The 1996 Russian Third League was the 3rd time competition on the fourth level of Russian football was professional. There were 6 zones with 102 teams starting the competition (6 were excluded before the end of the season).

Zone 1

Overview

Standings

Notes. # FC Uralan-d Elista were excluded from the league after playing 18 games and gaining 23 points. Opponents were awarded a win in the remaining games. They did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997. # FC Gofrokarton Digora were excluded from the league after playing 29 games and gaining 20 points. Opponents were awarded a win in the remaining games. They played their first professional season. They did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997. # FC Gekris Anapa renamed to FC Spartak. # FC Dynamo Makhachkala renamed to FC Dynamo-Imamat. # FC Kuban-d Krasnodar and PFC Spartak-d Nalchik played their first professional season. # FC Anzhi-2 Makhachkala moved to Kaspiysk. # FC Iriston Mozdok renamed to FC Mozdok. # FC Astrateks Astrakhan and FC Derbent did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997. # FC Spartak-2 Nartkala renamed to FC Nart. # FC Kabardey-ZET Nizhny Cherek promoted from the

Amateur Football League Russian championship among amateur football clubs (III division) () is the fifth overall tier of the Russian football league system. Sometimes it is called Amateur Football League, after the organization that holds the competition (). The league ...

. They did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997. # FC Druzhba-d Maykop renamed to FC Kommunalnik-Druzhba-d Maykop. They did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997.

Top goalscorers

;23 goals *

Gennady Korkin Gennady Petrovich Korkin (; 23 August 1963 – 18 June 2025) was a Russian professional footballer who worked as a director for Metallurg Lipetsk. Career Korkin scored eight goals in one match in a 1996 Russian Third League game for FC Spartak ...

(FC Spartak Anapa) ;21 goals * Aleksandr Kamentsev (FC Venets Gulkevichi) ;20 goals *

Narvik Sirkhayev () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

(FC Dynamo-Imamat Makhachkala) ;19 goals * Sultan Chochuyev (FC Kabardey-ZET Nizhny Cherek) * Timur Zakirov (FC Spartak Anapa) ;17 goals * Andranik Babayan (FC Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody) * Aliyar Ismailov (FC Anzhi-2 Kaspiysk) ;16 goals * Eduard Khachaturyan (FC Mozdok) * Yuri Takliyev (FC Nart Cherkessk) ;15 goals *

Andrei Podgurskiy Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй, Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *Andr ...

(FC Spartak Anapa)

Zone 2

Overview

Standings

Notes. # FC Istochnik Rostov-on-Don were excluded from the league after playing 14 games and gaining 30 points. All their results were discarded. They did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997. # FC Salyut-YuKOS Belgorod and FC Lokomotiv Yelets awarded 1 home win each. # FC Salyut Belgorod renamed to FC Salyut-YuKOS. # FC Dynamo-Zhemchuzhina-2 Sochi played their first professional season. # FC Avangard-Kolos Taganrog and FC Chernomorets-d Novorossiysk played their first professional season. They did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997. # FC Zvezda Gorodishche did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997. # FC Izumrud Timashyovsk promoted from the

. # FC Rostselmash-d Rostov-on-Don did not play professionally in 1995.

Top goalscorers

;32 goals * Stanislav Dubrovin (FC Dynamo-Zhemchuzhina-2 Sochi) ;20 goals *

Aleksandr Bocharnikov Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

(FC Kuban Slavyansk-na-Kubani) * Igor Stasyuk (FC Izumrud Timashyovsk) ;15 goals * Oleg Akulov (FC Zhemchuzhina-d Sochi) ;14 goals * Yevgeni Kuzka (FC Lokomotiv Yelets) ;13 goals * Sergei Borodin (FC Zvezda Gorodishche) *

Vladimir Grishchenko Vladimir Aleksandrovich Grishchenko (; born 20 March 1972) is a former Russian 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. ...

(FC Niva Slavyansk-na-Kubani / FC Chernomorets-d Novorossiysk) * Manuk Kakosyan (FC Dynamo-Zhemchuzhina-2 Sochi) * Sergei Sedov (FC Avangard-Kolos Taganrog) ;12 goals * Andrei Fomichyov (FC Salyut-YuKOS Belgorod) * Tatul Mkhitaryan (FC Dynamo Mikhaylovka) * Andrei Pakhtusov (FC Niva Slavyansk-na-Kubani) * Aleksandr Shtyn (FC Zhemchuzhina-d Sochi) *

Yuri Veretin Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

(FC Lokomotiv Yelets)

Zone 3

Overview

Standings

Notes. # FC TRASKO Moscow were excluded from the league after playing 18 games and gaining 7 points. All their results were discarded. # FC Mashinostroitel Sergiyev Posad awarded 1 home win. # FC Dynamo-d Moscow was not promoted as reserve teams were not eligible for promotion. # FC Torpedo-d Moscow renamed to FC Torpedo-Luzhniki-d. # FC Roda Moscow promoted from the

. # FC Obninsk did not play professionally in 1995 and did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997.

Top goalscorers

;25 goals *

Sergei Artyomov Sergey Nikolayevich Artyomov (; born 1 January 1978) is a retired Russian professional footballer. He made his debut in the Russian Premier League in 1996 for FC Dynamo Moscow. Honours * Russian Premier League bronze: 1997. * Russian Third L ...

(FC Dynamo-d Moscow) * Sergei Bespalykh (FC Avangard-Kortek Kolomna) ;19 goals * Igor Reutov (FC Avtomobilist Noginsk) ;18 goals * Anatoli Balaluyev (FC Avtomobilist Noginsk) ;17 goals * Aleksandr Samorodov (FC Mosenergo Moscow) ;16 goals * Nikolai Klikin (FC Dynamo-2 Moscow) ;15 goals *

Aleksandr Kuptsov Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

(FC Fabus Bronnitsy) ;14 goals * Sergei Burtsev (FC Torgmash Lyubertsy) * Andrei Dyomkin (FC Dynamo-d Moscow) *

Konstantin Kaynov Konstantin Nikolayevich Kaynov (; born 2 May 1977) is a Russian professional football official and a former player. He works as a director with FC Chayka Peschanokopskoye. Playing career He made his debut in the Russian Premier League in 1999 ...

(FC Fabus Bronnitsy)

Zone 4

Overview

Standings

Notes. # FC Karelia-Erzi Petrozavodsk were excluded from the league after playing 24 games and gaining 24 points. Opponents were awarded a win in the remaining games. They did not play professionally in 1995 and did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997 # FC Trion-Volga Tver renamed to FC Volga. # FC Lokomotiv-d St. Petersburg played their first professional season. # FC Spartak Bryansk promoted from the

. # FC Kristall Dyatkovo and FC Bulat Cherepovets did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997.

Top goalscorers

;18 goals * Vladislav Khakhalev (FC Torpedo Vladimir) ;15 goals * Ruslan Usikov (FC Dynamo Bryansk) ;14 goals * Igor Aksyonov (FC Neftyanik Yaroslavl) * Valeri Korneyev (FC Spartak Bryansk) ;13 goals * Sergey Ulezlo (FC Volga Tver) ;11 goals * Aleksei Barikov (FC Oryol) *

Pavel Sukhov Pavel Vladislavovich Sukhov ( rus, Павел Владиславович Сухов, , ˈpavʲɪl ˈsuxəf; born 7 May 1988) is a Russian right-handed épée fencer. Sukhov is a two-time team European champion and 2012 individual European cham ...

(FC Orekhovo Orekhovo-Zuyevo) ;10 goals *

Igor Varakin Igor may refer to: * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name Arts, entertainment, and media *Igor (character), a stock character * Igors (''Discworld''), a fictional humanoid family in the ''Discworld'' ...

(FC Orekhovo Orekhovo-Zuyevo) ;9 goals * Stanislav Borisov (FC Oryol) ;8 goals * Yevgeni Leonov (FC Karelia-Erzi Petrozavodsk) *

Andrei Syomin Andrei Yuryevich Syomin (; born 26 August 1969) is a Russian professional 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. Un ...

(FC Oryol) * Konstantin Taptov (FC Spartak Bryansk)

Zone 5

Overview

Standings

Notes. # FC Energetik Uren and FC Lokomotiv-d Nizhny Novgorod played their first professional season. # FC Biokhimik-Mordovia Saransk promoted from the

where it played in 1995 as FC Biokhimik Saransk. # FC Stroitel Morshansk and FC Iskra Engels promoted from the

. # FC Kraneks Ivanovo did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997.

Top goalscorers

;25 goals * Aleksandr Khalzov (FC Spartak Tambov) ;19 goals *

Sergei Pervushin Sergei Aleksandrovich Pervushin (; born 29 March 1970) is a Russian professional football coach and a former player who is the manager of FC Chayka Peschanokopskoye. Coaching career On 21 October 2019 he was appointed caretaker manager of Russ ...

(FC Spartak Tambov) ;15 goals * Vladimir Nosov (FC Kristall Sergach) ;14 goals * Dmitri Borisko (FC Volga Ulyanovsk) * Andrei Eskov (FC Iskra Engels) ;12 goals *

Boris Goncharov Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name * *List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) Arts and media * Boris (band), a Japanese experimental rock trio * ''Boris'' (EP), by Yezda Urfa, 1975 * "Boris" (son ...

(FC Spartak Tambov) * Vladimir Kopylov (FC Druzhba Yoshkar-Ola) ;11 goals * Aleksandr Fyodorov (FC Progress Zelenodolsk) ;10 goals *

Eduard Bazarov Eduard Model Accessories is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of plastic models and finescale model accessories. History Formed in 1989 in the city of Most (city), Most, Eduard began in a rented cellar as a manufacturer of photoetching, ...

(FC Volga Balakovo) * Sergei Glazunov (FC Salyut Saratov) * Yuri Plyaskevich (FC Stroitel Morshansk) * Vladimir Rokunov (FC Biokhimik-Mordovia Saransk)

Zone 6

Overview

Standings

Notes. # FC Gornyak-Vanadiy Kachkanar renamed to FC Gornyak. Gornyak was excluded from the league after playing 12 games and gaining 22 points. Opponents were awarded a win in the remaining games. # FC Dynamo Perm awarded 1 home win. # FC Planeta Bugulma renamed to FC Neftyanik. # FC Dynamo-Gazovik-d Tyumen, FC Gornyak Kushva and FC Uralmash-d Yekaterinburg did not play in any national-level competitions in 1997.

Top goalscorers

;13 goals * Konstantin Ilyinykh (FC Dynamo Perm) ;12 goals * Aleksei Alekseyev (FC Uralets Nizhny Tagil) * Yuri Petrov (FC Dynamo Perm) ;11 goals * Sergei Balandin (FC Metiznik Magnitogorsk) ;9 goals * Sergei Afanasyev (FC Metiznik Magnitogorsk) *

Igor Degtyaryov Igor Vladimirovich Degtyaryov (; born 22 August 1976) is a Russian professional football official and a former player. He is the general director of FC Orenburg. As a player, he made his professional debut in the Russian Second Division The ...

(FC Gazovik Orenburg) * Albert Gubaydulin (FC Sodovik Sterlitamak) * Dmitri Zakharov (FC Gornyak Kachkanar) ;8 goals * Vyacheslav Khovanskiy (FC Trubnik Kamensk-Uralsky) *

Yuri Panov Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

(FC Sodovik Sterlitamak) * Andrei Sviridov (FC Metiznik Magnitogorsk) *

Yuri Vetlugayev Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

(FC Uralets Nizhny Tagil)

Zone 1

Overview

Standings

Top goalscorers

Zone 2

Overview

Standings

Top goalscorers

Zone 3

Overview

Standings

Top goalscorers

Zone 4

Overview

Standings

Top goalscorers

Zone 5

Overview

Standings

Top goalscorers

Zone 6

Overview

Standings

Top goalscorers

See also