2018 Esiliiga Explained

The 2018 Esiliiga was the 28th season of the Esiliiga, the second-highest Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 1 March 2018 and concluded on 11 November 2018. Defending champions Maardu Linnameeskond won their second Esiliiga title.

Teams

Ten teams competed in the league – the seven teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Esiliiga B. The promoted teams were Nõmme Kalju U21 (returning to the Esiliiga after a one-year absence), Tallinna Kalev U21 and Keila (both teams playing in the Esiliiga for the first time ever). They replaced Tallinna Kalev, Kuressaare (both teams promoted to the Meistriliiga) and FCI Tallinn U21 (merged with Levadia U21).^[1]

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Elva	Elva	Elva linnastaadion	[2]
FCI Levadia U21	Tallinn	Maarjamäe Stadium	[3]
Flora U21	Tallinn	Sportland Arena	[4]
Keila	Keila	Keila Stadium	[5]
Maardu Linnameeskond	Maardu	Maardu linnastaadion	[6]
Nõmme Kalju U21	Tallinn	Hiiu Stadium	[7]
Santos	Tartu	Tartu Tamme Stadium	[8]
Tallinna Kalev U21	Tallinn	Kalev Keskstaadion's artificial turf	[9]
Tarvas	Rakvere	Rakvere linnastaadion	[10]
Welco	Tartu	Tartu Tamme Stadium

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Elva	Veiko Haan	Jürgen Kuresoo	Nike	Sportland
FCI Levadia U21	Vladimir Vassiljev	Moorits Veering	Adidas	Viimsi Keevitus
Flora U21	Ats Sillaste	Markkus Seppik	Nike	Tele2[11]
Keila	Richard Barnwell	Kermo Kiiler	Adidas	Hole In One
Maardu Linnameeskond	Andrei Borissov	Ilja Zelentsov	Adidas
Nõmme Kalju U21	Kristen Viikmäe	Marcus Suurväli	Adidas	help.ee
Santos	Janar Sagim	Joonas Kartsep	Adidas
Tallinna Kalev U21	Daniel Meijel	Andi Kivirand	Nike	Coolbet
Tarvas	Tarmo Rebane	Kaarel Saar	Nike	Aqva Hotel & Spa
Welco	Yusuf Erdoğan	Mikk Valtna	Nike	Liisi

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Welco		Mutual consent	7 November 2017[12]	align=center rowspan=5	Pre-season	Yusuf Erdoğan	8 December 2017[13]
Flora U21			10 November 2017[14]		10 November 2017
Tarvas			30 November 2017[15]		30 November 2017
Nõmme Kalju U21	Erko Saviauk		31 December 2017		1 January 2018
Keila			6 January 2018[16]	Richard Barnwell	6 January 2018
Nõmme Kalju U21	Valeri Bondarenko		7 August 2018[17]	10th		7 August 2018
Nõmme Kalju U21		Resigned	September 2018[18]	10th		September 2018

League table

Play-offs

Promotion play-offs

Second leg

Kuressaare won 2–0 on aggregate and retained their place in the 2019 Meistriliiga.

Relegation play-offs

Second leg

Järve won 3–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the 2019 Esiliiga.

Results

Second half of the season

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[19]
1	Vitali Gussev	Maardu Linnameeskond	43
2	Ilja Zelentsov	Maardu Linnameeskond	22
3	Erik Utgof	FCI Levadia U21	20
4	Nikita Brõlin	Maardu Linnameeskond	19
align=center rowspan=2	5	Aleksandr Šapovalov	Flora U21	align=center rowspan=2	16
Erik Sorga	Flora U21
align=center rowspan=2	7	Jürgen Kuresoo	Elva	align=center rowspan=2	13
Otto-Robert Lipp	Flora U21
align=center rowspan=5	9	Vladislav Ogorodnik	Maardu Linnameeskond	align=center rowspan=5	12
Karl Rudolf Õigus	Santos
Siim Rannamäe	Tarvas
Vlasiy Sinyavskiy	Nõmme Kalju U21
Mikk Valtna	Welco

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
March[20]	Andrei Borissov	Maardu Linnameeskond	Erik Sorga	Flora U21
April[21]	Tarmo Rebane	Tarvas	Mikk Valtna	Welco
May[22]	Veiko Haan	Elva	Aleksandr Šapovalov	Flora U21
June/July[23]	Andrei Borissov	Maardu Linnameeskond	Jürgen Kuresoo	Elva
August[24]	Vladimir Vassiljev	FCI Levadia U21	Vladislav Ogorodnik	Maardu Linnameeskond
September[25]	Veiko Haan	Elva	Nikita Brõlin
October[26]			Mattias Männilaan	Flora U21

Esiliiga Player of the Year

Vitali Gussev was named Esiliiga Player of the Year.^[27]

See also

• 2017–18 Estonian Cup
• 2018–19 Estonian Cup
• 2018 Meistriliiga
• 2018 Esiliiga B

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jalgpalliliit kinnitas Esiliiga ja Esiliiga B 2018 aasta kooseisu. et. 28 November 2017. Estonian Football Association.
2. Web site: Elva linnastaadion. et. Estonian Football Association.
3. Web site: Maarjamäe jalgpallikeskus. et. Eesti spordiregister.
4. Web site: Sportland Arena. Estonian Football Association. et.
5. Web site: Keila staadioni muruväljak. Estonian Football Association. et.
6. Web site: Maardu Linna staadion. et. Eesti spordiregister.
7. Web site: Hiiu kunstmurustaadion. et. Estonian Football Association.
8. Web site: Tamme staadion. Estonian Football Association. et.
9. Web site: Kalevi Keskstaadioni kunstmuruväljak. Estonian Football Association. et.
10. Web site: Rakvere linnastaadion. Estonian Football Association. et.
11. Web site: Flora sai koondisega sama sponsori. 3 October 2014. 25 September 2014. Soccernet.ee. et.
12. Web site: Welcot juhendanud Siim Valtna vahetab töökohta. et. 7 November 2017. Soccernet.ee. 30 November 2017.
13. Web site: Welco uueks peatreeneriks sai endine Infoneti Saksamaa noortetreener. et. 8 December 2017. Soccernet.ee.
14. Web site: Flora liigutab nuppe: U21 etteotsa asub Indermitte asemel Sillaste. et. 10 November 2017. Soccernet.ee.
15. Web site: Rebane vahetab Tarva treeneripingil Kirsi välja. et. 30 November 2017. Soccernet.ee.
16. Web site: Keila uueks peatreeneriks sai inglane. et. 6 January 2018. Soccernet.ee.
17. Web site: Tagasi Eestis: Frank Bernhardt vahetas Kalju U21 eesotsas Valeri Bondarenko välja. et. 7 August 2018. Soccernet.ee.
18. Web site: Bernhardt kadus Eestist vaid mõne kuuga. et. 18 October 2018. Soccernet.ee.
19. Web site: Mängude ajalugu. et. Estonian Football Association.
20. Web site: Esiliiga parimate auhinnad Maardule ja FC Flora U21-le. et. Estonian Football Association. 6 April 2018.
21. Web site: Esiliigas andsid tooni Tarvas ja Welco. et. Estonian Football Association. 10 May 2018.
22. Web site: Esiliiga parimate auhinnad teenisid Haan ja Šapovalov. et. Estonian Football Association. 11 June 2018.
23. Web site: Esiliiga kuu parimateks valiti Kuresoo ja Borissov. et. Estonian Football Association. 12 August 2018.
24. Web site: Esiliiga B parimad tulevad JK Järvest. et. Estonian Football Association. 13 September 2018.
25. Web site: Elva ja Maardu teenisid kuu parima auhinna. et. Estonian Football Association. 5 October 2018.
26. Web site: Esiliiga kuu parimateks valiti Haan ja Männilaan. et. Estonian Football Association. 7 November 2018.
27. Web site: Esiliiga parimaks mängija oli lõppenud hooaja Vitali Gussev. Estonian Football Association. 9 December 2018. et.