The 1997–98 Vyshcha Liha season was the 7th since its establishment. FC Dynamo Kyiv were the defending champions.

• Metalurh Donetsk, the champion of the 1996–97 Ukrainian First League – (debut)
• Metalurh Mariupol, the third-place runner-up of the 1996–97 Ukrainian First League – (debut)

• In a winter break Zirka-NIBAS Kirovohrad changed its name to Zirka Kirovohrad.

Prykarpattia

Chornomorets

Zirka

Dnipro

Dynamo
CSKA

Kryvbas

Karpaty

Metalurh M.

Vorskla

Metalurh Z.
Torpedo

Nyva T.

Tavriya

Shakhtar
Metalurh D.

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Locations of teams home grounds in Ukrainian Premier League 1996-97

Club	Coach	Replaced coach	Home stadium
FC Dynamo Kyiv	Valery Lobanovsky		Dynamo Stadium
FC Shakhtar Donetsk	Valery Yaremchenko		Shakhtar Stadium
FC Karpaty Lviv	Myron Markevych		Ukraina Stadium
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Vadym Tyschenko	Vyacheslav Hrozny 15 games (first half)	Meteor Stadium
FC Vorskla Poltava	Oleksandr Dovbiy	Viktor Pozhechevskyi 27 games (first half)	Vorskla Stadium
FC Metalurh Donetsk	Volodymyr Onyschenko		Avanhard Stadium (Makiivka) Donetsk Metallurgical Factory Stadium
FC Nyva Ternopil	Leonid Ischuk	Ihor Yavorskyi 29 games	City Stadium
FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Oleh Taran		Metalurh Stadium
FC Metalurh Zaporizhia	Oleksandr Shtelin	Oleksandr Tomakh 17 games Leonid Kliuchyk 1 game	Metalurh Stadium
FC Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk	Bohdan Blavatskiy	Ihor Yurchenko 15 games (first half)	Rukh Stadium
FC Zirka Kirovohrad	Oleksandr Ischenko	Oleksandr Dovbiy 27 games Serhiy Strashnenko 1 game	Zirka Stadium
FC Metalurh Mariupol	Mykola Pavlov	Volodymyr Kuzovlev 1 game Yuriy Pohrebniak 2 games	Azovstal Stadium
FC CSKA Kyiv	Serhiy Morozov	Volodymyr Bezsonov 15 games	CSK ZSU Stadium
SC Tavriya Simferopol	Viktor Hrachov	Ivan Balan 25 games	Lokomotyv Stadium
FC Chornomorets Odesa	Volodymyr Kozerenko	Leonid Buriak 22 games	Black Sea Shipping Stadium
FC Torpedo Zaporizhia	Leonid Koltun	Viktor Matvienko 18 games Vyacheslav Pershyn 4 games	AvtoZAZ Stadium

Team	Outgoing head coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming head coach	Date of appointment	Table
SC Tavriya Simferopol	Mykola Pavlov			pre-season	Ivan Balan		pre-season
FC CSKA Kyiv	Volodymyr Lozynsky			pre-season	Volodymyr Bezsonov		pre-season
FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	Oleksandr Lysenko			pre-season	Oleh Taran		pre-season
FC Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk	Viktor Kolotov			pre-season	Ihor Yurchenko		pre-season

Rank	Player	Club	Goals (Pen.)
1	Serhii Rebrov	Dynamo Kyiv	22 (5)
2	Andriy Shevchenko	Dynamo Kyiv	21 (1)
3	Oleksandr Palyanytsia	Karpaty Lviv	17 (2)
4	Avtandil Kapanadze	Nyva Ternopil	15
5	Oleksandr Haidash	Tavriya Simferopol	14
6	Hennady Shchekotylin	Chornomorets Odesa	13 (1)
7	Valeriy Kryventsov	Shakhtar Donetsk	11
8	Petro Rusak	Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk	9
	Hennadiy Orbu	Shakhtar Donetsk	9 (1)
10	Valentyn Platonov	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	9
	Vitaliy Mintenko	Metalurh Donetsk	9 (2)
	Volodymyr Haschyn	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	9 (3)

• 1997–98 Persha Liha
• 1997–98 Druha Liha
• 1997–98 Ukrainian Cup

• ukrsoccerhistory.com - source of information