Donetsk. In 2010, there was an attempt to launch an independent website for the competition, which was active for only a couple of months.

Cup of the Ukrainian SSR

Unlike its replacement, the Cup of the Ukrainian SSR was a competition involving ~40,000 clubs of different levels. Participation in the competition was allowed for all teams, as long as none of the players competed in the Soviet Cup simultaneously.

Top 10 managers

This table shows the most successful managers in the Cup since its foundation in 1991.
The cup was also won by Nevio Scala (Shakhtar) and Serhiy Puchkov (Tavriya).
^† – Managers that have retired from the sport. Bold font denotes managers that are still active in the current season. In parentheses are cups for the respective team.