1997 Russian Third League

Zone 1

Overview

Standings

1. FC Alania-d Vladikavkaz were excluded from the league after playing 35 games and gaining 43 points. Opponents were awarded a 3-0 win in the remaining games.
2. FC Iriston Vladikavkaz and FC Dynamo-Imamat Makhachkala were awarded 1 home win each.
3. FC Torpedo Georgiyevsk played their first professional season.
4. FC Anzhi-2 Kaspiysk renamed to FC Anzhi-d and moved to Makhachkala. They did not participate in national-level competitions in 1998.
5. FC Dynamo-d Stavropol, PFC Spartak-d Nalchik and FC Olimp Kislovodsk did not participate in national-level competitions in 1998.
6. FC Alania-d Vladikavkaz last played professionally in 1995 as FC Spartak-Alania-d Vladikavkaz.

   Top goalscorers

• Budun Budunov

• Kyamran Nurakhmedov

• Alisher Gippot

• Aslan Maremukov

• Nikolai Tkachenko

• Eduard Khachaturyan

• Mikhail Pavlov
• Aleksandr Zaalishvili

• Gadzhi Bamatov
• Iosif Khuazhev

  Zone 2

Overview

Standings

1. FC Lokomotiv Yelets were excluded from the league after playing 15 games and gaining 34 points. Opponents were awarded a 3-0 win in the remaining games.
2. FC Energiya-d Kamyshin were excluded from the league after playing 15 games and gaining 9 points. Opponents were awarded a 3-0 win in the remaining games.
3. FC Fakel-d Voronezh was excluded from the league after playing 17 games and gaining 7 points. Opponents were awarded a 3-0 win in the remaining games.
4. FC Rassvet Troitskoye promoted from the Amateur Football League. They did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.
5. FC Spartak-Bratskiy Yuzhny, FC Niva Slavyansk-na-Kubani, FC Volgodonsk and FC Kuban-d Krasnodar did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.
6. FC Dynamo Mikhailovka renamed to FC Rotor-2.
7. FC Energiya-d Kamyshin last played professionally in 1992 as FC Tekstilshchik-d Kamyshin. They did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.
8. FC Fakel-d Voronezh played their first professional season. They did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.

   Top goalscorers

• Murat Gomleshko
• Viktor Ledovskikh
• Denis Popov

• Gennadi Remezov

• Aleksandr Bocharnikov
• Sergei Glazunov
• Valeri Prokulatov

• Sergei Afanasyev
• Roman Oreshchuk
• Sergei Pogarchenko

  Zone 3

Overview

Standings

1. FC Roda Moscow deducted 6 points.
2. FC Khimki and FC Spartak Lukhovitsy promoted from the Amateur Football League.
3. FC Torpedo-ZIL Moscow played their first professional season.
4. FC Roda Moscow and FC Chertanovo Moscow did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.
5. FC Mashinostroitel Sergiyev Posad moved to Moscow and renamed to FC Sportakademklub.
6. FC Avangard-Kortek Kolomna renamed to FC Kolomna.
7. FC MEPhI Moscow promoted from the Amateur Football League, where it played in 1996 as FSh MEPhI. They did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.
8. FC Dynamo-2 Moscow did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.

   Top goalscorers

• Sergei Kulichenko

• Viktor Voronkov

• Sergei Lutovinov

• Sabir Khamzin
• Sergei Kravchuk
• Sergei Lavrentyev

• Sergei Artyomov
• Gleb Panfyorov
• Aleksei Snigiryov

• Guy-Martin Ngaha Tchamoah
• Aleksandr Rogachyov
• Vadim Shatalin

  Zone 4

Overview

Standings

1. FC Spartak Rybnoye were excluded from the league after playing 18 games and gaining 14 points. All their results were discarded. That was their first professional season. They did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.
2. FC Industriya Borovsk were excluded from the league after playing 19 games and gaining 20 points. Opponents were awarded 3-0 wins in the remaining games. They did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.
3. FC Khimik Dzerzhinsk awarded one home loss.
4. FC Torpedo-Viktoriya Nizhny Novgorod played their first professional season.
5. FC Lokomotiv Kaluga promoted from the Amateur Football League, where they played in 1996 as FC Smena-PRMZ Kaluga.
6. FC Energiya Velikiye Luki promoted from the Amateur Football League.
7. FC Lokomotiv-d Saint Petersburg and FC Lokomotiv-d Nizhny Novgorod did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.

   Top goalscorers

• Nikolai Sidorov

• Valeri Korneyev

• Andrei Alenichev
• Dmitri Golubev

• Yevgeni Losev
• Dmitri Pozhidayev

• Anatoli Lychagov
• Nail Safayev
• Valeri Vasilyev

• Aleksandr Gultyayev
• Vladislav Khakhalev

  Zone 5

Overview

Standings

1. FC Zenit Chelyabinsk and FC Energiya Ulyanovsk promoted from the Amateur Football League.
2. FC Metiznik Magnitogorsk, FC Elektron Vyatskiye Polyany, and FC KAMAZ-Chally-d Naberezhnye Chelny did not participate in the national-level competitions in 1998.

   Top goalscorers

• Vyacheslav Ulitin

• Vyacheslav Khovanskiy

• Andrei Eskov

• Pavel Yumatov

• Aleksandr Fedoseyev

• Sergei Sviridkin

• Aleksandr Fyodorov
• Aleksandr Nikulin
• Yuri Petrov

• Igor Shiropatin