Ukrainian First League — News

Ukraine
21 Mar 2028
Tuesday
Process
20 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Ihor Horbach tops the scoring charts

Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 5 goals in 2 appearances for Metalurh Zaporizhzhia.

Scoring charts

Raymond Owusu is the division's player of the month — 8.24

A club's paper reports this as one of its own being honoured. On this page it is what it actually is: a verdict on everybody who played, and it went to a Livyi Bereh man on 8.24 with 5 goal contributions.

Market

Terms done: Nazar Voloshyn is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Epicentr waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Livyi Bereh is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Scoring charts

The division's brightest kid this month plays for Metalist

Uroš Sremčević was marked 7.83 and had a hand in 3 goals. Every recruitment department in the country now has a file open, and the club that has him knows exactly what that means.

Market

Nazar Voloshyn asks to leave Livyi Bereh

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Feniks say no — this time

The offer from Kolos for Pavlo Orikhovskyi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Only the photograph left for Radion Lisniak

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Radion Lisniak will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalurh Zaporizhzhia the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Scoring charts

Andrii Savitskyi leads the division for assists — 8.04

The chart that decides who the scorers ought to be thanking. 5 of them made by a Metalurh Zaporizhzhia player marked 8.04, and not one will be in the montage at the end of the season.

Scoring charts

Best marks in the division for Ihor Horbach — 9.31

9.31 on average across 2 matches for Metalurh Zaporizhzhia. The chart that notices the players a goal tally never does, and this month it noticed him.

Scoring charts

Still scoring: Raymond Owusu

4 in 3 for Livyi Bereh. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.

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Shola Ogundana keeps the pressure on

3 goals in 1 appearances for Metalist leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

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Mykyta Nemetskov up among the month's scorers

A productive month at UCSA — 2 goals from 1 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.

Back issues
19 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Ihor Horbach tops the scoring charts

Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 13 goals in 5 appearances for Metalurh Zaporizhzhia.

Scoring charts

Player of the month: Ihor Horbach — 9.13

Everybody in the division was measured and a Metalurh Zaporizhzhia man came out on top: 9.13 across the month and 15 goal contributions. There is no serious case for anybody else.

Market

Dmytro Bezkleinyi agrees terms with Probiy

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Inhulets people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Scoring charts

Uroš Sremčević is the month's best young player — 7.78

The award the rest of the division reads as a transfer rumour. 7.78 over the month and 7 goal contributions, from a Metalist player whose price has just gone up without anybody at his club doing anything.

Market

Oleh Synytsia hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Feniks can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Metalist say no — this time

The offer from Ferencvaros for Kyrylo Fesiun was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Scoring charts

Nobody made more than Andrii Savitskyi this month

6 assists, 7.61, and a Metalurh Zaporizhzhia player who spent four weekends being the reason somebody else's name went in the paper. It is the least-rewarded skill in football and the easiest one to notice its absence.

Scoring charts

Highest marks in the league belong to a Metalurh Zaporizhzhia man

Ihor Horbach averaged 9.13 over 5 appearances. Nothing about that will trend, and anybody who watched all four games would tell you it was the most accurate thing on this page.

Market

Volodymyr Barabanov is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Probiy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Scoring charts

Raymond Owusu up among the month's scorers

A productive month at Livyi Bereh — 4 goals from 5 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.

Scoring charts

Uroš Sremčević keeps the pressure on

3 goals in 5 appearances for Metalist leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

Scoring charts

Valentyn Napuda is right behind him

4 goals in 5 appearances for Nyva, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.

18 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Faustino Barone tops the scoring charts

Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 8 goals in 4 appearances for Olimpia.

Scoring charts

The month belonged to Uroš Sremčević

Marked 8.92 across it, 11 goals and assists between them, and no serious argument from anybody else in the division. Metalist have had the whole benefit of a month somebody else will spend the summer trying to buy.

Scoring charts

The division's brightest kid this month plays for Metalist

Uroš Sremčević was marked 8.92 and had a hand in 11 goals. Every recruitment department in the country now has a file open, and the club that has him knows exactly what that means.

Market

Andrii Busko hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Probiy can pretend not to have heard.

Scoring charts

The division’s top provider is Uroš Sremčević — 8.92

4 assists across the month from a Metalist player marked 8.92. Somebody has to open the door before anybody walks through it, and nobody in the league opened more.

Market

Only the photograph left for Cristian Falla

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Cristian Falla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Scoring charts

Ihor Horbach up among the month's scorers

A productive month at Metalurh Zaporizhzhia — 6 goals from 4 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.

Scoring charts

Gleiker Mendoza keeps the pressure on

3 goals in 4 appearances for Kudrivka leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

Scoring charts

Shola Ogundana keeps the pressure on

5 goals in 4 appearances for Metalist leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

Scoring charts

A place in the eleven for Illia Olkhovyi

7.07 over 4 games. Nobody frames a team-of-the-month selection and everybody who has been in one remembers the month they were.

Scoring charts

A place in the eleven for Maksym Mudryi

7.10 over 4 games. Nobody frames a team-of-the-month selection and everybody who has been in one remembers the month they were.

Market

Vitalii Zhupanskyi told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Vitalii Zhupanskyi has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Feniks.

17 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Gleiker Mendoza is the division’s leading scorer

7 goals in 4 games, and nobody else in the league close to it. Kudrivka have the man every defence in the division is planning around.

Scoring charts

Player of the month: Gleiker Mendoza — 9.02

Everybody in the division was measured and a Kudrivka man came out on top: 9.02 across the month and 12 goal contributions. There is no serious case for anybody else.

Scoring charts

Young player of the month: Muhamadou Kanteh — 7.50

7.50 across the month and 2 goal contributions from a Metalist player everybody else in the division now has a file on. His price rose this month without anybody at his club lifting a finger.

Market

Kaya Makosso puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kudrivka, and it is not being withdrawn.

Scoring charts

Nobody made more than Gleiker Mendoza this month

5 assists, 9.02, and a Kudrivka player who spent four weekends being the reason somebody else's name went in the paper. It is the least-rewarded skill in football and the easiest one to notice its absence.

Market

Dmytro Kasimov is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Poltava is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Poltava may not be able to give Jordan what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jordan wants continental football; whether Poltava can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Scoring charts

Andrii Novikov makes the list

4 appearances, 3 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.

Scoring charts

Still scoring: Maksym Hirnyi

3 in 4 for Probiy. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.

Scoring charts

Kostiantyn Bychek keeps the pressure on

2 goals in 4 appearances for Kudrivka leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

Scoring charts

Ihor Horbach makes the list

4 appearances, 7 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.

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Kristian Bilovar makes the team of the month — 6.94

Eleven names, chosen against everybody in the division who plays where they play. The Metalist man is one of them on 6.94 from 4 matches, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a harder one to argue with.

16 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Ihor Horbach is the division’s leading scorer

7 goals in 5 games, and nobody else in the league close to it. Metalurh Zaporizhzhia have the man every defence in the division is planning around.

Scoring charts

Player of the month: Ihor Horbach — 8.33

Everybody in the division was measured and a Metalurh Zaporizhzhia man came out on top: 8.33 across the month and 9 goal contributions. There is no serious case for anybody else.

Scoring charts

Young player of the month: Wendell — 7.90

7.90 across the month and 8 goal contributions from a UCSA player everybody else in the division now has a file on. His price rose this month without anybody at his club lifting a finger.

Market

Oleksandr Snizhko hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Podillia can pretend not to have heard.

Scoring charts

Andrii Savitskyi leads the division for assists — 7.45

The chart that decides who the scorers ought to be thanking. 5 of them made by a Metalurh Zaporizhzhia player marked 7.45, and not one will be in the montage at the end of the season.

Market

Only the photograph left for Myroslav Serdiuk

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Myroslav Serdiuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Scoring charts

Faustino Barone is the division's best-marked player — 8.53

The chart that catches everybody a goal tally never will: the centre-half who was immense for four weekends, the holding midfielder nobody outside his own ground has heard of. 8.53 across 3 matches for Vorskla.

Market

Kaya Makosso wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Kudrivka hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Scoring charts

Kostiantyn Kvas makes the list

4 appearances, 4 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.

Scoring charts

Valentyn Napuda keeps the pressure on

4 goals in 5 appearances for Nyva leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

Scoring charts

Faustino Barone makes the list

3 appearances, 6 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.

Scoring charts

Wendell up among the month's scorers

A productive month at UCSA — 5 goals from 5 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.

15 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Nobody scored more than Ihor Horbach

The month closes with Ihor Horbach out in front — 4 goals in 4 games, and Metalurh Zaporizhzhia have the division's most feared finisher.

Scoring charts

Player of the month: Ihor Horbach — 7.69

Everybody in the division was measured and a Metalurh Zaporizhzhia man came out on top: 7.69 across the month and 6 goal contributions. There is no serious case for anybody else.

Scoring charts

The division's brightest kid this month plays for Metalist

Muhamadou Kanteh was marked 7.62 and had a hand in 4 goals. Every recruitment department in the country now has a file open, and the club that has him knows exactly what that means.

Market

Nikita Tepliakov asks to leave Chernihiv

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Inhulets come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Kudrivka did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Dmytro Kasimov has said yes to Probiy

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Poltava have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Ivan Ponomarenko’s move to Probiy falls through

The deal that would have taken Ivan Ponomarenko to Probiy has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Podillia with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Scoring charts

Nobody made more than Roman Kuzmyn this month

5 assists, 7.21, and a Ahrobiznes player who spent four weekends being the reason somebody else's name went in the paper. It is the least-rewarded skill in football and the easiest one to notice its absence.

Scoring charts

Vadym Sydun is the division's best-marked player — 7.96

The chart that catches everybody a goal tally never will: the centre-half who was immense for four weekends, the holding midfielder nobody outside his own ground has heard of. 7.96 across 3 matches for Livyi Bereh.

Scoring charts

Andrii Riznyk up among the month's scorers

A productive month at Ahrobiznes — 4 goals from 4 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.

Scoring charts

Maksym Hirnyi is right behind him

4 goals in 4 appearances for Probiy, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.

Scoring charts

Still scoring: Vadym Sydun

3 in 3 for Livyi Bereh. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.

14 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Uroš Sremčević is the division’s leading scorer

6 goals in 3 games, and nobody else in the league close to it. Metalist have the man every defence in the division is planning around.

Scoring charts

The month belonged to Uroš Sremčević

Marked 8.51 across it, 7 goals and assists between them, and no serious argument from anybody else in the division. Metalist have had the whole benefit of a month somebody else will spend the summer trying to buy.

Market

Danylo Honcharuk agrees terms with Kryvbas

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Probiy people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Scoring charts

The division's brightest kid this month plays for Metalist

Uroš Sremčević was marked 8.51 and had a hand in 7 goals. Every recruitment department in the country now has a file open, and the club that has him knows exactly what that means.

Market

Yevhen Smyrnyi asks to leave Kudrivka

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Metalist come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Nyva did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Scoring charts

Gleiker Mendoza leads the division for assists — 7.91

The chart that decides who the scorers ought to be thanking. 4 of them made by a Kudrivka player marked 7.91, and not one will be in the montage at the end of the season.

Market

Oleksandr Shevchuk has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around UCSA they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Scoring charts

Still scoring: Gleiker Mendoza

3 in 4 for Kudrivka. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.

Scoring charts

Shola Ogundana is right behind him

3 goals in 4 appearances for Metalist, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.

Scoring charts

Muhamadou Kanteh is right behind him

3 goals in 4 appearances for Metalist, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.

Scoring charts

Ryan Ogam up among the month's scorers

A productive month at Vorskla — 5 goals from 4 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.

13 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Scoring charts

Nobody scored more than Valentyn Napuda

The month closes with Valentyn Napuda out in front — 2 goals in 1 games, and Nyva have the division's most feared finisher.

Market

Not going: Vikentiy Voloshyn stays at Livyi Bereh

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Chornomorets had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Nazarii Nych agrees terms with Victoriia Sumy

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ahrobiznes people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Danylo Polonskyi puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at UCSA, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

UCSA say no — this time

The offer from Poltava for Maksym Andrushchenko was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Scoring charts

The division’s top provider is Dmytro Kasimov — 8.12

1 assists across the month from a Poltava player marked 8.12. Somebody has to open the door before anybody walks through it, and nobody in the league opened more.

Scoring charts

Still scoring: Ruslan Chernenko

2 in 1 for Podillia. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.

Scoring charts

Dmytro Kasimov keeps the pressure on

1 goals in 1 appearances for Poltava leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

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Shola Ogundana keeps the pressure on

1 goals in 1 appearances for Metalist leave him among the month's leading marksmen.

Scoring charts

Still scoring: René Mitongo

1 in 1 for Metalist. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.

Scoring charts

Shola Ogundana keeps making them — 1 this month

8.11 for a Metalist player whose contribution is measured entirely in other people's celebrations. The providers' chart is the one nobody frames and everybody in a dressing room reads.

Scoring charts

1 assists and counting for René Mitongo

Marked 7.89 across the month. Somewhere in this division there are strikers whose goal tally belongs partly to him, and none of them will say so.

12 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Bohdan Liedniev has said yes to Dynamo Kyiv

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Metalist have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Ivan Ponomarenko turns Probiy down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Market

Dmytro Plakhtyr hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Poltava can pretend not to have heard.

11 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Nikita Tepliakov asks to leave Chernihiv

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Yaroslav Kvasov is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Podillia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Andrii Borovskyi is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ahrobiznes has been clear about where Andrii Borovskyi stands, which is more than many ever get.

10 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Ivan Ponomarenko puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Podillia, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Denys Pidruchnyi

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denys Pidruchnyi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Still no ink between Probiy and Omelian Wiliam Chubak

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Probiy, another week without a signature from Omelian Wiliam Chubak.

9 Edition

The First League Chronicle

1 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Danylo Sydorenko hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ahrobiznes can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Omelian Wiliam Chubak

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omelian Wiliam Chubak will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Probiy the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

So close: Pablo Castro’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kryvbas moved on, Pablo Castro reports back to UCSA, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.