Esiliiga

Esiliiga
Founded	1992;32 years ago
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	Nõmme United (1st title) ; (2023)
Most championships	Levadia II Tallinn ; (7 titles)
Website	Official website
	Current: 2024 Esiliiga

Last updated May 12, 2024

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 2024 season.

Club	Position in 2023	Seasons in Esiliiga	First season of current spell	Titles	Last title
Elva ^b	8th	12	2017	0	—
FC Tallinn ^a,b	6th	1	2023	0	—
Flora U21 Tallinn ^a,b,c	3rd	18	2006	2	2015
Harju ^a	10th in the Premium Liiga	1	2024	1	2022
Levadia U21 Tallinn ^a,b,c	4th	20	2004	7	2013
Paide Linnameeskond U21 ^a,b,c	7th	3	2021	0	—
Tabasalu ^a,b	5th	1	2023	0	—
Tallinna Kalev U21 ^b,c	2nd in the Esiliiga B	2	2024	0	—
Tartu Welco ^b	1st in the Esiliiga B	4	2024	0	—
Viimsi ^a,b	2nd	2	2022	0	—

^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	Valga Lokomotiiv
1992–93	Pärnu Tervis	Tallinna Sadam	Kreenholm Narva
1993–94	Pärnu JK/Kalev	Vall Tallinn	Pena Jõhvi	Vadim Dolinin (Kalev Pärnu)	21
1994–95	Tallinna Dünamo ^[A]	Tallinna Jalgpallikool	Pena Jõhvi
1994–95	Lelle ^[B]	Pärnu Tervis	Viljandi Tulevik
1995–96	Norma Tallinn	Vall Tallinn	Tallinna Jalgpallikool
1996–97	Tallinna Dünamo (2)	Tallinna Jalgpallikool	Pärnu	Igor Bratšuk (Olümp Maardu)	8
1997–98	Vall Tallinn	Olümpia Maardu	Dokker Tallinn	Andrei Afanassov (Vall Tallinn) Aleksei Titov (Vall Tallinn)	13
1998	Levadia Maardu	Vigri Tallinn	Lootus Kohtla-Järve	Igor Bratšuk (Levadia Maardu)	9
1999	Kuressaare	Lootus Kohtla-Järve	Vigri Tallinn	Svajūnas Raučkis (Kuressaare)	27
2000	Maardu	Pärnu Tervis	Viljandi	Vladimir Tšelnokov (Maardu)	26
2001	Levadia Pärnu	Valga	S.C. Real Maardu	Andrei Afanassov (S.C. Real Maardu)	26
2002	Valga	Kuressaare	Maardu	Andrei Afanassov (Maardu)	25
2003	Lootus Kohtla-Järve	Pärnu Tervis	M.C. Tallinn	Aleksei Titov (Ajax Lasnamäe)	29
2004	Tartu Tammeka	Levadia II Tallinn	Pärnu Tervis	Oliver Konsa (Tartu Tammeka)	25
2005	Pärnu Vaprus	Levadia II Tallinn	Ajax Lasnamäe	Nikita Andreev (Ajax Lasnamäe)	29
2006	Levadia II Tallinn (2)	Kuressaare	Tallinna Kalev	Kaimar Saag (Levadia II Tallinn)	37
2007	Levadia II Tallinn (3)	Flora II Tallinn	Sillamäe Kalev	Andrus Mitt (Nõmme Kalju)	24
2008	Levadia II Tallinn (4)	Kuressaare	Flora II Tallinn	Sergei Jegorov (TVMK II Tallinn)	20
2009	Levadia II Tallinn (5)	Lootus Kohtla-Järve	Warrior Valga	Tõnis Starkopf (Kiviõli Tamme Auto/Levadia II Tallinn)	32
2010	Levadia II Tallinn (6)	Flora II Tallinn	Ajax Lasnamäe	Tõnis Starkopf (Kiviõli Tamme Auto)	28
2011	Tallinna Kalev	Infonet Tallinn	Kiviõli Tamme Auto	Maksim Rõtškov (Infonet Tallinn)	40
2012	Infonet Tallinn	Flora II Tallinn	Rakvere Tarvas	Manucho (Infonet Tallinn)	31
2013	Levadia II Tallinn (7)	Jõhvi Lokomotiv	Flora II Tallinn	Tõnis Starkopf (Irbis Kiviõli)	28
2014	Flora II Tallinn	Levadia II Tallinn	Pärnu Linnameeskond	Kristen Saarts (Pärnu Linnameeskond/Levadia II Tallinn)	31
2015	Flora II Tallinn (2)	Levadia II Tallinn	Infonet II Tallinn	Eduard Golovljov (Infonet II Tallinn)	41
2016	Viljandi Tulevik	Flora U21 Tallinn	Infonet II Tallinn	Eduard Golovljov (Infonet II Tallinn)	39
2017	Maardu Linnameeskond	Tallinna Kalev	Rakvere Tarvas	Vitali Gussev (Maardu Linnameeskond)	38
2018	Maardu Linnameeskond (2)	Flora U21 Tallinn	Levadia U21 Tallinn	Vitali Gussev (Maardu Linnameeskond)	43
2019	TJK Legion	Flora U21 Tallinn	Pärnu Vaprus	Rejal Alijev (TJK Legion)	38
2020	Pärnu Vaprus (2)	Maardu Linnameeskond	Nõmme United	Kevin Mätas (Nõmme United)	22
2021	Maardu Linnameeskond (3)	Tallinna Kalev	Paide Linnameeskond U21	Robi Saarma (Nõmme United)	28
2022	Harju JK Laagri	Levadia U21 Tallinn	Elva	Egert Õunapuu (Nõmme United)	36
2023	Nõmme United	Viimsi	Flora U21 Tallinn	Egert Õunapuu (Nõmme United)	32

^
East/North champion
^
South/West champion

Total titles won

Club				Winning seasons
Levadia U21 Tallinn	7	5	1	2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013
Maardu Linnameeskond	3	1	0	2017, 2018, 2021
Flora U21 Tallinn	2	6	3	2014, 2015
Pärnu Vaprus	2	0	1	2005, 2020
Tallinna Dünamo	2	0	0	1994–95 ^[A], 1996–97
Pärnu Tervis	1	3	1	1992–93
Kuressaare	1	3	0	1999
Järve Kohtla-Järve	1	2	1	2003
Tallinna Kalev	1	2	1	2011
Vall Tallinn	1	2	0	1997–98
Valga Warrior	1	1	1	2002
Infonet Tallinn	1	1	0	2012
Kreenholm Narva	1	0	1	1992
Pärnu	1	0	1	1993–94
Viljandi Tulevik	1	0	1	2016
Nõmme United	1	0	1	2023
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
Tartu Tammeka	1	0	0	2004
TJK Legion	1	0	0	2019
Harju JK	1	0	0	2022
Tallinna Jalgpallikool	0	2	1
Vigri Tallinn	0	1	1
Tempo Tallinn	0	1	0
Tallinna Sadam	0	1	0
Olümpia Maardu	0	1	0
Jõhvi Lokomotiv	0	1	0
Viimsi	0	1	0
Pena Jõhvi	0	0	2
Maardu	0	0	2
Ajax Lasnamäe	0	0	2
Infonet II Tallinn	0	0	2
Rakvere Tarvas	0	0	2
Valga Lokomotiiv	0	0	1
Dokker Tallinn	0	0	1
Viljandi	0	0	1
M.C. Tallinn	0	0	1
Sillamäe Kalev	0	0	1
Kiviõli Irbis	0	0	1
Pärnu Linnameeskond	0	0	1
Paide Linnameeskond U21	0	0	1
Elva	0	0	1

^
East/North champion
^
South/West champion

All-time Esiliiga table

The table is a cumulative record of all match results, points and goals of every team that has played in the Esiliiga since its inception in 1992. The table that follows is accurate as of the end of the 2021 season. Teams in bold played in the Esiliiga 2021 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. Promotion matches and relegation matches involving clubs of higher or lower leagues are not counted.

The table is sorted by all-time points.

Pos.	Club	Seasons	Titles	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG
1	FCI Levadia U21	20	7	688	386	120	182	1722	885	+837	1278	1.86
2	FC Flora U21	13	2	563	302	101	160	1195	706	+489	1007	1.79
3	JK Tallinna Kalev	8	1	282	147	54	81	614	431	+183	495	1.76
4	Rakvere JK Tarvas	10	0	360	132	64	164	556	731	-175	460	1.28
5	FC Kuressaare	9	1	278	136	41	99	568	482	+86	449	1.62
6	Kiviõli FC Irbis	8	0	288	110	51	124	556	542	+14	381	1.32
7	Maardu Linnameeskond	5	3	170	112	20	38	468	235	+233	356	2.09
8	FC Elva	10	0	331	99	45	187	437	706	-269	342	1.03
9	Kohtla-Järve FC Lootus	7	1	214	97	27	90	411	400	+11	318	1.49
10	Lasnamäe FC Ajax	6	0	200	93	37	70	449	311	+138	316	1.58
11	Pärnu JK Vaprus	6	2	204	92	38	74	400	343	+57	314	1.54
12	Tartu JK Tammeka U21	7	0	242	86	49	107	385	447	-62	307	1.27
13	Viljandi JK Tulevik	7	1	166	90	30	56	320	250	+70	300	1.81
14	Pärnu KEK	8	1	188	86	23	77	416	370	+46	281	1.49
15	FC Valga	8	1	164	79	14	61	304	276	+28	251	1.53
16	Tallinna FC TVMK II	5	0	172	63	23	86	302	363	-61	212	1.23
17	Valga FC Warrior	6	0	200	61	29	110	285	438	-153	212	1.06
18	Tartu FC Santos	5	0	216	59	27	94	290	388	-98	204	0.94
19	Tallinna JK Legion	4	1	144	60	21	63	291	296	-5	201	1.40
20	Tallinna JK Dünamo	7	2	144	58	19	67	276	319	-43	193	1.34
21	JK Sillamäe Kalev	7	0	162	56	24	74	232	303	-71	192	1.19
22	Vändra JK Vaprus	5	0	174	52	30	92	259	375	-116	186	1.07
23	FCI Tallinn U21	3	0	108	51	12	45	266	214	+52	165	1.53
24	Tartu JK Merkuur	6	0	122	49	18	55	199	238	-39	165	1.35
25	Nõmme Kalju FC U21	4	0	144	48	21	75	218	293	-75	165	1.15
26	Pärnu JK	6	1	122	44	21	49	224	227	-3	153	1.25
27	FCI Tallinn	2	1	72	45	16	11	195	80	+115	151	2.10
28	FC Puuma	4	0	144	37	28	79	208	372	-164	139	0.97
29	Pärnu Linnameeskond	3	0	108	37	23	49	207	213	-6	134	1.24
30	Tallinna Jalgpalliklubi	4	0	120	34	22	64	164	300	-136	124	1.03
31	FC M.C. Tallinn	3	0	84	34	17	33	167	189	-22	119	1.42
32	Tallinna JK Vall	4	1	58	36	7	15	171	80	+91	115	1.98
33	Maardu FK Olümpia	5	1	78	33	16	29	158	152	+6	115	1.47
34	Tartu SK 10	2	0	72	32	12	28	123	125	-2	108	1.50
35	Viljandi JK Tulevik U21	3	0	108	28	24	56	139	215	-76	108	1.00
36	Nõmme Kalju FC	2	0	72	31	14	27	145	149	-4	107	1.49
37	Tartu JK Tammeka	3	1	84	29	18	37	165	199	-34	105	1.25
38	Tartu JK Welco	4	0	138	27	24	87	143	345	-202	105	0.76
39	Tallinna Jalgpallikool	5	0	72	31	10	31	117	141	-24	103	1.43
40	FC Nõmme United	2	0	62	28	12	22	155	110	+44	96	1.55
41	Maardu S.C. Real	2	0	56	27	13	16	144	102	+42	94	1.68
42	Jõhvi FC Lokomotiiv	2	0	72	26	13	33	115	121	-6	91	1.26
43	Tartu KSK Vigri	2	0	42	26	9	7	98	40	+58	87	2.07
44	Narva Kreenholm	4	1	58	25	10	23	120	125	-5	85	1.47
45	Kiviõli JK Irbis	4	0	58	23	8	27	99	117	-18	77	1.33
46	Kohtla-Järve JK Järve	3	0	102	21	13	68	106	270	-164	76	0.75
47	Kohtla-Järve JK Pena	3	0	46	22	7	17	95	85	+10	73	1.59
48	JK Tallinna Kalev U21	2	0	72	18	13	41	75	134	-59	67	0.93
49	Paide Linnameeskond U21	1	0	30	17	3	10	85	56	+29	54	1.80
50	Paide Linnameeskond	1	0	36	14	12	10	58	44	+14	54	1.50
51	Pärnu FC Levadia	1	1	28	15	7	6	67	39	+28	52	1.86
52	Tallinna FC Norma	2	1	28	15	2	11	77	44	+33	47	1.68
53	Viimsi JK	1	0	28	12	4	12	43	50	-7	40	1.43
54	FC Viljandi	1	0	28	12	4	12	31	46	-15	40	1.43
55	JK Tallinna Sadam	1	0	16	12	2	2	52	14	+38	38	2.38
56	Paide KEK	2	0	28	10	6	12	56	64	-8	36	1.29
57	Keila JK	1	0	36	10	5	21	41	88	-47	35	0.97
58	Lelle SK	1	0	36	11	1	24	49	100	-51	34	0.94
59	FC Kuressaare II	1	0	28	8	3	17	35	79	-44	27	0.96
60	Kehra JK Paber	1	0	20	7	3	10	33	47	-14	24	1.20
61	Kallaste JK Peipsi Kalur	2	0	28	7	3	18	36	75	-39	24	0.86
62	Tallinna JK Metallist	1	0	12	7	0	5	30	25	+5	21	1.75
63	Tallinna JK Dokker	1	0	14	6	3	5	30	26	+4	21	1.50
64	Tallinna JK Tempo	1	0	12	6	1	5	29	26	+3	19	1.58
65	Tallinna FC Arsenal	1	0	14	5	0	9	26	31	-5	15	1.07
66	Tartu JK Merkuur-Juunior	1	0	36	3	5	28	27	97	-70	14	0.39
67	Põltsamaa JK Sport	1	0	10	1	0	9	6	27	-21	3	0.30
68	Tartu FC DAG	1	0	14	0	1	3	12	67	-55	1	0.07

Related Research Articles

Football in Estonia is governed by the Estonian Football Association. The EJL controls the domestic club championships, the Estonian Cup, Estonian SuperCup, Estonian Small Cup and the national teams.

2006 Meistriliiga was the 16th season of the Meistriliiga, Estonia's premier football league. Levadia won their fourth title.

The 2008 season of Meistriliiga, the first level in the Estonian football system, was the 18th season in the league's history. It began on 8 March 2008 and ended on 15 November 2008. The defending champions were Levadia.

The 2009 Meistriliiga was the 19th season of the Meistriliiga, Estonia's premier football league. It started on 7 March 2009 and ended on 10 November 2009. Levadia won their seventh title.

The 2010 season of the Esiliiga, the second level in the Estonian football system, is the 20th season in the league's history. It starts in March and ends in November. The defending champions are Levadia II, who are unable for promotion as they are the reserve team for Meistriliiga side Levadia.

The 2011 Meistriliiga was the 21st season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 5 March 2011 and concluded on 5 November 2011. The defending champions Flora won their ninth league title.

The 2013 Meistriliiga was the 23rd season of the Meistriliiga, the first level in the Estonian football system. The season began on 2 March 2013 and ended on 9 November 2013. Nõmme Kalju, the defending champions, finished runners-up behind Levadia, who won their 8th title.

The 2013 season of the Esiliiga, the second level in the Estonian football system, is the twenty-third season in the league's history. The season officially began on 3 March 2013 and ended on 10 November 2013. However, on 3 March the Estonian Football Association announced that all matches scheduled for 3 March 2013 would be postponed due to heavy snowfall. The previous league champions Infonet were promoted to Meistriliiga while Pärnu Linnameeskond and Kohtla-Järve Lootus were relegated to Esiliiga B division. For this season those three teams are replaced by Jõhvi Lokomotiv from II Liiga East/North division and Viljandi Tulevik and Vändra Vaprus from II Liiga West/South division.

The 2012 season of the Esiliiga, the second level in the Estonian football system, is the twenty-third season in the league's history. The season officially began on 11 March 2012 and concluded on 4 November 2013. The previous league champions Tallinna Kalev were promoted to the Meistriliiga while Legion and Warrior were relegated to the II Liiga. For this season those three teams were replaced by Rakvere Tarvas from II liiga East/North division and Tartu SK 10 and Tammeka II from II liiga West/South division.

The Esiliiga B is the third division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga B is ranked below the Esiliiga and above the II liiga. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends in November.

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. Flora II Tallinn won the Esiliiga, finishing with 78 points.

The 2014 Meistriliiga, also known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga due to sponsorship reasons, was the 24th season of the Meistriliiga, the first level in the Estonian football system. The season ran from 1 March 2014 to 8 November 2014. Levadia successfully defended the title, securing the championship in the last round.

The 2015 Esiliiga was the 25th season of the Esiliiga, second-highest Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 8 March 2015 and concluded on 8 November 2015.

The 2016 Esiliiga is the 26th season of the Esiliiga, second-highest Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 25 February 2016 and concluded on 6 November 2016.

This page summarizes 2017 in Estonian football.

This page summarizes 2018 in Estonian football.

This page summarizes 2019 in Estonian football.

This page summarizes Estonian football in 2020. It contains information about the league system, national teams, beach football and futsal. On 13 March 2020, football was suspended in Estonia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Meistriliiga was resumed on 19 May and Esiliiga and Esiliiga B were continued a week later.

The 2020 Meistriliiga was the 30th season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs. The season began on 6 March 2020, but was suspended after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league continued on 19 May 2020. The season concluded on 6 December, with the last match between Flora and FCI Levadia cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in both teams. The defending champions Flora successfully defended their title, winning second title in a row and their 13th in total.

The 2021 Meistriliiga, also known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs. The season was scheduled to begin on 5 March 2021, but was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic until 13 March and concluded on 5 December.

References

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

External links

Official website (in Estonian)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[cnote_A] 
East/North champion

[cnote_B] 
South/West champion

[cnote_A] 
East/North champion

[cnote_B] 
South/West champion

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

[1]

[A]

[B]

v t e Esiliiga seasons
1990s	1992 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024