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Meistriliiga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Estonian football league. For other uses, see Meistriliiga (disambiguation).
Meistriliiga
Founded1992; 33 years ago (1992)
CountryEstonia Estonia
ConfederationUEFA
Number of clubs10
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toEsiliiga
Domestic cup(s)Estonian Cup
Estonian Supercup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Conference League
Current championsFCI Levadia (11th title)
(2024)
Most championshipsFlora
(15 titles)
Most appearancesAndre Frolov (521)
Top goalscorerMaksim Gruznov (304)
TV partnersETV2, ETV+, soccernet.ee
Websitejalgpall.ee/liiga
Current: 2024 Meistriliiga

Meistriliiga (pronounced [ˈmeistriliːɡ̊ɑː]), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-professional with amateur clubs allowed to compete. With the help of solidarity mechanisms, the league is fully professional since the 2020 season.[1]

As in most countries with low temperatures in winter, the season starts in March and ends in November. Meistriliiga consists of ten clubs, all teams play each other four times. After each season the bottom team is relegated and the top team in Esiliiga that year gets promoted. The second last team plays a two-legged play-off with the second team in Esiliiga for a place in the Meistriliiga.

History

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Origins

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The first Estonian Football Championship title was played out in 1921 and was won by Sport, who later went on to lift nine league titles and was the most successful Estonian football club during the country's first period of independence. The championship was initially played as a knock-out tournament, before league format was adapted in 1929.[2] During the last 1939–40 season, Tartu Olümpia became the first club outside of capital city Tallinn to be crowned the Estonian champions, and have remained to be the only non-Tallinn club to do so until present day.[3]

Estonia lost its independence through Soviet occupation in World War II, after which former clubs were forced to dissolve and Estonian SSR Championship was established. During the occupation, native Estonians started to desist from practicing football and the local championships were mostly played by teams consisting of local Russians.[4][5]

Tallinn derby (Flora vs. Levadia) is the most attended fixture in the league

Meistriliiga

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Estonia restored its independence in 1991 and in the following year, Meistriliiga was established. After 52 years, Estonian clubs could once again play for the Estonian Football Championship title. The number of teams participating in the league varied from 8 to 14 until 2005, since then the league has been played with 10 teams.[6] First live TV broadcasts began in 2008, and in 2020, first league matches were broadcasted in foreign TV channels.[7]

In February 2013, A. Le Coq, an Estonian brewery company, signed a five-year cooperation agreement with the Estonian Football Association, which included Meistriliiga naming rights.[8] Since then, the league has been known as the Premium Liiga.

In 2020, the league became fully professional as the Estonian Football Association began financially supporting clubs that do not qualify for European spots.[9]

Premium Liiga started using video assistant referee (VAR) from 2023.[10]

2024 season

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The following 10 clubs will compete in the 2024 Meistriliiga.

Club Position
in 2023 		First season
in Meistriliiga 		Seasons in
Meistriliiga 		First season of
current spell 		Number of
seasons of
current spell 		Titles Last title
FCI Levadiac 2nd 1999 26 1999 26 10 2021
Floraa, b, c 1st 1992 34 1992 34 15 2023
Kuressaare 7th 2000 17 2018 7 0 –
Narva Transa, b, c 8th 1992 34 1992 34 0 –
Nõmme Kaljuc 5th 2008 17 2008 17 2 2018
Nõmme United 1st (EL) 2024 1 2024 1 0 –
Paide Linnameeskondc 4th 2009 16 2009 16 0 –
Tallinna Kalev 3rd 2007 12 2022 3 0[note 1] –
Tammekac 9th 2005 20 2005 20 0 –
Vaprus 6th 2006 9 2021 4 0 –

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

Champions

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Season Champions Runners-up Third place Top goalscorer Goals
1992 Norma Eesti Põlevkivi TVMV Sergei Bragin (Norma) 18
1992–93 Norma (2) Flora Nikol Sergei Bragin (Norma) 27
1993–94 Flora Norma Nikol Maksim Gruznov (Narva Trans/Tevalte) 21
1994–95 Flora (2) Lantana-Marlekor Narva Trans Serhiy Morozov (Lantana-Marlekor) 25
1995–96 Lantana Flora Tevalte-Marlekor Lembit Rajala (Flora) 16
1996–97 Lantana (2) Flora Tallinna Sadam Sergei Bragin (Lantana) 18
1997–98 Flora (3) Tallinna Sadam Lantana Konstantin Kolbassenko (Tallinna Sadam) 18
1998 Flora (4) Tallinna Sadam Lantana Konstantin Kolbassenko (Tallinna Sadam) 13
1999 Levadia Tulevik Flora Toomas Krõm (Levadia) 19
2000 Levadia (2) Flora TVMK Egidijus Juška (TVMK)
Toomas Krõm (Levadia)		 24
2001 Flora (5) TVMK Levadia Maksim Gruznov (Narva Trans) 37
2002 Flora (6) Levadia TVMK Andrei Krõlov (TVMK) 37
2003 Flora (7) TVMK Levadia Tor Henning Hamre (Flora) 39
2004 Levadia (3) TVMK Flora Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko (Flora) 28
2005 TVMK Levadia Narva Trans Tarmo Neemelo (TVMK) 41
2006 Levadia (4) Narva Trans Flora Maksim Gruznov (Narva Trans) 31
2007 Levadia (5) Flora TVMK Dmitri Lipartov (Narva Trans) 30
2008 Levadia (6) Flora Narva Trans Ingemar Teever (Nõmme Kalju) 23
2009 Levadia (7) Sillamäe Kalev Narva Trans Vitali Gussev (Levadia) 26
2010 Flora (8) Levadia Narva Trans Sander Post (Flora) 24
2011 Flora (9) Nõmme Kalju Narva Trans Aleksandrs Čekulajevs (Narva Trans) 46
2012 Nõmme Kalju Levadia Flora Vladislav Ivanov (Sillamäe Kalev/Narva Trans) 23
2013 Levadia (8) Nõmme Kalju Sillamäe Kalev Vladimir Voskoboinikov (Nõmme Kalju) 23
2014 Levadia (9) Sillamäe Kalev Flora Yevgeni Kabaev (Sillamäe Kalev) 36
2015 Flora (10) Levadia Nõmme Kalju Ingemar Teever (Levadia) 24
2016 Infonet Levadia Nõmme Kalju Yevgeni Kabaev (Sillamäe Kalev) 25
2017 Flora (11) Levadia Nõmme Kalju Albert Prosa (FCI Tallinn)
Rauno Sappinen (Flora) 		27
2018 Nõmme Kalju (2) FCI Levadia Flora Liliu (Nõmme Kalju) 31
2019 Flora (12) FCI Levadia Nõmme Kalju Erik Sorga (Flora) 31
2020 Flora (13) Paide Linnameeskond FCI Levadia Rauno Sappinen (Flora) 26
2021 FCI Levadia (10) Flora Paide Linnameeskond Henri Anier (Paide Linnameeskond) 26
2022 Flora (14) FCI Levadia Paide Linnameeskond Zakaria Beglarishvili (FCI Levadia) 21
2023 Flora (15) FCI Levadia Tallinna Kalev Tristan Koskor (Narva Trans) 16
2024 FCI Levadia (11) Nõmme Kalju Paide Linnameeskond Alex Matthias Tamm (Nõmme Kalju) 28

Total titles won

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Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasons
Flora 15 7 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
FCI Levadia 11 11 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2024
Nõmme Kalju 2 3 2012, 2018
Lantana 2 1 1995–96, 1996–97
Norma 2 1 1992, 1992–93
TVMK 1 3 2005
FCI Tallinn 1 0 2016

Titles won by club (%)

  Flora – 15 (44.1%)
  FCI Levadia – 11 (32.4%)
  Nõmme Kalju – 2 (5.9%)
  Lantana – 2 (5.9%)
  Norma - 2 (5.9%)
  TVMK – 1 (2.9%)
  FCI Tallinn - 1 (2.9%)

All-time Meistriliiga table

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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 2022 season. Teams in bold play in the Meistriliiga 2023 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 32 14 969 682 165 122 2577 768 1809 2211 2.28
2 Levadia1 24 10 805 578 143 84 2140 591 1549 1877 2.33
3 Narva Trans 32 0 970 434 190 346 1742 1341 401 1492 1.54
4 Nõmme Kalju 15 2 530 313 111 106 1141 502 639 1050 1.98
5 TVMK2 17 1 452 255 82 115 1073 516 557 847 1.87
6 Tulevik3 22 0 655 187 112 356 792 1283 −491 673 1.02
7 Paide Linnameeskond 14 0 494 188 87 219 734 845 −111 651 1.32
8 Tammeka 17 0 634 176 117 341 767 1235 −468 645 1.02
9 Sillamäe Kalev 13 0 413 183 65 165 741 681 60 614 1.49
10 Kuressaare 15 0 504 88 75 341 427 1283 −856 339 0.67
11 FCI Tallinn9 5 1 180 90 41 49 343 212 131 311 1.73
12 Tallinna Kalev 10 0 354 68 55 231 341 860 −519 259 0.73
13 Lantana5 7 2 160 88 38 34 341 153 188 302 1.89
14 Tallinna Sadam 6 0 132 67 19 46 271 168 103 220 1.67
15 Eesti Põlevkivi 9 0 162 50 40 72 224 276 −52 190 1.17
16 Norma 4 2 78 49 7 22 223 111 112 154 1.97
17 Merkuur4 6 0 153 41 28 84 204 404 −200 151 0.99
18 Vaprus 7 0 246 35 21 190 235 760 −525 126 0.51
19 Legion 3 0 98 25 22 51 109 174 −65 93 0.95
20 Lootus6 5 0 148 22 19 107 104 394 −290 85 0.57
21 Warrior 5 0 156 21 18 117 120 425 −305 81 0.52
22 Levadia II1 3 0 84 20 14 50 106 211 −105 74 0.88
23 Lelle 4 0 80 16 19 45 72 155 −83 67 0.84
24 Dünamo 4 0 89 16 11 62 92 277 −185 59 0.66
25 DAG7 4 0 68 16 9 43 85 199 −114 57 0.84
26 Viljandi 2 0 72 14 14 44 70 157 −87 56 0.78
27 Vigri 2 0 32 16 7 9 81 55 26 55 1.72
28 Pärnu Linnameeskond 2 0 72 11 10 51 62 185 −123 43 0.60
29 Tervis Pärnu 2 0 46 11 5 30 38 92 −54 38 0.83
30 Keemik 2 0 31 10 6 15 41 72 −31 36 1.16
31 Ajax 3 0 108 7 13 88 60 449 −389 34 0.31
32 Pärnu8 3 0 38 5 5 28 36 120 −84 20 0.53
33 Lokomotiv 1 0 36 4 6 26 35 115 −80 18 0.50
34 Maardu Linnameeskond 1 0 36 4 5 27 30 118 −88 17 0.47
35 Pärnu Levadia 1 0 28 1 5 22 19 96 −77 8 0.29
36 Tarvas 1 0 36 0 3 33 15 113 −98 3 0.09
37 Vall 1 0 14 0 1 13 9 44 −35 1 0.07
38 Maardu 1 0 9 0 0 9 6 59 −53 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 became their reserves as FC Levadia II.
  • Note 2: 1992 TVMV, 1992-1994 Nikol, 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: 1993–1994 Tevalte, 1995–1999 Lantana
  • Note 6: 2000–2003 Kohtla-Järve Lootus, 2004 Alutaguse Lootus, 2005–2012 Kohtla-Järve Lootus, then merged and became Kohtla-Järve JK Järve
  • Note 7: 1992 Tartu Kalev, 1992–1994 EsDAG, 1994– DAG
  • Note 8: 1992 Pärnu JK, 1994–1996 PJK Kalev
  • Note 9: 2011–2016 Infonet, 2017 FCI Tallinn

Records

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All as of end of 2024 season if not stated otherwise.

Club records

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Player records

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As of 9 November 2024. Active players in bold.[13]

Estonian champions 1921–1940

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The Estonian Football Championship was first established in 1921 and the title for the Estonian champion was played out on 19 occasions, before Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. The league was named A-klass from 1921 to 1923, I klass from 1924 to 1926 and Liiduklass from 1927 until 1940.[2]

Bold indicates club's first championship victory.

Total titles won

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Sport was the most successful Estonian football club before WWII
Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasons
Sport 9 4 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933
JS Estonia 5 2 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937–38, 1938–39
Kalev 2 4 1923, 1930
TJK 2 4 1926, 1928
Tartu Olümpia 1 0 1939–40

Estonian SSR champions

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  • Balti Laevastik was a Baltic Fleet club
  • Zvezda Tallinn was a Tallinn garrison club
  • Dvigatel means Motor/Engine

Notes

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  1. ^ Tallinna Kalev won two Estonian Championship titles (1923 and 1930) before the formation of the current Meistriliiga

References

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  1. ^ "Eesti jalgpalli meistriliiga jätkub teisipäeval uue formaadiga" (in Estonian). Postimees Sport. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b Schwede, Indrek (2024). Eesti jalgpalli ajalugu II osa. Eesti Jalgpalli Liit.
  3. ^ Avi, Siim (March 2017). "On see võimalik: Eesti meister väljastpoolt Harjumaad?" [Is it possible: Estonian champion outside of Harjumaa?]. Jalka.
  4. ^ Schwede, Indrek (2021). "Jalgpalli positsioonist Eestis ja selle marginaliseerumise põhjustest Nõukogude anneksiooni perioodil". Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
  5. ^ "Kuidas sai jalgpallist Eestis kommunismi ohver" [How football became a victim of communism in Estonia]. Delfi Sport (in Estonian). 28 May 2021.
  6. ^ "A. Le Coq Premium liiga tutvustus". jalgpall.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  7. ^ "Estonian football league match broadcast internationally for first time". ERR. 25 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Kodune tippjalgpall saab peatoetaja" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  9. ^ Kalvet, Madis (25 February 2024). "Raha Premium liigas. Eurosarjast välja jäävad klubid saavad alaliidult 150 000 eurot" [Money in Premium Liiga. The clubs that are left out of the European spots will receive 150,000 euros from the FA]. Delfi Sport (in Estonian).
  10. ^ "Estonia to use VAR in top-flight football matches from next season". ERR. 4 October 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "SPORT-EKSTRA: Statistikapomm! Millised rekordeid omavad FC Norma, Raio Piiroja ja hooaeg 1997-98?". Õhtuleht. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Levadia üritab kaotuseta Transist mööda tõusta". Estonian Football Association. 15 April 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Premium liiga TOP". jalgpall.ee. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Eesti jalgpallilegendi 14-aastane poeg tegi meistriliiga ajalugu". Delfi Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Viimases voorus purustati meistriliiga ajaloo noorima väravalööja rekord". soccernet.ee. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  16. ^ "VIDEO ⟩ Eesti jalgpalli kõrgliigas sai näha ajaloo üht kiiremat väravat". Postimees Sport (in Estonian). 28 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Kalju, Flora ja Levadia ei jätnud vastasele võimalust". Postimees. 12 May 2012.
  18. ^ "Laupäeval võib selguda Eesti meister". Soccernet.ee. 22 October 2004.
  19. ^ "Infonet üllatas põnevusmängus Levadiat, Smiško võimas rekordseeria sai lõpu". Postimees. 25 July 2014.
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