A QUICK GUIDE TO THE RUSSIAN FOOTBALL PYRAMID

The top league has been known as the Russian Premier League since 2018.  It was established in 2001 as the Russian Football Premier League - From 1992 the top level had been known as the Russian Football Championship. 

Since 1992 only six clubs have won the title - Spartak Moscow (10), CSKA Moscow (6), Zenit St Petersburg (6), Lokomotiv Moscow (3), Rubin Kazan (2) and Spartak Vladikavkaz once in 1995. 

STEP ONE 

RUSSIAN PREMIER LEAGUE LINE UP FOR 2020/21 (denotes club's year of formation)

Moscow based teams highlighted

Akhmat Grozny (1958)

Arsenal Tula (1946)

CSKA Moscow (1911)

Dynamo Moscow (1923)

Khimki Moscow (1997)

Krasnodar (2008) 

Lokomotiv Moscow (1922)

Rostov (1930) 

Rotor Volgograd (1929) 

Rubin Kazan (1958) 

Spartak Moscow (1922)  

Sochi (2018*)

Tambov (2013) 

UFA  (2009) 

FC Ural Yekaterinburg (1930) 

Zenit Saint Petersburg (1925) 

* PFC Sochi were formed when Dynamo Saint Petersburg relocated. It's 1,450 miles between the two cities. 

The bottom two teams are relegated automatically to the Football National League with the 13th and 14th placed teams going into the relegation/promotion play offs against the teams who finish in 3rd and 4th place of the Football National League.

STEP TWO

FOOTBALL NATIONAL LEAGUE LINE UP FOR 2020/21 (denotes club's year of formation) 

Moscow teams highlighted 

Akron Tolyatti (2018) 

Alania Vladikavkaz (1921) 

Baltika Kaliningrad (1954) 

Chertanovo Moscow (1993)

Chayka Peschanokopskoye (1997)

Dynamo Brysank (1931) 

Fakel Voronezh (1947)

Irtysh Omsk (1946)

Krasnador-2 (2013)

Krylia Sovetov Samara (1942) 

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (1991) 

Niznhy Novgorod (2015) 

Orenburg (1976) 

SKA-Khabarovsk (1946) 

Yenisey Krasnoyarsk (1937) 

Shinnik Yaroslavl (1957) 

Spartak-2 Moscow (2013)

Tekstilshchik Ivanovo (1937) 

Tom Tomsk (1957)

Torpedo Moscow (1930)

Veles Moscow (2016)

Volgar Astrakhan (1925) 

The bottom six teams will be relegated at the end of the season to the third tier with no relegation or promotion play-offs at this level. The reserve sides of Spartak Moscow and Krasnador are not permitted to promotion to the top tier. 

STEP THREE 

PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (denotes club's year of formation)

Moscow teams highlighted

GROUP ONE 

Anzhi Makhachkala (1991) 

Biolog-Novokubansk (1995) 

Chernomorets Novorossiysk (1907) 

Druzhba Maykop (1963) 

Dynamo Stavropol (1933) 

Forte Taganrog (2020) 

Inter Cherkessk (2019) 

Krasnodar-3 (2014) 

Kuban Krasnodar (2018) 

Kuban-Holding Pavlovskaya (2015) 

Legion Dynamo Makhachkala

Makhachkala (2019) 

Mashuk-KMV Pyatigorsk (1936) 

SKA Rostov-on-Don (1937) 

Spartak Nalchik (1935) 

Tuapse (2020)

Yessentuki (2016) 

GROUP TWO

Chita (1984) 

Dynamo-2 Moscow (1986)

Kazanka Moscow (2008)

Kolomna (1906) 

Leningradets Leningrad Oblast (2018) 

Luki-Energiya Velikiye Luki (1991)

Murom (2014) 

Olimp-Dolgoprudny (2012) 

Rodina Moscow (2015)

Smolensk (2018) 

Torpedo Vladimir (1959) 

Tver (1908) 

Zenit Irkutsk (2003) 

Zenit-2 St. Petersburg (2013) 

Znamya Truda Orekhovo-Zuyevo (1909) 

Zvezda St. Petersburg (2018) 

GROUP THREE

Avangard Kursk (1946) 

Fakel-M Voronezh (1961) 

Kaluga (2009) 

Khimik-Arsenal (1954) 

Khimki-M (1997) 

Krasny (2010) 

Kvant Obninsk (1962) 

Metallurg Lipetsk (1957) 

Metallurg Vidnoye (2020)

Ryazan (1995) 

Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (2015) 

Salyut Belgorod (1960) 

Saturn Ramenskoye (1946) 

Sokol Saratov (1930) 

Strogino Moscow (2010)

Znamya Noginsk (1911) 

GROUP FOUR

Chelyabinsk (1977) 

Dynamo Barnaul (1957) 

KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny (1981)

Krylia Sovetov-2 Samara (2000) 

Lada Dimitrovgrad (2017) 

Lada-Tolyatti (1970) 

Nosta Novotroitsk (1991) 

Novosibirsk (2019)

Orenburg-2 (2001) 

Tyumen (1961) 

Ural-2 Yekaterinburg (1994) 

Volga Ulyanovsk(1947) 

Volna Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (2016) 

Zenit-Izhevsk (2011) 

Zvezda Perm (1932) 

FC KOLOMNA ARE THE OLDEST CLUB PLAYING IN THE THIRD TIER BEING FORMED IN 1906. THEY CITY OF KOLMNA IS AROUND 70 MILES SOUTH EAST OF MOSCOW. 

The bottom teams will be relegated to the Russian Amateur Football League which has ten regional groups -  Moscow, Golden Ring, Moscow Oblast A, North-West, Ural and Western Siberia, Southern Federal District, Privolzhye, Center, Siberia - West and Siberia - East. The teams at the top of the divisions move forward into two promotion groups of five teams each with top two playing off in the championship final with a 3rd/4th, 5th/6th, 7th/8th and 9th/10th place play-offs.