# 2010 Russian First Division

The 2010 Russian First Division was the 19th season of Russia's second-tier football league since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The season began on 27 March 2010.

## Teams

As in the previous year, 20 clubs participate in this year championship. It features eleven clubs from 2009 Russian First Division, two clubs relegated from 2009 Russian Premier League, five zone winners from 2009 Russian Second Division, one of the second-placed clubs from 2009 Russian Second Division and one of the third-placed clubs from 2009 Russian Second Division.

### Movement between Premier League and First Division

Anzhi Makhachkala as 2009 champions and Sibir Novosibirsk as runners-up have been promoted to the Premier League. They will be replaced by relegated teams Kuban Krasnodar and Khimki.

### Movement between First Division and Second Division

Nosta Novotroitsk, Chita, Chernomorets Novorossiysk, Metallurg Lipetsk and MVD Rossii Moscow who placed in the last 5 places respectively in 2009 were relegated to the Russian Second Division.
The relegated teams were replaced by the five 2009 Second Division zone winners. These were Dynamo Saint Petersburg (West), Avangard Kursk (Centre), Zhemchuzhina-Sochi (South), Mordovia Saransk (Ural-Povolzhye) and Irtysh Omsk (East).

### Further team changes

Due to financial difficulties, Vityaz Podolsk who placed 11th in 2009, decided to give up their spot in the Russian First Division and participate in the Russian Second Division in 2010.
Pending licensing, their place was taken by FC Volgograd who placed 3rd in the Russian Second Division (South Zone) in 2009. For the occasion the management decided to change the name of the club from FC Volgograd to Rotor Volgograd.
FC Alania Vladikavkaz were promoted into the 2010 Russian Premier League after FC Moscow dropped out due to financial reasons. It was replaced by FC Dynamo Bryansk. Dynamo Bryansk originally refused to be promoted when offered Vityaz's spot, but by the time Alania's spot became available, they found new financial commitments and agreed to participate in the First Division.

## Overview

| Team | Location | Head Coach | Venue | Capacity | Position in 2009 |
| Avangard | Kursk | Aleksandr Ignatenko | Trudovye Rezervy | 11,329 | 1st, D2 "Centre" |
| Baltika | Kaliningrad | Leonid Tkachenko | Baltika | 14,664 | 9th |
| Dynamo Bryansk | Bryansk | Aleksandr Smirnov | Dynamo | 10,100 | 2nd, D2 "Centre" |
| Dynamo St. Petersburg | Saint Petersburg | Sergey Frantsev | MSA Petrovsky | 2,835 | 1st, D2 "West" |
| Irtysh | Omsk | Aleksandr Dorofeyev | Red Star | 8,000 | 1st, D2 "East" |
| KAMAZ | Naberezhnye Chelny | Robert Yevdokimov | KAMAZ | 9,221 | 5th |
| Khimki | Khimki | Yevgeni Bushmanov | Novyye Khimki | 3,066 | 16th, Premier |
| Krasnodar | Krasnodar | Sergei Tashuev | Kuban | 34,640 | 10th |
| Kuban | Krasnodar | Dan Petrescu | Kuban | 34,640 | 15th, Premier |
| Luch-Energiya | Vladivostok | Francisco Arcos | Dinamo | 10,185 | 14th |
| Mordovia | Saransk | Fyodor Shcherbachenko | Svetotekhnika | 14,000 | 1st, D2 "Ural-Povolzhye" |
| Nizhny Novgorod | Nizhny Novgorod | Viktor Zaidenberg | Severny | 3,180 | 13th |
| Rotor | Volgograd | Vitaliy Shevchenko | Central | 32,126 | 3rd, D2 "South" |
| Salyut | Belgorod | Yuri Bykov | Salyut | 11,500 | 7th |
| Shinnik | Yaroslavl | Aleksandr Pobegalov | Shinnik | 18,481 | 6th |
| SKA-Energiya | Khabarovsk | Sergey Feldman | Lenin Stadium | 15,200 | 15th |
| Ural | Yekaterinburg | Vladimir Fedotov | Uralmash | 13,000 | 8th |
| Volga | Nizhny Novgorod | Omari Tetradze | Lokomotiv | 17,856 | 4th |
| Volgar-Gazprom | Astrakhan | Lev Ivanov | Centralny | 20,500 | 12th |
| Zhemchuzhina-Sochi | Sochi | Oleg Vasilenko | Central | 10,280 | 1st, D2 "South" |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Date | Table | Incoming | Date | Table |
| Dynamo St. Petersburg | Aleksandr Averyanov | Resigned | 15 April 2010 | 19th | Grigori Mikhalyuk (caretaker) | | |
| Dynamo Bryansk | Soferbi Yeshugov | Sacked | 7 May 2010 | 20th | Sergei Ovchinnikov | 7 May 2010 | 20th |
| Volga Nizhny Novgorod | Aleksandr Pobegalov | Resigned | 8 May 2010 | 12th | Omari Tetradze | 8 May 2010 | 12th |
| Shinnik Yaroslavl | Igor Lediakhov | Sacked | 11 May 2010 | 18th | Aleksandr Pobegalov | 11 May 2010 | 12th |
| Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast | Vladimir Fedotov | Sacked | 11 May 2010 | 7th | Boris Stukalov | 14 May 2010 | 7th |
| Dynamo St. Petersburg | Grigori Mikhalyuk (caretaker) | Finished | 19 May 2010 | 10th | Boris Zhuravlyov | 19 May 2010 | |
| Salyut Belgorod | Miroslav Romaschenko | Sacked | 20 May 2010 | 16th | Leonid Koutchouk | 20 May 2010 | 16th |
| Luch-Energiya | Leonid Nazarenko | Sacked | 22 May 2010 | 13th | Francisco Arcos (caretaker) | 22 May 2010 | 13th |
| Baltika | Ivan Lyakh | Sacked | 5 June 2010 | 13th | Leonid Tkachenko | | |
| Rotor | Vladimir Faizulin | Sacked | 26 June 2010 | 20th | Vitaliy Shevchenko | 27 June 2010 | 20th |
| Dynamo St. Petersburg | Boris Zhuravlyov | Sacked | 22 July 2010 | 17th | Eduard Malofeyev | 22 July 2010 | 20th |
| Khimki | Aleksandr Tarkhanov | | 30 July 2010 | 9th | Yevgeni Bushmanov (caretaker) | | |
| Zhemchuzhina-Sochi | Oleg Vasilenko | | 2 August 2010 | 4th | Zurab Sanaya | | |
| Avangard Kursk | Valery Yesipov | Sacked | 17 August 2010 | 19th | Oleg Sergeyev (caretaker) | | |
| Dynamo St. Petersburg | Eduard Malofeyev | Sacked | 20 August 2010 | 20th | Sergey Frantsev | | |
| Salyut Belgorod | Leonid Koutchouk | Sacked | 23 August 2010 | 19th | Yuri Bykov | 23 August 2010 | 19th |
| Irtysh Omsk | Vladimir Arays | Sacked | 2 September 2010 | 20th | Aleksandr Dorofeyev | 2 September 2010 | |
| Avangard Kursk | Oleg Sergeyev (caretaker) | Finished | 17 September 2010 | 19th | Aleksandr Ignatenko | | |
| Dynamo Bryansk | Sergei Ovchinnikov | Sacked | 17 September 2010 | 18th | Aleksandr Smirnov | 17 September 2010 | 18th |
| Zhemchuzhina-Sochi | Zurab Sanaya | | 27 September 2010 | 5th | Oleg Vasilenko | | |
| SKA-Energiya | Sergei Gorlukovich | Sacked | 28 September 2010 | 15th | Sergey Feldman | | |

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Kuban Krasnodar (C, P) | 38 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 51 | 20 | +31 | 80 | Promotion to Premier League |
| 2 | Volga Nizhny Novgorod (P) | 38 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 62 | 25 | +37 | 71 | Promotion to Premier League |
| 3 | Nizhny Novgorod | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 60 | 41 | +19 | 70 | |
| 4 | KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 55 | 43 | +12 | 66 | |
| 5 | Krasnodar (P) | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 60 | 44 | +16 | 61 | Promotion to Premier League |
| 6 | Mordovia Saransk | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 53 | 40 | +13 | 58 | |
| 7 | Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast | 38 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 58 | |
| 8 | Zhemchuzhina-Sochi | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 44 | +1 | 57 | |
| 9 | Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 57 | |
| 10 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 55 | |
| 11 | SKA-Khabarovsk | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 53 | |
| 12 | Luch-Energiya Vladivostok | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 52 | |
| 13 | Khimki | 38 | 11 | 17 | 10 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 50 | |
| 14 | Dynamo Bryansk | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 53 | 54 | −1 | 44 | |
| 15 | Baltika Kaliningrad | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 43 | |
| 16 | Dynamo St. Petersburg (R) | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 37 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 17 | Salyut Belgorod (R) | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 34 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 18 | Rotor Volgograd (R) | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 27 | 64 | −37 | 34 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 19 | Irtysh Omsk (R) | 38 | 6 | 10 | 22 | 26 | 52 | −26 | 28 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 20 | Avangard Kursk (R) | 38 | 7 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 67 | −36 | 27 | Relegation to Second Division |

## Results

| Home \ Away | AVA | BAL | DBR | DSP | IRT | KAM | KHI | KRA | KUB | LUE | MOR | NN | ROT | SAL | SHI | SKA | URA | VNN | VGA | ZHE |
| Avangard Kursk | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–6 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Baltika Kaliningrad | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Dynamo Bryansk | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 4–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 |
| Dynamo St. Petersburg | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Irtysh Omsk | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 |
| KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Khimki | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Krasnodar | 0–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Kuban Krasnodar | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 6–1 | 0–1 |
| Luch-Energiya Vladivostok | 4–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Mordovia Saransk | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Rotor Volgograd | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–6 | 0–2 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Salyut Belgorod | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Shinnik Yaroslavl | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| SKA-Khabarovsk | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Volga Nizhny Novgorod | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–3 |
| Zhemchuzhina-Sochi | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | |

## Top scorers

Last updated: 6 November 2010; Source: PFL (in Russian)
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Otar Martsvaladze | Volga | 21 |
| 2 | Spartak Gogniyev | KAMAZ / Krasnodar | 18 |
| 3 | Sergei Davydov | Volgar-Gazprom / Kuban | 16 |
| 4 | Dmitri Golubov | Baltika | 15 |
| 5 | Ruslan Mukhametshin | Mordovia | 13 |
| 5 | Sergei Serdyukov | KAMAZ | 13 |
| 5 | Aleksandr Tikhonovetsky | Nizhny Novgorod | 13 |
| 8 | Azamat Gonezhukov | Dynamo St. Petersburg | 12 |
| 9 | Maksim Demenko | Krasnodar / Zhemchuzhina-Sochi | 11 |
| 9 | Yevgeni Kaleshin | Krasnodar | 11 |
| 9 | Kirill Panchenko | Mordovia | 11 |
| 12 | Vasiliy Karmazinenko | SKA-Energiya | 10 |

## Awards

Professional Football League announced the award winners for the season.
* Best player: Andrey Tikhonov (FC Khimki).
* Best goalkeeper: Aleksandr Budakov (FC Kuban Krasnodar).
* Best defender: Milan Vještica (FC Shinnik Yaroslavl).
* Best midfielder: Andrey Tikhonov (FC Khimki).
* Best striker: Spartak Gogniyev (FC Krasnodar).
* Best manager: Robert Yevdokimov (FC KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny).