Ukrainian Football Amateur Association
| Country | Ukraine |
|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Founded |
March 2, 1998 1964 (originally) |
| Divisions |
National Amateur competitions "Leather Ball" tournament |
| Number of teams | ~20 |
| Level on pyramid | 4 |
| Promotion to | Professional Football League of Ukraine (PFL) |
| Relegation to | Regional competitions (invitations) |
| Domestic cup(s) |
Ukrainian Amateur Cup Ukrainian Cup[1] |
| International cup(s) |
UEFA Europa League,[2] UEFA Regions' Cup |
| Most championships |
Fakel Varva, KZEZO Kakhovka, Avanhard Rovenky, Enerhiya Nova Kakhovka, Metalist Sevastopol (2 titles) |
| Website | Official site |
 2014 Ukrainian Football Amateur League | |
The Amateur Football Association of Ukraine (AAFU) was established March 2, 1998. Under the agreement between the Football Federation of Ukraine and the Association, it is authorized to organize the All-Ukrainian National Championship and Cup tournaments amongst amateur football teams. It is the fourth level of the national competition and is the premier competitions for amateur clubs (professionally non-licensed). Current president of the AAFU is Fedir Shpyh.
The predecessors of this organization were the Soviet-type competitions which were headed directly by the Republican Federation (Football Federation of Ukrainian SSR) during the Soviet times, under the name of competitions of KFK and later were referred simply as the Ukrainian Amateur League (since 1992). The best clubs of that competition were replacing less fortunate clubs of the Soviet Second League and the Ukrainian lower leagues.
Format
The format of the tournaments was changing over the time. If the cup competition keeps being unchanged, the league competition did go through some variations. Until 1997 the league competitions stayed by the previous Soviet format consisting of six groups, while participants of each competed independently of the other five groups with the winners of the groups being qualified for the professional football. The only change that took place is a shift to the fall/spring calendar. In 1997 was introduced a final to identified the national winner of the amateur competition, which introduced two stages to the format with a final tournament chosen in the preselected city.
In 2000 the league competitions changed again introducing another stage to avoid sudden withdrawals and eliminate financially suffering teams. Also the competition changed back to more common all-summer event rather the "european" fall/spring calendar. In 2005 it was decided to eliminate the final game while still continue with the final tournament. In 2008 another change followed, which reduced the format back to two stages, however that did not solve the problem to increase the number of teams in the competition.
In 2010 there was an idea to incorporate the Amateur Association into the PFL as the Third League, eliminating the national amateur competition. The 2010 season also saw a record low number of participants in the competition, a pattern that might eliminate the association naturally in any case, due to poor management.
The Championship
The competitions has taken place since 1998. A participation is restricted to the regional (Oblast) champions and/or the most regarded team by the respective regional association. Teams that place first and second place are granted the rights to apply for a professional status. Recently that restriction was extended and the professional license may be granted on the volunteering basis, under certain circumstances. The champion also is granted the right to participate in the UEFA Regions' Cup. Teams that represented Ukraine at the Regions Cup: 1999 - United team as Kyiv Oblast, 2001 - Dnister Ovidiopol as Odessa Oblast, 2003 - United team of Donbass region as Pivdenstal (South-steel), 2005 - KZEZO Kakhovka as Kakhovka-Kzeso (the Russian-like spelling), 2007 - Ivan Odessa as Odessa Oblast, 2009 - Bastion Illichivsk as Odessa Oblast, 2011 - Yednist-2 Plysky as Chernihiv Oblast.
Please, note that first couple of seasons were played in the format fall-spring and then, in 1999, changed to spring-fall competition. The format has changed not only in reference to time, but also the structure of the tournament. That happened, in 1996, prior to establishment of the Ukrainian Football Amateur Association as the independent sport organization. The tournament changed from having simply six different zones with six the best clubs to extending it until the best club of this competition will be established.
List of winners and top scorers
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KFK competition of Ukraine
KFK competition of Ukrainian SSR
Most successful clubs
Statistic as of 2015
| Club | Winners | Runners-Up | 3rd Position | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HPZ Varva | 2 | 1 | 1 | Chernihiv Oblast |
| KZEZO Kakhovka | 2 | 1 | 0 | Kherson Oblast |
| Shakhtar Sverdlovsk | 1 | 2 | 1 | Luhansk Oblast |
| Rukh Vynnyky | 1 | 2 | 0 | Lviv Oblast |
| Yednist-2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Chernihiv Oblast |
| Khimik Kalush | 1 | 1 | 0 | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast |
| Tavria Novotroitsk | 1 | 1 | 0 | Kherson Oblast |
| Elektron Romny | 1 | 1 | 0 | Sumy Oblast |
| Advis Khmelnytskyi | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Avanhard Rovenky | 1 | 1 | 0 | Luhansk Oblast |
| Zoria Khorostkiv | 1 | 1 | 0 | Ternopil Oblast |
| ODEK Orzhiv | 1 | 0 | 4 | Rivne Oblast |
| Pokuttia Kolomyia | 1 | 0 | 2 | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast |
| Luzhany | 1 | 0 | 1 | Chernivtsi Oblast |
| Obolon-Zmina Kyiv | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Balkany Zoria | 1 | 0 | 0 | Odessa Oblast |
| Myr Hornostayivka | 1 | 0 | 0 | Kherson Oblast |
| Nove Zhyttia Andriyivka | 1 | 0 | 0 | Poltava Oblast |
| Karpaty Kolomyia | 1 | 0 | 0 | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast |
- Note
- KZEZO stands for Kakhovkan Plant of Electro-Welding Equipment (Kakhovsky Zavod Elektro-Zvariuvalnoho Obladnannia).
- The first team of Yednist-2 also participated in the competition and once placed the third. That team currently competes on the professional level. On the club level at this level of competition Yednist have titles of a winner, a runner, and two of the third place.
Amateur Cup
The Cup is organized between the Cup holders of the regional tournaments. Every play-off round consists of two legs including the final. The winner of the tournament is qualified for the Ukrainian Cup.
See also
References
- ↑ Ukrainian Amateur Cup finalists
- ↑ Ukrainian Cup winners
External links
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