Ukrainian Second League

Ukrainian Second League

Founded	1992; 32 years ago (1992) (as Transitional League)
Country	Ukraine
Number of teams	15
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Ukrainian First League
Relegation to	None (2007–2016)[note 1] Amateurs (1995–present) Ukrainian Third League (1992–1994)
Domestic cup(s)	Ukrainian Cup PFL Cup Second League Cup (defunct) League Cup (defunct)
Current champions	Druzhba Myrivka (2023–24)
Most championships	3 titles Desna Chernihiv
Top goalscorer	Oleksandr Kozhemyachenko (3 times) 2010–11, 2004–05, 2005–06
Website	pfl.ua
Current: 2024–25 Ukrainian Second League

The Ukrainian Second League (Ukrainian: Друга ліга, Druha Liha) is a professional football league in Ukraine which is part of the Professional Football League of Ukraine, a collective member of the Ukrainian Association of Football. As the third tier it was established in 1992 as the Transitional League and changed its name the next season.

The league is lower than the Ukrainian First League (Persha Liha) and the lowest level of professional football competitions in the country. Since 1996 the league, after being merged with its lower tier (in 1992–1995 there was the Third League), consists of two main regions roughly north-west and south-east. The league's relegated teams lose their professional status and return to their regional associations.

The third division of the Ukrainian championship originally was organized as the Transitional League due to numerous amateur clubs competing in it 15 out of 18. Out of the 1992 Transitional League the top clubs qualified for the 1992-93 Second League, while the bottom - the 1992-93 Transitional League, thus, creating an extra tier. Basically in the first seasons there was no promotion.

For the second season (1992-93) the league was officially organized as the Second League, while the name of transitional league was passed to the newly formed fourth division. Between seasons 1993 and 1995, there existed an auxiliary level (the Third League in 1994-95) of the football championship in Ukraine, lower than the Second League. From 1993 season to 1995 the Second League had a single group competition of over 20 clubs. During the 1996 reorganization, the auxiliary league was merged back to the Second League.

In 1996 Ukrainian football witnessed major changes in its organization as the Professional Football League of Ukraine was established. The new organization took control of the competition of former non-amateur clubs that were given attestation of professional clubs and included all the leagues of the Ukrainian championship. Concurrently with this the Third League was disbanded and all clubs that were not in the "relegation zone" were invited to join the Second League. The Second League in its turn was split into two groups. Only in the very first season the teams in this league were divided somewhat randomly, while later becoming more of regional sub-leagues. From 1997 the league was divided into three groups (Druha Liha A (west), B (south), and C (east)).

In 1998 unlike other seasons the winners of the groups were not promoted automatically; instead a promotion-relegation tournament was organized involving four teams, three group winners and one of the weaker clubs of the First League. In 2006, the Ukrainian Professional Football League consolidated the Druha Liha due to a shortage of teams, and now the third level of professional football is divided into two groups once again (A - West and B - East).

Throughout its history the Second League has had some supplementary tournaments which include the Second League Cup as well as the Ukrainian Cup qualification tournament called the 2009–10 Ukrainian League Cup.

In summer of 2017 it was announced that the Second League is planned to be discontinued after the 2017-18 season.^[1][2]

The league has suffered from chronic club withdrawals since its reorganization when the Ukrainian Third League was liquidated in 1995. The first club that withdrew in the middle of a season from Ukrainian championship was FC Elektron Romny which on 5 May 1994 withdrew from the Transitional League (Third League).

The reorganization of the competition in 1995 (merging Third and Second leagues) saw a number of clubs that discontinued their participation. At the start of season withdrew Temp Shepetivka which prior to that merged with Advis as well as Kosmos Pavlohrad, and five more clubs withdrew at winter break. Withdrawal of Temp led to a major disruption in competitions when Football Federation of Ukraine allowed to enter a quickly assembled team of amateur players for the First League to replace withdrawn Shepetivka club.

For a couple of years after that, there was relative stabilization, but not perfect with at least one club being withdrawn in a middle of ongoing season. In the 1998-99 season 10 teams quit the league before the season started. During the 2002-03 season Ukrainian football saw the withdrawal of a Top League club for the first time (Polihraftekhnika Oleksandriya). Due to those withdrawals the Second League suspended relegation of clubs since 2006-07, while there were some talks for the league to be discontinued.^[3] An idea surfaced during the 2009-10 season to merge the league with the First League breaking the last into several groups, but it was abandoned. During the same season a new tournament was organized to add some games to the calendar of the Second League clubs which had thinned away substantially, this was called the 2009–10 Ukrainian League Cup.

The following teams are competing in the 2024–25 season. Two teams were spared from relegation from previous season due to other teams' withdrawal. Note, in parentheses are shown the actual home cities and stadiums.

Kulykiv

Nyva-2

Polissya-2

Probiy

Real Pharma

Revera-1908

Rukh-2

Skala 1911

Uzhhorod

Vilkhivtsi

Chaika

Chernihiv

Hirnyk-Sport

Kolos-2

Lokomotyv

Nyva V.

Oleksandriya-2

Trostianets

Vorskla-2

Metalist 1925-2

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Home venues of teams in the 2024–25 Ukrainian Second League
 — Group A            — Group B

The calendar of competitions is adopted by the Central Council of PFL and the Executive Committee of FFU. The Bureau (Administration) of PFL regulates the league's operations and forms the Second League. All clubs of the PFL are obligated to own or sponsor a Children-Youth Sports School. All clubs of PFL are obligated to participate in the National Cup competition. A club of the Second League is also obligated to finance at least two junior teams from under the age of 10 to under the age of 19. The junior teams must participate either in regional competitions of the Children-Youth Football League of Ukraine.

All stadiums must have a certificate of the State Commission in control of sports structures conditions. A club cannot play matches at its training sites nor stadiums not registered with PFL. Promotions of tobacco products at stadiums are prohibited. All stadiums must fly the flags of Ukraine, FFU, and PFL. Only accredited photo-correspondents and junior footballers who collect balls are allowed behind goalposts.

The games are allowed to start not earlier than 12:00 and not later than 20:30. There must be at least a 48-hour break between two official games. Games can only be rescheduled if the following three criteria exist: a) unforeseen circumstances occur, b) delegation of four or more footballers to any national teams, or c) organization of direct tele-broadcasting.

Throughout history certain regions were represented only in certain groups, some competed in all groups. Among regions that were represented only in Group A are Lviv Oblast, Ternopil Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Rivne Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast, Chernivtsi Oblast, Zakarpattia Oblast, Volyn Oblast, only in Group B is just Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Group C existed for short time and had no exclusive region representation.

Such regions like Kyiv Oblast and City, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, Sumy Oblast, and Kharkiv Oblast at some point were represented in all three groups.

Such regions like Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and Poltava Oblast were represented only in groups B and C.

Promoted teams are indicated in bold.

Season	Group	Teams	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
1992	A	9	Dnister Zalishchyky	Hazovyk Komarno	Yavir Krasnopillia
	B	9	Bazhanovets Makiyivka	Tytan Armyansk	Meliorator Kakhovka
1992–93	–	18	Dnipro Cherkasy	Khimik Zhytomyr	Yavir Krasnopillia
1993–94[note 2]	–	22	FC Boryspil	Bazhanovets Makiyivka	Zirka-NIBAS Kirovohrad
1994–95	–	22	Yavir Krasnopillia	FC Lviv	Dynamo Luhansk
1995–96	A	22	CSKA Kyiv	Krystal Kherson	Khutrovyk Tysmenytsia
	B	21	Metalurh Mariupol	Metalurh Donetsk	Metalurh Novomoskovsk
1996–97	A	16	Desna Chernihiv	Fakel Varva	FK Tysmenytsia
	B	17	Avanhard-Industriya Rovenky	Tytan Armyansk	Oskil Kupiansk
1997–98	A	18	Podillia Khmelnytskyj	Dynamo-3 Kyiv	Karpaty-2 Lviv
	B	17	Krystal Kherson[note 3]	SCA-Lotto Odesa	SC Odesa
	C	17	Shakhtar-2 Donetsk	Fakel Varva	Elektron Romny
1998–99	A	15	Zakarpattia Uzhhorod	Borysfen Boryspil	Tsymentnyk-Khorda Mykolaiv
	B	16	SC Odesa[note 4]	Krystal Kherson	Kryvbas-2 Kryvyj Rih
	C	14	Obolon-PPO Kyiv	Zorya Luhansk	Oskil Kupiansk
1999–00	A	16	Bukovyna Chernivtsi	Podillia Khmelnytskyj	Enerhetyk Burshtyn
	B	14	Borysfen Boryspil	Obolon-PPO-2 Kyiv	Kryvbas-2 Kryvyj Rih
	C	14	Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk	ADOMS Kremenchuk	Zorya Luhansk
2000–01	A	16	Polissia Zhytomyr	Sokil Zolochiv	FC Krasyliv
	B	15	Obolon Kyiv	Systema-Boreks Borodianka	Dnipro-3 Dnipropetrovsk
	C	16	FC Naftovyk Okhtyrka	Desna Chernihiv	Oskil Kupiansk
2001–02	A	19	FC Krasyliv	Sokil Zolochiv	Podillia Khmelnytskyj
	B	18	Systema-Boreks Borodianka	Nafkom-Akademiya Irpin	Dynamo Simferopol
	C	18	FC Sumy	Arsenal Kharkiv	Metalurh-2 Donetsk
2002–03	A	15	LUKOR Kalush[note 5]	Enerhetyk Burshtyn	Podillia Khmelnytskyj
	B	16	Nafkom Irpin	Dynamo Simferopol	Elektrometalurh-NZF Nikopol
	C	15	Zorya Luhansk	Shakhtar Luhansk	Desna Chernihiv
2003–04	A	16	Hazovyk-Skala Stryj	Podillia Khmelnytskyj	Rava Rava-Ruska
	B	16	Dynamo-IhroServis Simferopol	Elektrometalurh-NZF Nikopol	Krymteplytsia Molodizhne
	C	16	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk	Desna Chernihiv	Metalurh-2 Zaporizhzhia
2004–05	A	15	Rava Rava-Ruska[note 6]	Enerhetyk Burshtyn	Karpaty-2 Lviv
	B	14	Krymteplytsia Molodizhne	Krystal Kherson	FC Oleksandriya
	C	15	Helios Kharkiv	Desna Chernihiv	Dnipro Cherkasy
2005–06	A	16	Desna Chernihiv	Fakel Ivano-Frankivsk	Rava Rava-Ruska
	B	15	MFK Mykolaiv	PFC Oleksandria[note 7]	PFC Sevastopol
	C	13	Dnipro Cherkasy	Illichivets-2 Mariupol	Metalurh-2 Zaporizhzhia
2006–07	A	15	Dnister Ovidiopol	Fakel Ivano-Frankivsk	Yednist Plysky
	B	16	PFC Sevastopol	Feniks-Illichivets Kalinine	Tytan Armyansk
2007–08	A	16	Knyazha Schaslyve	Nyva Ternopil	Podillia-Khmelnytskyj
	B	18	Komunalnyk Luhansk	Tytan Armyansk	Arsenal Kharkiv
2008–09	A	17	Nyva Ternopil	Arsenal Bila Tserkva[note 8]	Nyva Vinnytsia
	B	18	Zirka Kirovohrad	FC Poltava	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk
2009–10	A	11	Bukovyna Chernivtsi	Nyva Vinnytsia	Bastion Illichivsk
	B	14	Tytan Armyansk	Kremin Kremenchuk	FC Poltava
2010–11	A	12	MFC Mykolaiv	FC Sumy	Enerhiya Nova Kakhovka
	B	12	Olimpik Donetsk	FC Poltava	Kremin Kremenchuk
2011–12	A	14	FC Sumy	Desna Chernihiv	Slavutych Cherkasy
	B	14	FC Poltava	Avanhard Kramatorsk	Shakhtar Sverdlovsk
2012–13 (2 stages)	A	11	Desna Chernihiv	Nyva Ternopil	Slavutych Cherkasy
	B	13	UkrAhroKom Holovkivka	Shakhtar Sverdlovsk	Shakhtar-3 Donetsk
2013–14[note 9]	–	19	Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk	Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk	FC Ternopil
2014–15	–	10	Cherkaskyj Dnipro	Obolon-Brovar Kyiv	Kremin Kremenchuk
2015–16[note 10]	–	14	Kolos Kovalivka	Veres Rivne	Inhulets Petrove
2016–17[note 11]	–	17	Zhemchuzhyna Odesa	Rukh Vynnyky	Kremin Kremenchuk
2017–18[note 12]	A	11	Ahrobiznes Volochysk	Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk	Nyva-V Vinnytsia
	B	12	SC Dnipro-1	Metalist 1925 Kharkiv	Enerhiya Nova Kakhovka
2018–19	A	10	FC Mynai	Cherkashchyna-Akademiya	Polissia Zhytomyr
	B	10	Kremin Kremenchuk	Metalurh Zaporizhzhia	Hirnyk Kryvyj Rih
2019–20	A	11	Nyva Ternopil	Polissya Zhytomyr	Veres Rivne
	B	11	VPK-Ahro Shevchenkivka	Krystal Kherson	Alians Lypova Dolyna
2020–21	A	14	Podillia Khmelnytskyi	FC Uzhhorod	Dinaz Vyshhorod
	B	13	Metal Kharkiv	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Metalurh Zaporizhzhia
2021–22[note 13]	A	15	Karpaty Lviv	Livyi Bereh Kyiv	LNZ Cherkasy
	B	16	Metalurh Zaporizhzhia	Skoruk Tomakivka	Peremoha Dnipro
2022–23	–	10	Nyva Buzova	FC Khust	Chaika Petropavlivska Borshchahivka
2023–24[note 14]	–	15	Druzhba Myrivka	UCSA Tarasivka	PFC Zviahel
2024–25	A	10
	B	10

Notes:

• indicates a championship title won in play-off game(s) between winners of groups.

Post-season play-offs are not common feature of the Second League competition. Over the years there were several instances when clubs contested promotion or relegation berths. The first post-season feature consisted of a promotion mini-tournament that took place in July 1998 in Kyiv and Boryspil. It involved three group winners of the Second League and Bukovyna that placed 18th place in the First League. The tournament identified clubs which would qualify for the 1998–99 Ukrainian First League.

In bold are shown still active professional clubs

Region	CoA	Wins	Winners
Kyiv Oblast		8	FC Boryspil (CKSA-Borysfen), Borysfen Boryspil, Systema-Boreks Borodyanka, Nafkom Irpin, Knyazha Schaslyve, Kolos Kovalivka, Nyva Buzova, Druzhba Myrivka
Donetsk Oblast		4	Bazhanovets Makiivka, Metalurh Mariupol, Shakhtar-2 Donetsk, Olimpik Donetsk
Sumy Oblast		4	FC Sumy (Spartak) (twice), Naftovyk Okhtyrka, FC Sumy
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast		4	Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk, Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk, SC Dnipro-1, VPK-Ahro Shevchenkivka
Khmelnytskyi Oblast		4	Podillya Khmelnytskyi (twice), FC Krasyliv, Ahrobiznes Volochysk
Chernihiv Oblast		3	Desna Chernihiv (thrice)
Cherkasy Oblast		3	Dnipro Cherkasy (twice), Cherkaskyi Dnipro
Luhansk Oblast		3	Zorya Luhansk, Avanhard-Industria Rovenky, Komunalnyk Luhansk
Crimea		3	Tytan Armyansk, Dynamo-Ihroservice Simferopol, Krymteplytsia Molodizhne
Kyiv		3	Obolon Kyiv (twice), CSKA Kyiv
Odesa Oblast		3	SC Odesa, Zhemchuzhyna Odesa, Dnister Ovidiopol
Poltava Oblast		3	FC Poltava, Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk, Kremin Kremenchuk
Ternopil Oblast		3	Nyva Ternopil (twice), Dnister Zalishchyky
Chernivtsi Oblast		2	Bukovyna Chernivtsi (twice)
Mykolaiv Oblast		2	MFC Mykolaiv (twice)
Lviv Oblast		2	Hazovyk-Skala Stryi, Rava Rava-Ruska, (Karpaty Lviv)
Kirovohrad Oblast		2	Zirka Kirovohrad, UkrAhroKom Holovkivka
Zakarpattia Oblast		2	Zakarpattia Uzhhorod, FC Mynai
Kharkiv Oblast		2	Helios Kharkiv, Metal Kharkiv
Kherson Oblast		1	Krystal Kherson
Zhytomyr Oblast		1	Polissya Zhytomyr
Sevastopol		1	PFC Sevastopol
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast		1	LUKOR Kalush
Zaporizhzhia Oblast		0	(Metalurh Zaporizhzhia)

Conflict of succession

1. In 1993–94 FC Boryspil won the title and was promoted, next season in the 1994–95 Ukrainian First League FC Boryspil changed its name to Borysfen Boryspil and in mid-season again to CSKA-Borysfen. As CSKA-Borysfen it won title again of the First League and was promoted again to the Premier League (Top League) for the 1995–96. At the same time in 1994–95 the original FC CSKA Kyiv won title of the Third League and after being promoted in 1995–96 title of the Second League. Upon conclusion of the 1995–96 in the Top League CSKA-Borysfen was swapped with the third tier CSKA Kyiv, while Borysfen Boryspil restarted from the Second League.
2. Similar situation took place in 2018 when People's Club Veres from Premier League was swapped with FC Lviv that previously played at amateur level. FC Lviv never in its club history gained promotion to the Ukrainian First League, yet spent two stints in the Ukrainian Premier League (first time as a successor of Hazovyk-Skala, second – after the swap with Veres).

Top-20. All figures are correct through the 2022–23 season.^[4] Club status is current of the 2024–25 season:

Among notable players of the league are its top scorers.

All-time Second League appearance leaders

Player	Games	Years
Oleksandr Kapusta	336	1996–2009
Andriy Nikiforov	309	1992–2003
Oleksandr Petrov	306	1992–2002
Roman Sanzhar	299	1995–2011
Yuriy Ponomarenko	296	1997–2009
Oleksiy Bondar	296	1997–2009
Yuriy Komyahin	296	2002–2016
Oleksandr Krasnyanskyi	296	1994–2010
Oleksandr Osmachko	295	1995–2016
Mykola Dudych	294	1993–2003
Players in bold are still playing in Second League Data as of 9 February 2021[5]

All-time Second League scorers

Player	Goals	Games	Years
Oleksandr Kozhemyachenko	105	219	1999–2011
Oleksandr Kapusta	104	336	1996–2009
Ihor Bezdolnyi	102	272	1994–2011
Yevhen Arbuzov	98	255	1999–2009
Vasyl Karpyn	88	244	1992–2003
Stanislav Kulish	80	132	2008–2014
Vasyl Shved	78	205	1993–2005
Vladyslav Korobkin	73	215	2000–2013
Ihor Kiriyenko	71	189	2002–2014
Kostiantyn Pinchuk	68	142	1993–2007
Volodymyr Kryzhanivskyi	66	192	1995–2006
Players in bold are still playing in Second League Data accurate as of 19 January 2021[5]

Winning managers Season Nationality Winning manager Club Ref 1992  UKR Petro Chervin Dnister Zalishchyky  UKR Viktor Pyshchev Bazhanovets Makiivka 1992–93  UKR Semen Osynovskyi Dnipro Cherkasy 1993–94  UKR Volodymyr Bezsonov FC Boryspil 1994–95  UKR Volodymyr Bohach Yavir Krasnopillia 1995–96  UKR Volodymyr Lozynskyi CSKA Kyiv  UKR Yuriy Pohrebnyak Metalurh Mariupol 1996–97  UKR Yukhym Shkolnykov Desna Chernihiv  UKR Oleh Smolyaninov Avanhard Rovenky 1997–98  UKR Yuriy Avanesov Podillia Khmelnytskyi  UKR Serhiy Shevchenko Krystal Kherson  UKR Yevhen Korol Shakhtar-2 Donetsk 1998–99  UKR Viktor Ryashko Zakarpattia Uzhhorod  UKR Ihor Nakonechnyi SC Odesa  UKR Vadym Lazorenko Obolon-PVO Kyiv 1999–2000  UKR Yuriy Hiy Bukovyna Chernivtsi  UKR Petro Kutuzov Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk 2000–01  UKR Yukhym Shkolnykov Polissia Zhytomyr  UKR Vasyl Yermak Naftovyk Okhtyrka 2001–02  UKR Bohdan Blavatskyi FC Krasyliv  UKR Volodymyr Parkhomenko FC Sumy 2002–03  UKR Mykola Prystay Lukor Kalush  UKR Volodymyr Kobzarev Zorya Luhansk 2003–04  UKR Bohdan Bandura Hazovyk-Skala Stryi  UKR Oleksandr Sevidov Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk 2004–05  UKR Ivan Kovanda Rava Rava-Ruska  UKR Ihor Nadein Helios Kharkiv 2005–06  UKR Oleksandr Tomakh Desna Chernihiv  UKR Serhiy Morozov Dnipro Cherkasy

Winning managers (cont.) Season Nationality Winning manager Club Ref 2006–07  UKR Vasyl Ushchapovskyi Dnister Ovidiopol  UKR Serhiy Puchkov PFC Sevastopol 2007–08  TJK Vitaly Levchenko Knyazha Shchaslyve  UKR Yuriy Malyhin Komunalnyk Luhansk 2008–09  UKR Viktor Ryashko Nyva Ternopil  UKR Ihor Zhabchenko Zirka Kirovohrad 2009–10  UKR Vadym Zayats Bukovyna Chernivtsi  UKR Mykola Fedorenko Tytan Armyansk 2010–11  UKR Ruslan Zabranskyi MFC Mykolaiv  UKR Ihor Petrov Olimpik Donetsk 2011–12  UKR Ihor Zakharyak PFC Sumy  UKR Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi FC Poltava 2012–13  UKR Oleksandr Ryabokon Desna Chernihiv  UKR Yuriy Hura UkrAhroKom Holovkivka 2013–14  UKR Ihor Zhabchenko Hirnyk-Sport Komsomolsk 2014–15  UKR Ihor Stolovytskyi Cherkaskyi Dnipro 2015–16  UKR Ruslan Kostyshyn Kolos Kovalivka 2016–17  UKR Denys Kolchin Zhemchuzhyna Odesa 2017–18  UKR Andriy Donets Ahrobiznes Volochysk  UKR Dmytro Mykhailenko SC Dnipro-1 2018–19  UKR Vasyl Kobin FC Mynai  UKR Ihor Stolovytskyi Kremin Kremenchuk 2019–20  UKR Vasyl Malyk Nyva Ternopil  UKR Serhiy Solovyov VPK-Ahro Shevchenkivka 2020–21  UKR Vitaliy Kostyshyn Podillia Khmelnytskyi  UKR Oleksandr Kucher Metal Kharkiv 2021–22  UKR Andriy Tlumak Karpaty Lviv  UKR Volodymyr Mykytyn Metalurh Zaporizhzhia 2022–23  UKR Serhiy Karpenko Nyva Buzova 2023–24  UKR Dmytro Chyrykal Druzhba Myrivka

Most of the most attended games in the league since 1992 recorded at Zirka Stadium (Kropyvnytskyi), and since 1993–94 season FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi all time attendance record on a single game until 2017–18 season, when Metalist Kharkiv phoenix club Metalist 1925 participated in the Druha Liha together with their original club rivals FC Dnipro and SC Dnipro-1. The record was set on in a Metalist 1925–Dnipro-1 match, which was attended by 14,521 people.^[6]

The most attended seasons were in the beginning of 1990s and the beginning of 2000s.^[6]

• (in Ukrainian) Druha Liha at Official Site of the Professional Football league of Ukraine
• (in Ukrainian) Interaction site for Druha liha
• (in Russian) Variety of championships

• Реформа Другої ліги: "Мы свой, мы новый мир построим!" www.ua-football.com. 29 January 2013