2019–20 Russian Football National League

The 2019–20 Russian Football National League was the 28th season of Russia's second-tier football league since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The season began on 7 July 2019 and ended on 15 May 2020 (last games were played on 15 March).

Russian Football National League
Season2019–20
PromotedFC Rotor Volgograd
FC Khimki[1]
RelegatedNone[1]
Goals scored474
Top goalscorerAleksandr Rudenko (Spartak-2 Moscow / Torpedo Moscow)
Ivan Sergeyev (Torpedo) (14 goals)
Biggest home winSpartak-2 7-2 Fakel
Biggest away winTekstilshchik 1-5 Baltika,
Fakel 0-4 Shinnik
Highest scoringSpartak-2 7-2 Fakel (9 goals)
Longest winning runTorpedo Moscow (9 games)
Longest unbeaten runBaltika (14 games)
Longest winless runYenisey (13 games)
Longest losing runMordovia (5 games)
Highest attendanceNizhny Novgorod 0–2 Tom (7 July 2019, 8,229 in attendance)
Lowest attendanceTekstilshchik 0–1 Yenisey (7 July 2019, 600 in attendance)
Average attendance4,530
All statistics correct as of 8 July 2019.

Summary

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On 17 March 2020, the league was suspended until 10 April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia.[2] On 1 April 2020, Russian Football Union extended the suspension until 31 May 2020.[3]

On 15 April 2020, FC Armavir dropped out of the competition due to lack of financing necessary to acquire the license for the 2020–21 season.[4] The club was in the 12th place in the table with 30 points acquired in 27 games. Even though the league was suspended at that time due to COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, FNL president Igor Yefremov stated that the drop-out was not directly related to that and the club was in financial trouble before the pandemic.[5] According to the league regulations, all Armavir's opponents in the second half of the season were to automatically assigned a 3–0 victory in all of their second games against Armavir, including retroactively in the games that were already played. As a result, FC Fakel Voronezh, FC Torpedo Moscow and FC Spartak-2 Moscow (who lost to Armavir in their second games of the season) were expected to gain 3 extra points and FC Tom Tomsk (who tied with Armavir) were expected to gain 2 extra points.[6]

On 30 April 2020, the clubs voted unanimously that the league can not be concluded by 2 August 2020 as planned. The teams that were in positions from 3 to 5 (FC Chertanovo Moscow, FC Torpedo Moscow and FC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk) suggested extending the season past that date (the 3rd and 4th placed teams were expected to play in Russian Premier League relegation/promotion playoffs), but were overruled by the other 17 clubs.[7] The decision was complicated by FC Armavir announcing that the club is dropping out of the competition but not officially filing related paperwork with the league. If they formally dropped out, FC Torpedo Moscow would have gained 3 points in the game they already played and lost to Armavir, and would have advanced into the 2nd position in the table that secures direct promotion into the Premier League.[citation needed]

On 15 May 2020, the league was abandoned, and the top two teams (FC Rotor Volgograd and FC Khimki) were promoted, pending licensing for the Premier League for 2020–21 season. None of the teams were relegated to PFL and all the winners of the PFL zones were promoted to the FNL as well for the 2020–21 season, all conditional on passing FNL licensing.[1]

Team changes

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FC Anzhi Makhachkala

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On May 29, 2019, Anzhi, which was relegated to FNL at the end of the 2018–19 Russian Premier League season, recalled their appeal to the Russian Football Union on earlier RFU's decision to deny them the FNL license. Therefore, Anzhi did not play in the FNL in the 2019–20 season. Anzhi then passed the licensing procedure of the RFU, which allows them to participate in the PFL.[9] [10]

Stadia by capacity

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Club City Stadium Capacity
Armavir Armavir Yunost 5,700
Avangard Kursk Trudovye Rezervy 11,329
Baltika Kaliningrad Arena Baltika 35,212
Chayka Peschanokopskoye Chayka Central Stadium 3,000
Chertanovo Moscow Arena Chertanovo 500
Fakel Voronezh Tsentralnyi Profsoyuz 31,793
Khimki Khimki Rodina 5,083
Krasnodar-2 Krasnodar Krasnodar Academy 3,500
Luch Vladivostok Dynamo 10,200
Mordovia Saransk Mordovia Arena 44,442
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod 44,899
Neftehimik Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik 3,200
Rotor Volgograd Volgograd Arena 45,568
Shinnik Yaroslavl Shinnik Stadium 22,990
SKA Khabarovsk Lenin Stadium 15,200
Spartak-2 Moscow Spartak Academy 4,000
Tekstilshchik Ivanovo Tekstilshchik 9,565
Tom Tomsk Trud 10,028
Torpedo Moscow Moscow Eduard Streltsov Stadium 13,420
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk Central Stadium 15,000

Stadia by locations

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Rotor Volgograd (P) 27 17 5 5 41 21 +20 56 Promotion to Premier League
2 Khimki (P) 27 16 6 5 50 19 +31 54
3 Chertanovo Moscow 27 15 9 3 37 19 +18 54
4 Torpedo Moscow 27 16 5 6 39 25 +14 53
5 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 27 13 9 5 38 25 +13 48
6 SKA-Khabarovsk 27 12 7 8 42 30 +12 43
7 Baltika Kaliningrad 27 12 7 8 34 23 +11 43
8 Shinnik Yaroslavl 27 12 7 8 43 35 +8 43
9 Tom Tomsk 27 10 9 8 32 26 +6 39
10 Chayka Peschanokopskoye 27 10 8 9 31 29 +2 38
11 Nizhny Novgorod 27 9 9 9 28 29 −1 36
12 Armavir 27 7 9 11 23 29 −6 30 Relegation to lower divisions
13 Avangard Kursk 27 5 14 8 29 39 −10 29
14 Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 27 7 7 13 23 40 −17 28
15 Krasnodar-2 27 6 10 11 32 34 −2 28 Ineligible for promotion
16 Luch Vladivostok 27 6 9 12 28 40 −12 27 Relegation to lower divisions
17 Spartak-2 Moscow 27 6 8 13 38 45 −7 26 Relegation to Russian Professional Football League[a]
18 Tekstilshchik Ivanovo 27 5 4 18 25 52 −27 19
19 Fakel Voronezh 27 4 7 16 14 44 −30 19
20 Mordovia Saransk 27 4 7 16 21 44 −23 19 Relegation to lower divisions
Updated to match(es) played on 15 March. Source: Football National League (Russian), Soccerway
(P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, no teams were relegated.

Results

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Home \ Away ARM AVA BAL CHA CHE FAK KHI KR2 LUC MOR NNO NEF ROT SHI SKA SP2 TEK TOM TOR YEN
Armavir 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1
Avangard Kursk 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–3 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–3 2–2 2–2 2–1 3–2 2–2
Baltika Kaliningrad 2–0 0–1 1–2 3–0 4–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–1
Chayka Peschanokopskoye 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–2 2–1 0–2 2–1 3–0
Chertanovo Moscow 3–1 4–0 0–0 1–2 3–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–1
Fakel Voronezh 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–3 1–0 2–1 0–2 0–4 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–1
Khimki 1–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 3–1 3–0 4–0 3–2 0–2 1–0 2–1 3–0 4–0
Krasnodar-2 1–0 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–2 2–2 1–1 0–1 4–0
Luch Vladivostok 2–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 2–5 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–1 0–2 2–4 1–1 0–1 0–1
Mordovia Saransk 0–3 0–0 2–3 1–1 0–3 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–3 1–0 1–0 1–1
Nizhny Novgorod 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–3 1–1 2–2 0–2 2–1 1–3
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–2 2–2 1–2 1–0 1–0
Rotor Volgograd 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–3 5–3 3–2 2–0 0–2 2–1
Shinnik Yaroslavl 1–1 1–3 0–2 2–3 0–1 3–1 1–0 1–3 0–1 3–2 3–0 2–1 0–0
SKA-Khabarovsk 3–0 1–0 2–0 3–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–2 3–0 1–1 0–1 2–0
Spartak-2 Moscow 1–3 1–1 7–2 0–3 0–2 2–0 2–0 0–3 0–1 2–2 1–2 2–3 2–0
Tekstilshchik Ivanovo 1–5 1–4 1–4 1–0 4–3 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 0–2 0–0 0–1
Tom Tomsk 2–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 0–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 2–2 2–1 0–0
Torpedo Moscow 2–1 3–1 2–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 0–2 2–2 0–2 2–0 2–1 3–1 2–1 2–0
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–3 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–1 2–2 0–3 1–3 1–0 3–0
Updated to match(es) played on 15 March 2020. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

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Top goalscorers

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As of match played 15 March 2020[11]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Aleksandr Rudenko Spartak-2/Torpedo 14
  Ivan Sergeyev Torpedo
3   Denis Makarov Neftekhimik 11
  Mikhail Markin Baltika
  German Onugkha Krasnodar-2
  Merabi Uridia Neftekhimik
7   Sergey Samodin Shinnik 10
  Vladislav Sarveli Chertanovo
9   Adlan Katsayev SKA-Khabarovsk 9
  Eldar Nizamutdinov Shinnik
  Mukhammad Sultonov Rotor

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Исполком РФС утвердил итоги Олимп-Первенства ФНЛ-2019/20. «Ротор» и «Химки» выходят в Тинькофф-РПЛ" (in Russian). Russian Football National League. 15 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Олимп-Первенство ФНЛ приостанавливается до 10 апреля" (Press release) (in Russian). Russian Football National League. 17 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Итоги Бюро Исполкома РФС" [RFU Executive Committee's Bureau Meeting Minutes] (Press release) (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 1 April 2020.
  4. ^ "ОФИЦИАЛЬНО: ФК "АРМАВИР" СНИМАЕТСЯ С ОЛИМП – ПЕРВЕНСТВА ФНЛ ПО ФУТБОЛУ" (in Russian). FC Armavir. 15 April 2020. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Глава ФНЛ назвал снятие "Армавира" с первенства лиги печальной новостью" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 15 April 2020.
  6. ^ "2019–20 Olimp FNL championship regulations" (PDF). Russian Football National League. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Клубы ФНЛ проголосовали за прекращение сезона-2019/20" (Press release) (in Russian). Russian Football National League. 30 April 2020.
  8. ^ ""Tambov" - the winner, "Nizhny Novgorod" in the joints". Football National League.
  9. ^ ""Anji" will perform in the PFL in the season 2019/2020". Football Club "Anzhi" (in Russian).
  10. ^ Anzhi will not play in the FNL next season (in Russian). Sport Express. 29 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Russian Football National League top goalscorers". soccerway.com. 13 February 2020.