THE KAZAKHSTAN PREMIER LEAGUE

The largest soccer league in Kazakhstan is known as Kazakhstan Premier league. KPL was established in 1992 soon after the disintegration the so called USSR. The total number of teams which are allowed to participate are 12. The current champion of the KPL is the team called FC Shakhter Karagandy.

In the last 3 consecutive seasons, the best player in Kazakhstan has been Ulugbek Bakaev from Uzbekistan. In the last 2 consecutive seasons this player has netted a total of 18 goals. In the year 2010 Bakaev scored a total of 16 goals.

Since 1992 the beat player of Kazakhstanhas been from Kazakhstan in terms of nationality, except in the year 2012 when for the 1st time there was a best player from Uzbekistan. That is to say the prizea of top scorer and best player all went to Bakaev.

Oleg Litvinenko was the Khazakhstan all-time top scorer. This player died in 2007. He has scored a total of 147 goals until his death. Oleg played for 9 different clubs before his death.

When he played for FC Dinamo Almaty, he managed to play atotal of 40 games. This is more than when he played in other teams.

In the 1998 season, Oleg scored a total of 23 goals. This marks a record of the greatest number of goals he scored as compared to other seasons he played with different teams.

Oleg was the Kazakhstan to scorer in the years 1994 and 1998. Oleg Started his career with Taraz FC in the SovietUnion era and finished his career with Taraz FC after dissolution of USSR.

 Fc Karagandy goals in the season of 2011

In 2000, Astana FC became the chapions of Khazakhstan. Although FC Astana became champions, the team did not give the top scorer or even the best player. In that year the top scorer in Kazakhstan came from a third place team called FC Irtysh. The best player came from FC Kyzylzhar. The FC Irtysh player who became the top scorer was the Brazilian called Nilton Pereira Mendez. Mendez netted a total of 21 goals in that season. Mendez died shortly while on the way to the hospital when he collapsed on the pitch during one of the training matches, in 2006.

The top scorer with many goals than all other top scorers in all seasons since 1992 till today is a player from Kazakhstan itself called Arsen Tlekhugov in 2001. Arsen scored 30 goals in that season. No other player who is a top scorer with such a great number of goals. Arsen played for FC Astana-64.

In the days when he was alive Mendez was awarded the Kazhakhstan Premier League best foreign player award, in 2002. 

The last team that Mendez joined before his death was FC Shakhter Karagandy in 2006. He made a total of 11 appearances and scored 3 goals. In a total of 76 appearances for FC Irtysh, Mendez netted a total of 43 goals.

Fc Spartak Semey is another club with an interesting history in the Kazakhstan Premier League. FC Spartak Semey won the premier league cup in the years 1994, 1995 and in 1998. After that period of glory, Semey did not continue to shine and nowadays Semey plays in First Division after being relegated from thre premier league.