The system of Russian club football today involves a four-stage league system. Actually, it is a peculiar list-rating for Russian football teams. The exchange between them is carried out mainly by the sporting principle: the weakest drop out lower, the strongest rise up. However, many teams are forced to move to the lower league due to financial problems. A number of teams therefore remain at the same level, although they occupy places below the bankrupt neighbors.
House on four floors
The highest level is the Russian football Premier League. It is her winner who receives the title of champion of Russia. It also raises vouchers for European competitions for which the elites of the football teams of Russia are fighting (list below).
The second - the National Football League - serves as a sub-elite division. As a rule, it is the largest, given the geographical principle.
Third - Second Division (run by the Professional Football League). It is formed by zones on a territorial basis. The last step where the clubs have professional status. In the teams of the second division it is forbidden to have football players without Russian citizenship.
The fourth - the third division (the "patrimony" of the regional federations of the Russian Football Union), is also formed on a territorial basis. Teams do not have professional status and do not keep up with higher leagues. The season here is old summer.
In the meantime, below is a list of Russian football teams playing in competitions ranked higher than regional (provincial, republican) and city.
* Clubs have second and even third teams playing in the lower leagues. Further in the list of names of the football teams of Russia they are not mentioned.
Russian Football Premier League
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Champion (from the USSR), times | Cup (from the USSR), times | Eurocups, times | Nickname |
| "Locomotive"* | Moscow | 1922 | 3 | nine | - | Railway workers |
| CSKA | Moscow | 1911 | 13 | 12 | 1 | CSKA |
| "Spartacus"* | Moscow | 1922 | 22 | 13 | - | National team |
| Krasnodar * | Krasnodar | 2008 | - | - | - | Bulls |
| "Zenith"* | St. Petersburg | 1925 | 5 | 4 | 1 | Anti-aircraft gunners |
| Ufa | Ufa | 2009 | - | - | - | Townspeople |
| "Arsenal" | Tula | 1946 | - | - | - | Gunsmiths |
| "Dynamo" | Moscow | 1923 | eleven | 6 | - | Blue and white |
| Akhmat | The terrible | 1946 | - | 1 | - | White green |
| "Ruby" | Kazan | 1958 | 2 | 1 | - | Kazan citizens |
| Rostov | Rostov-on-Don | 1930 | - | 1 | - | Combiners |
| Ural * | Ekaterinburg | 1930 | - | - | - | Bumblebees |
| Orenburg * | Orenburg | 1976 | - | - | - | Gas workers |
| "Wings of Soviets"* | Samara | 1942 | - | - | - | Wings |
| Yenisei | Krasnoyarsk | 1937 | - | - | - | Lions |
National Football League
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| Anji * | Makhachkala | 1991 | Eagles |
| SKA-Khabarovsk | Khabarovsk | 1946 | CSKA |
| Tambov * | Tambov | 2013 | Townspeople |
| Baltika | Kaliningrad | 1954 | Baltians |
| "Dynamo" | St. Petersburg | 1922 | Blue and white |
| "Siberia"* | Novosibirsk | 1946 | Eagles |
| Shinnik * | Yaroslavl | 1957 | Tire |
| Vanguard * | Kursk | 1958 | Blue and white |
| "Olympian" | Nizhny Novgorod | 2015 | Olympians |
| Khimki * | Khimki | 1997 | Red black |
| Tom * | Tomsk | 1957 | Tomichi |
| Rotor-Volgograd * | Volgograd | 1929 | Rotor |
| "Ray"* | Vladivostok | 1952 | Tigers |
| Tyumen * | Tyumen | 1961 | Black and white |
| "Torch"* | Voronezh | 1947 | Flammable |
| Chertanovo * | Moscow | 1993 | Devils |
| "Armavir" | Armavir | 1959 | Foxes |
| Mordovia * | Saransk | 1961 | Mordva |
Second division. West Zone
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| The textile worker * | Ivanovo | 1937 | Textile |
| Veles | Moscow | 2016 | - |
| Dolgoprudny * | Dolgoprudny | 1998 | - |
| "Pskov-747" | Pskov | 2006 | 747 |
| "Torpedo" | Vladimir | 1959 | Black and white |
| Murom | Murom | 2014 | Muromets |
| Luke-Energy | Great Luke | 1991 | - |
| CRFSO | Smolensk | 2004 | Smolyan |
| Kolomna * | Kolomna | 1906 | Kolomentsy |
| "Banner of Labor" | Orekhovo-Zuevo | 1909 | Znamenovtsy |
Second division. Zone "Center"
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Champion (from the USSR), times | Cup (from the USSR), times | Nickname |
| Energomash | Belgorod | 2014 | - | - | Energomashevtsi |
| Ryazan | Ryazan | 2010 | - | - | Townspeople |
| "Vigilant" | Krasnogorsk | 1968 | - | - | - |
| "Metallurgist"* | Lipetsk | 1957 | - | - | Steelmakers |
| "Torpedo" | Moscow | 1924 | 3 | 7 | Automobile manufacturers |
| "Falcon" | Saratov | 1930 | - | - | Falcons |
| "Saturn"* | Ramenskoye | 1946 | - | - | Aliens |
| Strogino * | Moscow | 2010 | - | - | - |
| "Dynamo" | Bryansk | 1931 | - | - | Partisans |
| "Chemist" | Novomoskovsk | 1954 | - | - | Chemists |
| Kaluga | Kaluga | 2009 | - | - | Astronauts |
Second division. South Zone
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Champion (from the USSR), times | Cup (from the USSR), times | Nickname |
| Afips | Afipsky | 2012 | - | - | - |
| "Gull" | Sandstone | 1997 | - | - | - |
| "Chernomorets" | Novorossiysk | 1907 | - | - | Sailors |
| "Friendship" | Maykop | 1963 | - | - | - |
| Spartak Nalchik | Nalchik | 1935 | - | - | Dzhigits |
| SKA | Rostov-on-Don | 1937 | - | 1 | CSKA |
| "Legion Dynamo" | Makhachkala | 2015 | - | - | - |
| Football Academy named after B. Monday | Rostov-on-Don | 2017 | - | - | Mondays |
| Mashuk-KMV | Pyatigorsk | 1936 | - | - | Mashuki |
| "Biologist-Novokubansk" | Progress | 1995 | - | - | - |
| Spartak-Vladikavkaz * | Vladikavkaz | 1921 | 1 | - | Red yellow |
| "Dynamo" | Stavropol | 1924 | - | - | - |
| Angusht | Nazran | 2003 | - | - | Eagles |
Second division. Ural-Volga zone
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| Chelyabinsk | Chelyabinsk | 1977 | - |
| Syzran 2003 | Sizran | 2003 | - |
| KAMAZ | Naberezhnye Chelny | 1981 | Automobile manufacturers |
| Zenit-Izhevsk * | Izhevsk | 2011 | - |
| Neftekhimik | Nizhnekamsk | 1991 | - |
| Volga * | Ulyanovsk | 1947 | Yellow black |
| Nosta | Novotroitsk | 1991 | Steelmakers |
| Lada Togliatti | Tolyatti | 1970 | Automobile manufacturers |
Second division. Zone "East"
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nicknames |
| Sakhalin * | Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk | 2004 | - |
| "Change" | Komsomolsk-on-Amur | 1935 | - |
| "Dynamo" | Barnaul | 1957 | Blue and white |
| Chita | Chita | 1974 | - |
| "Zenith"* | Irkutsk | 2003 | - |
| Irtysh * | Omsk | 1946 | - |
The third division. Zone "Far East"
| Command | Town | Year of foundation |
| Nogliki | Nogliki | 2013 |
| RSDYUFSH | Neryungri | 2012 |
The third division. Siberia zone
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nicknames |
| Novokuznetsk | Novokuznetsk | 1946 | Steelmakers |
| Raspadskaya | Mezhdurechensk | 1994 | Decay |
| "Dawn" | Krasnoyarsk | 2015 | - |
| SDYUSSHOR-Kemerovo | Kemerovo | 2014 | - |
| "Polymer" | Barnaul | - | - |
The third division. Zone "Ural and Western Siberia"
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| "Torpedo" | Miass | 1942 | - |
| "Metallurgist" | Asha | 1990 | - |
| Vityaz-GTU | Ufa | - | - |
| "Metallurgist" | Magnitogorsk | 1946 | - |
| Amkar | Permian | 1994 | Ammonia |
| "Miner" | Korkino | - | - |
| "Tobol" | Tobolsk | - | - |
| "Tobol" | Mound | - | - |
| Uralets | Nizhny Tagil | 2011 | - |
The third division. Northwest Zone
| Teams | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| "Chemist" | Koryazhma | 1961 | - |
| "Electron" | Velikiy Novgorod | 1969 | - |
| "Autofavorit" | Pskov | - | - |
| Gatchina | Gatchina | - | - |
| National team of Karelia | Petrozavodsk | - | - |
| "Elicort" | Gatchina | 2000 | - |
The third division. Zone "Moscow"
| Teams | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| FSM | Moscow | - | - |
| Rosich | Moscow | - | - |
| Zelenograd | Zelenograd | - | - |
| "Sportacademclub" | Moscow | 1992 | Academicians |
| "Troitsk" | Troitsk | - | - |
| "Volcano" | Moscow | - | - |
| "Summer rain" | Moscow | - | - |
| "Zenith" | Moscow | - | - |
| Prialit | Reutov | 2009 | - |
| "Petrel" | Moscow | - | - |
| SSH-75 | Moscow | - | - |
| Inter | Moscow | - | - |
The third division. Zone "Moscow region"
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| Lyubertsy | Lyubertsy | 1929 | Lyubertsy |
| "The Knight" | Podolsk | 1996 | - |
| "Quantum" | Obninsk | 1962 | - |
| "Titanium" | Wedge | 2006 | - |
| "Relight" | Domodedovo | - | - |
| "Metalist" | Korolev | - | - |
| "Banner" | Noginsk | - | - |
| "Sports Center" | Lobnya | - | - |
| "Istra" | Istra | 1997 | - |
| "Ceramics" | Balashikha | - | - |
| "Sergiev Posad" | Sergiev Posad | - | - |
| STARS | Kolomna | - | - |
The third division. Zone "Southern Federal District"
| Teams | Town | Year of foundation | Nickname |
| "Magas-ISU" | Nazran | 2006 | - |
| Khasavyurt | Khasavyurt | 2003 | - |
| UOR-Dagestan | Makhachkala | - | - |
| Dynamo Dagestan | Makhachkala | 2017 | - |
| "Rostov-2018" | Rostov-on-Don | 2018 | - |
| "Astrakhan" | Astrakhan | 1960 | Volgari |
The third division. Golden Ring Zone
| Teams | Town | Year of foundation |
| Kostroma | Kostroma | 1959 |
| "Rybinsk" | Rybinsk | - |
| SSHOR "Volga" | Tver | 1957 |
| Four Gardens | Vologda | - |
| "Cherepovets" | Cherepovets | 1912 |
| "Torch" | Kirov | - |
The third division. Zone "Black Earth"
| Teams | Town | Year of foundation |
| "Atom" | Novovoronezh | 1986 |
| "Locomotive" | Liski | 1936 |
| "Dace" | Dace | 1968 |
| "Red-SGAFKST" | Smolensk | 2002 |
| Metallurg-OEMK | Stary Oskol | 1984 |
| "Spartacus" | Rossosh | - |
| Olympic | New Usman | - |
| "Eagle" | Eagle | 1960 |
| "Spark" | Smolensk | - |
The third division. Zone "Volga"
| Command | Town | Year of foundation | Nicknames |
| Konoplev Academy | Seaside | - | Academicians |
| Akron | Tolyatti | - | - |
| Dzerzhinsk-TS | Dzerzhinsk | - | - |
| "Road builder" | Kamenka | - | - |
| "Zenith" | Penza | 1918 | - |
| Quasar Samara | Samara | - | - |
| Lada | Dimitrovgrad | 1991 | |
| Syzran-2003-SKTB-Plastic | Sizran | 2003 | - |
| Chemist-August | Logs | - | - |
Soil is not solid
The number of teams is unstable. If you suddenly drop the team from the Premier League as much in the third division (“Amkar”), what can we say about the lower leagues. The list below is not yet clear with the composition of the zones. The fate of a number of teams is incomprehensible. For example, last season’s winner in the Center zone of the second division, Moscow Ararat was not accepted into the FNL and was planning to move to Armenia. Some clubs from this list of Russian football teams in the second and third division will probably not survive until the end of the season.