Esiliiga

Esiliiga
Founded 1992
Country  Estonia
Confederation UEFA
Divisions Esiliiga
Number of teams 10
Level on pyramid 2
Promotion to Meistriliiga
Relegation to Esiliiga B
Domestic cup(s) Estonian Cup
Current champions Maardu Linnameeskond (1st title)
(2017)
Most championships Levadia II Tallinn
(7 titles)
Website Official website
2018 Esiliiga

The Esiliiga is the second division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga is ranked below the Meistriliiga and above the Esiliiga B.

As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends in November. The league features several reserve teams of Meistriliiga clubs. According to the rules set by the Estonian Football Association, reserve teams are ineligible for promotion to the Meistriliiga, but can play in the Estonian Cup.

Competition format

During the season, the teams play each of the other four times, twice at home and twice away. This makes for a total of 36 games played each season. The teams gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. Promotion and relegation between divisions is a central feature of the league. At the end of the season, clubs at the top of their division win promotion to the next higher division, while those at the bottom will be relegated to the next lower one. At the end of a season, the top Esiliiga club gains promotion to the Meistriliiga. This is providing that the Esiliiga club meets the licensing criteria of the Meistriliiga. Reserve teams in Estonia play in the same league system as the senior team, however, they must play at least one level below their main side, and are thus ineligible for promotion to the Meistriliiga. Two bottom end clubs of Esiliiga are relegated to the Esiliiga B, and two top clubs of Esiliiga B are promoted to the Esiliiga. The two-legged play-offs for the Meistriliiga spot are contested between the ninth placed (second bottom) club in the Meistriliiga and the second in the Esiliiga, and the two-legged play-offs for the Esiliiga spot are contested between the eighth placed (third bottom) club in the Esiliiga and the third in the Esiliiga B.[1]

Clubs

Current clubs

The following clubs are competing in the Esiliiga during the 2017 season.

Club Position
in 2016		 Seasons in
Esiliiga		 First season of
current spell		 Titles Last title
Elvab 2nd in the Esiliiga B 6 2017 0 N/A
FCI Tallinn U21a,b,c 3rd 3 2015 0 N/A
Flora U21 Tallinnb,c 2nd 12 2006 2 2015
Kuressaare 1st in the Esiliiga B 9 2017 1 1999
Levadia U21 Tallinna,b,c 5th 13 2004 7 2013
Maardu Linnameeskonda,b 4th 2 2016 0 N/A
Santos Tartub 6th 4 2015 0 N/A
Tallinna Kalev 7th 7 2015 1 2011
Tarvas Rakvere 10th in the Meistriliiga 8 2017 0 N/A
Welco Tartua,b 3rd in the Esiliiga B 1 2017 0 N/A

a – never been relegated from Esiliiga
b – never played in Meistriliiga
c – ineligible for promotion to Meistriliiga

Champions

Season Champions Runners-up Third place Top goalscorer Goals
1992 Kreenholm Narva Tempo Tallinn Lokomotiiv Valga
1992–93 Tervis Pärnu Tallinna Sadam Kreenholm Narva
1993–94 Kalev Pärnu Vall Tallinn Pena Jõhvi Estonia Vadim Dolinin (Kalev Pärnu)21
1994–95 Dünamo Tallinn[A] Tallinna Jalgpallikool Pena Jõhvi
Lelle[B] Tervis Pärnu Tulevik Viljandi
1995–96 Norma Tallinn Vall Tallinn Tallinna Jalgpallikool
1996–97 Dünamo Tallinn (2) Tallinna Jalgpallikool Pärnu Estonia Igor Bratšuk (Olümp Maardu)8
1997–98 Vall Tallinn Olümpia Maardu Dokker Tallinn Estonia Andrei Afanassov (Vall Tallinn)
Estonia Aleksei Titov (Vall Tallinn)		13
1998 Levadia Maardu Vigri Tallinn Lootus Kohtla-Järve Estonia Igor Bratšuk (Levadia Maardu)9
1999 Kuressaare Lootus Kohtla-Järve Vigri Tartu Lithuania Svajūnas Raučkis (Kuressaare)27
2000 Maardu Tervis Pärnu Viljandi Estonia Vladimir Tšelnokov (Maardu)26
2001 Levadia Pärnu Valga S.C. Real Maardu Estonia Andrei Afanassov (S.C. Real Maardu)26
2002 Valga Kuressaare Maardu Estonia Andrei Afanassov (Maardu)25
2003 Lootus Kohtla-Järve Tervis Pärnu M.C. Tallinn Estonia Aleksei Titov (Ajax Lasnamäe)29
2004 Tammeka Tartu Levadia II Tallinn Tervis Pärnu Estonia Oliver Konsa (Tammeka Tartu)25
2005 Vaprus Pärnu Levadia II Tallinn Ajax Lasnamäe Russia Nikita Andreev (Ajax Lasnamäe)29
2006 Levadia II Tallinn (2) Kuressaare Tallinna Kalev Estonia Kaimar Saag (Levadia II Tallinn)37
2007 Levadia II Tallinn (3) Flora II Tallinn Sillamäe Kalev Estonia Andrus Mitt (Nõmme Kalju)24
2008 Levadia II Tallinn (4) Kuressaare Flora II Tallinn Estonia Sergei Jegorov (TVMK II Tallinn)20
2009 Levadia II Tallinn (5) Lootus Kohtla-Järve Warrior Valga Estonia Tõnis Starkopf (Kiviõli Tamme Auto/Levadia II Tallinn)32
2010 Levadia II Tallinn (6) Flora II Tallinn Ajax Lasnamäe Estonia Tõnis Starkopf (Kiviõli Tamme Auto)28
2011 Tallinna Kalev Infonet Tallinn Kiviõli Tamme Auto Estonia Maksim Rõtškov (Infonet Tallinn)40
2012 Infonet Tallinn Flora II Tallinn Tarvas Rakvere Ivory Coast Manucho (Infonet Tallinn)31
2013 Levadia II Tallinn (7) Lokomotiv Jõhvi Flora II Tallinn Estonia Tõnis Starkopf (Irbis Kiviõli)28
2014 Flora II Tallinn Levadia II Tallinn Pärnu Linnameeskond Estonia Kristen Saarts (Pärnu Linnameeskond/Levadia II Tallinn)31
2015 Flora II Tallinn (2) Levadia II Tallinn Infonet II Tallinn Estonia Eduard Golovljov (Infonet II Tallinn)41
2016 Tulevik Viljandi Flora U21 Tallinn Infonet II Tallinn Estonia Eduard Golovljov (Infonet II Tallinn)39
2017 Maardu Linnameeskond Tallinna Kalev Tarvas Rakvere Estonia Vitali Gussev (Maardu Linnameeskond)38
  1. ^ East/North champion
  2. ^ South/West champion

Total titles won

Club 1st, gold medalist(s) 2nd, silver medalist(s) 3rd, bronze medalist(s) Winning seasons
Levadia U21 Tallinn 7 4 0 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013
Flora U21 Tallinn 2 4 2 2014, 2015
Dünamo Tallinn 2 0 0 1994–95[A], 1996–97
Tervis Pärnu 1 3 1 1992–93
Kuressaare 1 3 0 1999
Järve Kohtla-Järve 1 2 1 2003
Vall Tallinn 1 2 0 1997–98
Warrior Valga 1 1 1 2002
Tallinna Kalev 1 1 1 2011
Infonet Tallinn 1 1 0 2012
Kreenholm Narva 1 0 1 1992
Pärnu 1 0 1 1993–94
Tulevik Viljandi 1 0 1 2016
Lelle 1 0 0 1994–95[B]
Norma Tallinn 1 0 0 1995–96
Levadia Tallinn 1 0 0 1998
Levadia Pärnu 1 0 0 2001
Tammeka Tartu 1 0 0 2004
Vaprus Pärnu 1 0 0 2005
Maardu Linnameeskond 1 0 0 2017
Tallinna Jalgpallikool 0 2 1
Vigri Tartu 0 1 1
Tempo Tallinn 0 1 0
Tallinna Sadam 0 1 0
Olümpia Maardu 0 1 0
Lokomotiv Jõhvi 0 1 0
Pena Jõhvi 0 0 2
Maardu 0 0 2
Ajax Lasnamäe 0 0 2
Infonet II Tallinn 0 0 2
Tarvas Rakvere 0 0 2
Lokomotiiv Valga 0 0 1
Dokker Tallinn 0 0 1
Viljandi 0 0 1
M.C. Tallinn 0 0 1
Sillamäe Kalev 0 0 1
Irbis Kiviõli 0 0 1
Pärnu Linnameeskond 0 0 1
  1. ^ East/North champion
  2. ^ South/West champion

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Esiliiga tutvustus" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
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