# Russian First League

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.
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

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. On the same day, the league requested Russian Football Union to rename the league to its historical name of Russian First League. RFU officially approved the name change on 23 June 2022. On the same date the league announced that the league's title sponsor would be a bookmaker Melbet.

## Current clubs

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 |

## Winners and top scorers

| 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 | |