1996–97 Meistriliiga

Meistriliiga

Season	1996–97
Champions	FC Lantana Tallinn
Top goalscorer	Sergei Bragin (18)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996-1997 season in the premier Estonian league, named Meistriliiga, was the sixth domestic competition since the Baltic nation gained independence from the Soviet Union on 1991-08-20. Eight teams competed in this edition, with FC Lantana Tallinn winning the title once again.

After the first round, played in the autumn of 1996, the top six teams played off for title, taking half their points with them to the second round, which was staged in the spring of 1997. The bottom two entered a Premier Division Promotion Tournament with the top four of the First Division, named Esiliiga.

First round

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	FC Lantana Tallinn	14	11	2	1	30	9	35 → 18
2	FC Flora Tallinn	14	9	2	3	27	9	29 → 15
3	FC Marlekor Tallinn [1]	14	6	4	4	20	17	22 → 11
4	Lelle SK [2]	14	5	6	3	20	16	21 → 11
5	FC Narva Trans	14	5	5	4	20	19	20 → 10
6	Sadam Tallinn	14	5	1	8	24	26	16 → 8
7	JK Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi	14	4	1	9	10	20	13
8	JK Vall Tallinn	14	0	1	13	9	44	1

Second round

Championship

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	FC Lantana Tallinn	10	7	2	1	22	6	23 + 18 = 41
2	FC Flora Tallinn	10	7	2	1	25	7	23 + 15 = 38
3	Sadam Tallinn	10	5	1	4	13	9	16 + 8 = 24
4	Lelle SK	10	3	0	7	6	21	9 + 11 = 20
5	FC Marlekor Tallinn [3]	10	2	2	6	7	19	8 + 11 = 19
6	FC Narva Trans	10	2	1	7	8	19	7 + 10 = 17

Promotion/Relegation

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	JK Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi [4]	10	8	1	1	28	5	25
2	JK Vall Tallinn	10	7	1	2	29	15	22
3	FC Pärnu Vaprus	10	4	1	5	9	27	13
4	FC Lelle [5]	10	4	0	6	22	18	12
5	Tallinna Jalgpalliklubi	10	2	2	6	11	19	8
6	JK Sillamäe Kalev	10	1	3	6	6	21	6

Topscorers

Pos	Name	Team	Goals
1	Sergei Bragin	FC Lantana Tallinn	18
2	Andres Oper	FC Flora Tallinn	13
3	Maksim Gruznov	FC Lantana Tallinn	12
4	Jonatan Johansson	FC Flora Tallinn	9
–	Stanislav Kitto	FC Narva Trans	9

Notes

1. ^ During the season FC Tevalte/Marlekor changed its name to FC Marlekor
2. ^ Lelle SK is the new name for JK Tervis Pärnu
3. ^ Marlekor Tallinn changed its sponsor and was renamed TVMK Tallinn at the end of the season.
4. ^ EP Jõhvi and Vall Tallinn remain in Meistriliiga 1997-98
5. ^ At the end of the season Lelle SK moved to Viljandi and was renamed JK Viljandi Tulevik.

See also

• 1996 in Estonian football
• 1997 in Estonian football

References

• Estonia - List of final tables (RSSSF)