The Football Union of Kazakhstan

After the year's break, the Championship of the Republic of Kazakhstan is held again in the two leagues, i.e. the first division still plays to takes two places for to reach the super league. However, the number of teams in the super league was reduced. "Automobilist" (Shortandy) became the debutante for the super league in 1997, having won the championship of Kazakhstan for physical training groups in 1996. The victory at the VI Football Championship Of the Republic of Kazakhstan was 3 points; draw - 1. The teams losers got no points. All teams wishing to play in the first league were welcome. The best footballers and the best teams were recognized due to the teams' head coaches. The names of the cities are presented due to the times they were renamed within the independent period of Kazakhstan history:

Alma-Ata - Almaty
Shevchenko - Aktau
Kokchetav - Kokshetau
Kzyl-Orda - Kyzylorda
Aktyubinsk - Aktobe
Taldy-Kurgan - Taldykorgan
Dzhambul - Zhambyl, later Taraz
Chimkent - Shymkent
Tselinograd - Akmola, later Astana
Kustanai - Kostanai
Dzhezkazgan - Zhezkazgan
Karaganda - Karagandy

The names of the teams are presented due to the times they were changed. The tournament positions of the teams, with equal quantity of the points, are set due to the Regulations for Football competitions in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Watching the final tournament table, it's easy to define what was considered for setting the teams at the proper places. The factors were:
The greater quantity of victories, The difference of missed and scored goals or The lot.

However, such factors are not effective if the teams having the equal quantity of points are playing for the first place. In this case they play in the extra tournament per one round. This happened for the first time in the history of RK Championships for first league teams, exactly in this season.

FINAL TOURNAMENT TABLE
P TEAM city M V D L G/D P
1 "TARAZ" Taraz 26 18 2 6 49-18 56
2 "IRTYSH" Pavlodar 26 17 5 4 46-15 56
3 "KAIRAT" Almaty 26 16 5 5 52-14 53
4 "SHAKHTER-ISPAT-KARMET" Karaganda 26 16 4 6 40-22 52
5 "VOSTOK-ADIL" Ust-KAMENOGORSK 26 14 8 4 42-16 50
6 "BATYR" Ekibastuz 26 15 2 9 38-22 47
7 "YELIMAI" Semipalatinsk 26 13 7 6 41-26 46
8 "KAISAR-HURRICANE" Kyzylorda 26 13 5 8 39-23 44
9 "ASTANA" Akmola 26 11 4 11 32-21 37
10 "ZHIGER" Shymkent 26 8 5 13 27-40 29
11 "AKTOBE" Aktobe 26 4 3 19 16-56 15
12 "AUTOMOBILIST" Shortandy 26 5 0 21 23-68 15
13 "BULAT" Temirtau 26 3 5 18 13-47 14
14 "ULYTAU" Zhezkazgan 26 1 1 24 4-74 4
Extra match for the 1st place:
13. 10. 1997. Almaty. Stadium "Tsentralny". 7500 fans.
"TARAZ" (Taraz) - "IRTYSH" (Pavlodar) - 0:1
"TARAZ": Voskoboinikov, Vaganov, Sorochinsky, Kononov,Yeleusinov (Zaitsev, 84), Mirzabaev, Niyazymbetov, Koshkarov, Asukhanov, Mazbaev, Kainazarov

"IRTYSH": Ishutin, Saduov, Familtsev (Goryachev, 86), Pererva, Abdualiev, Antonov (Bush, 73), Kucheryavykh, Didyk, Abildaev, Yesmagambetov (Malyshev, 87), Zubarev
Goal: Antonov (54)
Yellow cards: Mazbaev (83)
Referee: Е. Shkarin (Shymkent)
THE BEST STRIKERS:
Nurken Mazbaev ("Taraz") - 16 goals
Vladimir Loginov ("Kaisar-Hurricane") - 12 goals
Ruslan Duzmambetov ("Vostok-Adil") - 10 goals
Victor Zubarev ("Irtysh") - 10 goals
THE BEST 11 FOOTBALLERS IN THEIR POSITION FOR THE 1997 SEASON Ggoalkeeper:
Oleg VOSKOBOINIKOV ("Taraz")
Libero:
Vitaly SPARYSHEV ("Batyr")
Right back: Left back:
Oirat SADUOV("Irtysh") Aleksander FAMILTSEV("Irtysh")
Stopper:
Alevtin OSIPOV ("Batyr")
Right mid-fielder: Left mid-fielder:
Konstantin KOTOV("Astana") Ruslan GUMAR("Batyr")
Mid-fielder:
Ruslan BALTIEV (CSKA "Kairat")
Forwards:
Vladimir LOGINOV("Kaisar-Hurricane") Bolat YESMAGAMBETOV("Yelimai", "Irtysh")

Victor ZUBAREV ("Irtysh")
The best footballer of the season: Oleg VOSKOBOINIKOV ("Taraz", Taraz)