2022–23 Ukrainian First League

The 2022–23 Ukrainian First League was the 32nd since its establishment. The league competition consisted of 16 teams. The competition took place during the ongoing war with the Russia since late February 2022. It was decided to conduct competitions in two groups.

Format

Due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, the league competitions changed its usual format. The Professional Football League of Ukraine (PFL) Conference adopted changes to the 2022–23 season after some 24 PFL teams were forced to suspend their activities or dissolve. It was decided to keep the same number of participants at 16 but split them in two groups of 8. Previously the split group competition in the second tier were only conducted once back in 1992.

The competitions are scheduled to consist of two stages. At the first stage two groups of 8 would conduct a usual double round-robin tournament. At the second stage, the top four from each group form the promotion group, while the bottom four from each group – the relegation group. Points earned at the first stage will be kept for the second, while teams would only be playing with participants of the group. So, in total each team is expected to play 22 games. The top two teams of the promotion group receive direct promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League (UPL), while the 3rd and the 4th would play promotion relegation play-off with the 14th and the 13th teams of UPL, respectfully. In case if Desna and Mariupol would decide to return, play-off games will be canceled and the UPL will be expanded. The bottom team of the relegation group will be relegated directly, while the second to the last will contest its place in the second tier with the 2022–23 Ukrainian Second League runner-up.

Teams

This season, Ukrainian First League consisted of 16 teams.

Promoted teams

Ten teams have been promoted from the 2021–22 Ukrainian Second League. While originally it had been expected that MFA Mukachevo would be promoted, in less than a month it was confirmed that the club will not participate in the season. Later along with VPK-Ahro, it was replaced with Bukovyna and Chernihiv.
* Karpaty Lviv – first place in Group A ''(returning after 17 seasons, last competed in the 2005–06)''
* LNZ Cherkasy – second place in Group A ''(debut)''
* Dinaz Vyshhorod – fourth place in Group A ''(debut)''
* Epitsentr Dunaivtsi – fifth place in Group A ''(debut)''
* Bukovyna Chernivtsi – ninth place in Group A ''(returning after 5 seasons)''
* Chernihiv – tenth place in Group A ''(debut)''
* Metalurh Zaporizhzhia – first place in Group B ''(returning after 2 seasons, last competed in the 2019–20)''
* Skoruk Tomakivka – second place in Group B ''(debut)''
* Poltava – sixth place in Group B ''(debut)''
* Mariupol – eleventh place in Group B ''(debut)''

Relegated teams

Eight clubs withdrew from the league due to the Russian aggression.

Renamed teams

* FSC Mariupol is a successor of Yarud Mariupol.
* Epitsentr Kamianets-Podilskyi has officially moved from Dunaivtsi to Kamianets-Podilskyi.
* FC Chernihiv-ShVSM is a successor of FC Chernihiv by merging with the local School of Higher Sports Mastery, hence the acronym.

Location map

The following displays the location of teams. Group A teams marked in red. Group B teams marked in green.

Stadiums

The following stadiums were used as home grounds for the teams in the competition.

Personnel and sponsorship

Managerial changes

Group A league table

Results

Group A goalscorers

Clean sheets

Group B league table

Results

Group B goalscorers

Hat-tricks

Clean sheets

Promotion group league table

Results

Promotion group goalscorers

Clean sheets

Relegation group league table

''Note:''
* Relegation was canceled, and both Hirnyk-Sport and Mariupol has been left in the league.

Results

Relegation group goalscorers

Clean sheets

Relegation play-offs

The relegation–promotion play-off games are scheduled to take place between the 7th placed team in the Relegation group of the First League with the second place of the Second League. On 18 May 2023, there took place a draw of the PFL play-offs in two legs format (each team plays at home and away) with games scheduled to take place on June 3 and 10.The PFL determined dates for organization of the First League play-off matches (ПФЛ визначила дати проведення матчів плей-оф Першої ліги)
Sport Arena. 18 May 2023

Awards

Monthly awards

Since 2022 the award is given by PFL together with the website Ukrfootball ("Ukrainian football") switching from another information partner ua-football.com.

Round awards

;Fall half

;Spring half

Number of teams by region

See also

* 2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League
* 2022–23 Ukrainian Second League
* 2022–23 Ukrainian Football Amateur League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Ukrainian First League
Ukrainian First League seasons
2022–23 in Ukrainian association football leagues
Ukraine
Sports events affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine