On 27 August 2001 the Russian Premier Liga was officially founded, so to celebrate we have looked back at the 20 seasons so far.

2002 - Loskov seals dramatic playoff win

Champions - Lokomotiv (66pts)

Top scorers - 15: Rolan Gusev & Dmitry Kirichenko (both CSKA)

The inaugural season of the Russian Premier Liga saw Spartak’s remarkable stranglehold on the Russian title broken in dramatic fashion, as their Moscow dominated the league with seven teams from in or around the capital: Lokomotiv, CSKA, Spartak, Dynamo, Torpedo, Torpedo-ZIL and Saturn. Rivals Lokomotiv and CSKA couldn’t be separated in the league table, so a playoff match was needed to crown the Railroaders champions, settled thanks to an early Dmitry Loskov strike. Current RPL managers Sergey Semak (CSKA), Dmitry Parfenov (Arsenal) and Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Nizhny Novgorod) were all named in the best 33 players.

2003 - Akinfeev emerges for champions CSKA

Champions - CSKA (59pts)

Top scorer - 14: Dmitry Loskov (Lokomotiv)

The title stayed in the capital, but this time with CSKA as they held off the challenge of Zenit St. Petersburg. A stellar debut for teenage sensation Igor Akinfeev saw him save a penalty, and go on to finish the season as first-choice keeper. Reigning champions Lokomotiv may also have boasted the top scorer in Loskov, but failed to qualify for Europe. Centre-back stalwart Sergey Ignashevich would move across town to CSKA en route to breaking the appearance record.

2004 - Krylia wing their way to best-ever finish as Loko regain their crown

Champions - Lokomotiv (61pts)

Top scorer - 18: Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit)

Yrui Semin claimed his and Lokomotiv’s second title in three seasons inspired by the goals of Dmitry Sychev. Another monumental arrival to Russian football marked 2004, as Vagner Love joined CSKA Moscow for the first time; although the Brazilian only scored nine goals in his first campaign, he would go on to be voted the best foreign player in Russian Premier Liga history.

2005 - CSKA’s golden year sees domestic and European glory

Champions - CSKA (62pts)

Top scorer - 14: Dmitry Kirichenko (FC Moscow)

After winning the title the season before, Dmitry Kirichenko moved across town to the relatively new FC Moscow, and promptly claimed a personal accolade of top goalscorer. This was his former side’s definitive year of existence though; not only did they win the RPL title again by a comfortable margin from Spartak and Lokomotiv, they wrapped up arguably the club’s greatest ever achievement by lifting the UEFA Cup in Lisbon.

2006 - CSKA edge home by the narrowest of margins

Champions - CSKA (58pts)

Top scorer - 18: Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak)

Although the Armymen retained their crown, the final standings were far closer. They finished the campaign level on points with Spartak, having lost four more matches, scored fewer goals and with a worse goal difference - but crucially, with more wins under their belt. By now, their legendary spine was well-established, with Igor Akinfeev, the Berezutsky twins Aleksey and Vassily, Sergey Ignashevich in defence, with Brazilian forward duo vagner Love and Jo and wingers Milos krasic and Yuri Zhirkov providing the cutting edge.

2007 - Zenit’s first title since Soviet era

Champions - Zenit St. Petersburg (61pts)

Top scorer - 14: Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak) & Roman Adamov (FC Moscow)

The first of six major trophies for Andrey Arshavin arrived, and watershed moment for his hometown club Zenit St. Petersburg. Finally, after 23 years of waiting, they were champions again. Key to the title winners were the major arrivals of Ukrainian legend Anatoly Tymoschuk for the first of three spells with Zenit - two as a player, and currently as an assistant - and Nicolas Lombaerts, who would go on to spend an entire decade in St. Petersburg.

2008 - Berdyev claims first Rubin title 

Champions - Rubin (60pts)

Top scorer - 20: Vagner Love (CSKA)

There has never been such anomalous statistics in the goalscoring charts as this historic season for Tatarstan’s premier club. First of all, Vagner Love stormed to the crown of hottest striker by plundering an astonishing 20 goals - double that of his nearest challengers - but even more extraordinary was the absence of any players from the champions Rubin in the top 10 - Christian Noboa scored seven as the highest scorer.

2009 - Back-to-back champions romp to epic Champions League win in Barcelona

Champions - Rubin (63 pts)

Top scorer - 20: Welliton (Spartak)

This time round it was a far more comfortable margin for Rubin at the top of the table as they stormed eight points clear of the chasing pack. The zenith of Kurban Berdyev’s epic 13-year spell was decorated by the most spectacular results in the club’s history, as they travelled to the reigning European champions Barcelona and beat them with goals from Aleksandr Ryzyantsev and Gokdeniz Karadeniz. Impressive 16-goal hauls from Alejandro Dominguez and Aleksandr Bukharov helped them to domestic glory.

2010 - Last ever spring-winter season heralds another Zenit title

Champions - Zenit (68pts)

Top scorer - 19: Welliton (Spartak)

Although far removed from his future stomping ground, Artem Dzyuba gave a glimpse of what would come for the first champions of the new decade with his first truly breakthrough season, scoring 10 goals on loan at Tom Tomsk. Zenit had brought back Aleksandr Kerzhakov from Dynamo Moscow, and the future Russian national team record goalscorer repaid the club’s faith by top-scoring with 13 strikes. 

2011/12 - Historic extended transitional season sees new kids on the block Krasnodar emerge

Champions - Zenit (88pts - from 44 games)

Top scorer - 28: Seydou Doumbia (CSKA)

With the decision made to transition to a calendar that matched European leagues, the 2011/12 campaign was split into two parts; a regular 30-match phase, following which the top eight and bottom eight teams played each other again home and away. Zenit were only two points clear after the first phase, but romped ahead to win the championship by 13 points. The season had added stardust with the arrivals of former European champions Roberto Carlos and Samuel Eto’o at Anzhi Makhachkala. Krasnodar also made their top-flight bow after a rapid ascent from the third tier.

2012/13 - Slutsky’s first RPL title

Champions - CSKA (64pts)

Top scorer - 13: Yura Movsisyan (Krasnodar/Spartak); Wanderson (Krasnodar)

Although he had picked up his first major silverware with a Russian Cup win over Alania Vladikavkaz in 2011, Leonid Slutsky was finally crowned champion of Russia in what would become his first of three titles in four years. Anzhi’s star-studded squad finished in the club’s highest ever position in third to qualify directly for the Europa League group stages under Guus Hiddink’s guidance. One unmissable character joined the RPL, as Brazilian forward Hulk bustled his way onto the Russian landscape with Zenit.

2013/14 - CSKA pip Zenit to title after epic battle

Champions - CSKA (64pts)

Top scorer - 18: Seydou Doumbia (CSKA)

CSKA retained their title despite having only been in the top two for five out of 30 matchdays, and being as low as sixth near the halfway stage. Artem Dzyuba again enjoyed an explosive loan spell from Spartak, ending up with his highest tally to date with 17 RPL goals for Rostov and lifting the Russian Cup with the southern side. Salomon Rondon finished with two hat-tricks, both involving Rubin; the tall Venezuelan striker moved to Zenit during the winter break and bagged three goals against his former club.

2014/15 - Villas-Boas canters to title win

Champions - Zenit (67pts)

Top scorer - 15: Hulk (Zenit)

There was no question which side dominated the season, as Zenit spent almost the entire campaign in top spot, conceding just 17 goals all season and picking up the biggest home win (8-1 vs Torpedo Moscow) and biggest away win (5-0 vs Rostov). Ural and Rubin spent some ‘home’ fixtures away from their main stadiums as plans began in earnest to redevelop of build World Cup grounds began - Ural had to fight for their lives in Tyumen in the relegation playoff against Tom Tomsk, which they did by a slender 1-0 aggregate margin.

2015/16 - Smolov shines at last as Rostov push CSKA all the way on nail-biting last day

Champions - CSKA (65pts)

Top scorer - 20: Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar)

Before the previous campaign, Fedor Smolov had amassed just six league goals in seven seasons as a senior professional; his eight-goal spree on loan at Ural to help save them from relegation had given him a springboard, and this campaign he leapt off in spectacular style, plundering 20 goals to finish as top scorer. The real drama came on the very last day; with a two-point advantage over Rostov but an inferior head-to-head record, CSKA needed to match the southerners’ result. Rostov were relatively comfortable at 2-0 up away to Terek Grozny, while the Armymen had to rely on a stunning double save five minutes from time to cling onto the all-important 1-0 win.

2016/17 - Massimo Carrera swoops in to guide Spartak to first championship of RPL era

Champions - Spartak (69pts)

Top scorer - 18: Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar)

In what was a whirlwind start to his Russian career, Massimo Carrera went from being appointed Dmitry Alenichev’s assistant manager in July, to caretaker manager three weeks later, before being handed the full-time job before the end of August. Spartak had unceremoniously crashed out of Europe following a poor 2-1 aggregate loss to AEK Larnaca, but by the following summer under Carrera they were celebrating wildly again. Quincy Promes led the way with 12 goals and 10 assists - more direct goal involvements than any other player in the league.

2017/18 - Another loan spell boosts Dzyuba World Cup hopes as Semin brings title back to Lokomotiv

Champions - Lokomotiv (60pts)

Top scorer - 15: Quincy Promes (Spartak)

The 2018 World Cup was looming fast, so after a difficult spell for Artem Dzyuba with parent club Zenit in which he failed to score for the first 16 matchdays, he joined Arsenal Tula in search of a morale boost - and found it with six goals and three assists in 10 games. The burst would explode in the summer for the national team. Lokomotiv managed to clinch the title despite only scoring 41 goals in 30 matches, while Ufa achieved their best ever finish by securing sixth place under Sergey Semak and a route into Europa League qualifying.

2018/19 - Fedor Chalov breakout as Semak returns title to St. Petersburg at the first attempt

Champions - Zenit (64pts)

Top scorer - 15: Fedor Chalov (CSKA)

Sergey Semak impressed the directors at Zenit enough with his feats dragging Ufa into Europe that they appointed their former player in charge of first-team affairs, and he started with a bang; a shocking 4-0 defeat against Dinamo Minsk in a Europa League qualifier first leg was overturned with a rousing 8-1 extra-time win at the Petrovsky. The winter transfer window was surely one of the best any RPL club has managed, as Sardar Azmoun, Wilmar Barrios and Yaroslav Rakitsky were recruited. Fedor Chalov finally secured a regular starting place and plundered 15 league goals after six in each of his first two campaigns.

2019/20 - Record-breaking season for Zenit amidst coronavirus turmoil

Champions - Zenit (72pts)

Top scorers - Sardar Azmoun/Artem Dzyuba (Zenit, 17)

A then-record points tally (72), goals tally (65), number of wins (22), and the quickest title win (26 matchdays) left little doubt that Zenit were the strongest side in Russian football by some distance. They sealed the title in typically emphatic fashion after a 4-2 win away to Krasnodar - their second rip-roaring result against the Bulls in two seasons - and even a three-month coronavirus pandemic-enforced break to the season couldn’t halt them. Sardar Azmoun and Artem Dzyuba forged a lethal strike partnership with both ending on 17 goals (although the Iranian officially collected the top scorer’s crown as the rules then dictated that more open-play goals was a tie-breaker).

2020/21 - Dzyuba break RPL goalscoring record as Zenit break their own goals tally

Champions - Zenit (65pts)

Top scorer - Artem Dzyuba (Zenit, 20)

Zenit made history as the first team to complete a consecutive hat-trick of league titles in the RPL era, doing so in typically ground-breaking fashion by ripping up their own goalscoring record with an astonishing 76 goals. Dzyuba overtook former Zenit legend Aleksandr Kerzhakov in RPL goals by moving onto 137 (Kerzhakov also scored six goals in the last pre-RPL season in 2001). With six trophies in just three season at the club, Sergey Semak has already become the most successful coach at Zenit of all time.