Ukrainian Amateur Football Championship

Ukrainian Amateur Football Championship (Чемпіонат України з футболу серед аматорів) is an annual association football competition in Ukraine among amateur teams. The competition is administered by the Ukrainian Association of Amateur Football (AAFU).

The championship replaced the Soviet competitions among collectives of physical culture (KFK).

Competition organization
Majority participating teams that compete in the Ukrainian Amateur football competition also compete in their regional (oblast) football championships. There are no requirements or restrictions on amount of representation from each region and is on voluntary (and/or invitational) basis. There is no relegation. The pool of teams, competition organization, and season regulations are reviewed on annual basis.

Since 2014, there is an intention to integrate the amateur competitions in the national football league system, so there would be systematic and well understood promotion and relegation process. The number of groups was reduced, and their size was increased, yet to the point for the participating teams still be able to compete in their respective regional competitions.

There is also an idea to reform the competition as a semi-pro regional league competition, possibly combining with the existing professional Druha Liha (Ukrainian Second League).

Current format
Since the recent reorganization in 2016, the competition format still preserved its 2 phases:
 * the first being several multi-groups stage divided by geographic principle,
 * the second is a play-off among the groups leaders to identify the season champion.

The group stage is formed of a pool of teams that play one another in standard double round-robin tournament which spans from fall to spring. The playoffs played usually in June consist of two match legs, except for the final.

As the effort to reintegrate the competition into the national league system, the competitions changed back again to fall-spring calendar in 2016 synchronizing the competition's calendar with professional-level championship. All participating teams may apply to be admitted to Druha Liha (third tier) irrelevant to their placement in a given season of the amateur championship. The Druha Liha is the lowest tier of the professional three-tier league pyramid structure.

Before 2016, the format also consisted of multiple stages: the early stages being multi group stage with smaller groups, the final stage is a two-group tournament of four teams in each group. The first group stage was played in double round-robin tournament, while the second group stage was played in a single round-robin tournament on stadiums of one of the second stage participants. The top two winners of each group played one another in the final. The tournament was played from spring to fall.

Competitions in Soviet Ukraine (competitions among KFK teams)
Since in 1964, there were established two different championships one among teams of masters (Soviet analog for professional teams) and another among collectives of physical culture (Soviet acronym KFK as representatives of "mass sports", fizkulturniks). The very first championship among KFK originally consisted of 5 to 6 groups based on geographic principle and included 26 participants. Each group consisted of about 8-10 teams and later grew to around 16. All teams within own groups played each other home and away games as per round robin principle. Each group winners were advancing to finals which were conducted at predesignated location with a single game round robin tournament.

The original (first) members represented each region in Ukraine (oblast):


 * Enerhiya Nova Kakhovka
 * Strila Zaporizhzhia
 * Kolhospnyk Ukrayina
 * Torpedo Mykolaiv
 * Shakhtar Krasnyi Luch
 * Suputnyk Poltava
 * Start Chuhuyiv
 * Elektron Romny
 * Avanhard Ordzhonikidze


 * Mashynobudivnyk Druzhkivka
 * Shakhtar Vatutine
 * Dnipro KremHES (Svitlovodsk)
 * Burevisnyk Vinnytsia
 * Podillia Kamianets-Podilskyi
 * Torpedo Odesa
 * Kolhospnyk Kitsman
 * Avanhard Pryluky


 * Prohres Berdychiv
 * Spartak Bila Tserkva
 * Voskhod Kyiv
 * Tekstylnyk Rivne
 * LVVPU SA I VMF
 * Budivelnyk Khust
 * Khimik Kalush
 * Druzhba Chortkiv
 * Lokomotyv Kovel

Since 1970 the number of participants in each group was about 4-5 teams since than it grew to a full-pledged league-like pool of participants.

Competitions in independent Ukraine
The Soviet format stayed until 1997, when there was created the Association of Amateur Football of Ukraine (AAFU).

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, amateur competitions were shifted to the fall/spring calendar. The group winners, however instead of continuing to the final pool as before, were actually promoted to intermediate level, so called "Transitional League" which existed for just several years as a semi-professional tournament.

In 1996 and 1997 there took place a reorganization of all competitions under auspices of the Football Federation of Ukraine. Clubs that were competing at professional level, in 1996 organized the Professional Football League of Ukraine. The national amateur competitions were reorganized as AAFU. In 1997 the competition format also changed and there was reintroduced the final pool to identified the national winner of the amateur competition. The new format basically consisted of two stages with a final tournament chosen in the preselected city as previously in the Soviet competition. The size of groups was reduced as the number of teams decreased. In 1999, the competition calendar changed back to spring-fall competition so called all-summer event from the "european" fall/spring calendar.

In 2000 the league competitions changed again introducing extra stage (third) to avoid sudden withdrawals and eliminate financially suffering teams. 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.

In 2016 it was decided to change back to fall-spring calendar with intention to reincorporate the amateur tier back to the Ukrainian football league structure. The competition in 2016 was shortened and later that year there started new season 2016–17. Number of groups has been reduced and number of teams in each group was increased, thus turning competitions into a true league competitions. Also the PFL announced that all clubs will be required to participate in the amateur tier before being admitted to professional level. Yet the declaration was left to be as empty and some teams were allowed to skip the amateur tier on various dubious excuses. Another declaration of the PFL stating that the league will expunge the last placed teams has been consistent, yet more than often teams relegated from professional level were simply liquidated by owners.

Notable clubs
There are former amateur and KFK teams that eventually made it to the Ukrainian Premier League.

FC Mariupol (former Lokomotyv Zhdanov), Stal Kamianske (former Metalurh Dniprodzerzhynsk), Nyva Ternopil (former Nyva Berezhany), Torpedo Zaporizhzhia, Naftovyk Okhtyrka, Vorskla Poltava, Kremin Kremenchuk, Stal Alchevsk (former Stal Komunarsk), Kolos Kovalivka, FC Mynai, Inhulets–Pyatykhatska Petrove, Rukh Lviv–Vynnyky

There are several clubs that competed at competitions for physical culture teams and later the AAFU amateur league for over 15 seasons.

Shakhtar Sverdlovsk (23 seasons), Lokomotyv Znamyanka (22), Metalurh Kupyansk (22), Avanhard Lozova (18), ODEK Orzhiv (18), Shakhtar Oleksandriya (18), Bilshovyk Kyiv (17), Khimik Kalush (17), Naftovyk Dolyna (16), Sokil Lviv (16), Tytan Armyansk (16), Refryzherator Fastiv (15), Sokil Berezhany/Pidhaitsi (15).

The season's final match stadiums
Starting from 2001, the season of the AAFU league competition ends with the season's final. Sometime after the 2015 season Bannikov Stadium became more traditional stadium of choice for the match. The first stadium where the first final match was played in 2001 is Avanhard Stadium in Luhansk.
 * Bannikov Stadium, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
 * Umanfermash Sports Complex (Illichivets Stadium), 2009, 2016
 * Avanhard Stadium (Luhansk), 2001
 * Olimpiyskiy Stadium (Kakhovka), 2002
 * Enerhetyk Stadium (Severodonetsk), 2003
 * Khimik Stadium (Slovyansk), 2004
 * Ivan Stadium, 2005
 * Lubny Tsentralnyi Stadion, 2006
 * Mizhshkilnyi Stadium, 2007
 * Kitsman Miskyi Stadion, 2008
 * Zatys Stadium, 2010
 * Yunist Stadium (Kolomyia), 2012
 * Dinaz Stadium, 2013
 * Vinnytsia Tsentralnyi Stadion, 2014
 * Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, 2017

Winners

 * In bold are identified clubs that were granted professional status and were promoted to the Ukrainian Second League.
 * ‡ – winners of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup

FFU Amateur Football League
Decrease in number of participants trifold in 1995 and introduction of final tournament instead of simple single final group in 1996.

KFK competitions of Ukraine
Competitions shifted to fall–spring system instead of spring-fall (summer) system and missed half of the season. There was no final group of six group winners as in previous season and all group winners were announced as champions.

KFK competition of Ukrainian SSR
In bold identified teams that were admitted to professional level (became teams of masters) the following season. ‡ – winners of the Ukrainian football cup among KFK

Winners by club

 * Statistic as of 2023


 * 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.

Winners by region

 * Statistic as of 2024

Teams with the biggest number of seasons ("Most loyal teams")
In parentheses seasons in the Football Federation of the Ukrainian SSR before 1959 and year the first appearance
 * 23 – Shakhtar Sverdlovsk (1957, 3)
 * 22 – Metalurh Kupiansk, Lokomotyv Znamianka (1948, 2)
 * 18 – Shakhtar Oleksandria (1948, 6), ODEK Orzhiv, Avanhard Lozova
 * 17 – Khimik Kalush (1956, 3), Bilshovyk Kyiv (1952, 1)
 * 16 – Tytan Armyansk, Naftovyk Dolyna, Sokil Lviv
 * 15 – Refryzherator Fastiv, Sokil Berezhany
 * 14 – Vostok Kyiv, Radyst Kirovohrad
 * 13 – Lokomotyv Smila, Kirovets Makiivka, Avanhard Rovenky, Frehat Pervomaisk, Silmash Kovel, Prohres Berdychiv
 * 12 – Pivdenstal Yenakiieve, Pokuttia Kolomyia (including Silmash), Lokomotyv Kupiansk (1949, 1), Naftovyk Okhtyrka (including Naftovyk-2)
 * 11 – Yednist Plysky (including Yednist-2 Plysky), Avanhard Kramatorsk (including Bliuminh in 1936, 16), Shakhtar Dzerzhynsk, SC Kakhovka, Torpedo Mykolaiv (1958, 1)

Teams that skipped the tier
The following clubs/teams skipped the amateur competitions or competitions among collectives of physical culture and were admitted to professional competitions. A lot of times some second teams of professional clubs that were already competing were allowed to enter professional ranks and without participation in amateur competitions. The AAFU competitions over time became more of an option rather than a mandatory tier in a football league pyramid hierarchy.
 * 1992 (spring): none (15 promoted)
 * 1992: FC Dynamo Luhansk, FC Avanhard Zhydachiv, FC Borysfen Boryspil (6 promoted)
 * 1993: FC Medyk Morshyn, FC Viktor Zaporizhzhia, FC Lviv (1992) (6 promoted)
 * 1994: Ros-2 → FC Slavutych (12 promoted)
 * 1995: Temp-2 Khmelnytskyi [Ratusha Kamianets-Podilskyi], FC Metalurh Donetsk, FC Metalurh Mariupol (12 promoted)
 * 1996: FC Petrivtsi, FC Nyva Bershad (6 promoted)
 * 1997: FC Karpaty-2 Lviv, FC Borysfen Boryspil, FC SKA-Lotto Odesa, FC Dynamo Odesa, FC Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk, FC Fortuna Sharhorod, FC Zirka-2 Kirovohrad, FC Vorskla-2 Poltava, FC Metalurh-2 Donetsk, FC Hirnyk Pavlohrad (10 promoted)
 * 1998: FC VPS Kramatorsk, FC Metalurh-2 Zaporizhzhia, FC Kryvbas-2 Kryvyi Rih
 * 1999: FC Prykarpattia-2 Ivano-Frankivsk, FC Nyva Vinnytsia, FC Obolon-2 Kyiv, FC ADOMS Kremenchuk, FC Mashynobudivnyk Druzhkivka
 * 2000: FC Ternopil-Nyva-2, FC Dnipro-3 Dnipropetrovsk, FC Cherkasy-2, FC Shakhtar-3 Donetsk, FC Metalurh-2 Mariupol, SSSOR-Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, FC Stal-2 Alchevsk, FC Krasyliv, FC Sokil Zolochiv (2 promoted)
 * 2001: FC Zakarpattia-2 Uzhhorod, FC Borysfen-2 Boryspil, FC Obolon-2 Kyiv, FC Metalurh-2 Donetsk, FC Chornohora Ivano-Frankivsk, FC Chaika-VMS Sevastopol, FC Torpedo Zaporizhzhia, FC Dynamo Simferopol (5 promoted)
 * 2002: none (4 promoted)
 * 2003: FC Arsenal-2 Kyiv, FC Kryvbas-2 Kryvyi Rih, FC Palmira Odesa (7 promoted)
 * 2004: PFC Oleksandriya, MFC Oleksandriya, FC Fakel Ivano-Frankivsk (5 promoted)
 * 2005: MFC Zhytomyr, FC Kryvbas-2 Kryvyi Rih, FC Kharkiv-2, FC Knyazha Shchaslyve, FC Arsenal Kharkiv (5 promoted)
 * 2006: none (2 promoted)
 * 2007: FC Korosten, FC Komunalnyk Luhansk, FC Poltava, FC Tytan Donetsk (5 promoted)
 * 2008: FC Knyazha-2 Schaslyve, PFC Sevastopol-2 (3 promoted)
 * 2009: FC Lviv-2 (1 promoted)
 * 2010: FC Chornomorets-2 Odesa, FC Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk (1 promoted)
 * 2011: PFC Sevastopol-2 (8 promoted)
 * 2012: FC Obolon-2 Kyiv, FC Poltava-2 Karlivka (3 promoted)
 * 2013: none (2 promoted)
 * 2014: no teams were admitted at all
 * 2015: NK Veres Rivne, FC Arsenal–Kyiv (4 promoted)
 * 2016: FC Illichivets-2 Mariupol (9 promoted)
 * 2017–18: MFC Mykolaiv-2, SC Dnipro-1 (6 promoted)
 * 2018–19: none (6 promoted)
 * 2019–20: FC Obolon-Brovar-2 Bucha, FC Chornomorets-2 Odesa, FC Avanhard-2 Kramatorsk (4 promoted)
 * 2020–21: Volyn-2 Lutsk, Metal Kharkiv
 * 2021–22: none
 * 2022–23: FC Khust
 * 2023–24: Rukh-2 Lviv, Karpaty-2 Lviv (5 promoted)

Participated teams by regions
In bold are teams that played at least 10 seasons. In brackets is a number of seasons.