2002 Russian Premier League

2002 was the first season of the Russian Premier League. While the structure of the competition did not change, the top level clubs gained independence from the Professional Football League.

Spartak's six-year dominance in the league was broken by Lokomotiv.

Overview

Team	Head coach
FC Lokomotiv Moscow	Yuri Syomin
PFC CSKA Moscow	Valery Gazzaev
FC Spartak Moscow	Oleg Romantsev
FC Torpedo Moscow	Vitaliy Shevchenko (until July) Sergei Petrenko (from July)
FC Krylia Sovetov Samara	Alexander Tarkhanov
FC Shinnik Yaroslavl	Aleksandr Pobegalov
FC Saturn-RenTV Ramenskoye	Vladimir Shevchuk
FC Dynamo Moscow	Aleksandr Novikov (until April) Viktor Prokopenko (from April)
FC Rotor Volgograd	Vladimir Salkov
FC Zenit St. Petersburg	Yuri Morozov (until April) Mikhail Biryukov (caretaker) (April to July) Yuri Morozov (July) Mikhail Biryukov (caretaker) (July to August) Boris Rappoport (from August)
FC Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don	Anatoly Baidachny (until August) Sergei Balakhnin (caretaker) (from August)
FC Alania Vladikavkaz	Volodymyr Muntyan (until June) Bakhva Tedeyev (from July)
FC Uralan Elista	Sergei Pavlov (until August) Yuri Shishlov (caretaker) (August) Revaz Dzodzuashvili (from August)
FC Torpedo-ZIL Moscow	Vadim Nikonov
FC Anzhi Makhachkala	Leonid Tkachenko (until May) Aleksandr Reshetnyak (caretaker) (May to June) Myron Markevych (June to August) Aleksandr Reshetnyak (caretaker) (August) Gadzhi Gadzhiyev (from August)
FC Sokol Saratov	Aleksandr Koreshkov (until April) Anatoli Aslamov (caretaker) (April to May) Leonid Tkachenko (from May)

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Lokomotiv Moscow (C)	30	19	9	2	46	14	+32	66	2003–04 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
2	CSKA Moscow	30	21	3	6	60	26	+34	66	2003–04 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3	Spartak Moscow	30	16	7	7	49	36	+13	55	2003–04 UEFA Cup First round
4	Torpedo Moscow	30	14	8	8	47	32	+15	50	2003–04 UEFA Cup Qualifying round
5	Krylia Sovetov Samara	30	15	4	11	39	32	+7	49
6	Saturn	30	13	8	9	41	37	+4	47
7	Shinnik Yaroslavl	30	13	8	9	42	37	+5	47
8	Dynamo Moscow	30	12	6	12	38	33	+5	42
9	Rotor Volgograd	30	11	5	14	27	34	−7	38
10	Zenit St. Petersburg	30	8	9	13	36	42	−6	33
11	Rostselmash	30	7	10	13	29	49	−20	31
12	Alania Vladikavkaz	30	8	6	16	32	42	−10	30
13	Uralan Elista	30	6	11	13	32	42	−10	29
14	Torpedo-ZIL Moscow	30	6	10	14	20	39	−19	28
15	Anzhi Makhachkala (R)	30	5	10	15	22	43	−21	25	Relegation to Russian First Division 2003
16	Sokol Saratov (R)	30	5	8	17	24	45	−21	23

Source: RFPL {{{2}}}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

As CSKA and Lokomotiv finished at the top of the table with equal points, the title was decided in a championship play-off.

Lokomotiv Moscow v CSKA Moscow

21 November 2002

Lokomotiv Moscow	1–0	CSKA Moscow
Loskov 6'	(Report)

Dynamo Stadium, Moscow Attendance: 34,000 Referee: V. Ivanov

Torpedo qualified for the UEFA Cup thanks to Spartak winning the Russian Cup in 2003.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Team
1	Rolan Gusev	15	CSKA
	Dmitri Kirichenko	15	CSKA
3	Aleksandr Kerzhakov	14	Zenit
4	Vladimir Beschastnykh	12	Spartak
	Andrei Karyaka	12	Krylya Sovetov
6	Robertas Poškus	11	Krylya Sovetov
	Serghei Rogaciov	11	Saturn-REN-TV
	Igor Semshov	11	Torpedo
9	Aleksandr Shirko	10	Torpedo
	Zurab Tsiklauri	10	Uralan

Awards

On December 10 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:^[1]

Goalkeepers

1. Sergei Ovchinnikov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
2. Ruslan Nigmatullin (CSKA Moscow)
3. Valeri Chizhov (Saturn)

Sweeper

1. Sergei Ignashevich (Lokomotiv Moscow)
2. Sargis Hovsepyan (Zenit)
3. Bohdan Shershun (CSKA Moscow)

Right backs Vadim Evseev (Lokomotiv Moscow) Dmytro Parfenov (Spartak Moscow) Dmitri Sennikov (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Stopper Gennadiy Nizhegorodov (Lokomotiv Moscow) Oleg Pashinin (Lokomotiv Moscow) Omari Tetradze (Alania)

Left backs Jacob Lekgetho (Lokomotiv Moscow) Kébé Baye (Spartak Moscow) Denis Yevsikov (CSKA Moscow)

Defensive midfielders

1. Elvir Rahimić (CSKA Moscow)
2. Evgeni Aldonin (Rotor)
3. Igor Semshov (Torpedo Moscow)

Right wingers Rolan Gusev (CSKA Moscow) Andrei Arshavin (Zenit) Ognjen Koroman (Dynamo Moscow)

Central midfielders Dmitri Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow) Vladimir Maminov (Lokomotiv Moscow) Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow)

Left wingers Andrei Karyaka (Krylia Sovetov) Andrei Solomatin (CSKA Moscow) Igor Yanovskiy (CSKA Moscow)

Right forwards Sergei Semak (CSKA Moscow) James Obiorah (Lokomotiv Moscow) Dmitri Kirichenko (CSKA Moscow)

Left forwards Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit) Ruslan Pimenov (Lokomotiv Moscow) Denis Popov (CSKA Moscow)

Medal squads

1. FC Lokomotiv Moscow

Goalkeepers: Sergei Ovchinnikov (31). Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (29 / 1), Gennadiy Nizhegorodov (29), Vadim Evseev (24 / 7), Dmitri Sennikov (24 / 1), Oleg Pashinin (24), Jacob Lekgetho (23 / 2), Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov (18), Milan Obradović (17). Midfielders: Dmitri Loskov (30 / 7), Vladimir Maminov (29 / 4), Narvik Sirkhayev (15 / 4), Marat Izmailov (14 / 2), Bennett Mnguni (4). Forwards: James Obiorah (23 / 5), Maksim Buznikin (23 / 2), Ruslan Pimenov (19 / 7), Júlio César (11 / 3), Nemanja Vučićević (9), Baba Adamu (8 / 1), Giorgi Demetradze (6), Sergei Ovchinnikov (1). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) Two Sergeis Ovchinnikovs are separate players. One own goal scored by Dmytro Semochko (FC Uralan Elista). Manager: Yuri Syomin. Transferred out during the season: Giorgi Demetradze (to FC Alania Vladikavkaz).

2. PFC CSKA Moscow

Goalkeepers: Ruslan Nigmatullin (15), Veniamin Mandrykin (13), Dmitriy Kramarenko (3). Defenders: Denis Yevsikov (29), Deividas Šemberas (28), Andrei Solomatin (26 / 3), Vyacheslav Dayev (22 / 1), Bohdan Shershun (18 / 1), Aleksei Berezutski (16), Aleksandr Berketov (8), Yevgeni Varlamov (2), Vasili Berezutski (2). Midfielders: Rolan Gusev (30 / 15), Elvir Rahimić (30 / 2), Igor Yanovskiy (29 / 4), Juris Laizāns (27 / 3), Sergei Semak (24 / 6), Aleksei Triputen (9), Artur Tlisov (3). Forwards: Denis Popov (28 / 7), Dmitri Kirichenko (26 / 15), Spartak Gogniyev (21 / 2), Roman Monaryov (12), Igor Piyuk (1). One own goal scored by Martin Hyský (FC Dynamo Moscow). Manager: Valery Gazzaev. Transferred out during the season: Igor Piyuk (to FC Torpedo-ZIL Moscow).

3. FC Spartak Moscow

Goalkeepers: Maksym Levytskyi (19), Stanislav Cherchesov (7), Dmitri Goncharov (6). Defenders: Igor Mitreski (27), Kebe (24 / 3), Moisés (23 / 1), Dmitri Ananko (21), Dmytro Parfenov (16 / 2), Yuri Kovtun (16 / 1), Jerry-Christian Tchuissé (12), Valeri Abramidze (6), Dmitri Khlestov (6), Andrei Streltsov (4), Samuel Ogunsania (1). Midfielders: Vasili Baranov (24 / 1), Dmitri Kudryashov (22 / 5), Yegor Titov (20 / 4), Eduard Tsykhmeystruk (20 / 2), Maksym Kalynychenko (11 / 1), Artyom Bezrodny (6 / 1), Aleksandr Pavlenko (5), Dmitri Torbinski (3), Marcelo Silva (2), Pyotr Nemov (2), Aleksandr Sheshukov (2), Aleksei Rebko (1), Aleksandr Samedov (1), Robert Scarlett (1). Forwards: Vladimir Beschastnykh (30 / 12), Aleksandr Danishevsky (21 / 4), Dmitri Sychev (18 / 9), Okon Flo Essien (9 / 1), Aleksandr Sonin (8 / 2), Pavel Pogrebnyak (2), Raman Vasilyuk (1). Manager: Oleg Romantsev. Transferred out during the season: Dmitri Ananko (to AC Ajaccio), Eduard Tsykhmeystruk (to FC Metalurh Donetsk), Dmitri Sychev (to Marseille), Dmitri Goncharov (to FC Alania Vladikavkaz), Raman Vasilyuk (to FC Dinamo Minsk).

See also

2002 in Russian football

References

1. Названы имена лучших футболистов России (in Russian). Sport Express. 2002-12-10.

External links

• RSSSF