1997 Russian Top League

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	1998–99 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2	Rotor Volgograd	34	20	8	6	54	27	+27	68	1998–99 UEFA Cup Second qualifying round
3	Dynamo Moscow	34	19	11	4	50	20	+30	68
4	Shinnik Yaroslavl	34	15	10	9	38	35	+3	55
5	Lokomotiv Moscow	34	15	9	10	47	37	+10	54	1998–99 UEFA 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
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 Russian First Division 1998
17	Lokomotiv N.N. (R)	34	6	5	23	26	60	−34	23
18	KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny (R)	34	8	3	23	38	75	−37	21

Source: rsssf.com {{{2}}}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(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.

¹KAMAZ-Chally were docked 6 points for failing to pay a transfer fee

Spartak qualified for the UEFA Champions League 1998-99. Rotor and Dynamo qualified for the UEFA Cup 1998-99.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Team
1	Oleg Veretennikov	22	Rotor
2	Oleg Teryokhin	17	Dynamo
3	Igor Yanovskiy	13	Alania
4	Lev Berezner	11	Chernomorets
	Aleksandr Zernov	11	Rotor
	Valery Kechinov	11	Spartak
7	Andrey Tikhonov	10	Spartak
	Edgaras Jankauskas	10	Torpedo-Luzhniki
9	Aleksandr Gerasimov	9	Shinnik
	Aleksei Kosolapov	9	Lokomotiv M
	Vladimir Kulik	9	CSKA
	Dmitry Khokhlov	9	Torpedo-Luzhniki

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), Vitali 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).

See also

1997 in Russian football

External links

• RSSSF