Russian Premier League

Russian national top division professional association football league From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russian Premier League

The Russian Premier League (RPL; Russian: Российская премьер-лига, Rossiyskaya premyer-liga; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga,[1] is the top division professional association football league in Russia.[2] It was established at the end of 2001 as the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL; Russian: Российская футбольная премьер-лига; РФПЛ) and was rebranded with its current name in 2018.[3] From 1992 through 2001, the top level of the Russian football league system was the Russian Football Championship (Russian: Чемпионат России по футболу, Chempionat Rossii po Futbolu).[4]

Quick Facts Organising body, Founded ...
Russian Premier League
Thumb
Organising bodyRussian Football Union (RFU)
Founded1992 (as Top League)
2001 (as Premier League)
CountryRussia
ConfederationUEFA
Number of clubs16
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toFirst League
Domestic cup(s)Russian Cup
Russian Super Cup
Current championsZenit Saint Petersburg (10th title)
(2023–24)
Most championshipsSpartak Moscow
Zenit Saint Petersburg (10 titles)
TV partnersList of broadcasters
Websitepremierliga.ru
Current: 2024–25 Russian Premier League
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There are 16 teams in the competition. As of the 2021/22 season, the league had two Champions League qualifying spots for the league winners and league runners-up, and two spots in the UEFA Conference League were allocated to the third- and fourth-placed teams.[5] However, those have all been suspended due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, along with the national team's participation in international competitions.[6] The last two teams are relegated to the Russian First League at the end of the season, while the 13th and 14th placed teams compete against the National League's 4th and 3rd teams respectively in a two-legged playoff.[7]

The Russian Premier League succeeded the Top Division including history and records. The Top Division was run by the Professional Football League of Russia. Since July 2022, the league is currently called Mir Russian Premier League (Russian: Мир Российская премьер-лига), also written as Mir Russian Premier Liga (after the Mir payment system), for sponsorship reasons.[8]

Since the introduction of the Russian Premier League in 2002, Zenit Saint Petersburg (10 times), CSKA Moscow (6 times), Lokomotiv Moscow (3 times), Rubin Kazan (2 times) and Spartak Moscow (1 time) have won the title. Zenit Saint Petersburg are the current champions winning the competition since 2018–19 until 2022–23 consecutively.

History

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, starting in 1992, each former Soviet republic organized an independent national championship. In Russia, the six Russian teams who had played in the Soviet Top League in 1991 (CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, Dynamo Moscow, Spartak Vladikavkaz, and Lokomotiv Moscow) were supplemented with 14 teams from lower divisions to form a 20-team Russian Top Division. The Top Division was divided into two groups to reduce the total number of matches. The number of teams in the Top Division was reduced to 18 in 1993 and 16 in 1994. Since then, the Russian Top Division (and the Premier League since 2002) has consisted of 16 teams, except for a short-lived experiment with having two more teams in 1996 and 1997.[9][citation needed]

Spartak Moscow won nine of the first ten titles. Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz was the only team which managed to break Spartak's dominance, winning the top division title in 1995. Lokomotiv Moscow have won the title three times,[10] and CSKA Moscow six times.[11][citation needed] In 2007, Zenit St. Petersburg won the title for the first time in their history in Russian professional football; they had also won a Soviet title in 1984. 2008 brought the rise of Rubin Kazan, a club entirely new to the Russian top flight, as it had never competed in the Soviet Top League.[citation needed]

In preparation for the 2018–19 season, it was decided to hold a rebranding in which a new logo was presented.[12][13][14][15][16]

As a result of the Russia's invasion of Ukraine, all Russian club and national teams were banned from European competition indefinitely. Spartak Moscow, who were competing in the UEFA Europa League and were the only Russian club team remaining in European competition at the time, were disqualified from their tie against RB Leipzig, who advanced on a walkover.[6]

Competition

Thumb
Russian Premier League match between Zenit and Dynamo (the last Zenit match at the Kirov Stadium, stadium had been already partially demolished.)

Teams in the Russian Premier League play each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 30 matches. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. If teams are level on points, the tie-breakers are the number of wins, then the goal difference, followed by several other factors. If the teams are tied for the first position, the tie-breakers are the number of wins, then head-to-head results. If the teams tied for the first place cannot be separated by these tie-breakers, a championship play-off is ordered.[citation needed]

Thumb
Russian Premier League match between Lokomotiv and Spartak at the RZD Arena

As of 2020–21 season, the champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage. The runners-up qualifies for the Champions League third qualifying round. The third and fourth-place teams qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League. If the winner of Russian Cup ends in first or second on the championship in same season, then the third-place team qualifies to UEFA Europa League group stage, while fourth and fifth-place teams qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League instead. The bottom two teams are relegated to the First League. Starting on the 2020–21 season the teams ranked in 13th and 14th-place play a two legs relegation play-off against 4th and 3rd-place team from National League. The two winners of this play-off secures the right to play in Premier League in following season.[citation needed]

Unlike most other European football leagues, the league traditionally used to run in summer, from March to November, to avoid playing games in the cold and snowy weather in winter. This was altered ahead of the 2012–13 season, with the league planning to run the season from autumn to spring. The transitional season of the competition began in early 2011 and continued until summer of 2012. After the 16 Premier League teams played each other twice over the course of the 2011 calendar year, they were split into two groups of eight, and the teams played other teams in their groups two more times for a total of 44 games (30 in 2011 and 14 in 2012). Those two groups were contested in spring 2012, with the top eight clubs playing for the title and European places. The other sides vied to avoid relegation: the bottom two went down while the next two played off against the sides third and fourth in the National Football League, with the two losers being relegated (or denied promotion).[17] Under the current autumn-spring calendar, the league takes a three-month winter break from mid-December until mid-March. Merging the calendar with other UEFA leagues however, has increased numbers of games in winter. This has resulted in the Russian Far East and Siberian teams being forced to play more home games in hostile weather conditions which affected the Premier League when SKA Khabarovsk took part.[18]

Youth championship

The Youth championship (Russian: Молодежное первенство), also known as Youth teams championship (Russian: Первенство молодёжных команд), Reserve team tournament (Russian: Турнир дублирующих составов) or Reserves tournament (Russian: Турнир дублёров), full name Youth football championship of Russia among teams of clubs of the Premier League (Russian: Молодёжное Первенство России по футболу среди команд клубов Премьер-Лиги), is a league that runs in parallel to the Russian Premier League and includes the youth or reserve teams of the Russian Premier League teams. The number of players a team can have on the pitch at a time that are over 21 years of age or without a Russian citizenship is limited. 16 teams participate in the league. Matches are commonly played a day before the match of the senior teams of the respective teams. All of the Russian Premier League teams are obliged to have a youth team that would participate in the Youth championship. The teams that are promoted from the National Football League and do not have a youth team must create one. The teams in the league are not relegated based on their final league position, but on the league position of their respective clubs' senior teams.[citation needed]

However, some Premier League clubs have three teams. Apart from the senior team and the team that plays in the Youth championship a team might have another senior team that plays in a lower division of Russian football and serves as the farm team for the main team. An example is Krasnodar-2, playing in the Russian First League.[citation needed]

Reserves tournament champions (2001–2007)

Youth championship winners (since 2008)

UEFA club rankings

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia have been suspended from UEFA and from participating in UEFA competitions and therefore the UEFA coefficient ranking of the Russian Premier League is an automatic 0.

Current clubs

The following teams are competing in the 2024–25 season:

Champions

More information Season, Champions ...
Season Champions Runners-up Third place Top scorer
1992 Spartak Moscow Spartak Vladikavkaz Dynamo Moscow Azerbaijan Vali Gasimov (Dinamo Moscow, 16 goals – 1–8 place)
Russia Yuri Matveyev (Uralmash Yekaterinburg, 20 goals – 9–20 place)
1993 Spartak Moscow (2) Rotor Volgograd Dynamo Moscow (2) Russia Victor Panchenko (KamAZ Naberezhnye Chelny, 21 goals)
1994 Spartak Moscow (3) Dynamo Moscow Lokomotiv Moscow Russia Igor Simutenkov (Dinamo Moscow, 21 goals)
1995 Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz Lokomotiv Moscow Spartak Moscow Russia Oleg Veretennikov (Rotor Volgograd, 25 goals)
1996 Spartak Moscow (4) Alania Vladikavkaz (2) Rotor Volgograd Russia Aleksandr Maslov (Rostselmash, 23 goals)
1997 Spartak Moscow (5) Rotor Volgograd (2) Dynamo Moscow (3) Russia Oleg Veretennikov (Rotor Volgograd, 22 goals)
1998 Spartak Moscow (6) CSKA Moscow Lokomotiv Moscow (2) Russia Oleg Veretennikov (Rotor Volgograd, 22 goals)
1999 Spartak Moscow (7) Lokomotiv Moscow (2) CSKA Moscow Georgia (country) Georgi Demetradze (Alania Vladikavkaz, 21 goals)
2000 Spartak Moscow (8) Lokomotiv Moscow (3) Torpedo Moscow Russia Dmitri Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow, 18 goals)
2001 Spartak Moscow (9) Lokomotiv Moscow (4) Zenit Saint Petersburg Russia Dmitri Vyazmikin (Torpedo Moscow, 18 goals)
2002 Lokomotiv Moscow CSKA Moscow (2) Spartak Moscow (2) Russia Rolan Gusev (CSKA Moscow, 15 goals)
Russia Dmitri Kirichenko (CSKA Moscow, 15 goals)
2003 CSKA Moscow Zenit Saint Petersburg Rubin Kazan Russia Dmitri Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow, 14 goals)
2004 Lokomotiv Moscow (2) CSKA Moscow (2) Krylia Sovetov Samara Russia Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit St. Petersburg, 18 goals)
2005 CSKA Moscow (2) Spartak Moscow Lokomotiv Moscow (3) Russia Dmitri Kirichenko (Moscow, 14 goals)
2006 CSKA Moscow (3) Spartak Moscow (2) Lokomotiv Moscow (4) Russia Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow, 18 goals)
2007 Zenit Saint Petersburg Spartak Moscow (3) CSKA Moscow (2) Russia Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow, 14 goals)
Russia Roman Adamov (Moscow, 14 goals)
2008 Rubin Kazan CSKA Moscow (4) Dynamo Moscow (4) Brazil Vágner Love (CSKA Moscow, 20 goals)
2009 Rubin Kazan (2) Spartak Moscow (4) Zenit Saint Petersburg (2) Brazil Welliton (Spartak Moscow, 21 goals)
2010 Zenit Saint Petersburg (2) CSKA Moscow (5) Rubin Kazan (2) Brazil Welliton (Spartak Moscow, 19 goals)
2011–12 Zenit Saint Petersburg (3) Spartak Moscow (5) CSKA Moscow (3) Ivory Coast Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow, 28 goals)
2012–13 CSKA Moscow (4) Zenit Saint Petersburg (2) Anzhi Makhachkala Armenia Yura Movsisyan (Krasnodar/Spartak Moscow, 13 goals)
Brazil Wánderson (Krasnodar, 13 goals)
2013–14 CSKA Moscow (5) Zenit Saint Petersburg (3) Lokomotiv Moscow (5) Ivory Coast Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow, 18 goals)
2014–15 Zenit Saint Petersburg (4) CSKA Moscow (6) Krasnodar Brazil Hulk (Zenit Saint Petersburg, 15 goals)
2015–16 CSKA Moscow (6) Rostov Zenit Saint Petersburg (3) Russia Fyodor Smolov (Krasnodar, 20 goals)
2016–17 Spartak Moscow (10) CSKA Moscow (7) Zenit Saint Petersburg (4) Russia Fyodor Smolov (Krasnodar, 18 goals)
2017–18 Lokomotiv Moscow (3) CSKA Moscow (8) Spartak Moscow (3) Netherlands Quincy Promes (Spartak Moscow, 15 goals)
2018–19 Zenit Saint Petersburg (5) Lokomotiv Moscow (5) Krasnodar (2) Russia Fyodor Chalov (CSKA Moscow, 15 goals)
2019–20 Zenit Saint Petersburg (6) Lokomotiv Moscow (6) Krasnodar (3) Iran Sardar Azmoun (Zenit Saint Petersburg, 17 goals)
Russia Artem Dzyuba (Zenit Saint Petersburg, 17 goals)
2020–21 Zenit Saint Petersburg (7) Spartak Moscow (6) Lokomotiv Moscow (6) Russia Artem Dzyuba (Zenit Saint Petersburg, 20 goals)
2021–22 Zenit Saint Petersburg (8) Sochi Dynamo Moscow (5) Russia Gamid Agalarov (Ufa, 19 goals)
2022–23 Zenit Saint Petersburg (9) CSKA Moscow (9) Spartak Moscow (4) Brazil Malcom (Zenit Saint Petersburg, 23 goals)
2023–24 Zenit Saint Petersburg (10) Krasnodar (1) Dynamo Moscow (6) Colombia Mateo Cassierra (Zenit Saint Petersburg, 21 goals)
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Performance by club

More information Club, Winners ...
Club Winners Runners-up Third place Seasons won
Spartak Moscow
10
6
4
1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2016–17
Zenit Saint Petersburg
10
3
4
2007, 2010, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
CSKA Moscow
6
9
3
2003, 2005, 2006, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16
Lokomotiv Moscow
3
6
6
2002, 2004, 2017–18
Rubin Kazan
2
0
2
2008, 2009
Alania Vladikavkaz
1
2
0
1995
Rotor Volgograd
0
2
1
Dynamo Moscow
0
1
6
Rostov
0
1
0
Krasnodar
0
1
3
Sochi
0
1
0
Torpedo Moscow
0
0
1
Krylia Sovetov Samara
0
0
1
Anzhi Makhachkala
0
0
1
Total 32 32 32
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Russian all-time champions

More information Club, Titles ...
Club Titles Seasons Won Runners up
Spartak Moscow221936(a), 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2016–1718
CSKA Moscow131946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1970, 1991, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–1613
Dynamo Moscow111936(s), 1937, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1976(s)12
Zenit Saint Petersburg111984, 2007, 2010, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–243
Lokomotiv Moscow32002, 2004, 2017–187
Torpedo Moscow31960, 1965, 1976(a)3
Rubin Kazan22008, 20090
Alania Vladikavkaz119952
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Most seasons by club (1992–2024)

A total of 52 teams have competed in at least one season at the top division. Spartak Moscow, CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow are the only teams to have played in the top division in every season since the league's inception at 1992. The teams in bold participate in the 2024–25 Premier League.

All-time table

As of the end of the 2021–22 season. Teams in bold compete in 2018–19 Premier League.
More information Rank, Club1 ...
RankClub1SeasonsSpellsMost
recent
season
Played2WonDrawnLostGoalsPoints3GoldSilverBronzeNotes
1Spartak Moscow3018934702041891551-91716701054
2CSKA Moscow3018934492022121288-8161607683
3Lokomotiv Moscow3018934242401991262-8101572366
4Zenit Saint Petersburg2728023952101671448-7831247734
5Dynamo Moscow2928623392402531152-9561297-14
6Krylya Sovetov Samara274806249218339851–1057965--1
7Rostov283832242230330865–1067993-1-
8Rubin Kazan191554215153156654–5258362-2
9Torpedo Moscow1622014–15492188142162625–598706--1
10Alania Vladikavkaz1632012–13489179109201630–66364612-Disbanded 2020
11Rotor Volgograd1422020-21432156116160577–558584-21
12Amkar Perm1412017–18434114131159368–478508---
13Saturn Moscow Oblast1212010360120121119396–378481---
14Akhmat Grozny12234410277135322–404422 4---
15Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast1123089358127337–421374---
16Krasnodar81224885452295–213372--1
17Anzhi Makhachkala1133148683115299–353365--1Disbanded 2022
18Moscow912009270928395295–311359---Disbanded 2010
19Shinnik Yaroslavl10420083048586133294–403341---
21Tom Tomsk922016–172847577132259–395302---Dissolved 2022
22Chernomorets Novorossiysk8220032487465109274–357287---
24Zhemchuzhina Sochi7119992226157104263–390240---Disbanded 2003 and 2013, reestablished 2007
25Spartak Nalchik612011–12194545783207–239219---
26Energia-Tekstilshchik Kamyshin511996158534362172–177202---
27KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny511997162513279198–253179 5---
28Uralan Elista522003150363975138–225147---Disbanded 2005, reestablished 2014
29Ufa419025263973–108144---
30Luch-Energia Vladivostok422008124343258116–187134---
31Baltika Kaliningrad31199898303731114–111127---
32Fakel Voronezh432001124312964101–175122---
33Dynamo Stavropol3119949427234494–125104---Disbanded 2014, re-established 2015
34Tyumen5319981542526103116–326101---
35Arsenal Tula326014113538–8695---
36Volga Nizhny Novgorod312013–1410425166387–17191---Disbanded 2016
37Mordovia Saransk322015–169020224882–15082---
38Okean Nakhodka2119936422142865–8380---Disbanded 2015, reestablished 2018
39Khimki3120099017235086–15174---
40Asmaral Moscow2119936019113074–10268---Disbanded 1999
41Sokol Saratov2120026017133055–8764---
42Lada Togliatti2219966410163842–10546---
43Orenburg2230791425–3630---
44Tosno112017–1830661823–5424---Disbanded 2018
46SKA-Khabarovsk112017–1830272116–5513---
47Yenisey Krasnoyarsk112018-1930481824-5520---
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Competing in RPL
Competing in RFL (2nd tier)
Competing in PFLA (3rd tier)
Competing in PFLB (4th tier)
Competing in amateur leagues (below 4th tier)
Defunct (see notes)
Notes
  1. For clubs that have been renamed, their name at the time of their most recent season in the Russian League is given. The current members are listed in bold.
  2. Includes championship play-offs, does not include relegation play-offs.
  3. For the purposes of this table, each win is worth 3 points. The three-point system was adopted in 1995.
  4. Terek were deducted 6 points in 2005.
  5. KAMAZ-Chally were deducted 6 points in 1997.

Player records

Most appearances

As of 7 December 2024
More information Rank, Player ...
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Most goals

As of 7 December 2024
More information Rank, Player ...
RankPlayerGoalsAppsAvg/Game
1Russia Artem Dzyuba1644320.38
2Russia Oleg Veretennikov1432740.52
3Russia Aleksandr Kerzhakov1393400.41
4Russia Dmitri Kirichenko1293770.34
5Russia Dmitri Loskov1204530.26
6Russia Fedor Smolov1093360.33
7Russia Roman Pavlyuchenko1043090.34
8Russia Sergei Semak1024560.22
9Russia Andrey Tikhonov983460.28
10Russia Igor Semshov984330.23
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Champions (players)

Media coverage

2020–21 and 2021–22

Russia and CIS

More information Channel, Summary ...
Channel Summary Ref
Match TV 60 matches per season live [22]
Match Premier All 240 matches live
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Worldwide

All 240 matches are aired live globally on YouTube with a required subscription. There will be two membership levels for the viewers outside Russia, CIS, and China. The first level includes two matches with English commentary each matchday and will cost a monthly fee of $2.99. The second level, for $4.99 a month, gives subscribers access to all eight matches in Russian and two matches with English commentary as well.[23] In 2018–19 season, YouTube broadcast four live matches per week for free (in matchweek 30, aired all last eight matches).[24] From 2020 to 2021, YouTube also broadcast the FTA coverage of Super Cup before airing the league.

More information Country/Region, Broadcaster ...
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See also

Notes

    References

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