1998 Russian First Division
# 1998 Russian First Division

The Russian First Division 1998 was the seventh edition of the Russian First Division. The competition was renamed from Russian First League to Russian First Division this year.

## Overview

| Team | Head coach |
| - | - |
| FC Saturn Ramenskoye | Sergei Pavlov |
| FC Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod | Valeri Ovchinnikov |
| FC Sokol Saratov | Anatoli Radenko (until May) Anatoli Aslamov (caretaker, May–June) Vladimir Fedotov (from June) |
| FC Kristall Smolensk | Valeri Nenenko |
| FC Arsenal Tula | Yevhen Kucherevskyi |
| FC Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad | Vladimir Yevsyukov |
| FC Rubin Kazan | Igor Volchok (until May) Miodrag Radanović (caretaker, May) Aleksandr Irkhin (from June) |
| FC Dynamo Stavropol | Boris Stukalov |
| FC Gazovik-Gazprom Izhevsk | Vyacheslav Melnikov (until April) Aleksandr Salnov (caretaker, April–August) Viktor Slesarev (from August) |
| FC Fakel Voronezh | Sergei Savchenkov |
| FC Lokomotiv Chita | Aleksandr Kovalyov |
| FC Anzhi Makhachkala | Eduard Malofeyev (until June) Aleksandr Reshetnyak (caretaker, June–August) Pyotr Shubin (September) Aleksandr Reshetnyak (caretaker, from September) |
| FC Metallurg Lipetsk | Vladimir Fedotov (until June) Yuri Shishlov (caretaker, June) Valeri Tretyakov (from June) |
| FC Tom Tomsk | Vladimir Yurin |
| PFC Spartak Nalchik | Viktor Kumykov (until July) Viktor Zernov (July to October) Aslanbek Khantsev (from October) |
| FC Lokomotiv St. Petersburg | Givi Nodia |
| FC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | Gennadi Sarychev (until June) Vladimir Morozov (caretaker, June) Boris Sinitsyn (from June) |
| FC Druzhba Maykop | Vitali Aksyonov (until July) Soferbi Yeshugov (from July) |
| FC Lada-Togliatti-VAZ Togliatti | Vladimir Dergach (until October) Igor Golubtsov (October) Aleksandr Garmashov (from November) |
| FC Kuban Krasnodar | Valeri Sinau (until May) Adolf Poskotin (from May) |
| FC Irtysh Omsk | Aleksandr Ivchenko (until July) Gennadi Kostylev (from July) |
| FC KAMAZ-Chally Naberezhnye Chelny | Ivan Butaliy |

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Saturn Ramenskoye (P) | 42 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 73 | 34 | +39 | 84 | Promotion to Top Division |
| 2 | Lokomotiv N.N. (P) | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 65 | 34 | +31 | 77 | Promotion to Top Division |
| 3 | Sokol Saratov | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 58 | 32 | +26 | 76 | |
| 4 | Kristall Smolensk | 42 | 23 | 3 | 16 | 59 | 47 | +12 | 72 | |
| 5 | Arsenal Tula | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 65 | 53 | +12 | 65 | |
| 6 | Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 65 | 63 | +2 | 64 | |
| 7 | Rubin Kazan | 42 | 19 | 6 | 17 | 56 | 50 | +6 | 63 | |
| 8 | Dynamo Stavropol | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 51 | 37 | +14 | 63 | |
| 9 | Gazovik-Gazprom Izhevsk | 42 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 53 | 58 | −5 | 60 | |
| 10 | Fakel Voronezh | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 60 | |
| 11 | Anzhi Makhachkala | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 47 | 56 | −9 | 57 | |
| 12 | Metallurg Lipetsk | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 56 | |
| 13 | Lokomotiv Chita | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 57 | 50 | +7 | 56 | |
| 14 | Tom Tomsk | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 56 | |
| 15 | Spartak Nalchik | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 56 | |
| 16 | Lokomotiv St. Petersburg | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 53 | |
| 17 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (R) | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 52 | Qualification for Promotion play-offs |
| 18 | Druzhba Maykop (R) | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 50 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 19 | Lada-Togliatti-VAZ Togliatti (R) | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 52 | 70 | −18 | 48 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 20 | Kuban Krasnodar (R) | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 42 | 68 | −26 | 43 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 21 | Irtysh Omsk (R) | 42 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 36 | 58 | −22 | 41 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 22 | KAMAZ-Chally Naberezhnye Chelny (R) | 42 | 7 | 5 | 30 | 32 | 82 | −50 | 26 | Relegation to Second Division |

* ↑ FC Sokol-PZhD Saratov renamed to FC Sokol.
* ↑ FC CSK VVS-Kristall Smolensk renamed to FC Kristall after playing 6 games.
* ↑ FC Lokomotiv Chita awarded 5 home wins.
* ↑ FC Lada-Togliatti-VAZ Togliatti deducted 6 points and awarded 1 home win.

## Top goalscorers

### 27 goals

* Andradina (FC Arsenal Tula)

### 19 goals

* Igor Gavrilin (FC Saturn Ramenskoye)

### 18 goals

* Vladyslav Zubkov (FC Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod)

### 17 goals

* Gurban Gurbanov (FC Dynamo Stavropol)
* Valeri Shushlyakov (FC Kristall Smolensk)

### 16 goals

* Aleksei Chernov (FC Lada-Grad Dimitrovgrad)

### 15 goals

* Oleg Garin (FC Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod)
* Ibragim Gasanbekov (FC Anzhi Makhachkala)
* Aleksandr Kuzmichyov (FC Rubin Kazan)
* Vladimir Lebed (FC Sokol Saratov)

## Promotion play-offs

FC Torpedo-ZIL Moscow promoted to the Russian First Division for 1999 on aggregate, FC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk relegated to the Russian Second Division.

