Russian Professional Football League

The Professional Football League (Russian: Первенство Профессиональной футбольной лиги), formerly 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 was 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)). From 2013–14 season the league is again run by the Professional Football League and the name Second Division is no longer used.

The PFL 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. In the 2015–16 season, there are 62 clubs in the division.

The winners of each zone are automatically promoted to the Russian National Football League (known before 2011 as the First Division). The bottom finishers of each zone lose professional status and are relegated to 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.