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.

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	Legion Tallinn (1st title) (2019)
Most championships	Levadia II Tallinn (7 titles)
Website	Official website
2020 Esiliiga

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 2020 season.

Club	Position in 2019	Seasons in Esiliiga	First season of current spell	Titles	Last title
Elva^b	5th	8	2017	0	N/A
Pärnu JK	3rd in the Esiliiga B	4	2020	1	1993–94
Flora U21 Tallinn^b,c	2nd	14	2006	2	2015
Tartu JK Tammeka U21^b,c	4th	4	2019	0	N/A
Levadia U21 Tallinn^a,b,c	6th	16	2004	7	2013
Maardu Linnameeskond^a	10th in the Meistriliiga	3	2020	2	2018
Järve Kohtla-Järve^b	7th	2	2019	0	N/A
Vändra Vaprus^b	2nd in the Esiliiga B	4	2020	0	N/A
Nõmme United^a,b	1st in the Esiliiga B	0	2020	0	N/A
Pärnu Vaprus	3rd	5	2019	1	2005

^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	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	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 Tartu	Svajūnas Raučkis (Kuressaare)	27
2000	Maardu	Tervis Pärnu	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	Tervis Pärnu	M.C. Tallinn	Aleksei Titov (Ajax Lasnamäe)	29
2004	Tammeka Tartu	Levadia II Tallinn	Tervis Pärnu	Oliver Konsa (Tammeka Tartu)	25
2005	Vaprus Pärnu	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	Tarvas Rakvere	Manucho (Infonet Tallinn)	31
2013	Levadia II Tallinn (7)	Lokomotiv Jõhvi	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	Tulevik Viljandi	Flora U21 Tallinn	Infonet II Tallinn	Eduard Golovljov (Infonet II Tallinn)	39
2017	Maardu Linnameeskond	Tallinna Kalev	Tarvas Rakvere	Vitali Gussev (Maardu Linnameeskond)	38
2018	Maardu Linnameeskond (2)	Flora U21 Tallinn	Levadia U21 Tallinn	Vitali Gussev (Maardu Linnameeskond)	43
2019	Legion Tallinn	Flora U21 Tallinn	Vaprus Pärnu	Rejal Alijev (Legion Tallinn)	38

1. ^
   East/North champion
2. ^
   South/West champion

Total titles won

Club				Winning seasons
Levadia U21 Tallinn	7	4	1	2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013
Flora U21 Tallinn	2	6	2	2014, 2015
Maardu Linnameeskond	2	0	0	2017, 2018
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
Vaprus Pärnu	1	0	1	2005
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
Legion Tallinn	1	0	0	2019
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

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 2018 season. Teams in bold play in the Esiliiga 2019 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	17	7	588	348	105	139	1548	701	+847	1149	1.95
2	FC Flora U21	10	2	468	254	82	132	1008	576	+432	844	1.80
3	FC Kuressaare	9	1	278	136	41	99	568	482	+86	449	1.62
4	Rakvere JK Tarvas	9	0	324	124	60	140	521	633	-112	432	1.33
5	JK Tallinna Kalev	7	1	252	126	46	80	536	399	+137	424	1.68
6	Kiviõli FC Irbis	8	0	288	110	51	124	556	542	+14	381	1.32
7	Kohtla-Järve FC Lootus	7	1	214	97	27	90	411	400	+11	318	1.49
8	Lasnamäe FC Ajax	6	0	200	93	37	70	449	311	+138	316	1.58
9	Viljandi JK Tulevik	7	1	166	90	30	56	320	250	+70	300	1.81
10	Pärnu KEK	8	1	188	86	23	77	416	370	+46	281	1.49
11	FC Valga	8	1	164	79	14	61	304	276	+28	251	1.53
12	Maardu Linnameeskond	3	2	108	69	12	27	301	160	+141	219	2.03
13	Tallinna FC TVMK II	5	0	172	63	23	86	302	363	-61	212	1.23
14	Valga FC Warrior	6	0	200	61	29	110	285	438	-153	212	1.06
15	FC Elva	7	0	236	58	34	144	274	537	-263	208	0.88
16	Tartu FC Santos	5	0	216	59	27	94	290	388	-98	204	0.94
17	Tallinna JK Dünamo	7	2	144	58	19	67	276	319	-43	193	1.34
18	JK Sillamäe Kalev	7	0	162	56	24	74	232	303	-71	192	1.19
19	Tartu JK Tammeka U21	4	0	144	50	35	59	236	242	-4	185	1.28
20	Pärnu JK Vaprus	4	1	136	52	26	58	255	265	-10	182	1.34
21	FCI Tallinn U21	3	0	108	51	12	45	266	214	+52	165	1.53
22	Tartu JK Merkuur	6	0	122	49	18	55	199	238	-39	165	1.35
23	Nõmme Kalju FC U21	4	0	144	48	21	75	218	293	-75	165	1.15
24	Vändra JK Vaprus	4	0	144	42	28	74	212	303	-91	154	1.07
25	FCI Tallinn	2	1	72	45	16	11	195	80	+115	151	2.10
26	FC Puuma	4	0	144	37	28	79	208	372	-164	139	0.97
27	Pärnu Linnameeskond	3	0	108	37	23	49	207	213	-6	134	1.24
28	Tallinna Jalgpalliklubi	4	0	120	34	22	64	164	300	-136	124	1.03
29	FC M.C. Tallinn	3	0	84	34	17	33	167	189	-22	119	1.42
30	Tallinna JK Vall	4	1	58	36	7	15	171	80	+91	115	1.98
31	Maardu FK Olümpia	5	1	78	33	16	29	158	152	+6	115	1.47
32	Tallinna JK Legion	3	0	108	31	17	60	164	261	-97	110	1.02
33	Tartu SK 10	2	0	72	32	12	28	123	125	-2	108	1.50
34	Viljandi JK Tulevik U21	3	0	108	28	24	56	139	215	-76	108	1.00
35	Nõmme Kalju FC	2	0	72	31	14	27	145	149	-4	107	1.49
36	Tartu JK Tammeka	3	1	84	29	18	37	165	199	-34	105	1.25
37	Tallinna Jalgpallikool	5	0	72	31	10	31	117	141	-24	103	1.43
38	Maardu S.C. Real	2	0	56	27	13	16	144	102	+42	94	1.68
39	Jõhvi FC Lokomotiiv	2	0	72	26	13	33	115	121	-6	91	1.26
40	Tartu KSK Vigri	2	0	42	26	9	7	98	40	+58	87	2.07
41	Narva Kreenholm	4	1	58	25	10	23	120	125	-5	85	1.47
42	Pärnu JK	4	1	62	25	9	20	125	110	+15	84	1.35
43	Kiviõli JK Irbis	4	0	58	23	8	27	99	117	-18	77	1.33
44	Kohtla-Järve JK Pena	3	0	46	22	7	17	95	85	+10	73	1.59
45	Tartu JK Welco	2	0	72	16	13	43	74	178	-104	61	0.85
46	Paide Linnameeskond	1	0	36	14	12	10	58	44	+14	54	1.50
47	Pärnu FC Levadia	1	1	28	15	7	6	67	39	+28	52	1.86
48	Tallinna FC Norma	2	1	28	15	2	11	77	44	+33	47	1.68
49	Viimsi JK	1	0	28	12	4	12	43	50	-7	40	1.43
50	FC Viljandi	1	0	28	12	4	12	31	46	-15	40	1.43
51	JK Tallinna Kalev U21	1	0	36	10	9	17	37	52	-15	39	1.08
52	JK Tallinna Sadam	1	0	16	12	2	2	52	14	+38	38	2.38
53	Paide KEK	2	0	28	10	6	12	56	64	-8	36	1.29
54	Keila JK	1	0	36	10	5	21	41	88	-47	35	0.97
55	Lelle SK	1	0	36	11	1	24	49	100	-51	34	0.94
56	Kohtla-Järve JK Järve	1	0	36	8	6	22	42	97	-55	30	0.83
57	FC Kuressaare II	1	0	28	8	3	17	35	79	-44	27	0.96
58	Kehra JK Paber	1	0	20	7	3	10	33	47	-14	24	1.20
59	Kallaste JK Peipsi Kalur	2	0	28	7	3	18	36	75	-39	24	0.86
60	Tallinna JK Metallist	1	0	12	7	0	5	30	25	+5	21	1.75
61	Tallinna JK Dokker	1	0	14	6	3	5	30	26	+4	21	1.50
62	Tallinna JK Tempo	1	0	12	6	1	5	29	26	+3	19	1.58
63	Tallinna FC Arsenal	1	0	14	5	0	9	26	31	-5	15	1.07
64	Tartu JK Merkuur-Juunior	1	0	36	3	5	28	27	97	-70	14	0.39
65	Põltsamaa JK Sport	1	0	10	1	0	9	6	27	-21	3	0.30
66	Tartu FC DAG	1	0	14	0	1	3	12	67	-55	1	0.07

See also

• Meistriliiga
• Esiliiga B

References

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

External links

• Official website (in Estonian)