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Soviet Top League

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Soviet Top League
Высшая лига
Founded22 May 1936 (as Group A)
Folded1991
CountrySoviet Union
ConfederationUEFA
Divisions1
Number of teamsVarious
Level on pyramidLevel 1
Relegation toSoviet First League
Domestic cup(s)USSR Cup
USSR Super Cup (unofficial)
League cup(s)USSR Federation Cup
(1940–1990)
International cup(s)
Last championsCSKA Moscow
(1991)
Most championshipsDynamo Kyiv (13)
Most appearancesOleg Blokhin (432)
Top goalscorerOleg Blokhin (211)

The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (Russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига, romanized: Vyschaya Liga),[1] served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and governed by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The full official name was the USSR Championship in football: Top League. An attempt to create an independent league as autonomously governed organization during "perestroika" period was denied by the Federation due to political culture in the Soviet Union.

The professional top level of football competition among clubs was established in 1936 on proposition of Nikolai Starostin and was approved by the All-Union Council of Physical Culture. Originally it was named Group A. After World War II it became known as the First Group. In 1950, after another reform of football in the Soviet Union, the First Group was replaced with Class A. By 1970, the Class A had expanded to three tiers with the top tier known as the Higher Group which in 1971 was renamed into the Higher League.

After the World War II, along with the competition among the first teams also there were conducted official competitions among reserve squads. It carried the name of "Tournament of Doubles" (Turnir doublyorov). The reserve squads' competitions were running parallel to the first teams' competitions normally scheduled a day prior with relegation rule completely depended on the league standing of their respective first team.

The Top League was one of the best football leagues in Europe, ranking second among the UEFA members in the 1988–89 season. Three of its representatives reached the finals of the European club tournaments on four occasions: FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Dinamo Tbilisi, and FC Dynamo Moscow (all in the European Cup Winners' Cup). In the same way Russia politically succeeded the Soviet Union, UEFA considers the Russian Premier League to have succeeded the Soviet Top League.[2][3]

Overview

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See also: Red Sport International

Introduction and popularization

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A poster in Russian with soem lines in Spanish featuring a photograph of a goalkeeper posing and in action.
Poster for a Basque Country-Lokomotiv match on 24 June 1937

The league was established on the initiative of head of Spartak sport society, Nikolai Starostin.[4] Starostin proposed to create eight professional club teams in six Soviet cities and hold two championship tournaments per calendar year.[4] With minor corrections, the Soviet Council on Physical Culture accepted the Starostin's proposal creating a league of "demonstration teams of master" which were sponsored by sport societies and factories.[4] Nikolai Starostin de facto became a godfather of the Soviet championships.[5] Numerous mass events took place to promote the newly established competition, among which there was an introduction of football exhibition game as part of the Moscow Physical Culture Day parade, and the invitation to the Basque Country national football team which was on the side supported by Soviet Union in the Spanish Civil War and others.

In 1936 the first secretary of Komsomol Kosarev came up with an idea of playing an actual football game at the Red Square as part of the Physical Culture Day parade.[6] Stalin never attended any sports events, but the Physical Culture Day was an exclusion to the rule.[6] The 1936 Physical Culture Day parade was directed by Russian theatre director Valentin Pluchek.[6] For the football game, a giant green felt carpet was sewn by Spartak athletes and laid down on the Red Square's cobblestones.[6] A night before the parade, the rug was stitched together in sections, rolled up and then stored in a vestibule of the GUM department store located at the square.[6] Following the 1936 Red Square game, it became a tradition before the World War II and part of the Physical Culture Day parade event.[6]

In the late 1930s Spartak was giving out thousands of tickets per game to members of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).[4] Among serious football fans was Lavrentiy Beria who proposed to have one team from each of union republics in the league.[4] In July 1937 a conflict erupted following a successful tour to the Soviet Union of the Basque national team during which the main governing body of sports in the country, the All-Union Council of Physical Culture, was accused by the party and Komsomol for failing the sports policy.[4] Spartak's leadership and Starostin in particular were accused of corruption and implementing "bourgeoisie methods" in Soviet sport.[4]

The most prominent clubs of the league were FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Spartak Moscow, and FC Dynamo Moscow. The most popular clubs besides the above-mentioned were PFC CSKA Moscow, FC Ararat Yerevan, and FC Dinamo Tbilisi. Dinamo Tbilisi became famous for finishing third but never winning the title. They won their first title in 1964.

Development

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Until the 1960s the main title contenders in the league were the Moscow clubs of Spartak and Dynamo whose dominance was disrupted for only a brief period after World War II by CSKA Moscow, nicknamed 'The team of lieutenants'. The first team that won 10 championships was Dynamo Moscow in 1963, followed by Spartak in 1979.

Eleven clubs spent over 30 seasons in the league with five of them from Moscow. Dynamo Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv were the only clubs that participated in all seasons of the league. Among other prominent Russian clubs were SKA Rostov/Donu (Army team), Zenit Leningrad (Zenith), and Krylia Sovietov Kuibyshev (Wings of the Soviets).

Over the years the league changed, however from the 1970s its competition structure solidified with 16 participants, except from 1979 through 1985 when the number of participants was extended to 18.

One uniquely Soviet innovation around this time was the "draw limit", whereby a team would receive zero points for any draws in excess of a fixed number, first 8, then 10. This rule had consequences for both the title race and relegation while it was in place. A 1973 experiment to resolve drawn games by penalty shoot-out lasted only one season.

Dynamo Kyiv's success as a Ukrainian club was supplemented in the 1980s with the appearance of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk led by its striker Oleh Protasov who set a new record for goals scored in a season. In 1984, Zenit Leningrad became Soviet champions for the first time.

With the unravelling of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, the structure of the league also became unstable as more and more clubs lost interest in continuing to participate in the league, prompting several rounds of reorganisation. The main effect of these was to boost the numbers of Ukrainian clubs to be on par with the Russians.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, it has been suggested that the competition be re-established along the lines of the Commonwealth of Independent States Cup, but due to a lack of interest on various levels the venture has never been implemented.

Participants

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The uneven population of the Soviet Union meant that the participants in a typical Top League season fell into three blocs:

Documentation

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Documentation about the league is scarce. Among well-known researchers are Aksel Vartanyan for Sport Express, Andrei Moroz and Georgiy Ibragimov for KLISF Club, Alexandru G.Paloşanu, Eugene Berkovich, Mike Dryomin, Almantas Lauzadis, and Hans Schöggl for RSSSF Archives. Another extensive databases are composed at helmsoccer.narod.ru and FC Dynamo Moscow website.

Names

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Since its creation, the Soviet Top League's name changed a quite few times:

1936 – 1941 Group A (Группа А)

Prior to World War II the championship was split into several groups usually of eight teams and named by the letters of the Cyrillic script.

1945 – 1949 The First Group of USSR (Первая группа СССР)

Upon the reestablishment of the league after the war for several years it was numbered sequentially with the top league being the First.

1950 – 1962 Class "A" of USSR (Класс "А" СССР)

Since 1950, the alphabetical classification of the Soviet league hierarchy has resumed. In 1960 through 1962 the league consisted of two groups with the better clubs qualified for the championship pool and less fortunate – the relegation pool.

1963 – 1969 The First Group "A" of USSR (Первая группа "А" СССР)

European representation

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The first time the Soviet League was represented in Europe in the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup by Dynamo Kyiv. In its first year the club reached the quarterfinals, eliminating on its way Coleraine and Rosenborg and winning all four matches with those clubs. The Ukrainians also knocked out reigning champions Celtic in the first round in the 1967–68 European Cup. In the 1968–69 season the Soviet clubs withdrew from continental competitions after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. From 1974 (except for the 1982–83 season) to 1984 the league was among the best 10 national competitions in the UEFA rankings (based on continental competitions performance) reaching the 4th place in 1976 and 1977. From 1985 the Soviet Top League was among the best four in Europe, until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In 1987 and 1988 the Soviet Top League was the second best league in Europe, however by the end of the Soviet Union the results of its representatives worsened as top players could now leave and play for foreign leagues in the West. The very last coefficient position that the Soviet League placed was No. 9 in 1992. The 1992/93 season all the results of the Soviet League were transferred to the Russian Premier League. Throughout its history the representatives of the league on four occasions made to the finals of the three primary European competitions being victorious in three. Once a Soviet club was able to win the UEFA Super Cup.

Football championship among city teams (1923–1935)

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Before establishment of professional competitions among clubs, in the Soviet Union existed another competition that was conducted among collective teams of various cities or republics.

Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer
1923 Moscow Southern Railways (Kharkiv) Kolomna / Irkutsk
1924 Kharkiv Petrograd Transcaucasian SFSR
no competitions in 1925–27
1928 Moscow Ukrainian SSR Belarusian SSR
no competitions in 1929–30
1931 Russian SFSR Transcaucasian SFSR Ukrainian SSR
1932 Moscow Leningrad Kharkiv / Donbass Vasily Smirnov
(Moscow, 4 goals)
no competitions in 1933–34
1935 Moscow Leningrad Kharkiv Mikhail Yakushin
(Moscow, 6 goals)

Champions and top goalscorers

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Main article: List of Soviet and Russian football champions
Bold text in the "Champion" column denotes that the club also won the Soviet Cup during the same season. The italicized text in the table indicates the other cup champions that made it the Soviet top-3.

Group A

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Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer
1936 (spring) Dynamo Moscow Dynamo Kyiv Spartak Moscow Mikhail Semichastny
(Dynamo Moscow, 6 goals)
1936 (autumn) Spartak Moscow Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Georgy Glazkov
(Spartak Moscow, 7 goals)
1937 Dynamo Moscow (2) Spartak Moscow Dynamo Kyiv Boris Paichadze
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 8 goals)
Leonid Rumyantsev
(Spartak Moscow, 8 goals)
Vasily Smirnov
(Dynamo Moscow, 8 goals)
1938 Spartak Moscow (2) CSKA Moscow Metallurg Moscow Makar Honcharenko
(Dinamo Kyiv, 19 goals)
1939 Spartak Moscow (3) Dinamo Tbilisi CSKA Moscow Grigory Fedotov
(CSKA Moscow, 21 goals)
1940 Dynamo Moscow (3) Dinamo Tbilisi Spartak Moscow Grigory Fedotov
(CSKA Moscow, 21 goals)
Sergei Solovyov
(Dynamo Moscow, 21 goals)
1941 Cancelled on 24 June due to World War II (Dynamo Moscow had the best record at that time)
1942–44 Cancelled due to World War II
Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-Up 3rd Position Years Won
Spartak Moscow 3 1 2 1936a, 1938, 1939
Dynamo Moscow 3 1 1936s, 1937, 1940
Dinamo Tbilisi 2 1
CSKA Moscow 1 1
Dynamo Kyiv 1 1
Metallurg Moscow 1

First group

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Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer
1945 Dynamo Moscow (4) CSKA Moscow Torpedo Moscow Vsevolod Bobrov
(CSKA Moscow, 24 goals)
1946 CSKA Moscow Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Aleksandr Ponomaryov
(Torpedo Moscow, 18 goals)
1947 CSKA Moscow (2) Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Vsevolod Bobrov
(CSKA Moscow, 14 goals)
Valentin Nikolayev
(CSKA Moscow, 14 goals)
Sergei Solovyov
(Dynamo Moscow, 14 goals)
1948 CSKA Moscow (3) Dynamo Moscow Spartak Moscow Sergei Solovyov
(Dynamo Moscow, 25 goals)
1949 Dynamo Moscow (5) CSKA Moscow Spartak Moscow Nikita Simonyan
(Spartak Moscow, 26 goals)
Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-Up 3rd Position Years Won
CSKA Moscow 3 2 1946, 1947, 1948
Dynamo Moscow 2 3 1945, 1949
Dinamo Tbilisi 2
Spartak Moscow 2
Torpedo Moscow 1

Class A

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Season Champion Runner-up 3rd position Top goalscorer
1950 CSKA Moscow (4) Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Nikita Simonyan
(Spartak Moscow, 34 goals)
1951 CSKA Moscow (5) Dinamo Tbilisi Shakhtar Stalino Avtandil Gogoberidze
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 16 goals)
1952 Spartak Moscow (4) Dynamo Kyiv Dynamo Moscow Andrey Zazroyev
(Dynamo Kyiv, 11 goals)
1953 Spartak Moscow (5) Dinamo Tbilisi Torpedo Moscow Nikita Simonyan
(Spartak Moscow, 14 goals)
1954 Dynamo Moscow (6) Spartak Moscow Spartak Minsk Anatoli Ilyin
(Spartak Moscow, 11 goals)
Vladimir Ilyin
(Dynamo Moscow, 11 goals)
Antonin Sochnev
(Trudovye Reservy Leningrad, 11 goals)
1955 Dynamo Moscow (7) Spartak Moscow CSKA Moscow Eduard Streltsov
(Torpedo Moscow, 15 goals)
1956 Spartak Moscow (6) Dynamo Moscow CSKA Moscow Vasily Buzunov
(ODO Sverdlovsk, 17 goals)
1957 Dynamo Moscow (8) Torpedo Moscow Spartak Moscow Vasily Buzunov
(CSKA Moscow, 16 goals)
1958 Spartak Moscow (7) Dynamo Moscow CSKA Moscow Anatoli Ilyin
(Spartak Moscow, 19 goals)
1959 Dynamo Moscow (9) Lokomotiv Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Zaur Kaloyev
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 16 goals)
1960 Torpedo Moscow Dynamo Kyiv Dynamo Moscow Zaur Kaloyev
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 20 goals)
Gennady Gusarov
(Torpedo Moscow, 20 goals)
1961 Dynamo Kyiv Torpedo Moscow Spartak Moscow Gennady Gusarov
(Torpedo Moscow, 22 goals)
1962 Spartak Moscow (8) Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Mikhail Mustygin
(Belarus Minsk, 17 goals)
Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-Up 3rd Position Years Won
Spartak Moscow 5 2 2 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962
Dynamo Moscow 4 4 2 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959
CSKA Moscow 2 3 1950, 1951
Torpedo Moscow 1 2 1 1960
Dynamo Kyiv 1 2 1961
Dinamo Tbilisi 2 3
Lokomotiv Moscow 1
Shakhtar Stalino 1
Spartak Minsk 1

Class A (1st Group)

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Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer
1963 Dynamo Moscow (10) Spartak Moscow Dinamo Minsk Oleg Kopayev
(SKA Rostov-on-Don, 27 goals)
1964 Dinamo Tbilisi Torpedo Moscow CSKA Moscow Vladimir Fedotov
(CSKA Moscow, 16 goals)
1965 Torpedo Moscow (2) Dynamo Kyiv CSKA Moscow Oleg Kopayev
(SKA Rostov-on-Don, 18 goals)
1966 Dynamo Kyiv (2) SKA Rostov-on-Don Neftyanik Baku Ilya Datunashvili
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 20 goals)
1967 Dynamo Kyiv (3) Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Mikhail Mustygin
(Dinamo Minsk, 19 goals)
1968 Dynamo Kyiv (4) Spartak Moscow Torpedo Moscow Georgi Gavasheli
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 22 goals)
Berador Abduraimov
(Pakhtakor Tashkent, 22 goals)
1969 Spartak Moscow (9) Dynamo Kyiv Dinamo Tbilisi Nikolai Osyanin
(Spartak Moscow, 16 goals)
Vladimir Proskurin
(SKA Rostov-on-Don, 16 goals)
Dzhemal Kherhadze
(Torpedo Kutaisi, 16 goals)

Class A (Top Group)

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Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer
1970 CSKA Moscow (6) Dynamo Moscow Spartak Moscow Givi Nodia
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 17 goals)

Top League

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Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer
1971 Dynamo Kyiv (5) Ararat Yerevan Dinamo Tbilisi Eduard Malofeyev
(Dinamo Minsk, 16 goals)
1972 Zorya Voroshilovgrad Dynamo Kyiv Dinamo Tbilisi Oleg Blokhin
(Dynamo Kyiv, 14 goals)
1973 Ararat Yerevan Dynamo Kyiv Dynamo Moscow Oleg Blokhin
(Dynamo Kyiv, 18 goals)
1974 Dynamo Kyiv (6) Spartak Moscow Chornomorets Odesa Oleg Blokhin
(Dynamo Kyiv, 20 goals)
1975 Dynamo Kyiv (7) Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Moscow Oleg Blokhin
(Dynamo Kyiv, 18 goals)
1976 (spring) Dynamo Moscow (11) Ararat Yerevan Dinamo Tbilisi Arkady Andreasyan
(Ararat Yerevan, 8 goals)
1976 (autumn) Torpedo Moscow (3) Dynamo Kyiv Dinamo Tbilisi Aleksandr Markin
(Zenit Leningrad, 13 goals)
1977 Dynamo Kyiv (8) Dinamo Tbilisi Torpedo Moscow Oleg Blokhin
(Dynamo Kyiv, 17 goals)
1978 Dinamo Tbilisi (2) Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk Georgi Yartsev
(Spartak Moscow, 19 goals)
1979 Spartak Moscow (10) Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv Vitali Starukhin
(Shakhtar Donetsk, 26 goals)
1980 Dynamo Kyiv (9) Spartak Moscow Zenit Leningrad Sergey Andreyev
(SKA Rostov-on-Don, 20 goals)
1981 Dynamo Kyiv (10) Spartak Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Ramaz Shengelia
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 23 goals)
1982 Dinamo Minsk Dynamo Kyiv Spartak Moscow Andrei Yakubik
(Pakhtakor Tashkent, 23 goals)
1983 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Spartak Moscow Dinamo Minsk Yuri Gavrilov
(Spartak Moscow, 18 goals)
1984 Zenit Leningrad Spartak Moscow Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Sergey Andreyev
(SKA Rostov-on-Don, 20 goals)
1985 Dynamo Kyiv (11) Spartak Moscow Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Oleg Protasov
(Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, 35 goals)
1986 Dynamo Kyiv (12) Dynamo Moscow Spartak Moscow Aleksandr Borodyuk
(Dynamo Moscow, 21 goals)
1987 Spartak Moscow (11) Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Žalgiris Vilnius Oleg Protasov
(Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, 18 goals)
1988 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2) Dynamo Kyiv Torpedo Moscow Yevhen Shakhov
(Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, 16 goals)
Aleksandr Borodyuk
(Dynamo Moscow, 16 goals)
1989 Spartak Moscow (12) Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Dynamo Kyiv Sergey Rodionov
(Spartak Moscow, 16 goals)
1990 Dynamo Kyiv (13) CSKA Moscow Dynamo Moscow Oleg Protasov
(Dynamo Kyiv, 12 goals)
Valery Shmarov
(Spartak Moscow, 12 goals)
1991 CSKA Moscow (7) Spartak Moscow Torpedo Moscow Igor Kolyvanov
(Dynamo Moscow, 18 goals)

Overall statistics

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Performance by club's first teams

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Club Winners Runners-up Third places Years won
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Dynamo Kyiv 13 11 3 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Spartak Moscow 12 12 9 1936 (a), 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Dynamo Moscow 11 11 5 1936 (s), 1937, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1976 (s)
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic CSKA Moscow 7 4 6 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1970, 1991
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Torpedo Moscow 3 3 6 1960, 1965, 1976 (a)
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Dinamo Tbilisi 2 5 13 1964, 1978
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2 2 2 1983, 1988
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Ararat Yerevan 1 2 – 1973
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Dinamo Minsk 1 – 3 1982
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Zenit Leningrad 1 – 1 1984
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Zorya Voroshilovgrad 1 – – 1972
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Shakhtar Donetsk – 2 2 –
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Lokomotiv Moscow – 1 – –
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic SKA Rostov-on-Don – 1 – –
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Serp i Molot Moscow – – 1 –
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Neftchi Baku – – 1
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Chornomorets Odesa – – 1 –
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Žalgiris Vilnius – – 1 –
Total 54 54 54

Performance by republic

[edit]
Republic Winners Runners-up Third places Appearances Number of
representing clubs 		Winning clubs
 Russian SFSR 34 32 28 416 31 Spartak Moscow (12)
Dynamo Moscow (11)
CSKA Moscow (7)
Torpedo Moscow (3)
Zenit Leningrad (1)
 Ukrainian SSR 16 15 8 191 15 Dynamo Kyiv (13)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2)
Zorya Voroshilovgrad (1)
 Georgian SSR 2 5 13 68 5 Dinamo Tbilisi (2)
 Armenian SSR 1 2 – 33 1 Ararat Yerevan (1)
 Byelorussian SSR 1 – 3 39 1 Dinamo Minsk (1)
 Azerbaijan SSR – – 1 29 3
 Lithuanian SSR – – 1 11 1
 Kazakh SSR – – – 24 1
 Uzbek SSR – – – 22 1
 Moldavian SSR – – – 7 1
 Latvian SSR – – – 7 1
 Tajik SSR – – – 3 1
 Estonian SSR – – – 2 1
Total 54 54 54

The republics that were never represented at the top level were the Turkmen SSR and the Kyrgyz SSR. Also, in Soviet football Russian SFSR teams were technically represented by three different entities with Moscow and Leningrad as the Union federal cities teams considered separately from the rest of Russian teams.

All-time table

[edit]
Team Republic Seasons First
season		 Last
season		 Played Won Drawn Lost Goals
for		 Goals
against		 Points1 1st 2nd 3rd
Spartak Moscow Russia 53 1936 1991 1453 722 385 346 2483 1467 1821 12 12 9
Dynamo Kyiv Ukraine 54 1936 1991 1483 681 456 346 2306 1566 1810 13 11 3
Dinamo Moscow Russia 54 1936 1991 1485 707 404 374 2435 1457 1805 11 11 5
Dinamo Tbilisi Georgia 51 1936 1989 1424 621 406 397 2176 1677 1642 2 5 13
Torpedo Moscow Russia 51 1938 1991 1455 601 433 421 2059 1656 1613 3 3 6
CSKA Moscow[7] Russia 48 1936 1991 1326 585 363 378 2030 1451 1524 7 4 6
Zenit Leningrad[8] Russia 49 1938 1989 1402 464 411 527 1725 1914 1328 1 - 1
Shakhter Donetsk[9] Ukraine 44 1938 1991 1288 434 379 475 1522 1641 1241 - 2 2
Dinamo Minsk (Spartak Minsk) Belarus 33 1945 1991 1053 342 319 392 1162 1297 989 1 - 3
Ararat Yerevan[10] Armenia 33 1949 1991 1026 352 280 394 1150 1306 972 1 2 -
Lokomotiv Moscow Russia 38 1936 1991 1001 303 289 409 1218 1431 888 - 1 -
Neftchi Baku[11] Azerbaijan 27 1949 1988 884 253 270 361 907 1141 771 - - 1
Chernomorets Odesa Ukraine 24 1965 1991 738 244 217 277 777 884 699 - - 1
Kairat Almata Kazakhstan 24 1960 1988 780 226 234 320 742 983 678 - - -
Pakhtakor Tashkent Uzbekistan 22 1960 1991 722 212 211 299 805 1035 629 - - -
SKA Rostov-on-Don[12] Russia 21 1959 1985 680 218 194 268 843 911 620 - 1 -
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine 19 1972 1991 554 227 154 173 729 634 604 2 2 2
Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev[13] Russia 26 1946 1979 715 185 209 321 675 996 579 - - -
Metallist Kharkiv[14] Ukraine 14 1960 1991 438 133 124 181 413 530 390 - - -
Zorya Voroshilovgrad Ukraine 14 1967 1979 412 125 135 152 416 469 377 1 - -
Dynamo Leningrad Russia 17 1936 1963 397 135 102 160 589 649 372 - - -
Torpedo Kutaisi Georgia 13 1962 1986 439 104 129 206 395 655 335 - - -
Žalgiris Vilnius[15] Lithuania 11 1953 1989 330 107 93 130 349 463 305 - - 1
Rotor Volgograd[16] Russia 11 1938 1990 293 91 66 136 352 488 248 - - -
Nistru Chişinău[17] Moldova 11 1956 1983 312 69 84 159 312 534 222 - - -
Karpaty Lviv Ukraine 9 1971 1980 244 68 85 91 250 301 218 - - -
VVS Moscow Russia 6 1947 1952 161 58 32 71 235 270 148 - - -
Daugava Riga Latvia 7 1949 1962 203 51 48 104 198 311 150 - - -
Krylya Sovetov Moscow Russia 6 1938 1948 143 32 39 72 145 259 103 - - -
Metallurg Moscow Russia 4 1937 1940 91 40 17 34 173 170 97 - - 1
Lokomotiv Kharkiv Ukraine 4 1949 1954 34 23 57 47 112 176 91 - - -
Kuban Krasnodar Russia 3 1980 1982 102 29 26 47 111 145 84 - - -
Admiralteyets Leningrad Russia 3 1958 1961 84 26 17 41 122 149 69 - - -
Pamir Dushanbe Tajikistan 3 1989 1991 84 21 27 36 74 104 69 - - -
Elektrik Leningrad[18] Russia 5 1936 1939 80 22 18 40 112 163 62 - - -
Fakel Voronezh[19] Russia 2 1961 1985 66 20 17 29 63 83 57 - - -
Trudovye Rezervy Leningrad Russia 3 1954 1956 68 16 23 29 82 113 55 - - -
Volga Gorky[20] Russia 3 1951 1964 85 14 27 44 58 143 55 - - -
Spartak Tbilisi Georgia 2 1950 1951 64 21 11 32 82 109 53 - - -
Spartak Vladikavkaz Russia 2 1970 1991 62 16 16 30 64 89 48 - - -
Dinamo Odesa Ukraine 2 1938 1939 51 16 13 22 64 102 45 - - -
SKA Odesa Ukraine 2 1965 1966 68 4 19 45 38 121 27 - - -
Metallurg Zaporizhya Ukraine 1 1991 1991 30 9 7 14 27 38 25 - - -
VMS Moscow Russia 1 1951 1951 28 7 9 12 30 50 23 - - -
Tavriya Simferopol Ukraine 1 1981 1981 34 8 7 19 27 54 23 - - -
Selmash Kharkiv Ukraine 1 1938 1938 25 8 6 11 34 45 22 - - -
Uralmash Sverdlovsk Russia 1 1969 1969 34 7 8 19 19 39 22 - - -
Stalinets Moscow Russia 1 1938 1938 25 8 5 12 36 44 21 - - -
Lokomotyv Kyiv Ukraine 1 1938 1938 25 8 5 12 43 64 21 - - -
Shinnik Yaroslavl Russia 1 1964 1964 32 6 9 17 20 48 21 - - -
Dynamo Rostov-on-Don Russia 1 1938 1938 25 7 6 12 39 43 20 - - -
Temp Baku Azerbaijan 1 1938 1938 25 6 8 11 33 40 20 - - -
Spartak Leningrad Russia 1 1938 1938 25 6 8 11 30 39 20 - - -
Kalev Tallinn Estonia 2 1960 1961 58 3 14 41 46 146 20 - - -
Dynamo Kirovabad Azerbaijan 1 1968 1968 38 5 9 24 25 59 19 - - -
Guria Lanchkhuti Georgia 1 1987 1987 30 5 8 17 18 38 18 - - -
Spartak Kharkiv Ukraine 1 1938 1938 25 5 7 13 43 63 17 - - -
Zenit (Bolshevik) Leningrad Russia 1 1938 1938 25 7 3 15 35 57 17 - - -
ODO Sverdlovsk Russia 1 1956 1956 22 6 4 12 31 45 16 - - -
Pishchevik Moscow Russia 1 1938 1938 25 5 6 14 25 53 16 - - -
Lokomotivi Tbilisi Georgia 1 1938 1938 25 5 5 15 44 62 15 - - -
Kalinin city team Russia 1 1952 1952 13 5 4 4 19 19 14 - - -
Burevestnik Moscow Russia 1 1938 1938 25 4 4 17 28 87 12 - - -

1Two points for a win. In 1973, a point for a draw was awarded only to a team that won the subsequent penalty shootout. In 1978–1988, the number of draws for which points were awarded was limited.

Best coaches

[edit]
Place Name Medals Champion clubs
gold silver bronze
1 Valeriy Lobanovsky 7 4 2 Dynamo Kyiv
2 Mikhail Yakushin 6 6 1 Dynamo Moscow
3 Boris Arkadiev 6 2 2 CSKA Moscow (5), Dynamo Moscow (1)
4 Viktor Maslov 4 4 - Dynamo Kyiv (3), Torpedo Moscow (1)
5 Nikita Simonyan 3 2 2 Spartak Moscow (2), Ararat Yerevan (1)
6 Konstantin Beskov 2 7 2 Spartak Moscow
7 Aleksandr Sevidov 2 2 2 Dynamo Kyiv (1), Dynamo Moscow (1)
8-9 Nikolay Gulyayev 2 2 1 Spartak Moscow
Konstantin Kvashnin 2 2 1 Spartak Moscow (1), Dynamo Moscow (1)
10-11 Vasily Sokolov 2 1 - Spartak Moscow
Pavel Sadyrin 2 1 - Zenit Leningrad (1), CSKA Moscow (1)

Notes:

  • Clubs are shown those with which the listed coaches made the top-3, i.e. Beskov won two Top league titles and all with Spartak, but he also managed Dynamo with which he was a league runner-up.

Awards and prizes

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Starting since 1958 beside medals of the regular Soviet championship, participants were awarded number of prizes (~ 18 regular prizes) that were established by various sports and public organizations, editorial offices of newspapers and magazines.

  a prize that had different name and created by someone else
  a prize that was superseded by another
  brief-lasting awards, less than 5 seasons
Prize Creator Years
The best footballer of the Year "Futbol" weekly 1964—1991
The best goalie of the Year "Ogonyok" magazine 1960—1991
The best topscorer "Trud" newspaper 1958—1991
The Knight of the Attack "Sovetskiy voin" magazine 1984—1991
Loyalty to the club "Prapor kommunizma" Kyiv newspaper 1986—1989
The best debutant of the season "Smena" magazine 1964—1975
The best newcomer "Sportivnye igry" magazine 1986—1991
To the attack setter "Stroitelnaya gazeta" 1988—1989
With both squads Football Federation (Section) of the USSR 1958—1991
Commemorative Prize of Grigoriy Fedotov CSKA 1958—1991
For the fair play "Sovetskiy sport" newspaper 1958—1969
Fair Play "Chelovek i zakon" magazine 1974—1991
The big score "Futbol" weekly 1961—1991
For the will to victory "Sovetskaya Rossiya" newspaper 1962—1991
For the best difference in goals "Start" Ukrainian magazine 1966—1991
The challenging guest "Komsomolskoye znamya" Kyiv newspaper 1966—1991
The trouble for the elites[a] "Sportivnaya Moskva" weekly 1976—1991
Honor to the flag Alma-Ata newspaper "Leninskaya smena" 1969—1978
Cup of the progress Kyiv "Rabochaya gazeta" 1971—1991
Together with a team Presidium of the Football Federation of sport societies trade unions 1978—1990
The First height Newspaper "Sotsialisticheskaya industriya" 1983—1991
For nobility and courage Leningrad magazine "Avrora" 1987—1989
For the most beautiful goal of the season Newspaper "Moskovskiy komsomolets"
television program "Futbolnoye obozreniye"		 1964—1991

Soviet football championship among reserves

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Season Champion Runner-Up 3rd Position Top Goalscorer
1945 Dinamo Moscow (1) ? ?
1946 Spartak Moscow (1) Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Moscow
1947 CSKA Moscow (1) Dinamo Moscow Dinamo Kyiv
1948 CSKA Moscow (2) Spartak Moscow VVS Moscow
1949 Dinamo Kyiv (1) CSKA Moscow Spartak Moscow
1950 CDKA Moscow (3) VVS Moscow Spartak Moscow
1951 CDKA Moscow (4) Dinamo Moscow VVS Moscow
1952 Dinamo Moscow (2) Dinamo Kyiv Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev
1953 Spartak Moscow (2) Lokomotiv Moscow Dinamo Kyiv
1954 Spartak Moscow (3) CDSA Moscow Lokomotiv Moscow
1955 Spartak Moscow (4) Dinamo Tbilisi CDSA Moscow
1956 Spartak Moscow (5) Dinamo Moscow Lokomotiv Moscow
1957 Dinamo Moscow (3) Spartak Moscow CSK MO Moscow
1958 Spartak Moscow (6) Dinamo Moscow Zenit Leningrad
1959 Torpedo Moscow (1) CSK MO Moscow Spartak Moscow
1960 CSKA Moscow (5) Dinamo Moscow Dinamo Kyiv
1961 Spartak Moscow (7) SKA Rostov-na-Donu Dinamo Kyiv
1962 Spartak Moscow (8) Dinamo Kyiv Dinamo Moscow
1963 Dinamo Kyiv (2) CSKA Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi
1964 Dinamo Tbilisi (1) Dinamo Kyiv CSKA Moscow
1965 Dinamo Kyiv (3) Lokomotiv Moscow CSKA Moscow
1966 Dinamo Kyiv (4) Dinamo Tbilisi Neftchi Baku
1967 Shakhter Donetsk (1) Dinamo Kyiv Dinamo Moscow
1968 Dinamo Kyiv (5) Shakhter Donetsk Dinamo Moscow
1969 Shakhter Donetsk (2) Dinamo Moscow CSKA Moscow
1970 Dinamo Moscow (4) Spartak Moscow CSKA Moscow
1971 Dinamo Moscow (5) SKA Rostov-na-Donu CSKA Moscow
1972 Dinamo Kyiv (6) Torpedo Moscow Karpaty Lviv
1973 FC Ararat Yerevan (1) Kairat Alma-Ata CSKA Moscow
1974 Dinamo Kyiv (7) Dinamo Moscow Chernomorets Odesa
1975 Torpedo Moscow (2) Spartak Moscow Dinamo Kyiv
1976 Dinamo Kyiv (8) Shakhter Donetsk Karpaty Lviv
1977 Dinamo Kyiv (9) Shakhter Donetsk Torpedo Moscow
1978 Dinamo Tbilisi (2) CSKA Moscow Dinamo Kyiv
1979 CSKA Moscow (6) Neftchi Baku Dinamo Kyiv
1980 Dinamo Kyiv (10) Dinamo Moscow Spartak Moscow
1981 Dinamo Kyiv (11) Dinamo Tbilisi Zenit Leningrad
1982 Dinamo Kyiv (12) Spartak Moscow Dinamo Minsk
1983 Dinamo Kyiv (13) CSKA Moscow Dinamo Moscow
1984 Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk (1) Dinamo Kyiv Dinamo Tbilisi
1985 Dinamo Kyiv (14) Spartak Moscow Torpedo Moscow
1986 Spartak Moscow (9) Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk Dinamo Kyiv
1987 Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk (2) Spartak Moscow Zalgiris Vilnius
1988 Dinamo Moscow (7) Dinamo Kyiv Spartak Moscow
1989 Dinamo Minsk (1) Spartak Moscow Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk
1990 Dinamo Kyiv (15) Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk Spartak Moscow
1991 Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk (3) Dinamo Minsk Spartak Moscow

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Fear-striker to the famed (favourites)

References

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  1. ^ Ukrainian: Вища ліга, romanized: Vyshcha Liga; Belarusian: Вышэйшая ліга, romanized: Vysheyshaya Liga
  2. ^ Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations from the President of the Russian Federation
  3. ^ Bühler, Konrad G. (2001). State Succession and Membership in International Organizations. Legal Aspects of International Organization Series. Vol. 38. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 158–64. ISBN 9789041115539.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Keys, B.J.; Keys, A.P.U.S.I.H.B.J. (2006). Globalizing Sport: National Rivalry and International Community in the 1930s. Harvard historical studies. Harvard University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-674-02326-0.
  5. ^ Vartanian, A. 1936. A child of "Spartak" and Komsomol (ГОД 1936. ДЕТИЩЕ "СПАРТАКА" И КОМСОМОЛА). Sport-Express. 2005
  6. ^ a b c d e f Edelman, R. (2012). Spartak Moscow: A History of the People's Team in the Workers' State. Cornell University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8014-6613-7.
  7. ^ Includes appearances as CDKA Moscow, CDSA Moscow, and CSK MO Moscow, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  8. ^ Includes appearances as Stalinets Leningrad, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  9. ^ Includes appearances as Stakhanovets Stalino, see club history Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  10. ^ Includes appearances as Dynamo Yerevan and Spartak Yerevan, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  11. ^ Includes appearances as Neftyanik Baku, see club history at KLISF
  12. ^ Includes appearance as SKVO Rostov-on-Don, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  13. ^ Includes appearance as Zenit Kuybyshev, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  14. ^ Includes appearances as Avangard Kharkiv, see club history Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  15. ^ Includes appearances as Spartak Vilnius, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  16. ^ Includes appearances as Traktor Stalingrad and Torpedo Stalingrad, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  17. ^ Includes appearances as Burevestnik Kishinev and Moldova Kishinev, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  18. ^ Includes appearances as Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad, see club history at KLISF
  19. ^ Includes appearance as Trud Voronezh, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
  20. ^ Includes appearances as Torpedo Gorky, see club history Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine at KLISF
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