How Russian club football is organised

The Russian league system is pyramidal, with promotion and relegation between each level and a season running from summer to spring.

The tiers

The Premier League sits at the top, followed by the First League and then the Second League, which is split into regional groups. Below that, amateur competitions are organised on a territorial basis.

The calendar

Because of the climate, the season is interrupted by a long winter break, usually from December to late February. Several northern and Siberian clubs play in stadiums equipped with undersoil heating for the early and late rounds.

The cup

The Russian Cup is open to clubs from every tier and has been reformatted in recent seasons into a group stage followed by two parallel knockout paths, giving losing sides a second route to the final.

Tatarstan clubs

Rubin is the best known club of the republic, but Tatarstan also has a strong tradition in ice hockey, where Ak Bars Kazan is one of the leading sides of the continental league.