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Second League. Ambitious Plans of "Zviazha" and "Niva", Four Debutants in the PFL
Third-tier domestic football division supremacy will begin on August 6. Note: The term "суперництво" (supernicstvo) is a specific Ukrainian term for the championship or supremacy competition in sports leagues, particularly in football. It's often translated as "championship," "supremacy," or "title race." Given this context, I've used "supremacy" to maintain the specificity of the original term while ensuring it sounds natural in English.
President of FC "Zvyahel" Dmytro Kostyuk and the new head coach of the team, Yurii Maximov. Photo by FC "Zvyahel"
According to the approved competition schedule, the winner of the second league will be promoted directly. Teams finishing in second and third places will face off against clubs occupying 17th and 16th positions in the first league respectively.
During the offseason, attention has focused on "Zvyahel" from Zhytomyr Oblast, whose head coach is now the well-known former footballer and later successful coach Yuriy Maximov.
Experts believe that both "Zvyahel" and Vinnytsia's "Niva" will be the main contenders for first place. By the way, Podolyany also changed their manager in June. Their new head coach is Yuriy Yaroshenko, who previously made a good impression leading top-league "Alliance."
Changes have also occurred on Trostyanets' coaching staff, which has returned to the second league. The team from Sumy Oblast will be led by Valeriy Shapovalov.
We should mention that four clubs are making their debut in competitions under the auspices of the PFL this season. These include Kyiv's "Locomotive," FC "Kudryvka" (Chernihiv Oblast), "YUKSA," and "Druzhba" from Kyiv Oblast.
Second League-2023/2024. Participants
"Vast" (Mykolaiv), "Druzhba" (Mirovka), "Zvyahel" (Novohrad-Volynskyi), "Kremenchuk-2" (Kremenchuk), "Kudryvka" (Chernihiv Oblast), "Locomotive" (Kyiv), "Metallurg-2" (Zaporizhzhia), "Niva" (Vinnytsia), "Real Pharma" (Odesa), "Skala 1911" (Stryi), "Trostyanets," "Chayka" (Petrovivsk Borshagivka), "YUKSA" (Kyiv Oblast).
