There is very little time left for the start of the new season in the First League. We study how the promotion applicants have changed and what else interesting happened in the division in the summer. For example, an eminent coach appeared at Dynamo Makhachkala, and KAMAZ signed a player from the Medialiga.
The protagonists of the 2022/2023 season in the First League:
Who made the season in the “World’s Best League”. Top 7 “Championship” Nominations
When does the new season start in the Premier League?
Round 1 of the World’s Best League begins this week. On July 15, Torpedo will face Dynamo Makhachkala in Moscow. The bulk of the matches will be played on the 16th, and on July 17 the tour program will close with two matches. “Khimki” will meet on the way with “Tyumen” and “Alania” – in Novorossiysk with “Chernomorets”. According to the president of the First League, Nail Izmailov, the presidium chose the optimal schedule from 25 options.
How have Torpedo and Khimki changed?
The Moscow club plans to stay at Luzhniki in the new season. At least, this was reported by the chairman of “Torpedo” Yaroslav Savin. Car manufacturers are banking on an audience boost as Fan ID is not needed to attend Primera Liga matches. In the RPL, Torpedo’s home games looked very sad on the television picture. A handful of fans in the huge Luzhniki made a depressing impression.
Torpedo has one task: return to RPL. In the offseason, the team parted ways with a large group of players. Of those who left, only Ilya Kukharchuk remained in the RPL – he signed a contract with Pari NN. Also, David Karaev, Ravil Netfullin, Ilya Kutepov, Oleg Kozhemyakin and Brazilian Andre Felipe left the Moscow club. They all left as free agents.
The most expensive acquisition of “Torpedo” in the offseason is defender Sergei Borodin. The footballer was bought from Krasnodar for €700,000 and spent the second half of last season at Beitar in the company of former Dynamo player Morozov. And even he won the first adult trophy in his life – the Israel Cup.
Avtozavodtsy paid €600 thousand to Rostov for goalkeeper Yegor Baburin, who previously played on loan at Torpedo. Also, car factories strengthened the center of defense by buying two players: Nikita Kalugin came from Neftekhimik and Alexander Ivankov from SKA Khabarovsk. Another newcomer was winger Irakly Manelov, who was bought, again, from Krasnodar (€270,000).
Sergei Borodin (left) is the most expensive newcomer to Torpedo
Photo: torpedo.ru
Khimki has the same ambitious plans as Torpedo. According to General Director Nikolai Olenev, the task of the Moscow Region club is to enter the RPL from the first place. In the summer, Khimki began to assemble the team and parted with several players. Nikola Antic returned to Serbia, Nemanja Glavcic moved to Volos, and the contracts of Alexander Dolgov and Vitaly Gudiev expired. Also, the Moscow Region team refused to extend the contract with Reziuan Mirzov.
There are also many newbies. These are goalkeeper Igor Obukhov, defenders Daniil Stepanov, Amir Mohammad and Oleg Isaenko, midfielders Ravil Netfullin and Khetag Khosonov, forwards Alexei Larin, Artyom Arkhipov and Artyom Kulishev. And Khimki also bought defender Zakhar Volkov from BATE (€230 thousand), who previously played on loan for the Moscow Region team.
Khimki did not renew the contract with Reziuan Mirzov
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, Championship
What has changed for other RPL hopefuls
“Motherland” at the end of last season stopped one step away from promotion. This summer, the team has been strengthened without spending a penny. Nearly all of the newcomers joined Rodina’s roster as free agents. The exception is the 21-year-old striker Maxim Turishchev, who was rented from Rostov. The striker spent last season on loan at Torpedo (25 games, 2 assists). Another important acquisition is that of midfielder Sergei Tkachev. The 34-year-old footballer has rich experience: more than 200 matches in the RPL for Krylya Sovetov, Lokomotiv, Kuban, CSKA and Arsenal.
“Alania” was not allowed to take part in the transition matches because the club did not receive the appropriate license. Assistant head coach Igor Ledyakhov suggested that the club’s stadium would be ready by the end of the year. It was the lack of a stadium in Vladikavkaz that caused the refusal to issue a license. In the summer, Alania said goodbye to Artur Galoyan – the best assistant in the First League was sold to Baltika. But the Vladikavkaz club completed two transfers of experienced players – David Karaev and Ibragim Tsallagov. Last season, the first played for Torpedo, and the second for Sochi.
David Karaev is a newcomer to Alania
Photo: fcalania.com
But Yenisei behaves very modestly on the market. In the offseason, the team did not acquire a single newcomer. At the same time, striker Andrey Okladnikov (7 goals last season) is on trial at Pari NN. Neftekhimik (6th place in the 2022/2023 season) has a completely different policy – 11 players have already joined the club. €60,000 was spent on midfielders Maxim Petrov and Vladimir Marukhin. The rest of the acquisitions are leases and free agents.
Makhachkala “Dynamo” has an eminent coach
Kurban Berdyev unexpectedly found himself in the First League. Last season, during the winter break, an experienced coach led Sochi, but it was enough for only five matches. After that, Berdyev left his post and in the summer he accepted an offer from the Dagestan club. According to club president Gadzhi Gadzhiev, the coach has a permanent contract. According to Berdyev, Dynamo is faced with the task of entering the Premier League. The coach himself called it difficult, but Berdyev’s difficulties are not afraid.
Kurban Berdyev is the new head coach of Dynamo Makhachkala
Photo: vk.com/fcdmx
A little earlier it became known that Shamil Gazizov took over as general director of Dynamo. The former Ufa and Spartak coach replaced Shikhabudin Mikailov in this position. Now Mikailov is Gazizov’s deputy. Two players from Ufa have already joined the Dynamo team: defender Alexander Sandrachuk and midfielder Egash Kasintura.
How Ufa went from the RPL to the Second League in two years:
In two years, Ufa has moved from the RPL to the Second League. Is the club dead now?
KAMAZ acquired a player from the media club
In early July, the Naberezhnye Chelny club announced the transfer of 22-year-old footballer Boris Fartuna. This is quite an interesting character. Before that, he played for the Medialeague club 2DROTS. Now the boy has a chance to try his hand at the First League level. Fartuna is a graduate of the Lokomotiv Academy. In 2021, Boris ended up in Sokol and played eight matches for the Saratov club. In April 2022, Fartuna joined the 2DROTS roster, with whom he twice entered the field in Russian Cup matches.
Boris Fartuna changed the club from Medialeague to KAMAZ
Photo: vk.com/media.football.league
What other teams have changed head coaches?
Dmitry Voetsky left Shinnik, who replaced Vadim Evseev. Dmitry Khomukha became the new head coach of the Yaroslavl club. Previously, he worked with the Russian junior and junior teams, and last season he worked in Kaluga. Volgar also decided to change the coach – Anver Koneev switched to Andranik Babayan. At the end of last season, the Astrakhan club was ranked 12th in the First League.
What has changed in the structure of Russian football:
The most ambitious reform of the RFU for several years. New league and transition to “spring-autumn”
