2011 Meistriliiga

Meistriliiga
Season2011
ChampionsFlora
9th title
RelegatedAjax
Champions LeagueFlora
Europa LeagueNõmme Kalju
Narva Trans
Levadia
Baltic LeagueFlora
Nõmme Kalju
Narva Trans
Levadia
Sillamäe Kalev
Matches played180
Goals scored615 (3.42 per match)
Top goalscorerAleksandrs Čekulajevs (46 goals)
Biggest home winNarva Trans 14–0 Ajax
Biggest away winAjax 0–12 Narva Trans
Highest scoringFlora 13–1 Ajax
Narva Trans 14–0 Ajax
Longest winning runNõmme Kalju
(9 games)[1]
Longest unbeaten runFlora
(21 games)[1]
Longest winless runAjax
(36 games)[1]
Longest losing runAjax
(11 games)[1]
2010
2012

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.

Teams

Lootus finished the 2010 season in last place and were relegated to the 2011 Esiliiga as a result, ending their one-year stay in the Estonian top flight. Taking their place were Ajax, who finished the 2010 Esiliiga first among promotion-eligible clubs and third overall. They returned to the top flight after a three-year absence.

Tulevik terminated their affiliation with Flora and continued as an independent club in the II Liiga. FC Viljandi was created to ensure top-level football would remain in the city of Viljandi.[2]

In addition, the 9th place Meistriliiga club, Kuressaare, faced the 4th placed Esiliiga club, Kiviõli Tamme Auto in a two-legged play-off for a place in the Meistriliiga. Kuressaare won the play-off, 4–2 on aggregate, and thus retained their place in the league.

Stadiums and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity Manager
Ajax Tallinn Ajax Stadium 500 Estonia Boriss Dugan
Flora A. Le Coq Arena 9,692 Estonia Martin Reim
Kuressaare Kuressaare Kuressaare linnastaadion 1,000 Estonia Sergei Zamogilnõi
Levadia Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium 1,300 Estonia Sergei Hohlov-Simson
Narva Trans Narva Narva Kreenholm Stadium 1,065 Russia Aleksei Yagudin
Nõmme Kalju Tallinn Hiiu Stadium 300 Estonia Igor Prins
Paide Linnameeskond Paide Paide linnastaadion 500 Estonia Meelis Rooba
Sillamäe Kalev Sillamäe Sillamäe Kalev Stadium 800 Russia Vladimir Kazachyonok
Tammeka Tartu Tartu Tamme Stadium 1,500 Estonia Kristjan Tiirik
Viljandi Viljandi Viljandi linnastaadion 384 Estonia Zaur Tšilingarašvili

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Flora (C) 36 26 8 2 100 24 +76 86 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 Nõmme Kalju 36 24 7 5 82 23 +59 79 Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round[a]
3 Narva Trans 36 22 7 7 107 29 +78 73
4 Levadia 36 21 10 5 76 25 +51 73
5 Sillamäe Kalev 36 17 3 16 77 59 +18 54
6 Paide 36 13 6 17 40 51 −11 45
7 Tammeka 36 11 6 19 57 75 −18 39
8 Viljandi 36 8 6 22 37 69 −32 30
9 Kuressaare (O) 36 7 5 24 28 68 −40 26 Qualification for relegation play-offs
10 Ajax (R) 36 0 4 32 11 192 −181 4 Relegation to Esiliiga
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Rules for classification: 1st - points; 2nd - fewest withdrawals or annulled matches; 3rd - overall wins; 4th - head-to-head points; 5th - head-to-head goal difference; 6th - goal difference; 7th - goals scored.
If two or more teams on the top have the same number of points by the end of the season, the aforementioned rules will not apply and additional game(s) will be played to determine the champions[3]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ The winners of the 2011–12 Estonian Cup competition (Levadia) will qualify for the first qualifying round of UEFA Europa League.

Results

Each team played every opponent four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 36 games.

Relegation play-off

At season's end, the 9th place club in the Meistriliiga participated in a two-legged playoff with the runners-up of the 2011 Esiliiga for one place in the following year's competition.

13 November 2011 Infonet 0–1 Kuressaare Tallinn
13:00 EET (GMT+2) Report Borissov 2' (o.g.) Stadium: Lasnamäe KJH artificial turf
Attendance: 187
Referee: Jaan Roos
19 November 2011 Kuressaare 4–1 Infonet Kuressaare
13:00 EET (GMT+2) Pukk 41'
Valmas 60'
Viira 85'
Pajunurm 87'
Report Timofejev 61' Stadium: Kuressaare linnastaadion
Attendance: 135
Referee: Eiko Saar

Kuressaare retained their place in the league, winning 5–1 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals[5][6]
1 Latvia Aleksandrs Čekulajevs Narva Trans 46
2 Estonia Tarmo Neemelo Nõmme Kalju 22
Estonia Albert Prosa Tammeka
4 Estonia Henri Anier Flora 21
5 Estonia Vitali Leitan Levadia 20
6 Estonia Maksim Gruznov Narva Trans 17
7 Estonia Jüri Jevdokimov Nõmme Kalju 16
Estonia Kristen Viikmäe Nõmme Kalju
9 Russia Aleksei Alekseev Sillamäe Kalev 14
Russia Aleksandr Nikulin Sillamäe Kalev

Awards

Monthly awards

Month[7] Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
March Estonia Martin Reim Flora Lithuania Marius Bezykornovas Narva Trans
April Estonia Aleksandr Puštov Levadia Estonia Sergei Mošnikov Flora
May Estonia Sergei Zamogilnõi Kuressaare Estonia Gert Kams
June Estonia Igor Prins Nõmme Kalju Latvia Aleksandrs Čekulajevs Narva Trans
July Estonia Vitali Leitan Levadia
August Japan Hidetoshi Wakui Nõmme Kalju
September Estonia Martin Reim Flora Latvia Aleksandrs Čekulajevs Narva Trans
October Estonia Meelis Rooba Paide Linnameeskond Estonia Markus Jürgenson Flora

Meistriliiga Player of the Year

Sergei Mošnikov was named Meistriliiga Player of the Year.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Meistriliiga - 2011". WhoScored.com. WhoScored.com. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Viljandi Tulevik läheb kohalike pallurite kätte ja hakkab mängima II liigas" (in Estonian). Õhtuleht. 14 January 2011. Archived from the original on 16 January 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Eesti 2011.a meistrivõistluste Meistri- ja Esiliiga juhend" (PDF). jalgpall.ee (in Estonian). EJL. 5 January 2011. p. 9. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  4. ^ "Levadia nädalalõpp värvus mustaks" [Levadia's weekend turned black] (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Meistriliiga 2011 statistika – Väravalööjad" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  6. ^ "VÄRAVALÖÖJATE EDETABEL (2011)" (in Estonian). EJL. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  7. ^ "Oktoobri parimad Meistriliigas: Meelis Rooba ja Markus Jürgenson" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 3 November 2011.
  8. ^ "Meistriliiga treenerid valisid esimest korda parimat mängijat". Estonian Football Association. 22 November 2011.

External links