Ukrainian Cup
The Ukrainian Cup is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qualifies to play the Ukrainian Premier League winner for the Ukrainian Super Cup.
Current format
The format of this competition consists of two stages: a qualification stage with two rounds followed by the main event. The competition involves all professional clubs plus the two finalists of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup.Past variations of the competition involved a home-away type of elimination, but the Ukrainian Cup has since changed to a single game per round format. In recent years, a conditional replay game was introduced to avoid penalty shootouts. Cup draws may be conducted for two consecutive rounds, but usually occur before each following round. The lower division teams are usually awarded the home-field advantage.
Organization
Ukrainian Football Amateur Association
The modern Ukrainian Cup competition is primarily limited to professional level clubs. Prior to 1996, however, the Cup was open to cup winners of all Ukrainian regional teams. In 1996, amateur clubs were omitted from participation in the Ukrainian Cup. In 1997 and 1998, only winners of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup were allowed to participate. In 1999, a new tournament, the Ukrainian Second League Cup, was established; with that change, amateur clubs were excluded from the Ukrainian Cup competition. In 2006, amateur clubs once again were allowed to compete by qualifying as the winner of the Amateur Cup. Since 2011, both finalists have qualified for the Ukrainian Cup.Professional clubs
From the Round of 32, which is officially considered to be the first round of competition, the tournament is administrated by the Ukrainian Premier League. Earlier rounds are under the administration of the PFL Ukraine. Until the organization of the PFL in 1996, the tournament and league competitions were both administered by the Football Federation of Ukraine.History
Ukrainian Cup competitions have been conducted since at least 1936. The first of season in 1936 was officially known as Spring Championship, the decision about which was adopted by the All-Ukrainian football Section. Initially called also as the Spring Championship, sometime during the 1937 season the tournament was renamed by mass media as the Cup of the Ukrainian SSR. The official change was adopted by the Republican Football Conference only in April 1938. To commemorate the event, in 1979 the Soviet Ministry of Communication released an envelope with depiction of the trophy. The streamer on top of a picturereads in Russian language "The first Cup of Ukraine in football", while the same thing is written at the picture's footer in Ukrainian language.
In 1944 as compensation for the canceled republican championship there was conducted next tournament in September. The decision to conduct the tournament was adopted on 6 September 1944 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. The tournament was also known as Ukrainian Cup or Ukrainian Bowl. After World War II, subsequent editions of the national Cup were downgraded to a republican cup competition that was limited to lower league clubs and teams participating in the KFK competitions. The timeframe of the tournament also shifted from spring time to fall. Already in 1948 FC Lokomotyv Kharkiv as one of the Soviet Top League clubs from Ukraine chose not to participate in the Ukrainian Cup competition. In 1959 the tournament was cancelled completely and replaced with Football Cup among collective of physical culture.
In 1970s the Ukrainian Cup competitions were revived and conducted parallel to Ukrainian Amateur Cup for several seasons. In second half of 1970 the tournament was discontinued once again until 1990.
The first Cup competition in independent Ukraine had an unlikely winner, similar to the championship of 1992. The main contender, Dynamo Kyiv, settled for a draw in its first game at home against a team that was an amateur club in Soviet times, Skala Stryi. In the following quarter-finals round, the team faced defeat by Torpedo Zaporizhia. Eventually that competition was won by Chornomorets Odesa.
In 2008, the Football Federation of Ukraine signed a contract with the company Datagroup, naming the company as the main sponsor of the tournament for the next four years. Datagroup introduced its new version of the cup trophy, the first winner of which became Shakhtar Donetsk. In 2010, there was an attempt to launch an independent website for the competition, which was active for only a couple of months.
Venues
The Ukrainian Cup finals are played most often at the main countries association football venue, Olympiyskiy National Sports Complex. Since 2008 and establishing of the Ukrainian Premier League, the final games started to be conducted at alternative stadiums among which most often was used the Metalist Oblast Sports Complex and the Dnipro Arena.- 18– Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev
- 5 – Metalist Oblast Sports Complex, Kharkiv
- 2 – Dnipro-Arena, Dnipro
- 2 – Arena Lviv, Lviv
- 1 – Yuvileiny Stadium, Sumy
- 1 – Oleksiy Butovsky Vorskla Stadium, Poltava
- 1 – Slavutych Arena, Zaporizhia
Finals
| Year | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| 1992 Final | 31 May 1992 19:00 Kiev – Republican Stadium Attendance: 12,000 | Chornomorets Odesa | 1 – 0 ' | Metalist Kharkiv |
| 1992–93 Final | 30 May 1993 ? Kiev – Republican Stadium Attendance: 47,000 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 – 1 | Karpaty Lviv |
| 1993–94 Final | 29 May 1994 17:00 Kiev – Republican Stadium Attendance: 5,000 | Chornomorets Odesa | 0 – 0 | Tavriya Simferopol |
| 1994–95 Final | 28 May 1995 ? Kiev – Republican Stadium Attendance: 42,500 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 1 – 1 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
| 1995–96 Final | 26 May 1996 ? Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 47,000 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 – 0 | Nyva Vinnytsia |
| 1996–97 Final | 25 May 1997 ? Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 26,000 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 1 – 0 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
| 1997–98 Final | 31 May 1998 ? Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 43,500 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 – 1 | CSKA Kyiv |
| 1998–99 Final | 30 May 1999 ? Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 71,000 | Dynamo Kyiv | 3 – 0 | Karpaty Lviv |
| 1999–00 Final | 27 May 2000 ? Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 45,500 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1 – 0 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
| 2000–01 Final | 27 May 2001 17:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 55,000 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 – 1 ' | CSKA Kyiv |
| 2001–02 Final | 26 May 2002 19:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 81,000 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 3 – 2 ' | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2002–03 Final | 25 May 2003 17:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 71,000 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 – 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 2003–04 Final | 30 May 2004 17:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 60,000 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 – 0 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
| 2004–05 Final | 29 May 2005 17:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 68,000 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1 – 0 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 2005–06 Final | 2 May 2006 17:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 25,000 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1 – 0 | Metalurh Zaporizhya |
| 2006–07 Final | 28 May 2007 19:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 64,500 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 – 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 2007–08 Final | 7 May 2008 19:00 Kharkiv – OSC "Metalist" Attendance: 28,000 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 – 0 | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2008–09 Final | 31 May 2009 17:00 Dnipropetrovsk – Dnipro Arena Attendance: 25,700 | Vorskla Poltava | 1 – 0 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 2009–10 Final | 16 May 2010 17:00 Kharkiv – OSC "Metalist" Attendance: 21,000 | Tavriya Simferopol | 3 – 2 ' | Metalurh Donetsk |
| 2010–11 Final | 25 May 2011 20:15 Sumy – Stadium "Yuvileiny" Attendance: 27,800 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 – 0 | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2011–12 Final | 6 May 2012 19:30 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 47,314 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 – 1 | Metalurh Donetsk |
| 2012–13 Final | 22 May 2013 19:45 Kharkiv – OSC "Metalist" Attendance: 40,003 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 3 – 0 | Chornomorets Odesa |
| 2013–14 Final | 15 May 2014 20:00 Poltava – Stadium "Vorskla" Butovskoho Attendance: 9,700 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 – 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 2014–15 Final | 4 June 2015 21:00 Kiev – NSC "Olimpiyskiy" Attendance: 53,455 | Dynamo Kyiv | 0 – 0 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 2015–16 Final | 21 May 2016 17:00 Lviv – Arena Lviv Attendance: 21,720 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 – 0 | Zorya Luhansk |
| 2016–17 Final | 17 May 2017 21:00 Kharkiv – OSC "Metalist" Attendance: 25,000 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 1 – 0 | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2017–18 Final | 9 May 2018 20:30 Dnipro – Dnipro Arena Attendance: 28,155 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 – 0 | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2018–19 Final | 15 May 2019 21:00 Zaporizhia – Slavutych Arena Attendance: 11,100 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 – 0 | Inhulets Petrove |
| 2019–20 Final | 8 July 2020 21:30 ''Kharkiv – OSC "Metalist" Attendance:0 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1 – 1 | Vorskla Poltava |
Top scorers of finals
Performances
Achievements of clubs since 1992| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Winning years |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 13 | 6 | 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 12 | 5 | 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2020 |
| Chornomorets Odesa | 2 | 1 | 1992, 1994 |
| Tavriya Simferopol | 1 | 1 | 2010 |
| Vorskla Poltava | 1 | 1 | 2009 |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | – | 3 | — |
| Karpaty Lviv | – | 2 | — |
| Metalurh Donetsk | – | 2 | — |
| CSKA Kyiv | – | 2 | — |
| Metalist Kharkiv | – | 1 | — |
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | – | 1 | — |
| Metalurh Zaporizhya | – | 1 | — |
| Nyva Vinnytsia | – | 1 | — |
| Zorya Luhansk | – | 1 | — |
| Inhulets Petrove | – | 1 | — |
All-time table
Top-10. All figures are correct through the 2017–18 season.| PL | Team | Seasons | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts | Achievement |
| 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 27 | 151 | 111 | 21 | 19 | 346 | 106 | 354 | champion |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 27 | 144 | 112 | 16 | 16 | 345 | 90 | 352 | champion |
| 3 | FC Dnipro | 27 | 117 | 68 | 17 | 32 | 188 | 105 | 221 | finalist |
| 4 | Tavriya Simferopol | 24 | 87 | 49 | 15 | 23 | 141 | 97 | 162 | champion |
| 5 | Karpaty Lviv | 27 | 89 | 45 | 12 | 32 | 130 | 96 | 147 | finalist |
| 6 | Vorskla Poltava | 27 | 84 | 44 | 12 | 28 | 113 | 97 | 144 | champion |
| 7 | Chornomorets Odesa | 27 | 92 | 44 | 12 | 36 | 148 | 99 | 144 | champion |
| 8 | Volyn Lutsk | 27 | 84 | 42 | 8 | 34 | 141 | 128 | 134 | semi-finalist |
| 9 | Metalurh Zaporizhia | 27 | 80 | 40 | 11 | 29 | 119 | 94 | 131 | finalist |
| 10 | Metalurh Donetsk | 20 | 70 | 37 | 10 | 23 | 107 | 91 | 121 | finalist |
Top 10 managers
| Rating | Name | Club | Holder | Finalist | Semifinalist |
| 1 |  Mircea Lucescu | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 5 | — |
| 2 |  Valeriy Lobanovskyi† | Dynamo Kyiv | 3 | 1 | — |
| 3 |  Paulo Fonseca | Shakhtar Donetsk | 3 | — | — |
| 3 | Viktor Prokopenko† | Chornomorets Odesa Shakhtar Donetsk | 3 | — | — |
| 5 | Serhiy Rebrov | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 | 1 | — |
| 6 | Anatoliy Demyanenko | Dynamo Kyiv Volyn Lutsk | 2 | — | 1 |
| 6 | Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 | — | 1 |
| 8 | Yozhef Sabo | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 | — | — |
| 9 | Valeriy Yaremchenko | Shakhtar Donetsk Kremin Kremenchuk | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Mykhaylo Fomenko | Dynamo Kyiv CSKA Kyiv Tavriya Simferopol | 1 | 1 | 1 |
This table shows the most successful managers in the Cup since its foundation in 1991.
The cup was also won by Nevio Scala and Serhiy Puchkov.
† – Managers that have retired from the sport. Bold font denotes managers that are still active in the current season. In parentheses are cups for the respective team.