Fankom won the championship in the 3rd division.

      The tournament turned out to be interesting — alas, in a negative way. Only six teams took part, so the championship had to be held in a triple round-robin.

      A negative trend is obvious: two seasons ago there were 11 participants, last season — nine. The management of the "Golden Ring" would do well to ponder why this is happening. It’s unlikely that the regions that are part of the federation have suddenly fallen out of love with football.

      For example, in the neighboring Volga Region there are 10 teams in the championship and the same number in the Cup…

      Of the six participants in this year’s tournament, only two were senior teams (Kirov’s Mashinostroitel and Fankom). The rest were youth teams. It’s logical that it was our region’s representatives who fought for the victory.

      They are polar opposites in terms of squad building. Mashinostroitel relied on local players, Fankom on players from elsewhere. This prompted heated debate on social media throughout the season. The main question was whether it’s worth spending on “legionnaires,” especially given the amateur status of the competition.

      One might think the league table showed who was ultimately right. But there is one caveat: in head-to-head meetings the advantage was with Mashinostroitel (one win and two draws). And if it hadn’t been for the team’s collapse at the very start of the championship (away defeats in Tver and Vologda), who knows how it might have ended.

      But where Mashinostroitel was unquestionably stronger was in the media department. Their original and amusing videos instantly spread across the internet and were appreciated well beyond the region.

      A third team from Kirov also participated in the championship — Dynamo’s reserve team. They didn’t set the world on fire, mindful of their main function — preparing the reserves — and the most notable event was the change of head coach during the season.

      We hope that next year there will be more teams in the Golden Ring championship. There’s nowhere lower to fall…

      Final table