The 2025–26 Russian First League (First League Pari for sponsorship reasons) was the 34th season of Russia's second-tier football league since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The season began on 19 July 2025, and had a 3-month winter break between December 2025 and March 2026. The regular season ended on 16 May 2026 and was followed by promotion play-offs which concluded on 23 May 2026.
Team changes To First League Promoted from Second League Division A Spartak Kostroma Volga Ulyanovsk Chelyabinsk
Relegated from Premier League Fakel Voronezh
Khimki, which was administratively relegated from the Premier League, was then dissolved and did not enter the First League.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod, which lost in the relegation play-offs, was kept in the Premier League as a replacement for Khimki.
Orenburg, which was originally relegated from the Premier League, remained in it due to the attempted match-fixing by Torpedo Moscow in the previous season.
From First League Relegated to Second League Alania Vladikavkaz Tyumen
Sokol Saratov, which finished the previous season in the relegation zone, was kept in the league as a replacement for Khimki.
Promoted to Premier League Baltika Kaliningrad Sochi
Torpedo Moscow, which was initially promoted to the Premier League, was kept in the First League due to attempted match-fixing in the previous season.
Stadiums by locations
League table
Results
Positions by round
Results by round
Season statistics Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Artyom MaksimenkoRodina 17 2 Belajdi PusiFakel 16 3 Amur KalmykovSpartak 15 Said AliyevRotor 5 David KaraevKAMAZ 13 6 Ivan TimoshenkoRodina 11 Andrey OkladnikovYenisey Ruslan ApekovTorpedo 9 Rashid MagomedovNeftekhimik 10 Artyom SokolovChayka Ramazan GadzhimuradovChelyabinsk
Managerial changes Club Outgoing head coach Reason for leaving Time of leaving New head coach Date of appointment Previous club / role Arsenal Tula Aleksandr Storozhuk Contract terminated Pre-season period Dmitri Gunko 18 June 2025 Urartu Ural Sergei Tomarov Miroslav Romashchenko 23 June 2025 Ural, senior coach Chernomorets Novorossiysk Oleg Vasilenko Sergei Pervushin 27 June 2025 Chayka Chayka Sergei Pervushin Dmitri Kombarov 17 July 2025 Spartak-2 Moscow Rodina Zoran Zeljković After Matchday 3 Barseg Kirakosyan (caretaker) 5 August 2025 FC Rodina-M Torpedo Moscow Oleg Kononov After Matchday 4 Pavel Kirilchik (caretaker) 15 August 2025 Torpedo Moscow, assistant coach Chernomorets Novorossiysk Sergei Pervushin After Matchday 6 Eduard Sarkisov (caretaker) 24 August 2025 Chernomorets Novorossiysk, senior coach Torpedo Moscow Pavel Kirilchik (caretaker) End of caretaker period After Matchday 7 Sergei Zhukov (caretaker) 1 September 2025 Torpedo Moscow youth team Rodina Barseg Kirakosyan (caretaker) After Matchday 8 Juan Díaz 4 September 2025 Sevilla Atlético, sporting director Chernomorets Novorossiysk Eduard Sarkisov (caretaker) Vadim Yevseyev 5 September 2025 Leningradets Torpedo Moscow Sergei Zhukov (caretaker) After Matchday 9 Dmitri Parfenov 13 September 2025 Aktobe Fakel Voronezh Igor Shalimov Contract terminated After Matchday 12 Oleg Vasilenko 1 October 2025 Chernomorets Novorossiysk KAMAZ Ildar Akhmetzyanov After Matchday 13 Anton Khazov 10 October 2025 Pari Nizhny Novgorod youth team, assistant coach Torpedo Moscow Dmitri Parfenov After Matchday 14 Oleg Kononov 15 October 2025 Torpedo Moscow Rotor Volgograd Denis Boyarintsev After Matchday 20 Valery Burlachenko (caretaker) 25 November 2025 Serikspor, assistant coach Rotor Volgograd Valery Burlachenko (caretaker) End of caretaker period After Matchday 21 Dmitri Parfenov 1 December 2025 Torpedo Moscow Ural Miroslav Romashchenko Contract terminated After Matchday 21 Vasili Berezutsky 11 December 2025 Sabah Baku Yenisey Krasnoyarsk Andrei Tikhonov After Matchday 21 Sergei Tashuyev 24 December 2025 Akhmat Grozny Chernomorets Novorossiysk Vadim Yevseyev After Matchday 21 — — —
References