The Russian Second Division is the third level of Russian professional football.
In 1998–2010, it was run by the Professional Football League. The 2011–12 season is being run by the Department of Professional Football of the Russian Football Union (Russian: Департамент профессионального футбола Российского футбольного союза (ДПФ РФС), Departament professional'nogo futbola Rossijskogo futbol'nogo soyuza (DPF RFS)).
The Second Division is geographically divided into 5 zones: West (Northwestern European Russia), Centre (Northern and Eastern European Russia), South (Southern European Russia), Ural-Povolzhye (Southern Urals and Western Siberia), and East (Rest of Siberia). The number of clubs in each zone varies between years. At the start of the 2012–13 season, there are 73 clubs in the division.
The winners of each zone are automatically promoted into the National League Championship (known as the First Division before 2011). The bottom finishers of each zone lose professional status and are relegated into the Russian Amateur Football League. In the lowest populated East zone, each club plays each opponent three times, while in all other zones traditional home-and-away scheme applies.
Read more about Russian Second Division: Winners
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