| Season: | 1996–97 |
| Winners: | Dynamo Kyiv 5th title |
| League Topscorer: | (21) Oleh Matveyev (Shakhtar) |
| Nextseason: | 1997–98 |
The 1996–97 Vyshcha Liha season was the 6th since its establishment. FC Dynamo Kyiv were the defending champions.
Number of teams in the league was reduced from 18 to 16. Vyshcha Liha became a member of the newly established Professional Football League of Ukraine.
Before the start of season CSKA-Borysfen Kyiv was replaced with CSKA Kyiv which played in tier 3.[1] Just before the start of new 1996–97 season a scandal took place related to ownership.[2] Dmytro Zlobenko was removed from the club which with help of the Army was passed to some businessman by name of Mikhail Grinshpon, a president of "Kyiv–Donbas".[3] Concurrently, Mikhail Grinshpon was an adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksandr Kuzmuk.[3]
Notes: Games between Dynamo Kyiv and CSKA Kyiv were played at the Republican Stadium.
| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment | Table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Shakhtar Donetsk |  Valeriy Rudakov | pre-season | Valery Yaremchenko | pre-season | ||||
| SC Tavriya Simferopol | Anatoliy Zayayev | pre-season |  Serhiy Shevchenko | pre-season | ||||
| FC CSKA Kyiv | Viktor Chanov | pre-season | Volodymyr Lozynsky | pre-season | ||||
| FC Karpaty Lviv | Volodymyr Zhuravchak | pre-season | Myron Markevych | pre-season | ||||
| FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |  Bernd Stange | pre-season | Viacheslav Hrozny | pre-season | ||||
| FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | Myron Markevych | pre-season | Oleksiy Cherednyk | pre-season | ||||
| FC Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk | Ihor Yurchenko | pre-season | Boris Streltsov | pre-season | ||||
| FC Kremin Kremenchuk | Valery Yaremchenko | pre-season | Mykhailo Bilykh | pre-season | ||||
| FC Nyva Vinnytsia | Serhiy Morozov | pre-season | Pasha Kasanov | pre-season |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals (Pen.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oleh Matviiv | Shakhtar Donetsk | 21 (6) | |
| 2 | Serhii Rebrov | Dynamo Kyiv | 20 (6) | |
| 3 | Serhiy Chuychenko | Vorskla Poltava | 14 (2) | |
| 4 | Oleksandr Haidash | Tavriya Simferopol | 13 | |
| Andriy Fedkov | Torpedo Zaporizhzhia | 13 (3) | ||
| 6 | Serhiy Mizin | CSKA / Chornomorets | 12 (3) | |
| 7 | Serhiy Atelkin | Shakhtar Donetsk | 11 | |
| Valentyn Poltavets | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 11 | ||
| Yakiv Kripak | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | 11 (3) | ||
| 10 | Hennadiy Moroz | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 10 |