The 2008–09 Ukrainian Premier League season was the eighteenth since its establishment. The league was restructured and split off from the Professional Football League of Ukraine. It was officially named as the EpiCentre Championship of Ukraine in football.

The Ukrainian Premier League or UPL as a sports competition is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 Ukrainian football championship upon discontinuation of the 1991 Soviet football championship and included the Ukraine-based clubs that competed previously in the Soviet top three tiers competitions as well as better clubs of the Ukrainian republican competitions. The initial season of the league featured six former Soviet Top League clubs among which were Dynamo, Shakhtar, Chornomorets, Dnipro, Metalist, Metalurh as well as four more clubs that previously also competed at the top league.