1996–97 Ukrainian First League
1996–97 Ukrainian First League was the sixth season of the Ukrainian First League which was won by Metalurh Donetsk. The season started on August 4, 1996, and finished on June 20, 1997.
Promotion and relegation
Promoted teams
Three clubs promoted from the 1995–96 Ukrainian Second League.;Group A
- FC CSKA Kyiv - champion '
- FC Metalurh Mariupol - champion '
- FC Metalurh Donetsk - promotion play-off
Relegated teams
- SC Mykolaiv - 16th place '
- FC Volyn Lutsk - 17th place '
- FC Zorya Luhansk - 18th place
Renamed teams
- FC Zakarpattia Uzhhorod changed its name to FC Verkhovyna Uzhhorod before the season.
- FC CSKA Kyiv changed its name to FC CSKA-2 Kyiv before the season since becoming the farm team of the Borysfen-CSKA merger.
- FC Dnipro Cherkasy changed its name to FC Cherkasy during the winter break.
Teams
| Club | City | Stadium | Coach | Replaced coach |
| Metalist Kharkiv | Kharkiv | Metalist Stadium | Mykhailo Fomenko | Viktor Udovenko |
| Veres Rivne | Rivne | Avanhard Stadium | Viacheslav Kobeletsky | |
| Poligraftechnika Olexandria | Oleksandriya | Olimp Stadium | Yuriy Koval | Anatoliy Buznyk |
| Podillya Khmelnytskyi | Khmelnytskyi Krasyliv | Podillya Stadium Yunist Stadium | V.Kvartsyany | Volodymyr Bulhakov |
| Krystal Chortkiv | Chortkiv | Kharchovyk Stadium | V.Ivehesh | Ivan Hamaliy |
| Lviv | Lviv | Yunist Stadium | Stepan Yurchyshyn | |
| Dynamo-2 Kyiv | Kyiv | Dynamo Stadium | Volodymyr Onyshchenko | |
| Yavir Krasnopillia | Krasnopillya | Kolos Stadium Yavir Stadium | Valeriy Dushkov | |
| Stal Alchevsk | Alchevsk | Stal Stadium | Anatoliy Volobuyev | |
| Dnipro Cherkasy | Cherkasy | Central Stadium Spartak Stadium | Semen Osynovskyi | Ihor Chupryna |
| Bazhanovets Makiivka | Makiivka | Avanhard Stadium | Viktor Pyshchev | |
| Bukovyna Chernivtsi | Chernivtsi | Bukovyna Stadium | V.Bohuslavsky | Yukhym Shkolnykov |
| Khimik Zhytomyr | Zhytomyr | City Stadium | Hryhoriy Ishchenko | V.Veber |
| Naftovyk Okhtyrka | Okhtyrka | Naftovyk Stadium | Vasyl Yermak | Oleksandr Dovbiy |
| Metalurh Nikopol | Nikopol | Elektrometalurh Stadium | Hryhoriy Verzhelenko | |
| Volyn Lutsk | Lutsk | Avanhard Stadium | A.Radchenko | |
| Zakarpattia Uzhhorod | Uzhhorod | Avanhard Stadium | Oleksandr Holokolosov Sr. | Matviy Bobal |
| Zorya Luhansk | Luhansk | Avanhard Stadium | A.Shakun | Anatoliy Kuksov |
| CSKA-2 Kyiv | Kyiv | CSKA Stadium | A.Shtelin | A.Petrakov |
| Khimik Severodonetsk | Sieverodonetsk | Khimik Stadium | Yuriy Koval | Yuriy Vankevych |
| Odessa | Odessa | SKA Stadium | Serhiy Marusyn | |
| SC Mykolaiv | Mykolaiv | Central Stadium | Anatoliy Zayaev | Yevhen Kucherevsky |
| Metalurh Donetsk | Donetsk | Shakhtar Stadium | Yevhen Korol | |
| Metalurh Mariupol | Mariupol | Azovstal Stadium | Yuriy Pohrebnyak |
Final table
| Persha Liha 1996-97 Winners |
| FC Metalurh Donetsk First title |
Top scorers
Statistics are taken from here.| Scorer | Goals | Team | |
| 1 |  Oleksiy Antiukhin | 22 | Dynamo-2 Kyiv |
| 2 | Yuriy Hetman | 21 | Metalurh Mariupol |
| 3 | Oleksandr Sevidov | 20 | Metalurh Donetsk |
| 4 | Viktor Diak | 18 | Shakhtar Makiivka |
| 5 | Kostyantyn Pinchuk | 16 | Metalurh Mariupol |
| 6 | Yevhen Sonin | 15 | SC Mykolaiv |
| 7 | Oleksandr Ostashov | 14 | Metalurh D. / Stal |
| 7 | Oleh Babenko | 14 | Khimik Severodonetsk |
| 9 | Oleksandr Karabuta | 13 | Metalist Kharkiv |
| 9 | Borys Shurshyn | 13 | Yavir Krasnopillya |