# 1997 Russian Top League

In the 1997 season of the Russian Top League, the football team Spartak Moscow successfully defended the championship, winning their fifth Russian title.

## Overview

| Team | Head coach |
| FC Spartak Moscow | Oleg Romantsev |
| FC Rotor Volgograd | Viktor Prokopenko |
| FC Dynamo Moscow | Adamas Golodets |
| FC Shinnik Yaroslavl | Anatoli Polosin (until August) Pyotr Shubin (from August) |
| FC Lokomotiv Moscow | Yuri Syomin |
| FC Chernomorets Novorossiysk | Oleg Dolmatov |
| FC Krylia Sovetov Samara | Aleksandr Averyanov |
| FC Zenit St. Petersburg | Anatoliy Byshovets |
| FC Baltika Kaliningrad | Leonid Tkachenko |
| FC Alania Vladikavkaz | Valery Gazzaev |
| FC Torpedo-Luzhniki Moscow | Aleksandr Tarkhanov |
| PFC CSKA Moscow | Pavel Sadyrin |
| FC Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don | Sergey Andreyev |
| FC Zhemchuzhina Sochi | Arsen Naydyonov |
| FC Tyumen | Aleksandr Irkhin (until April) Aleksandr Ignatenko (from April) |
| FC Fakel Voronezh | Sergei Savchenkov |
| FC Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod | Valeri Ovchinnikov |
| FC KAMAZ-Chally Naberezhnye Chelny | Benjaminas Zelkevičius |

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Spartak Moscow (C) | 34 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 67 | 30 | +37 | 73 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Rotor Volgograd | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 54 | 27 | +27 | 68 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 3 | Dynamo Moscow | 34 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 50 | 20 | +30 | 68 | Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 4 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 55 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round |
| 5 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 47 | 37 | +10 | 54 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 6 | Chernomorets Novorossiysk | 34 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 53 | |
| 7 | Krylia Sovetov Samara | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 49 | |
| 8 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 28 | 29 | −1 | 49 | |
| 9 | Baltika Kaliningrad | 34 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 49 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 10 | Alania Vladikavkaz | 34 | 14 | 4 | 16 | 52 | 42 | +10 | 46 | |
| 11 | Torpedo Moscow | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 45 | |
| 12 | CSKA Moscow | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 42 | |
| 13 | Rostselmash | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 34 | 38 | −4 | 41 | |
| 14 | Zhemchuzhina Sochi | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 38 | 51 | −13 | 40 | |
| 15 | Tyumen | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 46 | −18 | 34 | |
| 16 | Fakel Voronezh (R) | 34 | 7 | 5 | 22 | 25 | 49 | −24 | 26 | Relegation to First Division |
| 17 | Lokomotiv N.N. (R) | 34 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 26 | 60 | −34 | 23 | Relegation to First Division |
| 18 | KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny (R) | 34 | 8 | 3 | 23 | 38 | 75 | −37 | 21 | Relegation to First Division |
* ↑ KAMAZ-Chally were docked 6 points for failing to pay a transfer fee.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALA | BAL | CHE | CSK | DYN | FAK | KAM | KRY | LOK | LNN | ROS | ROT | SHI | SPA | TOR | TYU | ZEN | ZHE |
| Alania Vladikavkaz | | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 |
| Baltika Kaliningrad | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Chernomorets Novorossiysk | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| CSKA Moscow | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 4–1 | 6–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Fakel Voronezh | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny | 4–2 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 3–0 | | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–5 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| Krylia Sovetov Samara | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| Lokomotiv N.N. | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Rostselmash | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–5 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| Rotor Volgograd | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Shinnik Yaroslavl | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Spartak Moscow | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 6–2 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Torpedo Moscow | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Tyumen | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Zenit St. Petersburg | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | | 2–0 |
| Zhemchuzhina Sochi | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 | |

## Season statistics
### Top goalscorers

    As of matches played on 9 November 1997.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Oleg Veretennikov | Rotor | 22 |
| 2 | Oleg Teryokhin | Dynamo | 17 |
| 3 | Igor Yanovskiy | Alania | 13 |
| 4 | Lev Berezner | Chernomorets | 11 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Zernov | Rotor | 11 |
| 4 | Valery Kechinov | Spartak Moscow | 11 |
| 7 | Andrey Tikhonov | Spartak Moscow | 10 |
| 7 | Edgaras Jankauskas | Torpedo-Luzhniki | 10 |
| 9 | Aleksandr Gerasimov | Shinnik | 9 |
| 9 | Aleksei Kosolapov | Lokomotiv Moscow | 9 |
| 9 | Vladimir Kulik | CSKA | 9 |
| 9 | Dmitry Khokhlov | Torpedo-Luzhniki | 9 |

## Medal squads

* 1. FC Spartak Moscow
* Goalkeepers: Aleksandr Filimonov (33), Ruslan Nigmatullin (2).
* Defenders: Sergei Gorlukovich (31 / 2), Dmitri Khlestov (27 / 1), Dmitri Ananko (25), Miroslav Romaschenko (24 / 4), Ramiz Mamedov (19 / 1), Vadim Evseev (18), Konstantin Golovskoy (14), Vasili Kulkov (6).
* Midfielders: Dmitri Alenichev (33 / 2), Yegor Titov (31 / 8), Aleksei Bakharev (30 / 2), Aleksei Melyoshin (26 / 2), Andrey Tikhonov (24 / 10), Valery Kechinov (22 / 11), Ilya Tsymbalar (11 / 4), Andrei Konovalov (11 / 1), Robert Yevdokimov (4 / 1).
* Forwards: Aleksandr Shirko (26 / 7), Maksim Buznikin (20 / 8), Luis Robson (10 / 1), Sergey Dmitriev (6 / 1), Sergei Lutovinov (6). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
* One own goal scored by Vladimir Klontsak (FC KAMAZ-Chally Naberezhnye Chelny).
* Manager: Oleg Romantsev.
* Transferred out during the season: Vasili Kulkov (to FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Robert Yevdokimov (to FC KAMAZ-Chally Naberezhnye Chelny).
* 2. FC Rotor Volgograd
* Goalkeepers: Platon Zakharchuk (34).
* Defenders: Aleksandr Shmarko (33), Volodymyr Gerashchenko (27), Sergei Zhunenko (23), Valeri Burlachenko (22 / 1), Nikolai Olenikov (19), Albert Borzenkov (15).
* Midfielders: Oleg Veretennikov (34 / 22), Aleksandr Berketov (33 / 3), Valery Yesipov (32 / 3), Vitaliy Abramov (30 / 1), Andrei Krivov (25), Maksim Tishchenko (20), Ihor Korniyets (12), Vladimir Smirnov (4), Mikhail Mysin (1), Hennadiy Orbu (1).
* Forwards: Denis Zubko (34 / 4), Vladimir Niederhaus (33 / 8), Aleksandr Zernov (31 / 11), Sergei Ilyushin (1).
* One own goal scored by Denis Koberskiy (FC Zhemchuzhina Sochi).
* Manager: Viktor Prokopenko .
* Transferred out during the season: Ihor Korniyets , Sergei Ilyushin (both to FC Arsenal Tula), Hennadiy Orbu (to FC Shakhtar Donetsk).
* 3. FC Dynamo Moscow
* Goalkeepers: Dmytro Tyapushkin (23), Andrei Smetanin (14).
* Defenders: Sergei Shtanyuk (33 / 2), Andrei Ostrovskiy (32 / 4), Yuri Kovtun (28), Erik Yakhimovich (16), Mikhail Zharinov (9), Yevgeni Korablyov (9), Vyacheslav Tsaryov (4), Maksim Povorov (1).
* Midfielders: Andrey Kobelev (33 / 7), Vladimir Skokov (32 / 5), Sergei Nekrasov (32 / 1), Sergey Grishin (28 / 1), Aliaksandr Kulchiy (26 / 3), Aleksandr Tochilin (23), Andrei Gordeyev (7 / 1), Rolan Gusev (7), Vitali Kulyov (6), Maksim Romaschenko (4 / 4), Yuri Kuznetsov (4).
* Forwards: Oleg Teryokhin (33 / 17), Aleksei Kutsenko (19 / 4), Eduard Kosolapov (8 / 1), Yuri Tishkov (4), Sergei Artyomov (2), Andrei Dyomkin (1), Oleg Sergeyev (1).
* Manager: Adamas Golodets.
* Transferred out during the season: Erik Yakhimovich (on loan to Vanspor), Andrei Dyomkin (to R.S.C. Anderlecht).