Russian First League facts for kids
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| Founded | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Country | Russia |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of teams | 18 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Premier League |
| Relegation to | Second League |
| Domestic cup(s) | Russian Cup |
| Current champions | Baltika (2nd title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Chernomorets Tyumen Luch-Energiya Shinnik Anzhi Mordovia Orenburg Krylia Sovetov Rubin Khimki Baltika (2 titles) |
The Russian First League (Russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga) is a professional football league in Russia. It is the second-highest level of football in the country, right below the Premier League.
This league used to be called the Russian First Division and later the Russian Football National League (FNL). Since 2011, the Football National League organization has managed it.
The league has 18 clubs. At the end of each season, the top two teams get to move up to the Premier League. The three teams at the bottom of the standings move down to the Second League. The teams that finish third and fourth in the First League get a chance to play special games against teams from the Premier League. These games decide if they can also move up. If a club doesn't have the right permission to play next season, a team that was supposed to move down might get to stay in the league instead.
Contents
History of the League
When the Soviet Union ended, Russian football leagues changed a lot. All the Russian clubs from the old top leagues joined together to form the new Russian Top Division. This meant that the second level of Russian football was set up in different regions.
On June 10, 2022, the number of teams in the league was changed from 20 to 18 for the 2022–23 season. On the same day, the league asked the Russian Football Union to change its name back to the Russian First League. The Russian Football Union officially agreed to this name change on June 23, 2022. At that time, the league also announced that a company called Melbet would be its main sponsor.
Teams Playing Now
Here are the teams that are playing in the 2024–25 season:
| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity | Head coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alania Vladikavkaz | Vladikavkaz | Republican Spartak Stadium | 10,250 |  Soslan Beteev |
| Arsenal Tula | Tula | Arsenal Stadium | 19,241 | Aleksandr Storozhuk |
| Chayka Peschanokopskoye | Peschanokopskoye | Chayka Central Stadium | 3,445 | Dmitri Pyatibratov |
| Fakel Voronezh | Voronezh | Tsentralnyi Profsoyuz Stadion | 32,750 | Dmitri Pyatibratov |
| Chernomorets Novorossiysk | Novorossiysk | Central Stadium (Trud) | 12,500 | Vadim Garanin |
| KAMAZ | Naberezhnye Chelny | KAMAZ stadium | 6,248 | Vladimir Klontsak |
| Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | Nizhnekamsk | Neftekhimik Stadium | 3,100 | Kirill Novikov |
| Rodina Moscow | Moscow | Spartakovets Stadium | 5,000 | Vladimir Gazzayev |
| Rotor Volgograd | Volgograd | Volgograd Arena | 45,316 | Denis Boyarintsev |
| Shinnik Yaroslavl | Yaroslavl | Shinnik Stadium | 22,990 | Dmitri Cheryshev |
| SKA-Khabarovsk | Khabarovsk | Lenin Stadium | 14,800 | Dmitri Voyetskiy |
| Sokol Saratov | Saratov | Lokomotiv Stadium | 15,000 |  Aleksey Baga |
| FC Orenburg | Orenburg | Gazovik Stadium | 10,046 |  Vladimir Slišković |
| Tyumen | Tyumen | Geolog Stadium | 13,057 | Igor Menshchikov |
| Ufa | Ufa | BetBoom Arena | 15,234 | Yevgeni Kharlachyov |
| Ural Yekaterinburg | Yekaterinburg | Yekaterinburg Arena | 35,696 | Yevgeni Averyanov |
| Yenisey Krasnoyarsk | Krasnoyarsk | Central Stadium | 15,000 | Andrey Tikhonov |
League Champions and Top Scorers
This table shows the teams that won the Russian First League each season and the players who scored the most goals.
| Season | Winners | Also promoted | Top scorer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Zhemchuzhina-Amerus (West) KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny (Centre) Luch Vladivostok (East) |
– |  Gocha Gogrichiani (Zhemchuzhina-Amerus, West) – 26 Oleg Teryokhin (Sokol Saratov, Centre) – 27 Vyacheslav Kartashov (Irtysh Omsk, East) – 19 |
| 1993 | Chernomorets Novorossiysk (West, not promoted) Lada Togliatti (Centre) Dinamo-Gazovik Tyumen (East) |
– | Sergey Burdin (Chernomorets Novorossiysk, West) – 25 Vladimir Filimonov (Zvezda Perm, Centre) – 37 Vyacheslav Kamoltsev (Dinamo-Gazovik Tyumen, East) – 22 |
| 1994 | Chernomorets Novorossiysk | Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don | Dmitri Silin (Baltika Kaliningrad) – 35 |
| 1995 | Baltika Kaliningrad | Lada Togliatti Zenit Saint Petersburg |
Sergei Bulatov (Baltika Kaliningrad) – 29 |
| 1996 | Dinamo-Gazovik Tyumen | Shinnik Yaroslavl Fakel Voronezh |
Varlam Kilasonia (Lokomotiv Saint Petersburg) – 22 |
| 1997 | Uralan Elista | – | Aleksei Chernov (Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad) – 29 |
| 1998 | Saturn Moscow Region | Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod |  Andradina (Arsenal Tula) – 27 |
| 1999 | Anzhi Makhachkala | Fakel Voronezh | Konstantin Paramonov (Amkar Perm) – 23 |
| 2000 | Sokol Saratov | Torpedo-ZIL Moscow | Andrei Fedkov (Sokol Saratov) – 26 |
| 2001 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | Uralan Elista | Vitaly Kakunin (Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk) – 20 |
| 2002 | Rubin Kazan | Chernomorets Novorossiysk | Vyacheslav Kamoltsev (Chernomorets Novorossiysk) – 20 David Chaladze (Rubin Kazan) – 20 |
| 2003 | Amkar Perm | Kuban Krasnodar | Aleksandr Panov (Dynamo Saint Petersburg) – 23 |
| 2004 | Terek Grozny | Tom Tomsk | Andrei Fedkov (Terek Grozny) – 38 |
| 2005 | Luch-Energia Vladivostok | Spartak Nalchik | Yevgeni Alkhimov (Lokomotiv Chita) – 24 |
| 2006 | Khimki | Kuban Krasnodar | Yevgeni Alkhimov (Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast) – 25 |
| 2007 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | Terek Grozny | Dmitri Akimov (Sibir Novosibirsk) – 34 |
| 2008 | FC Rostov | Kuban Krasnodar | Denis Popov (Torpedo Moscow/Chernomorets Novorossiysk) – 24 |
| 2009 | Anzhi Makhachkala | Sibir Novosibirsk Alania Vladikavkaz |
Aleksei Medvedev (Sibir Novosibirsk) – 18 |
| 2010 | Kuban Krasnodar | Volga Nizhny Novgorod Krasnodar |
Otar Martsvaladze (Volga Nizhny Novgorod) – 21 |
| 2011–12 | Mordovia Saransk | Alania Vladikavkaz | Ruslan Mukhametshin (Mordovia Saransk) – 31 |
| 2012–13 | Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast | Tom Tomsk | Spartak Gogniyev (Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast) – 17 |
| 2013–14 | Mordovia Saransk | Arsenal Tula Torpedo Moscow Ufa |
Aleksandr Kutyin (Arsenal Tula) – 19 |
| 2014–15 | Krylia Sovetov Samara | Anzhi Makhachkala |  Yannick Boli (Anzhi Makhachkala) – 15 |
| 2015–16 | Gazovik Orenburg | Arsenal Tula Tom Tomsk |
Artyom Delkin (Gazovik Orenburg) – 16 Khasan Mamtov (Tyumen) – 16 Maksim Zhitnev (Sibir Novosibirsk) – 16 |
| 2016–17 | Dynamo Moscow | Tosno SKA-Khabarovsk |
Kirill Panchenko (Dynamo Moscow) – 24 |
| 2017–18 | Orenburg | Krylia Sovetov Samara Yenisey Krasnoyarsk |
Artyom Kulishev (Dynamo Saint Petersburg) – 17 |
| 2018–19 | Tambov | Sochi | Maksim Barsov (Sochi) – 19 |
| 2019–20 | Rotor Volgograd | Khimki | Aleksandr Rudenko (Spartak-2 Moscow/Torpedo Moscow) – 14 Ivan Sergeyev (Torpedo Moscow) – 14 |
| 2020–21 | Krylia Sovetov Samara | Nizhny Novgorod | Ivan Sergeyev (Krylia Sovetov Samara) – 40 |
| 2021–22 | Torpedo Moscow | Fakel Voronezh Orenburg |
Maksim Maksimov (Fakel Voronezh) – 22 |
| 2022–23 | Rubin Kazan | Baltika Kaliningrad | |
| 2023–24 | Khimki | Dynamo Makhachkala Akron Tolyatti |
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| 2024–25 | Baltika Kaliningrad | Torpedo Moscow Sochi |
 Martin Sekulić (Ural) – 14 |
Images for kids
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Old logo from 2011 to 2020.
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Previous logo, 2020 to 2022.
See also
- List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues
