The Russian football community continues to discuss a possible change in the system of holding the Russian championship. Most of the attention is focused on the RPL reforms, while much less attention is paid to the issue of transforming the country's lower divisions. However, research and consulting company Hypercube has done a solid job in this direction and has offered several original solutions to increase competition and interest, as well as make life easier for clubs.

As you know, the Saturn 20 Hypercube project involves a qualitative change in the system of functioning of the lower divisions of Russia. One of the points will be the creation of a new league - a link between the FNL and the PFL. At the moment, the exact number of participants in the division has not been determined, but it is noted that it can include up to 32 teams, divided into two groups. Their winners will go directly to the National Football League, while the other two strongest teams will challenge this right in play-offs. As for the PFL format, it received the least attention. The formula for the season has not yet been explained. It is only known that the participants will be divided into four zones, not five.

It is also important that some of the championships will start in April, and the other in July. According to the head of Hypercube Peter Newvenhays, this is due to the desire of a number of teams to play in a warmer season. Thus, the PFL and the new league will be held according to the "spring - autumn" system, and the FNL - according to the hybrid system. Thus, the transitional matches for the right to break into the Football National League will be held in November, and in the RPL - in June.

At first glance, the system may seem rather complicated and confusing. Newvenhays himself agreed with this, calling it one of its shortcomings. But if you understand the mechanism of functioning of the country's second-strongest division, everything falls into place. As in the case of the RPL, representatives of the FNL will be divided into two groups - "gold" and "silver". The difference is only in the total number of teams, which will not be 16, but 20. Within the first, autumn part of the season, the teams play among themselves, after which the two strongest clubs (S1 and S2) will be determined, which will guarantee themselves participation in the play-off matches for the right to break into Premier league.

Also during this part of the season there is an exchange of clubs between groups.

The four weakest are eliminated from the “gold”, and their place is taken by the teams of the “silver”, who scored the most points.

As the head of Hypercube noted, this will contribute to solving several problems at once.

First, almost all competitors will have an incentive to play to win throughout the season.

Secondly, the number of meetings between equal opponents will increase, since the stronger ones will rise in the class, and less will go down and compete with opponents of their own level.

  • Lower divisions of the Russian championship

  • © Hypercube

Now in the FNL it will be important to successfully conduct not only the first stage of the season, but also the second. So, the owners of direct tickets to the RPL will be determined in the spring, so the four clubs that will join the "golden" group in the fall will also get a chance to qualify for the Premier League. The points will be reset to zero, and the teams will have to start all over again, as a result, the intrigue will increase to the utmost and there will be practically no one left without motivation.

For comparison, in the last season of the FNL, by the 22nd round, there was more than a serious gap between the top four and the pursuit group. The leading Nizhny Novgorod outflanked Alania, which was in fifth place, by 12 points and did not allow it to significantly reduce the handicap in the remaining 20 games. Yes, the collapse of the Moscow Torpedo helped Vladikavkaz to climb to fourth place, but that was where the changes in the top 4 ended. Krylia Sovetov and Orenburg secured a solid groundwork and in the course of the championship only increased it, eventually gaining 101 and 94 points, respectively. For comparison, Baltika, who finished fifth, has 73 points, and SKA-Khabarovsk, who finished the championship in the middle of the table, has 60.

This confirms that if at the top of the table there was still some kind of struggle for getting into the top 6 (taking into account the problems of a number of clubs with licensing, the opportunity to play in transitional matches could have given the sixth place), then most of the middle peasants lost their motivation long before the end of the last 42nd round.

They guaranteed themselves the preservation of their registration in the FNL in advance, but they could no longer count on an increase in class.

  • Seasons calendar with new format

  • © Hypercube

The Hypercube model can, if not solve this problem, then at least slightly reduce the number of unmotivated commands. This will be facilitated by the fact that the transition between dozens will be carried out not once, but twice a year. Consequently, even groups that have lost their registration in the "golden" group will be able to return to it in six months, and not 12 months, as it was before. Consequently, there will be no time to regret the fiasco, but there will be an opportunity to restore their positions in the shortest possible time.

As for relegation from the FNL to a new league, the system is also not very simple.

The transition will be carried out in the fall, while only one team will take off directly - the one that took the last, tenth place in the “silver” group (F20).

The rest will get into a kind of playoff, as a result of which another club will immediately go to the division below, and two will recognize their rivals in play-offs.

  • © Hypercube

Thus, the new reform proposes an extreme reduction in the "gray zone", whose participants do not solve any serious problems after two-thirds of the distance has passed, as well as an increase in competition in both the top and bottom ten of the FNL.

Due to the division of the season into two short stages, the clubs will have two chances to win a ticket to the RPL, therefore, they will be forced to demonstrate their maximum for a much longer period of time.

Of course, there are some rather controversial points.

It will not be possible to do without unmotivated teams, and they will appear by the end of each of the two parts of the championship.

18 rounds is a considerable period during which a noticeable stratification can form even in groups of ten participants.

Thus, it will hardly be possible to maintain intrigue throughout the season.

In addition, the problem with the "autumn - spring" system is not fully resolved either. It's no secret that the transition to it led to the fact that clubs from the northern regions were seriously affected, forced to play more matches in late autumn and winter. And if during their stay in the lower leagues this disadvantage is partially leveled, then in the case of a pass to the FNL and RPL everything returns to normal. Therefore, now it looks more like an attempt to calm down small groups, but not find a way out of the situation.

Hypercube reforms are unlikely to improve the state of affairs in Russian football overnight, raise the level of competition and earnings, and contribute to the development of young people. However, restructuring the FNL could help change the mindset and narrow the gap between youth and senior football, Newvenhays said, as it is much easier for players to progress against equal opponents. In any case, with all the drawbacks, the new scheme is an attempt to take a step forward and change something that has not worked well for many years.