1997 Russian First League

The Russian First League 1997 was the 6th edition of the Russian First Division.

Overview

Team	Head coach
FC Uralan Elista	Pavlo Yakovenko
FC Metallurg Lipetsk	Valeri Tretyakov
FC Sokol-PZhD Saratov	Nikolay Kiselyov
PFC Spartak Nalchik	Viktor Kumykov
FC Lokomotiv St. Petersburg	Givi Nodia
FC Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad	Vladimir Yevsyukov
FC CSK VVS-Kristall Smolensk	Valeri Nenenko
FC Lokomotiv Chita	Aleksandr Kovalyov
FC Saturn Ramenskoye	Vladimir Mukhanov (until April) Vladimir Shevchuk (from April)
FC Dynamo Stavropol	Sergei Zimenkov (until June) Boris Stukalov (from July)
FC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	Viktor Antikhovich (until July)
FC Gazovik-Gazprom Izhevsk	Vitaliy Shevchenko (until September) Aleksandr Kishinevsky (from September)
FC Anzhi Makhachkala	Eduard Malofeyev
FC Lada-Togliatti-VAZ Togliatti	Viktor Tishchenko (until June) Vladimir Dergach (from June)
FC Druzhba Maykop	Soferbi Yeshugov (until August) Vitali Aksyonov (from August)
FC Kuban Krasnodar	Vladimir Brazhnikov
FC Irtysh Omsk	Aleksandr Ivchenko
FC Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetsky	Sergei Vasyutin
FC Energiya Kamyshin	Sergei Pavlov
FC Uralmash Yekaterinburg	Viktor Yerokhin
FC Torpedo Volzhsky	Oleg Dudarin
FC Luch Vladivostok	Vitali Koberskiy

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Uralan Elista (P)	42	29	5	8	67	22	+45	92	Promotion to Top Division
2	Metallurg Lipetsk	42	26	6	10	80	41	+39	84
3	Sokol-PZhD Saratov	42	21	11	10	58	35	+23	74
4	Spartak Nalchik	42	23	3	16	74	53	+21	72
5	Lokomotiv St. Petersburg	42	19	13	10	55	38	+17	70
6	Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad	42	20	9	13	80	71	+9	69
7	CSK VVS-Kristall Smolensk	42	19	11	12	70	45	+25	68
8	Lokomotiv Chita	42	21	2	19	62	63	−1	65
9	Saturn Ramenskoye	42	19	6	17	65	55	+10	63
10	Dynamo Stavropol	42	18	8	16	54	58	−4	62
11	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	42	19	4	19	53	54	−1	61
12	Gazovik-Gazprom Izhevsk	42	18	7	17	42	39	+3	61
13	Anzhi Makhachkala	42	18	6	18	66	72	−6	60
14	Lada-Togliatti-VAZ Togliatti	42	16	12	14	61	56	+5	60
15	Druzhba Maykop	42	17	6	19	51	62	−11	57
16	Kuban Krasnodar	42	16	9	17	63	66	−3	57
17	Irtysh Omsk	42	15	12	15	52	53	−1	57
18	Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetsky (R)	42	12	9	21	39	58	−19	45	Relegation to Second Division
19	Energiya Kamyshin (R)	42	10	8	24	46	67	−21	38
20	Uralmash Yekaterinburg (R)	42	9	8	25	43	77	−34	35
21	Torpedo Volzhsky (R)	42	9	3	30	29	72	−43	30
22	Luch Vladivostok (R)	42	3	12	27	23	76	−53	21

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: unknown
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Notes.

1. FC Lokomotiv Chita awarded 2 home wins, FC Luch Vladivostok awarded 1 home win.
2. FC Lada Dimitrovgrad renamed to FC Lada-Grad.
3. FC Lada Togliatti renamed to FC Lada-Togliatti-VAZ.
4. FC Energiya-Tekstilshchik Kamyshin renamed to FC Energiya.

Top goalscorers

29 goals

• Aleksei Chernov (FC Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad)

23 goals

• Valeri Solyanik (FC CSK-VVS Kristall Smolensk)

18 goals

• Marat Mulashev (FC Irtysh Omsk)

17 goals

• Rustyam Fakhrutdinov (FC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk)
• Ibragim Gasanbekov (FC Anzhi Makhachkala)
• Aleksandrs Jelisejevs (FC Metallurg Lipetsk)
• Oleg Nechayev (FC Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad)

15 goals

• Igor Menshchikov (FC Metallurg Lipetsk)
• Valeri Shushlyakov (FC Kuban Krasnodar)
• Narvik Sirkhayev (FC Anzhi Makhachkala)

See also

• Russian Top League 1997
• Russian Second League 1997
• Russian Third League 1997