The 2017–18 Russian Premier League was the 26th season of the premier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition in Russia since the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the 16th under the current

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

name.

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

came into the season as the defending champions.

Teams

As in the previous season, 16 teams played in the 2017–18 season. After the 2016–17 season,

FC Orenburg FC Orenburg () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Orenburg. Founded in 1976, it will return to the Russian First League in the 2025–26 season. History It played professionally as Gazovik ...

FC Tom Tomsk FC Tom Tomsk () was a Russian professional football club, based in the Siberian city of Tomsk. The team played in Trud Stadium (Tomsk) before being dissolved in 2022. History The team was previously named ''Burevestnik'' (1957), ''Tomich'' (19 ...

and

FC Krylia Sovetov Samara PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara () is a Russian professional football club based in Samara that plays in the Russian Premier League. In 2004, they finished third in the Russian Premier League. History Krylia Sovetov was founded in Kuybyshev (now Sama ...

were relegated to the 2017–18 Russian National Football League. They were replaced by three clubs from the 2016–17 Russian National Football League,

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

FC Tosno FC Tosno () was a professional Russian football club based in Tosno, Leningrad Oblast. Founded in 2013, Tosno won promotion to the Russian Premier League on 6 May 2017 after securing second place in the Russian National Football League. The foll ...

and

FC SKA-Khabarovsk Football Club SKA-Khabarovsk () is a Russian professional association football club based in Khabarovsk which plays in the second-tier Russian First League. They played in the Russian Premier League for the first time ever in the 2017–18 seaso ...

. Dynamo returned after one season of absence, while Tosno and SKA-Khabarovsk made their debuts in the Russian top-tier division. Before the season, FC Terek Grozny changed its name to

FC Akhmat Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional Association football, football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League. His ...

Stadiums

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Tournament format and regulations

Basic

The 16 teams will play a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams twice, once at home and once away. Thus, a total of 240 matches will be played, with 30 matches played by each team.

Promotion and relegation

The teams that finish 15th and 16th will be relegated to the FNL, while the top 2 in that league will be promoted to the Premier League for the 2018–19 season. The 13th and 14th Premier League teams will play the 4th and 3rd FNL teams respectively in two playoff games with the winners securing Premier League spots for the 2018–19 season.

League table

Relegation play-offs

The draw for relegation play-offs scheduling took place on 4 May 2018. The kick-off times were announced on 14 May 2018.

First leg

----

Second leg

''Amkar Perm won 3–0 on aggregate and retained their spot in the

2018–19 Russian Premier League The 2018–19 Russian Premier League was the 27th season of the premier football competition in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 17th under the current Russian Premier League name. Lokomotiv Moscow came into the season as t ...

; FC Tambov remained in the 2018–19 Russian National Football League.'' ---- ''Yenisey Krasnoyarsk won 6–4 on aggregate and were promoted to the

; Anzhi Makhachkala were relegated to the 2018–19 Russian National Football League.'' On 13 June 2018, FC Amkar Perm announced that the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

recalled their 2018–19 season license, making them ineligible for the

Russian Football National League The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Russian football league system. The Russian Professional Football League (PFL) used t ...

. The final decision on the club's future will be made on 18 June 2018 at the club's board meeting. As a consequence, Anzhi Makhachkala will not be relegated.

Results

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top goalscorers

Last updated: 13 May 2018

Season events

Attendances

References

Notes

External links

*
2017–18 Russian Premier League
at Soccerway {{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Russian Premier League Russian Premier League seasons 1 Russian Premier League, Rus