The Russian First League (Russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (Russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (Russian: Первенство Футбольной Национальной Лиги, Pervenstvo Futbol'noy Natsional'noy Ligi) is the second level of the Russian football league system.

Russian First League
Founded1992; 32 years ago (1992)
CountryRussia
ConfederationUEFA
Number of clubs18
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toPremier League
Relegation toSecond League
Domestic cup(s)Russian Cup
Current championsKhimki (2nd title)
(2023–24)
Most championshipsChernomorets
Tyumen
Luch-Energiya
Shinnik
Anzhi
Mordovia
Orenburg
Krylia Sovetov
Rubin
Khimki(2 titles)
Websitewww.1fnl.ru
Current: 2024–25 Russian First League

The Russian Professional Football League (PFL) used to run the division. Since 2011, it has been managed by the Football National League.

The league consists of 18 clubs. After each season the two top clubs are promoted to the Premier League, and the bottom three clubs are relegated to the Second League. Third and fourth team play in home-and-away promotion play-offs against the 13th and 14th Premier League teams. Should one or more clubs not possess the required licence to participate for the upcoming season, the teams previously relegated are kept in the league instead, in the order of last season's standings.

History

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Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all Russian clubs of the former Soviet Top League and Soviet First League unified into the Russian Top Division, which meant that the new second tier of Russian football would remain regionalized.

On 10 June 2022, the number of teams in the league was reduced from 20 to 18 for the 2022–23 season.[1] On the same day, the league requested Russian Football Union to rename the league to its historical name of Russian First League.[2] RFU officially approved the name change on 23 June 2022.[3] On the same date the league announced that the league's title sponsor would be a bookmaker Melbet.[4]

Current clubs

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The following teams are competing 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
Baltika Kaliningrad Kaliningrad Kaliningrad Stadium 35,016   Aleksandr Grishchenko
Chayka Peschanokopskoye Peschanokopskoye Chayka Central Stadium 3,445   Dmitri Pyatibratov
Chernomorets Novorossiysk Novorossiysk Central Stadium (Trud) [ru] 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
Sochi Sochi Fisht Olympic Stadium 44,287   Robert Moreno
Sokol Saratov Saratov Lokomotiv Stadium 15,000   Aleksey Baga
Torpedo Moscow Moscow Luzhniki Stadium 81,000   Oleg Kononov
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
 
Old logo from 2011 to 2020.
 
Previous logo, 2020 to 2022.

Winners and top scorers

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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
2023-2024 Khimki Dynamo Makhachkala
Akron Togliatti

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "18 КОМАНД ПРИМУТ УЧАСТИЕ В ОЛИМП-ФНЛ-1 В СЕЗОНЕ-2022/23" (in Russian). Russian Football National League. 10 June 2022. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  2. ^ "ПРЕЗИДИУМ ФНЛ ПРИНЯЛ РЕШЕНИЕ ОБ УЧАСТИИ 18 КОМАНД В СЕЗОНЕ-2022/23, СТАРТ ТУРНИРА ЗАПЛАНИРОВАН НА 17 ИЮЛЯ" (in Russian). Russian First League. 10 June 2022. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Первая лига" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 23 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  4. ^ "КОМПАНИЯ "МЕЛБЕТ" СТАЛА ТИТУЛЬНЫМ ПАРТНЁРОМ ПЕРВОЙ ЛИГИ" (in Russian). Russian First League. 23 June 2022. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  5. ^ "TEAMS". 1fnl.ru. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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