| Season: | 2014–15 |
| Winners: | Zenit St. Petersburg |
| Relegated: | Torpedo Moscow Arsenal Tula |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Zenit St. Petersburg CSKA Moscow |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Lokomotiv Moscow Krasnodar Rubin Kazan |
| Matches: | 240 |
| Total Goals: | 583 |
| League Topscorer: | Hulk (15 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Zenit 8–1 Torpedo |
| Biggest Away Win: | Rostov 0–5 Zenit |
| Highest Scoring: | Dynamo 7–3 Rostov |
| Longest Wins: | 8 matches: Zenit (2 Aug-20 Sep) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 13 matches: Zenit (3 Dec-17 May) Krasnodar (8 Mar-30 May) |
| Longest Winless: | 11 matches: Arsenal (2 Aug-24 Oct) Amkar (3 Nov-7 Apr) |
| Longest Losses: | 6 matches: Arsenal (17 Aug-28 Sep) |
| Prevseason: | 2013–14 |
| Nextseason: | 2015–16 |
The 2014–15 Russian Premier League was the 23rd season of the Russian football championship since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 13th under the current Russian Premier League name.
The season began on August 1, 2014, when Rubin Kazan opened its season at home against Spartak Moscow.[1] The season ended on May 29, 2015. Zenit won the championship, on 17 May, 2 rounds before the season ended.
After the 2013–14 season, FC Anzhi Makhachkala and FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod were relegated to the 2014–15 Russian National Football League. Anzhi's relegation was confirmed on 11 May 2014 after losing 0–1 to FC Krasnodar, a result that came one year after the club finished third in the previous season, and thus returns to FNL after five seasons. FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod has been relegated after playing in the Russian Premier League for three seasons, during its first stint in Russia's top division. They have been replaced by two clubs which directly qualified from the 2013–14 Russian National Football League. FC Mordovia Saransk returned to the Premier League at its first attempt as FNL champions in the 2013–14 season, after being relegated from the Premier League in the season before. And 2013-14 FNL runner-up FC Arsenal Tula, which make their debut in Premier League for 2014–15 season, to play in top division of any level for the first time in its 68-year history.
On 18 and 22 May 2014, FC Tom Tomsk and FC Krylia Sovetov Samara also played their relegation playoff matches against FC Ufa and FC Torpedo Moscow respectively. The 2012-13 season FNL runner-up which has been directly promoted to Premier League season before, FC Tom Tomsk lost their relegation playoffs from FC Ufa (4th 2013-14 FNL) with 4–6 on aggregate. Ufa's qualification to the Premier League was all the more impressive considering that the club was founded at the end of 2010 and played its 2011–12 season in the second division. FC Krylia Sovetov Samara were also relegated to play in FNL in 2014–15 season, after they lose from FC Torpedo Moscow (3rd 2013-14 FNL) with 0–2 on aggregate, and the Moscow-based club will return to Premier League for the first time since the 2006 season. FC Krylia Sovetov Samara, as one of founding members of Russia's first division since breakup of the Soviet Union, will be playing outside top division for the first time since 1991.
| width=110 | Team | width=170 | Stadium | width=45 | Opened | width=55 | Capacity | width=70 | Average attendance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amkar | Zvezda, Perm | 1969 | 17,000 | 8,275 [2] | ||||||
| Arsenal Tula | Arsenal, Tula | 1959 | 20,048 | 12,154 [3] | ||||||
| Lokomotiv, Moscow | 2002 | 28,800 | 2,000 [4] | Used as home ground in round 26. | ||||||
| MSA Lokomotiv, Moscow | 2009 | 10,000 | 1,300 [5] | Used as home ground in round 20. | ||||||
| CSKA | Arena Khimki, Khimki | 2008 | 18,636 | 8,967 [6] | ||||||
| Dynamo Moscow | Arena Khimki, Khimki | 2008 | 18,636 | 7,336 | ||||||
| Krasnodar | Kuban, Krasnodar | 1961 | 31,654 | 11,290 [7] | ||||||
| Kuban | Kuban, Krasnodar | 1961 | 31,654 | 9,228 | ||||||
| Lokomotiv | Lokomotiv, Moscow | 2002 | 28,800 | 8,822 | ||||||
| Mordovia | Start, Saransk | 2004 | 11,613 | 5,313 [8] | ||||||
| Rostov | Olimp-2, Rostov-on-Don | 1930 | 15,840 | 10,059 [9] | ||||||
| Rubin | Kazan Arena, Kazan | 2013 | 45,105 | 20,066 [10] | ||||||
| Rubin, Kazan | 1958 | 10,000 | 3,682 [11] | Used as home ground in rounds 18-27. | ||||||
| Central Stadium, Kazan | 1960 | 28,856 | 20,624 [12] | Used as home ground in round 1. | ||||||
| Spartak Moscow | Otkrytiye Arena, Moscow | 2014 | 45,360 | 25,001 [13] | ||||||
| Terek | Akhmat-Arena, Grozny | 2011 | 30,597 | 16,822 [14] | ||||||
| Sultan Bilimkhanov Stadium, Grozny | 1946 | 10,600 | 8,500 [15] | Used as home ground in rounds 18, 24. | ||||||
| Torpedo Moscow | Saturn, Ramenskoye | 1999 | 14,685 | 3,544 [16] | ||||||
| Eduard Streltsov Stadium, Moscow | 1959 | 13,450 | 3,517 [17] | Used as home ground in rounds 14, 17, 26-30. | ||||||
| Otkrytiye Arena, Moscow | 2014 | 45,360 | 20,147 | Used as home ground in round 20. | ||||||
| Ufa | Dynamo, Ufa | 1934 | 5,350 | 4,183 [18] | ||||||
| Start, Saransk | 2004 | 11,613 | 1,964 | Used as home ground in rounds 19-23, 30. | ||||||
| Zvezda, Perm | 1969 | 17,000 | 1,383 | Used as home ground in rounds 5, 11, 13, 24-26. | ||||||
| Petrovsky, Saint Petersburg | 1925 | 20,985 | 16,925 [19] | Used as home ground in round 28. | ||||||
| Ural | Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg | 1957 | 27,000 | 9,193 [20] | ||||||
| Geolog, Tyumen | 1982 | 12,057 | 5,167 [21] | Used as home ground in rounds 23, 27, 28. | ||||||
| Ural Indoor Arena, Yekaterinburg | 3,000 | 2,640 [22] | Used as home ground in rounds 11, 20, 21. | |||||||
| Zenit | Petrovsky, Saint Petersburg | 1925 | 20,985 | 16,508 |
| Team | Location | Head coach | Captain | Kitmaker | Sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perm | Gadzhi Gadzhiyev | Dmitri Belorukov | Joma | |||
| Tula | Dmitri Alenichev | Aleksandr Filimonov | Macron | Government of Tula region | ||
| Moscow | Leonid Slutsky | Igor Akinfeev | Adidas | Rosseti | ||
| Moscow | Stanislav Cherchesov | Aleksandr Kokorin | Nike | VTB | ||
| Krasnodar | Oleg Kononov |  Andreas Granqvist | Kappa | Constell Group | ||
| Krasnodar | Andrei Sosnitskiy (caretaker) | Aleksandr Belenov | Adidas | RGMK | ||
| Moscow | Igor Cherevchenko |  Ján Ďurica | Adidas | RZD | ||
| Saransk | Yury Semin | Anton Kochenkov | Adidas | Mordovcement | ||
| Rostov-on-Don | Kurban Berdyev |  Stipe Pletikosa | Joma | Energosbyt Rostovenergo | ||
| Kazan | Rinat Bilyaletdinov | Oleg Kuzmin | Puma | TAIF | ||
| Moscow | Murat Yakin | Artyom Rebrov | Nike | Lukoil | ||
| Grozny | Rashid Rakhimov | Rizvan Utsiyev | Adidas | Akhmat | ||
| Moscow | Valery Petrakov | Kirill Kombarov | Legea | |||
| Ufa | Igor Kolyvanov | Azamat Zaseyev | Joma | Bashinformsvyaz | ||
| Yekaterinburg | Aleksandr Tarkhanov | Artyom Fidler | Umbro | TMK Group Renova Group | ||
| St. Petersburg | André Villas-Boas |  Danny | Nike | Gazprom |
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Date | Table | Incoming | Date | Table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mordovia Saransk |  Yuriy Maksymov | Mutual consent | 18 May 2014[23] | Pre-season | Yuri Semin | 28 May 2014[24] | Pre-season | |
| Spartak Moscow | Dmitri Gunko | Contract expired | 1 June 2014[25] | Pre-season |  Murat Yakin | 16 June 2014[26] | Pre-season | |
| Torpedo Moscow | Aleksandr Borodyuk | Contract expired | 5 June 2014[27] | Pre-season | Nikolai Savichev | 19 June 2014[28] | Pre-season | |
| Amkar Perm | Konstantin Paramonov | Caretaker spell over | 17 June 2014 | Pre-season |  Slavoljub Muslin | 17 June 2014[29] | Pre-season | |
| Lokomotiv Moscow |  Leonid Kuchuk | Sacked | 17 September 2014 | 9th |  Igor Cherevchenko (caretaker) | 17 September 2014[30] | 9th | |
| Rostov |  Miodrag Božović | Resigned | 25 September 2014[31] | 14th | Igor Gamula | 25 September 2014[32] | 14th | |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | Igor Cherevchenko (caretaker) | Caretaking spell over | 4 October 2014 | 9th | Miodrag Božović | 4 October 2014[33] | 9th | |
| Torpedo Moscow | Nikolai Savichev | Resigned | 4 November 2014 | 15th | Valery Petrakov | 4 November 2014[34] | 15th | |
| Kuban Krasnodar | Viktor Goncharenko | Mutual consent | 13 November 2014[35] | 5th | Leonid Kuchuk | 17 November 2014[36] | 5th | |
| Amkar Perm | Slavoljub Muslin | Sacked | 9 December 2014[37] | 14th | Gadzhi Gadzhiyev | 30 December 2014[38] | 14th | |
| Rostov | Igor Gamula | Moved to the U-21 team | 18 December 2014[39] | 16th | Kurban Berdyev | 18 December 2014[40] | 16th | |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | Miodrag Božović | Resigned | 11 May 2015[41] | 7th | Igor Cherevchenko | 11 May 2015 (caretaker) 2 June 2015 (permanent)[42] | 7th | |
| Kuban Krasnodar | Leonid Kuchuk | Mutual consent | 25 May 2015[43] | 10th | Andrei Sosnitskiy (caretaker) | 25 May 2015 | 10th |
Last updated: 2 June 2015
The 16 teams played a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams twice, once at home and once away. Thus, a total of 240 matches was played, with 30 matches played by each team.
The teams that finish 15th and 16th will be relegated to the RNFL, while the top 2 in that league will be promoted to the Premier League for the 2015 - 16 season.
The 13th and 14th Premier League teams will play the 4th and 3rd FNL teams respectively in two playoff games with the winners securing Premier League spots for the 2015 - 16 season.
----
Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast won 1–0 on aggregate score and remained in the 2015–16 Russian Premier League.----Rostov won 5–1 on aggregate score and remained in the 2015–16 Russian Premier League.
The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 10, but then postponed and played between days 25 and 26, it will be added to the standings for day 25.
On 16 March 2015, the league decided that the game between FC Arsenal Tula and PFC CSKA Moscow on 21 March 2015 can not be played at Arsenal Stadium due to unacceptable pitch condition.[44] The backup stadium registered by Arsenal with the league for such occasions is MSA Lokomotiv in Moscow, where the game was moved, in effect making Arsenal visitors at their own home game. In protest, Arsenal manager Dmitri Alenichev decided to field the reserves squad for this game.[45] Most of the players from the reserves teams are registered to play in league games, therefore the league could not reverse such a decision. 9 of the 11 Arsenal starters in the game (except for Sergei Kotov and Leonid Boyev) made their Premier League debut in the game. Kotov and Boyev had played in the Premier League for 185 combined minutes before this game.[46] It was also a first game since 21 July 2012 in which one of the teams (in this case, Arsenal) did not play a single foreign player.[47] CSKA won the game 4–1.[48]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | Minutes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hulk | Zenit | 15 (3) | 2283 | |
| 2 |  Salomón Rondón | Zenit | 13 | 1516 | |
 Roman Eremenko | CSKA | 13 | 2213 | ||
| Quincy Promes | Spartak | 13 | 2379 | ||
| 5 |  Bibras Natcho | CSKA | 12 (7) | 2174 | |
| 6 |  Igor Portnyagin | Rubin | 11 | 2018 | |
| 7 |  Ahmed Musa | CSKA | 10 | 2431 | |
| 8 | Kevin Kurányi | Dynamo | 10 (3) | 1578 | |
| 9 | Aleksei Ionov | Dynamo | 9 | 2054 | |
| 10 | Mauricio Pereyra | Krasnodar | 9 (1) | 2013 |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleksandr Kokorin | Dynamo | Rostov | 7–3 | [51] | |
| Bibras Natcho | CSKA | Rostov | 6–0 | [52] | |
| Salomón Rondón | Zenit | Rostov | 5–0 | [53] | |
| Salomón Rondón | Zenit | Ural | 3–0 | [54] |
In the first round of matches, the 16 clubs (10 of which scored) combined for 34 goals to open the Russian Premier League, a new record that was elapsed even prior to Terek Grozny's home match against Amkar Perm on August 4. Ten of those goals came in Dinamo Moskva's 7-3 victory over FC Rostov.[55] [56]
Zenit started the competition with 8 victories in a row, beating the previous record set by FC Rubin Kazan in 2008 with 7.[57]
On 24 June 2015, Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:[58]
Mário Fernandes (CSKA)
Ezequiel Garay (Zenit) Vedran Ćorluka (Lokomotiv)
Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit) Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar)
Domenico Criscito (Zenit) Bibras Natcho (CSKA)
Javi García (Zenit)
Odil Ahmedov (Krasnodar)
Quincy Promes (Spartak) Zoran Tošić (CSKA) Roman Eremenko (CSKA)
Mathieu Valbuena (Dynamo) Danny (Zenit) Hulk (Zenit) Ahmed Musa (CSKA) Ari (Krasnodar)