Sport Arena talks about the latest in the minor leagues – the PFL-organized winter tournament
Winter tournaments are always a trend for Ukrainian football, and even more so now. While the leading clubs receive permission to travel abroad, others are forced to carry out all training camps at home, so a thorough logistical study of all routes, bases and turnouts began – from Khust to Kyiv.
In conditions when the majority of clubs from the lower leagues will play in Ukraine, home tournaments will become the decoration of the winter training camp. And next to the Makarov Memorial, the Yust Memorial, the Pozhechevsky Cup, a new tournament will appear – the PFL Open Winter Cup. That’s what his chips and tasks.
Who will play in the tournament?
Seven teams – five members of the PFL and two amateur clubs:
- Kremin (Kremenchug) – third place in Group B, participant of the Championship round of the First League
- Niva (Buzovaya) is the leader of the Second League at the intermediate stage
- Chaika (Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka) – the third place of the Second League
- Niva (Vinnitsa) – fourth place in the Second League
- Left Bank (Kyiv) – participant of the Second League 2021/22, retaining membership in the PFL
- Druzhba (Mirovka) is the leader of Group 2 of the Ukrainian Championship among amateurs
- Okko (Kharkiv) – a new amateur team
At first there were 12 applicants for participation in the tournament, eight of them were chosen, but literally on the eve of the start of the competition, Sturm (Ivankov) refused to participate, citing fatigue and exhaustion after the Makarov Memorial.
What is the format and schedule of the competition?
The competition will be held February 4 – March 18, 2023 in one group and in one round everyone will be able to play with everyone. The venues are approved by the organizers of the competition in agreement with the participants of the tournament, provided that the stadiums entered for the competition have shelter.
1 round
February 4, 2023
- Left Bank – Seagull
February 5, 2023
- Friendship – Niva (Buzovaya)
- Niva (Vinnitsa) – Okko
- Flint skips the tour.
2 round
February 11, 2023 (base day)
- Friendship – Left Bank
- Seagull – Flint
- Niva (Buzovaya) – Okko
- Niva (Vinnitsa) skips the tour
The main thing that distinguishes this tournament from the traditional Ukrainian winter competitions is the opportunity to play only on weekends and at locations chosen, not suggested by the organizers. This opens up the possibility for teams from different regions to participate in the tournament. Unlike tournaments that have a clear geographical reference, round after round will be held in locations that are more convenient for participants.
What are the members fighting for?
Winners and prize-winners will receive special awards – cups, medals. The title of the first winner of the tournament, intending to become a regular and traditional, will be honorable enough for the participants. For clubs and the PFL itself, this is an opportunity to look at each other, because newcomers intend to get professional status in the future. And most importantly, the coaching staff will be able to see potential newcomers and carry out an important stage of preparation for the spring part of the season.
What are the prospects for the tournament?
In view of the realities of the current day, the PFL Open Winter Cup is a good opportunity to prepare for the game program of the competition. But at the best time you can experiment. For example, at one time the PFL held tournaments with the teams of the First and Second Leagues, youth and student. It’s very interesting, such teams could play out of competition.
It would also be great to involve absolute debutants of the all-Ukrainian level in this tournament – in each region there are strong amateur teams, where sometimes famous stars and promising home-grown football players play. Well, another level of development of the tournament is the unification of efforts with the UPL and the national teams committee. For conditionally youth teams or the student team of Ukraine, such a tournament can become an important stage.
Yaroslav Smelyansky
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
