Meistriliiga

Meistriliiga

Country	Estonia
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1992
Number of teams	10
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Esiliiga
Domestic cup(s)	Estonian Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Current champions	Flora (2015, 10th title)
Most championships	Flora (10 titles)
Most capped player	Stanislav Kitto (515)[1]
Top goalscorer	Maksim Gruznov (304)[2]
TV partners	ERR, Postimees
Website	premiumliiga.ee
2016 season

Meistriliiga (pronounced [ˈmeistriliːɡ̊ɑː], known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons^[3]) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and is semi-professional with amateur clubs allowed to compete. In 2013 six of the ten teams were professional.

As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts around March and ends in late November. Meistriliiga consists of ten clubs, all teams play each other four times. After each season the bottom team is relegated and the second last team plays a two-legged playoff for a place in the Meistriliiga.

In February 2013, A. Le Coq, a brewery, signed a five-year cooperation agreement with the Estonian Football Association, which included Meistriliiga naming rights.^[3]

Clubs

The following 10 clubs will compete in the Meistriliiga during the 2016 season.

Club	Position in 2015	First season in Meistriliiga	Number of seasons in Meistriliiga	Current spell since	Titles	Last title/ Best finish
Flora^a, b, c	1st	1992	25	1992	10	2015
Infonet^c	4th	2013	3	2013	0	4th
Nõmme Kalju^c	3rd	2008	8	2008	1	2012
Levadia^c	2nd	1999	17	1999	9	2014
Paide Linnameeskond^c	7th	2009	7	2009	0	5th
Pärnu Linnameeskond	8th	2006	4	2015	0	7th
Sillamäe Kalev^a	5th	1992	11	2008	0	2nd
Narva Trans^a, b, c	6th	1992	25	1992	0	2nd
Tarvas^c	4th in Esiliiga	2016	0	2016	0	–
TBA

^a = Founding member of the Meistriliiga
^b = Played in every Meistriliiga season
^c = Never been relegated from Meistriliiga

Champions

Season	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Leading goalscorers
1992	Norma	Eesti Põlevkivi	TVMV	Sergei Bragin (Norma, 18 goals)
1992–93	Norma	Flora	Nikol	Sergei Bragin (Norma, 27 goals)
1993–94	Flora	Norma	Nikol	Maksim Gruznov (Narva Trans, 21 goals)
1994–95	Flora	Lantana-Marlekor	Narva Trans	Serhiy Morozov (Lantana-Marlekor, 25 goals)
1995–96	Lantana	Flora	Tevalte-Marlekor	Lembit Rajala (Flora, 16 goals)
1996–97	Lantana	Flora	Marlekor	Sergei Bragin (Lantana, 18 goals)
1997–98	Flora	Tallinna Sadam	Lantana	Konstantin Nahk (Tallinna Sadam, 18 goals)
1998	Flora	Tallinna Sadam	Lantana	Konstantin Nahk (Tallinna Sadam, 13 goals)
1999	Levadia	Tulevik	Flora	Toomas Krõm (Levadia, 19 goals)
2000	Levadia	Flora	TVMK	Egidijus Juška (TVMK, 24 goals) Toomas Krõm (Levadia, 24 goals)
2001	Flora	TVMK	Levadia	Maksim Gruznov (Narva Trans, 37 goals)
2002	Flora	Levadia	TVMK	Andrei Krõlov (TVMK, 37 goals)
2003	Flora	TVMK	Levadia	Tor Henning Hamre (Flora, 39 goals)
2004	Levadia	TVMK	Flora	Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko (Flora, 28 goals)
2005	TVMK	Levadia	Narva Trans	Tarmo Neemelo (TVMK, 41 goals)
2006	Levadia	Narva Trans	Flora	Maksim Gruznov (Narva Trans, 31 goals)
2007	Levadia	Flora	TVMK	Dmitri Lipartov (Narva Trans, 30 goals)
2008	Levadia	Flora	Narva Trans	Ingemar Teever (Nõmme Kalju, 23 goals)
2009	Levadia	Sillamäe Kalev	Narva Trans	Vitali Gussev (Levadia, 26 goals)
2010	Flora	Levadia	Narva Trans	Sander Post (Flora, 24 goals)
2011	Flora	Nõmme Kalju	Narva Trans	Aleksandrs Čekulajevs (Narva Trans, 46 goals)
2012	Nõmme Kalju	Levadia	Flora	Vladislav Ivanov (Sillamäe Kalev / Narva Trans, 23 goals)
2013	Levadia	Nõmme Kalju	Sillamäe Kalev	Vladimir Voskoboinikov (Nõmme Kalju, 23 goals)
2014	Levadia	Sillamäe Kalev	Flora	Yevgeni Kabaev (Sillamäe Kalev, 36 goals)
2015	Flora	Levadia	Nõmme Kalju	Ingemar Teever (Levadia, 24 goals)

Performance by club

Club				Winning seasons
Flora	10	6	5	1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2015
Levadia	9	5	2	1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014
Lantana†	2	1	2	1995–96, 1996–97
Norma†	2	1	0	1992, 1992–93
TVMK†^1	1	3	6	2005
Nõmme Kalju	1	2	1	2012
Sillamäe Kalev	0	2	1
Tallinna Sadam†	0	2	0
Narva Trans	0	1	6
Tulevik	0	1	0
Eesti Põlevkivi†	0	1	0
Nikol†	0	0	2

• Note 1: 1992 TVMV, 1995–96 Tevalte-Marlekor, 1996–97 Marlekor
• † defunct club

All-time table

The table is a cumulative record of all match results, points and goals of every team that has played in the Meistriliiga since its inception in 1992. The table that follows is accurate as of the end of the 2015 season. Teams in bold play in the Meistriliiga 2016 season. Numbers in bold are the record (highest) numbers in each column.

In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss, although Meistriliiga awarded 2 points for a win until the 1994–95 season. Championship matches, relegation matches and relegation tournament matches involving clubs of lower leagues are not counted. In 1992 Preliminary Round matches were played in two groups. The results of the matches played between teams in same group were taken to second round, thus counted twice, in this table these results are counted once.

The table is sorted by all-time points.

Pos.	Club	Seasons	Titles	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG
1	Flora	25	10	728	499	124	105	1895	595	1300	1621	2.19
2	Levadia^1	17	9	564	413	100	51	1526	393	1133	1339	2.32
3	Narva Trans	25	0	728	354	139	235	1393	936	457	1201	1.65
4	TVMK^2	15	1	408	225	76	107	966	480	486	751	1.84
5	Nõmme Kalju	8	1	288	174	53	61	609	271	338	575	2.00
6	Sillamäe Kalev	11	0	341	159	50	132	624	550	74	527	1.55
7	Tulevik^3	17	0	489	146	89	254	617	905	-288	527	1.08
8	Tammeka	10	0	396	102	67	227	466	814	-348	373	0.95
9	Lantana	6	2	138	73	34	31	271	144	127	253	1.83
10	Paide Linnameeskond	7	0	252	69	42	141	257	477	-220	249	0.99
11	Tallinna Sadam	6	0	132	67	19	46	271	168	103	220	1.67
12	Eesti Põlevkivi	9	0	162	50	40	72	224	276	-52	190	1.17
13	Kuressaare	10	0	336	48	43	245	253	920	-667	187	0.56
14	Infonet	3	0	108	46	28	34	166	132	34	166	1.54
15	Norma	4	2	78	49	7	22	223	111	112	154	1.97
16	Tallinna Kalev	6	0	216	40	32	144	196	543	-347	152	0.70
17	Merkuur^4	6	0	153	41	28	84	204	404	-200	151	0.99
18	Vigri^5	3	0	54	31	11	12	151	64	87	104	1.93
19	Pärnu Linnameeskond^7	4	0	144	29	15	100	163	394	-231	102	0.71
20	Nikol	2	0	44	30	6	8	107	36	71	96	2.18
21	Järve^6	5	0	148	22	19	107	104	394	-290	85	0.57
22	Valga Warrior	5	0	156	21	18	117	120	425	-305	81	0.52
23	Levadia II^1	3	0	84	20	14	50	106	211	-105	74	0.88
24	Lelle	4	0	80	16	19	45	72	155	-83	67	0.84
25	Dünamo	4	0	89	16	11	62	92	277	-185	59	0.66
26	DAG^8	4	0	68	16	9	43	85	199	-114	57	0.84
27	FC Viljandi	2	0	72	14	14	44	70	157	-87	56	0.78
28	Tervis	2	0	46	11	5	30	38	92	-54	38	0.83
29	Keemik	2	0	31	10	6	15	41	72	-31	36	1.16
30	Ajax	3	0	108	7	13	88	60	449	-389	34	0.31
31	Pärnu JK^9	3	0	38	5	5	28	36	120	-84	20	0.53
32	Lokomotiv	1	0	36	4	6	26	35	115	-80	18	0.50
33	Pärnu Levadia	1	0	28	1	5	22	19	96	-77	8	0.29
34	Vall	1	0	14	0	1	13	9	44	-35	1	0.07
35	FK Maardu	1	0	9	0	0	9	6	59	-53	0	0
36	Rakvere Tarvas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Notes

• Note 1: 1999–2003 FC Levadia Maardu, 2004– FC Levadia. Not to be confused with FC Levadia Tallinn 2001-2003 a separate team owned by the steel company Levadia. In 2004 the clubs were merged FC Levadia Maardu were moved to Tallinn and became FC Levadia, former FC Levadia Tallinn become their reserves as FC Levadia II.
• Note 2: 1992 TVMV, 1995–1996 Tevalte-Marlekor, 1996–1997 Marlekor, 1997–2008 TVMK
• Note 3: 1992 Viljandi JK, 1993– Viljandi Tulevik
• Note 4: 1992–2005 Merkuur, 2006 Maag
• Note 5: 1992–1993 Vigri, 1993–1995 Tevalte, 1996–1999 Vigri
• Note 6: 2000–2003 Kohtla-Järve Lootus, 2004 Alutaguse Lootus, 2005–2012 Kohtla-Järve Lootus, 2013– Kohtla-Järve Järve
• Note 7: 1999–2010 Pärnu Vaprus, 2011– Pärnu Linnameeskond
• Note 8: 1992 Tartu Kalev, 1992–1994 EsDAG, 1994– DAG
• Note 9: 1992 Pärnu JK, 1994–1996 PJK Kalev

Records

All as of end of 2015 season if not stated otherwise.

Clubs

• Most titles won: 10 – Flora
• Most consecutive seasons in the Meistriliiga: 25 – Flora and Narva Trans (all seasons, 1992 — present)
• Most points in a season: 97 – Levadia (2009)
• Fewest points in a season: 0 – Maardu (1992)
• Longest unbeaten run: 61 – Levadia (10 May 2008 — 7 November 2009)^[4]
• Most matches won in a row: 17 – Norma (15 May 1992 — 2 October 1993)
• Biggest win margin: 24 – Tevalte (24–0 against Sillamäe Kalev on 27 May 1994)
• Most goals in a season: 138 – TVMK (2005)
• Fewest goals in a season: 11 – Sillamäe Kalev (1993–94, in 22 games), Valga (2000, in 28 games), Kuressaare (2003, in 28 games), Lootus (2004, in 28 games), Ajax (2011, in 36 games)
• Fewest goals per game in a season: 0.306 – Ajax (2011, 11 goals in 36 games)
• Most goals against in a season: 192 – Ajax (2011)

Players

Most caps As of 7 November 2015.[5] Players in bold are still active in 2015 season. Rank Player Caps 1 Stanislav Kitto 515 2 Maksim Gruznov 494 3 Konstantin Nahk 481 4 Andrei Kalimullin 471 5 Sergei Kazakov 432 6 Vitali Leitan 418 7 Teet Allas 387 8 Martin Reim 385 9 Aleksandr Tarassenkov 382 10 Martin Kaalma 377

Most goals As of 7 November 2015.[6] Players in bold are still active in 2015 season. Rank Player Goals 1 Maksim Gruznov 304 2 Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko 192 3 Tarmo Neemelo 173 4 Andrei Krõlov 162 Vitali Leitan 162 6 Konstantin Nahk 153 Ingemar Teever 153 8 Dmitri Lipartov 152 9 Indrek Zelinski 146 10 Dmitri Ustritski 125

Most goals scored by a player in a match^[7]

Rank	Player	Goals	For	Score	Against	Season
1	Anatoli Novožilov	10	Tevalte	24–0	Sillamäe Kalev	1993–94
2	Urmas Kirs	7	Flora	19–0	Maardu	1992
	Milton	7	Tevalte	10–1	Merkuur	1993–94
	Tor Henning Hamre	7	Flora	17–0	Kuressaare	2003

Most goals in a season

Rank	Player	Goals	Club	Season
1	Aleksandrs Čekulajevs	46	Narva Trans	2011
2	Tarmo Neemelo	41	TVMK	2005
3	Tor Henning Hamre	39	Flora	2003

Longest time without conceding a goal^[8][9]

Rank	Player	Minutes	Club	Season(s)	Dates
1	Roman Smishko	1281	Levadia	2014	5 April 2014 – 25 July 2014
2	Martin Kaalma	946	Levadia	2007–2008	2 October 2007 – 14 June 2008
3	Serhiy Usoltsev	889	Narva Trans	2005	14 August 2005 – 26 October 2005

Youngest goalscorer^[10][11]

Rank	Player	Age	Date	For	Score	Against	Season
1	Raio Piiroja	16 years, 15 days	26 July 1995	Pärnu	2–4	Narva Trans	1995–96
2	Eduard Golovljov	16 years, 78 days	13 March 2013	Infonet	2–0	Tallinna Kalev	2013
3	Vladislav Fjodorov	16 years, 79 days	18 October 2008	Narva Trans	3–0	Vaprus	2008

Oldest goalscorer^[12]

Rank	Player	Age	Date	For	Score	Against	Season
1	Sergei Zamogilnõi	43 years, 16 days	15 September 1996	Eesti Põlevkivi	4–1	Vall	1996–97

Fastest goal^[13][14][15]

Rank	Player	Time	Date	For	Score	Against	Season
1	Aleksander Saharov	12 seconds	29 August 2004	Flora	6–0	Lootus	2004
2	Vladislav Ivanov	14 seconds	15 April 2012	Sillamäe Kalev	1–0	Narva Trans	2012
3	Egidijus Juška	17 seconds	21 April 2000	TVMK	1–2	Tulevik	2000

Fastest own goal

Rank	Player	Time	Date	For	Score	Against	Season
1	Jaanis Kriska	5 seconds	12 September 2009	Kuressaare	0–8	Levadia	2009

Fastest hat-trick^[16][17]

Rank	Player	Time	G1	G2	G3	Date	For	Score	Against	Season
1	Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko	4 minutes	65'	67'	69'	18 October 2004	Flora	9–0	Lootus	2004

Most hat-tricks^[18]

Rank	Player	Hat-tricks
1	Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko	19
2	Maksim Gruznov	18

1921–1944 Champions

1921 · Sport Tallinn 1922 · Sport Tallinn 1923 · Kalev Tallinn 1924 · Sport Tallinn 1925 · Sport Tallinn 1926 · Jalgpalliklubi Tallinn

1927 · Sport Tallinn 1928 · Jalgpalliklubi Tallinn 1929 · Sport Tallinn 1930 · Kalev Tallinn 1931 · Sport Tallinn 1932 · Sport Tallinn

1933 · Sport Tallinn 1934 · Estonia Tallinn 1935 · Estonia Tallinn 1936 · Estonia Tallinn 1937–38 · Estonia Tallinn 1938–39 · Estonia Tallinn

1939–40 · Olümpia Tartu 1941 · Not Finished 1942 · PSR Tartu (unofficial) 1943 · Estonia Tallinn (unofficial) 1944 · Not Finished

Bold indicates club's first championship victory.

Estonian SSR Champions

1945 · Dünamo Tallinn 1946 · BL Tallinn 1947 · Dünamo Tallinn 1948 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn 1949 · Dünamo Tallinn 1950 · Dünamo Tallinn 1951 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn 1952 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn 1953 · Dünamo Tallinn 1954 · Dünamo Tallinn 1955 · Kalev Tallinn 1956 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn

1957 · Kalev Ülemiste 1958 · Kalev Ülemiste 1959 · Kalev Ülemiste 1960 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn 1961 · Kalev Kopli 1962 · Kalev Ülemiste 1963 · Tempo Tallinn 1964 · Norma Tallinn 1965 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn 1966 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn 1967 · Norma Tallinn 1968 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn

1969 · Dvigatel Tallinn 1970 · Norma Tallinn 1971 · Tempo Tallinn 1972 · Balti Laevastik Tallinn 1973 · Kreenholm Narva 1974 · Baltika Narva 1975 · Baltika Narva 1976 · Dvigatel Tallinn 1977 · Baltika Narva 1978 · Dünamo Tallinn 1979 · Norma Tallinn 1980 · Dünamo Tallinn

1981 · Dünamo Tallinn 1982 · Tempo Tallinn 1983 · Dünamo Tallinn 1984 · Estonia Jõhvi 1985 · Kalakombinaat/MEK Pärnu 1986 · Zvezda Tallinn 1987 · Tempo Tallinn 1988 · Norma Tallinn 1989 · Zvezda Tallinn 1990 · TVMK 1991 · TVMK

References

1. 9.11.2013
2. 9.11.2013
3. "Kodune tippjalgpall saab peatoetaja" [Domestic top football will get the main sponsor] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
4. "Levadia üritab kaotuseta Transist mööda tõusta". Estonian Football Association. 15 April 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
5. TOP 100 mängud
6. TOP 100 väravakütid
7. "Igor Prinsi ninanips Levadiale". Õhtuleht. 20 September 2010.
8. "Martin Kaalma püstitas uue Meistriliiga rekordi" [Martin Kaalma set a new Meistriliiga record]. FC Levadia.
9. "Infonet üllatas põnevusmängus Levadiat, Smiško võimas rekordseeria sai lõpu". Potimees. 25 July 2014.
10. "Meistriliiga kõige roosamad faktid". Soccernet.ee. 19 December 2008.
11. "Noorelt koondisesse – kas edu valem?". Postimees. 15 May 2014.
12. "FC Levadia vs JK Tallinna Kalev eelvaade". FC Levadia. 30 August 2013.
13. "Saharovi nimele liigaajaloo kiireim värav". ERR. 10 September 2004.
14. "Eile sündis Meistriliiga ajaloo kiireim värav". Soccernet.ee. 13 September 2009.
15. "VIDEO: Vladislav Ivanov lõi Transile värava juba 14. sekundil". ERR. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
16. "Kalju, Flora ja Levadia ei jätnud vastasele võimalust". Postimees. 12 May 2012.
17. "Laupäeval võib selguda Eesti meister". Soccernet.ee. 22 October 2004.
18. "Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko tegi tänase kübaratrikiga Eesti kõrgliiga ajalugu". Delfi. 24 October 2015.

External links

• Estonian Football Association
• Estonia - List of Champions, RSSSF.com