2014 Esiliiga

Esiliiga

Season	2014
Champions	Flora II Tallinn
Promoted	Pärnu Linnameeskond Tulevik Viljandi
Relegated	Vaprus Vändra Puuma Tallinn
Matches played	180
Goals scored	731 (4.06 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kristen Saarts (31 goals)
Biggest home win	Vaprus Vändra 13–1 Puuma Tallinn (9 November 2014)
Biggest away win	Puuma Tallinn 0–5 Flora II Tallinn (6 July 2014) Puuma Tallinn 2–7 Levadia II Tallinn (27 July 2014) Kuressaare 2–7 Levadia II Tallinn (20 August 2014) Puuma Tallinn 1–6 Pärnu Linnameeskond (21 September 2014) Pärnu Linnameeskond 0–5 Levadia II Tallinn (27 September 2014) Puuma Tallinn 0–5 Nõmme Kalju II (2 November 2014)
Highest scoring	Vaprus Vändra 13–1 Puuma Tallinn (9 November 2014)
Longest winning run	Pärnu Linnameeskond (6 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Flora II Tallinn (10 games)
Longest winless run	Puuma Tallinn (14 games)
Longest losing run	Puuma Tallinn (12 games)
← 2013 2015 →

The 2014 Esiliiga was the 24th season of the Esiliiga. The season started on Sunday 2 March 2014, and concluded on Sunday 9 November 2014. ^[1] Flora II Tallinn won the Esiliiga, finishing with 78 points.

Teams

A total of 10 teams contested the league, including 7 teams from the 2013 season. The 2013 runners-up Lokomotiv Jõhvi were promoted to Meistriliiga, while 9th place Puuma Tallinn and 10th place Irbis Kiviõli escaped relegation due to dissolving of 5th place Tartu SK 10 and 6th place Tammeka II Tartu. ^{[2] [3]} For this season those three teams will be replaced by the Meistriliiga relegated Kuressaare and Esiliiga B promoted Nõmme Kalju II and Pärnu Linnameeskond. The previous runners-up Tarvas Rakvere failed to win a promotion, losing the promotion play-off, while 8th placed Tulevik Viljandi managed to avoid relegation by winning the relegation play-off. ^[4]

Stadiums and locations

Kuressaare

Flora II
Kalju II
Levadia II
Puuma

Irbis

Pärnu

Tarvas

Tulevik

Vaprus

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Location of the 2014 Esiliiga teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Flora II Tallinn	Tallinn	Sportland Arena	600
Irbis Kiviõli	Kiviõli	Kiviõli Stadium	255
Kuressaare	Kuressaare	Kuressaare linnastaadion	2,000
Levadia II Tallinn	Tallinn	Maarjamäe Stadium	1,000
Nõmme Kalju II	Tallinn	Hiiu Stadium	300
Pärnu Linnameeskond	Pärnu	Pärnu Kalev Stadium	1,000
Puuma Tallinn	Tallinn	Lasnamäe SPK Stadium	666
Tarvas Rakvere	Rakvere	Rakvere linnastaadion	2,500
Tulevik Viljandi	Viljandi	Viljandi linnastaadion	2,506
Vaprus Vändra	Vändra	Vändra Stadium	277

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Flora II Tallinn	Jürgen Henn	Ragnar Piir	Nike	Tele2 [5]
Irbis Kiviõli	Erik Šteinberg	Dmitri Kirilov	Adidas
Kuressaare	Pelle Pohlak	Sander Viira	Joma	Saaremaa Lihatööstus
Levadia II Tallinn	Argo Arbeiter	Kristjan Tamme	Adidas	Viimsi Keevitus
Nõmme Kalju II	Zaur Tšilingarašvili	Martin Mägi	Adidas	Optibet [6]
Pärnu Linnameeskond	Gert Olesk	Taavi Kitsel	Adidas
Puuma Tallinn	Aivar Tiidus	Vitas Mališauskas	Adidas
Tarvas Rakvere	Valeri Bondarenko	Alari Tovstik	Joma	Aqva
Tulevik Viljandi	Aivar Lillevere	Raiko Mutle	Joma
Vaprus Vändra	Ranet Lepik	Karel Otto	Macron

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Puuma Tallinn	Dmitri Krasilnikov	Contract expired	31 December 2013	Pre-season	Aivar Tiidus	1 January 2014 [7]
Kuressaare	Sergei Zamogilnõi	Mutual consent	7 January 2014 [8]		Pelle Pohlak	8 January 2014 [9]
Tarvas Rakvere	Reijo Kuusik	Mutual consent	3 July 2014	7th	Valeri Bondarenko	3 July 2014 [10]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Flora II Tallinn [a] (C)	36	24	6	6	104	40	+64	78
2	Levadia II Tallinn [a]	36	20	8	8	102	52	+50	68
3	Pärnu Linnameeskond (P)	36	19	3	14	109	78	+31	60	Promotion to Meistriliiga
4	Nõmme Kalju II [a]	36	17	6	13	69	62	+7	57
5	Tulevik Viljandi (P)	36	14	9	13	53	51	+2	51	Qualification for promotion play-offs
6	Kuressaare	36	14	5	17	69	81	−12	47
7	Irbis Kiviõli	36	12	11	13	72	82	−10	47
8	Tarvas Rakvere (O)	36	12	10	14	61	65	−4	46	Qualification for relegation play-offs
9	Vaprus Vändra (R)	36	11	5	20	60	72	−12	38	Relegation to Esiliiga B
10	Puuma Tallinn [b] (R)	36	2	7	27	32	148	−116	10

Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Rules for classification: Points; Least withdrawals or annulled matches; Overall wins; Head-to-head points; Head-to-head goal difference; Goal difference; Goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion.
2. Puuma Tallinn were deducted 3 points for not filling licensing criteria. ^[11]

Promotion play-offs

Tulevik Viljandi, who finished 5th, faced Lokomotiv Jõhvi, the 9th-placed 2014 Meistriliiga side for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches will earn a spot in the 2015 Meistriliiga. Tulevik Viljandi won 1–1 on aggregate.

16 November 2014

13:00 (UTC+3)

Tulevik Viljandi	0–0	Lokomotiv Jõhvi
	Report

Viljandi linnastaadion , Viljandi

Attendance: 260

Referee: Kristo Tohver

22 November 2014

13:00 (UTC+3)

Lokomotiv Jõhvi	1–1	Tulevik Viljandi
Yablokov 52'	Report	Ilves 71'

Ahtme Stadium , Kohtla-Järve

Attendance: 96

Referee: Eiko Saar

Relegation play-offs

Tarvas Rakvere remained in Esiliiga after HÜJK Emmaste voluntarily declined joining the league. ^[12]

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals [13]
1	Kristen Saarts	Pärnu Linnameeskond/Levadia II Tallinn	31
2	Henri Hanson	Pärnu Linnameeskond	25
3	Martin Kase	Flora II Tallinn	24
4	Sergei Akimov	Tarvas Rakvere	21
5	Anton Issakov	Pärnu Linnameeskond	17
6	Aleksei Mamontov	Irbis Kiviõli	16
7	Mark Oliver Roosnupp	Levadia II Tallinn	15
8	Peeter Klein	Nõmme Kalju II	14
	Rasmus Peetson	Pärnu Linnameeskond/Levadia II Tallinn	14
10	Aleksandr Pruttšenko	Irbis Kiviõli	12

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
March [14]	Argo Arbeiter	Levadia II Tallinn	Kristen Saarts	Pärnu Linnameeskond
April [15]	Jürgen Henn	Flora II Tallinn	Erkki Kubber	Flora II Tallinn
May [16]	Pelle Pohlak	Kuressaare	Indrek Ilves	Tulevik Viljandi
June [17]	Gert Olesk	Pärnu Linnameeskond	Marek Šatov	Irbis Kiviõli
July [18]	Aivar Lillevere	Tulevik Viljandi	Sander Laht	Kuressaare
August [19]	Aivar Lillevere	Tulevik Viljandi	Joseph Saliste	Flora II Tallinn
September [20]	Erik Šteinberg	Irbis Kiviõli	Madis Vihmann	Levadia II Tallinn
October [21]	Jürgen Henn	Flora II Tallinn	Sören Kaldma	Nõmme Kalju II

See also

• 2013–14 Estonian Cup
• 2014–15 Estonian Cup
• 2014 Meistriliiga
• 2014 Esiliiga B

References

1. "EL MÄNGUDE KALENDER (2014)" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
2. "Jõhvi FC Lokomotiv kindlustas endale Premium liiga koha" [Jõhvi FC Lokomotiv secured the Premium Liiga spot] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 20 October 2013.
3. "Esiliiga" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 17 January 2014.
4. "ÜLEMINEKUMÄNGUDES OLID EDUKAMAD TAMMEKA, TULEVIK JA INFONET II" [Tammeka, Tulevik and Infonet II successful in the play-offs] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 23 November 2013.
5. "Flora sai koondisega sama sponsori". Soccernet.ee. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
6. "Nõmme Kalju sõlmis Eesti klubijalgpalli ühe suurima lepingu". jkkalju.ee. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
7. "Puuma lööb konkurente nooruse uljusega" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 19 January 2014.
8. "Sergei Zamogilnõi lahkub peatreeneri kohalt" [Sergei Zamogilnõi quits the manager position] (in Estonian). Kuressaare. 7 January 2014.
9. "FC Kuressaare uus peatreener on Pelle Pohlak" [The new manager of FC Kuressaare is Pelle Pohlak] (in Estonian). Kuressaare. 8 January 2014.
10. "Bondarenko maandus Tarvas" [Bondarenko lands in Tarvas] (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 3 July 2014.
11. "Puuma alustab hooaega miinuspunktidega". Soccernet.ee. 28 February 2014.
12. "Emmaste loobus Esiliiga üleminekumängudest" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 12 November 2014.
13. "EL» VÄRAVALÖÖJATE EDETABEL (2014)" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
14. "Premium liiga kuu parimad on Prosa ja Ratnikov" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 4 April 2014.
15. "Premium liiga kuu parimad on Prins ja Reintam" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 1 May 2014.
16. "Maikuu parimateks tunnistati Hurt ja Ratnikov" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 10 June 2014.
17. "Premium liiga parimateks valiti Marko Kristal ja Lasha Omanidze" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 3 July 2014.
18. "Juulikuu parimad olid Puštov ja Luigend" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
19. "Premium liiga kuu parimad tulevad Sillamäelt" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
20. "Premium liiga kuu parimad on Prins ja Smishko" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
21. "Premium liiga kuu parimad on Manucho ja Frantsev" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.