The 2023–24 Russian Second League Division A is the 32nd season of Russia's third-tier football league since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The season began on 16 July 2023.
| Season | 2023–24 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16 July 2023 – June 2024 |
← 2022–23 | |
Overview edit
Before the season, the Russian Second League was reorganized and split into two tiers - third-tier Russian Second League Division A and fourth-tier Russian Second League Division B.[1]
Division A consists of two groups of 10 teams each. The Gold Group initially included:
- 4 teams relegated from the 2022–23 Russian First League (FC Veles Moscow, FC Ufa, FC Krasnodar-2 and FC Volga Ulyanovsk)
- 4 teams that came in 2nd place in their zones of the 2022–23 Russian Second League (FC Chayka Peschanokopskoye, FC Murom, FC Dynamo Bryansk and FC Irtysh Omsk)
- 2 best 3rd-placed 2022–23 Second League teams (FC Rotor Volgograd and FC Spartak Kostroma);
The Silver Group included:
- 2 worst 3rd-placed 2022–23 teams (FC Rodina-2 Moscow and FC Amkar Perm)
- 7 4th- and 5th-placed 2022–23 teams (FC Avangard Kursk, FC Chelyabinsk, FC Chertanovo Moscow, FC Forte Taganrog, FC Novosibirsk, FC Salyut Belgorod, FC Tekstilshchik Ivanovo).
FC Kuban-Holding Pavlovskaya (which came in 5th place in Group 1 in 2022–23 and was thus eligible for the Silver Group) chose to enter Second League Division B instead. FC Biolog-Novokubansk, which came in 6th place in Group 1, made the same decision. The vacant Silver Group spot was taken by FC Metallurg Lipetsk which came in 6th place in their group in 2022–23.[2]
In the first part of the season (summer/autumn 2023), each team in the Gold and Silver groups played each other team in the same group twice, home-and-away, for 18 games in total for each team. For the second part of the season (spring/summer 2024), groups were re-constituted. The Gold Group now includes top 6 first-stage Gold Group teams and top 4 first-stage Silver Group teams. Silver Group includes bottom 4 first-stage Gold Group teams, 5th and 6th-placed first-stage Silver Group teams and four winners of the Division B groups (FC Mashuk-KMV Pyatigorsk, FC Khimik Dzerzhinsk, FC Kaluga and FC Torpedo Miass). Bottom 4 first-stage Silver Group teams were relegated to Division B for 2024. The teams in re-constituted groups will play each other twice more for 18 more games. Top 2 Gold Group teams at the end of the season will be promoted to the Russian First League for the 2024–25 season.
The 3rd-placed second-stage Gold Group team will play in promotion play-offs (two games, home-and-away). Their opponent will be:
- The 1st-placed first-stage Gold Group team (FC Krasnodar-2), unless Krasnodar-2 finishes in the Top 3 or in the bottom 4 in the second stage; otherwise
- The 2nd-placed first-stage Gold Group team (FC Ufa), unless Ufa finishes in the Top 3 or in the bottom 4 in the second stage; otherwise
- The 3rd-placed first-stage Gold Group team (FC Rotor Volgograd), unless Rotor Volgograd finishes in the Top 3 or in the bottom 4 in the second stage.
The winner of those play-offs will also be promoted to the Russian First League.[3]
If none of the top-3 first-stage Gold Group teams qualify for the promotion play-offs under the conditions described above, the play-offs would not be held and the 3rd-place second-stage Gold Group team would be promoted to the Russian First League automatically.
The bottom four teams in the Gold Group at the end of the season would be moved to Silver Group for the 2024–25 season, and the top four teams in the Silver Group would be moved to Gold Group.[4]
The rotation between Division A and Division B will be happening in the winter going forward, as Division B switched to spring-to-autumn, March-to-November cycle for their seasons. For example, in November 2024, bottom 2 teams of Division A Silver Group standings at the time would be relegated to 2025 Division B directly, 7th and 8th-placed teams in Division A Silver Group will play in relegation play-offs against the bottom two teams of the 2023–24 Division A Silver Group season, with 2 losers of the playoffs also relegated to Division B. Winners of the 2024 Division B groups will be promoted to Division A Silver Group at that time. Therefore, there will no relegation from Division A or promotion to it immediately at the end of the 2023–24 season.
First stage edit
Gold Group edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Krasnodar-2 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 27 | 20 | +7 | 33 | Qualification for the Second Stage Gold Group |
| 2 | Ufa | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 10 | +13 | 31 | |
| 3 | Rotor Volgograd | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 21 | 17 | +4 | 28 | |
| 4 | Murom | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 24 | |
| 5 | Veles Moscow | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 24 | |
| 6 | Chayka Peschanokopskoye | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 23 | |
| 7 | Volga Ulyanovsk | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 23 | Qualification for the Second Stage Silver Group |
| 8 | Irtysh Omsk | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 23 | |
| 9 | Dynamo Bryansk | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 22 | −4 | 22 | |
| 10 | Spartak Kostroma | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 25 | −12 | 13 |
Silver Group edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novosibirsk | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 35 | Qualification for the Second Stage Gold Group |
| 2 | Rodina-2 Moscow | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 32 | |
| 3 | Metallurg Lipetsk | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 27 | |
| 4 | Chelyabinsk | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 16 | +3 | 26 | |
| 5 | Tekstilshchik Ivanovo | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 25 | Qualification for the Second Stage Silver Group |
| 6 | Avangard Kursk | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 25 | |
| 7 | Forte Taganrog | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 24 | Relegation to the 2024 Division B |
| 8 | Amkar Perm | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 24 | |
| 9 | Chertanovo Moscow | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 22 | |
| 10 | Salyut Belgorod | 18 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 14 | 46 | −32 | 5 |
Second stage edit
Gold Group edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ufa | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 20 | Promotion to the Russian First League |
| 2 | Novosibirsk | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 20 | |
| 3 | Chayka Peschanokopskoye | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 18 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Rotor Volgograd | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 17 | |
| 5 | Krasnodar-2 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 16 | |
| 6 | Rodina-2 Moscow | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 13 | |
| 7 | Murom | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 12 | Qualification for the 2024–25 First Stage Silver Group |
| 8 | Veles Moscow | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 11 | |
| 9 | Chelyabinsk | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 10 | |
| 10 | Metallurg Lipetsk | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 10 |
Silver Group edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spartak Kostroma | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 5 | +11 | 24 | Qualification for the 2024–25 First Stage Gold Group |
| 2 | Avangard Kursk | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 17 | |
| 3 | Khimik Dzerzhinsk | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 17 | |
| 4 | Mashuk-KMV Pyatigorsk | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 15 | |
| 5 | Kaluga | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 14 | +1 | 14 | |
| 6 | Tekstilshchik Ivanovo | 11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 14 | |
| 7 | Volga Ulyanovsk | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 13 | |
| 8 | Torpedo Miass | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 11 | |
| 9 | Irtysh Omsk | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 11 | Qualification for the 2024 relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Dynamo Bryansk | 10 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 18 | −9 | 4 |
References edit
- ^ "Бюро исполкома РФС утвердило реформу Второй лиги" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 10 May 2023.
- ^ "Повезло, как в рулетке – "Металлург" сохранил место во второй лиге из-за отказа южных команд" (in Russian). Gorod48. 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Russian Second League regulations 2023-24 - paragraph 3.18" (PDF) (in Russian). Russian Second League. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ "ВТОРАЯ ЛИГА БУДЕТ РЕФОРМИРОВАНА С СЕЗОНА 2023/2024" (in Russian). FNL. 10 May 2023.