Pavel Kotov

Kotov's football education came almost entirely at CSKA Moscow, where he trained in the youth system from 2002 to 2013 before breaking into the senior squad. His first-team involvement there was brief — a single Russian Cup appearance in 2014 was his only taste of senior football at the club — and the following years took a different shape, built on loans and free moves rather than a settled first-team role.

Spells at Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk and Lithuania's Stumbras followed before he joined Strogino Moscow in 2017, making 46–47 appearances over two seasons. A free transfer took him to Veles Moscow in 2019, and it was there that his left-back play produced a two-goal game against Krylia Sovetov during a spell that brought 50–52 appearances in total. He returned to Neftekhimik in 2021 for 87–91 appearances and seven or eight goals over three years, before a move to Rotor Volgograd in 2024 that never yielded a single appearance.

Kotov went back to Veles in July 2025, taking the number 17 shirt, and has continued to add to his tally there. He has never played for Russia's senior national team, though he was capped eight times for the Russia University side, scoring once, across the 2017 and 2019 Universiade tournaments. In 2025 he was also picked for the FNL All-Star selection.