Of course, it’s the Ukrainian Futsal Championship! This is the most prestigious domestic competition among Ukrainian clubs, with a rich history: the tournament began in the early 1990s in independent Ukraine. I wonder who is the main record holder? The undisputed leader in terms of the number of trophies is Shakhtar Donetsk, which has won the title five times. This makes Donetsk the most successful team in the history of the championship!
The birth of Ukrainian futsal
Let’s remember how it all began. In Ukraine, a game such as mini-football gained recognition at the end of the Soviet Union’s existence. In 1990, an association was created and the first Union championship was held. Interestingly, one of the final rounds took place in Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR), in the city of Kremenchuk. Our teams took part in the competition: Dnipropetrovsk’s Mechanizator and Kremenchuk’s Sintez.
But the real breakthrough came in 1993, after our country gained independence. In May, a historic founding conference was held in Dnipro (then still called Dnipropetrovsk) to establish the Ukrainian Mini-Football (Futsal) Association (AMFU). The founding charter was adopted almost unanimously, but the first president was elected in a real struggle: Gennady Anatolyevich Lysenchuk won by a margin of only one vote.
And so it began! The first Ukrainian Cup final took place in June 1993, and the first Championship of independent Ukraine started in the 1993/94 season (according to the standard ‘autumn-spring’ schedule), immediately bringing together 16 teams. This was the real start of the great history of national futsal.
Ukrainian Women’s Futsal Championship
In accordance with the mandate of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF), the Ukrainian Women’s Futsal Championship is organised and held. This event is an official national futsal competition, which has been held since 1995. Throughout the history of the tournament, the highest quantitative success indicators have been recorded by two entities: the Poltava club PZMS (formerly known as Nika-PNPU) and the club Bilychanka-NPU (Irpin), each of which has won ten championship titles.
In 1997, women’s futsal was transferred to the Women’s Football Committee by decision of the FFU Executive Committee. It is important to note that despite these administrative changes, the Ukrainian national championships and cups continued to be held without interruption.
In 2000, the leaders of the women’s clubs themselves took the initiative: women’s futsal returned to the management of the Ukrainian Mini-Football Association. A special Women’s Futsal Committee was immediately created within the structure of the Association, headed by Valery Zavalny.
Winners of the Ukrainian Futsal Championship season
Each season of the Ukrainian Futsal Championship ends with real intrigue: the selection of the best player and winners in various categories (goalkeeper, defender, young talent, etc.). There is an interesting relay of responsibility here: the right to determine the best has constantly passed from the Mini-Football Association to the Shakhtar club, then to the futsal.sport.ua portal, and now the Extra League is in charge of this. And that’s not all! Almost every year, both the organiser and the list of nominations change. But the main thing is that individual awards always find their futsal heroes.
Sport Bet also published the history and format of the First League of Ukraine in football.
