History
The Russian Premier League (RPL) is the top professional football league in Russia. It was founded in 2001 and replaced the Russian Top Division, which had been the top league in the country since 1992. The RPL is currently composed of 16 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the National Football League, the second tier of Russian football.
League System
The RPL operates on a system of promotion and relegation, with the bottom two teams at the end of each season being relegated to the National Football League and the top two teams from the National Football League being promoted to the RPL. The league is divided into two parts: the regular season, in which each team plays every other team twice (once at home and once away), and the playoffs, which determine the champion and other positions in the table.
Stats
The most successful team in the history of the RPL is Spartak Moscow, with 12 league titles to their name. Zenit Saint Petersburg and CSKA Moscow have also been successful in the league, with Zenit winning seven titles and CSKA winning six. The current reigning champions of the league are Zenit Saint Petersburg, who won their seventh title in the 2020-2021 season.
Audience
The RPL is one of the most popular football leagues in Europe and attracts a large audience both domestically and internationally. According to statistics from the 2020-2021 season, the league had an average attendance of 15,840 spectators per match, with a total attendance of 3,787,269 over the course of the season.
Players
The RPL is known for attracting talented players from all over the world, as well as producing some of the top players in Russian football. Some notable players who have played in the league include Hulk, Axel Witsel, Artyom Dzyuba, and Quincy Promes. The league also has a number of young and up-and-coming players who are expected to make a big impact in the coming years.
