Russian Football League System

Russian Football League System

The Russian football league system is organized hierarchically by the Russian Football Union (RFU), featuring a standard promotion and relegation framework linking its professional tiers.

1. The Top Tier: Russian Premier League (RPL)

The Russian Premier League is the highest level of professional football in the country. From 1992 to 2001, the top level of the Russian league system was the Russian Football Championship. The Russian Premier League was established in 2001 as the Russian Football Premier League and rebranded in 2018 as the Russian Premier League.

• Format: It features 16 clubs that play a double round-robin schedule (home and away), totaling 30 matches per season.

• Calendar: To align more closely with the European football calendar, the league operates on an autumn-to-spring schedule. Because of Russia's harsh winters, the season features a lengthy winter break stretching from mid-December until early March.

• Points and Standings: Teams receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss.

2. The League Pyramid Structure

Below the Premier League, the national pyramid is structured into lower professional divisions:

• Tier 1 - Russian Premier League (RPL): 16 elite clubs.

• Tier 2 - Russian First League (FNL): Usually consists of 18 clubs competing in a home-and-away format. It serves as the direct feeder system to the Premier League.

• Tier 3 - Russian Second League: Divided into multiple groups (historically split by geography or format) to accommodate a large number of professional and semi-professional clubs across Russia's vast expanse.

• Tier 4 - Regional/Amateur Leagues: Regional championships functioning as the amateur foundation of the pyramid.

3. Promotion and Relegation

Movement between the RPL and the First League keeps the system competitive:

• Direct Relegation/Promotion: The bottom teams of the Premier League drop down at the end of the season, while top performers from the First League earn promotion.

• Relegation Playoffs: In addition to direct spots, promotion-relegation playoffs typically take place between lower-ranking RPL clubs and high-ranking First League clubs to decide final placement for the upcoming campaign.

4. Domestic Cup Competition

• Russian Cup: Running concurrently with the league schedule, this knockout tournament brings together clubs from the RPL, the First League, and lower divisions, offering an alternative route to high-level domestic and historical prestige.

Clubs

Spartak Moscow (10), Zenit Saint Petersburg (11) and CSKA Moscow (6) lead modern Russian football with the most Russian Premier League championships. In European competition Zenit Saint Petersburg won the 2007-2008 Uefa Cup defeating Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium (Etihad Stadium) and CSKA won the same competition in the 2004-2005 season.

Stadiums in Russia

See a review of all the stadiums for World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Travel in Russia

Nevsky Prospect - is the most famous street in St Petersburg, equivalent to the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Guide to St Petersburg - Russia's former capital. Visit the sights of the 1917 Russian Revolution: the Aurora, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace (Hermitage Museum) and Elizarov Apartment Museum.

St Petersburg Contemporary Art Scene - modern art in Saint Petersburg.

Saint Petersburg In Winter - see the best of Russia's second city in the snow.