Soviet Top League
| Country | Soviet Union |
|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Founded | 22 May 1936 |
| Folded |
1991 due to fall of USSR after 54 seasons |
| Divisions | 1 |
| Number of teams | varied |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Relegation to | Soviet First League |
| Domestic cup(s) |
Soviet Cup USSR Super Cup |
| League cup(s) | USSR Federation Cup |
| International cup(s) |
European Cup UEFA Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup |
| Last champions |
CSKA Moscow (1991) |
| Most championships | Dynamo Kiev (13) |
| Top goalscorer | 211 - Oleg Blokhin |
The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Supreme League (Russian: Высшая лига[1]) served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991.
It was one of the best football leagues in Europe, ranking second among the UEFA members in 1988-1989 seasons. Three of its representatives reached the finals of the European club tournaments on four occasions: FC Dynamo Kiev, FC Dinamo Tbilisi, and FC Dynamo Moscow. According to UEFA the main successor of the league became the Russian Premier League.
Overview
General outlook
The most prominent clubs of the league were FC Dynamo Kiev, FC Spartak Moscow, and FC Dynamo Moscow. The most popular clubs besides the above mentioned were PFC CSKA Moscow and FC Dinamo Tbilisi. The first team that won 10 championships was Dynamo Moscow in 1963, followed by Spartak in 1979. Dinamo Tbilisi became famous for finishing third but never winning the title, the first title they won in 1964. Perceived as exclusively Russian by people from other countries, the league was truly multinational with all the republics in the USSR being represented. The Russian representation was almost exclusively from Moscow.
Eleven clubs spent over 30 seasons in the league with just under half (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). Ukraine was also often represented by Shakhtar Donetsk (Miners) and later by Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk who were strong in the 1980s.
After the league's reorganization number of Ukrainian-based clubs grew and in the last seasons before the breakup of the USSR, Ukraine was often equally represented with the Russian clubs. Among the Soviet sports societies most successful were Dynamo and Army clubs, both of which also were closely associated with state enforcing agencies.
Development
Over the years the league has changed, however since the 1970s its competition structure has solidified with 16 participants, except from 1979 through 1985 when the number of participants was extended to 18. Because of the dissolution of the Soviet Union the structure of the league has also became unstable as more and more clubs lost interest continuing participation in the league. Attempts to reorganize the league took place, however practically all of them were not successful.
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 1960s saw the emergence of a new Soviet football elite in Torpedo Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv. While Moscow's automakers did not manage to grow into perennial challengers, the team from the Ukrainian capital became an unofficial feeder for the Soviet national team, replacing Dynamo Moscow. 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. The Peter's men having a rich history in Russian football but for a long were unable to break the dominance of the Moscow-based clubs, or that of Dynamo Tbilisi and Kiev.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there was a suggestion that the competition would be re-established along the lines of the Commonwealth of Independent States Cup, but due to lack of interest on various levels the venture was never implemented. There were various other similar initiatives which ultimately found no support and were discontinued.
Documentation
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
Since its creation, the Soviet Top League's name changed a quite few times:
- 1936 – 1941 Group A (Группа А)
Prior to the 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
The first time the Soviet League was represented in Europe in 1965 by Dynamo Kiev. 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 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.
Champions and top goalscorers
- 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
| Season | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Position | Top Goalscorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 (spring) | Dynamo Moscow | Dynamo Kiev | 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 Kiev | Boris Paichadze (Dinamo Tbilisi, 8 goals) Leonid Rumyantsev (Spartak Moscow, 8 goals) Vasily Smirnov (Dynamo Moscow, 8 goals) |
| 1938 | Spartak Moscow (2) | CDKA Moscow | Metallurg Moscow | Makar Honcharenko (Dinamo Kiev, 19 goals) |
| 1939 | Spartak Moscow (3) | Dinamo Tbilisi | CDKA Moscow | Grigory Fedotov (CDKA Moscow, 21 goals) |
| 1940 | Dynamo Moscow (3) | Dinamo Tbilisi | Spartak Moscow | Grigory Fedotov (CDKA 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 | ||
| CDKA Moscow | 1 | 1 | ||
| Dynamo Kiev | 1 | 1 | ||
| Metallurg Moscow | 1 |
First group
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDKA Moscow | 3 | 2 | 1946, 1947, 1948 | |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2 | 3 | 1945, 1949 | |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2 | |||
| Spartak Moscow | 2 | |||
| Torpedo Moscow | 1 |
Class A
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 Kiev | 1 | 2 | 1961 | |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2 | 3 | ||
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 1 | |||
| Shakhtor Stalino | 1 | |||
| Spartak Minsk | 1 |
Class A (1st Group)
| Season | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Position | Top Goalscorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Dynamo Moscow (10) | Spartak Moscow | Dinamo Minsk | Oleg Kopaev (SKA Rostov-on-Don, 27 goals) |
| 1964 | Dinamo Tbilisi | Torpedo Moscow | CSKA Moscow | Vladimir Fedotov (CSKA Moscow, 16 goals) |
| 1965 | Torpedo Moscow (2) | Dynamo Kiev | CSKA Moscow | Oleg Kopaev (SKA Rostov-on-Don, 18 goals) |
| 1966 | Dynamo Kiev (2) | SKA Rostov-on-Don | Neftyanik Baku | Ilya Datunashvili (Dinamo Tbilisi, 20 goals) |
| 1967 | Dynamo Kiev (3) | Dynamo Moscow | Dinamo Tbilisi | Mikhail Mustygin (Dinamo Minsk, 19 goals) |
| 1968 | Dynamo Kiev (4) | Torpedo Moscow | Spartak Moscow | Georgi Gavasheli (Dinamo Tbilisi, 22 goals) Berador Abduraimov (Pakhtakor Tashkent, 22 goals) |
| 1969 | Spartak Moscow (9) | Dynamo Kiev | Dinamo Tbilisi | Nikolai Osyanin (Spartak Moscow, 16 goals) Vladimir Proskurin (SKA Rostov-on-Don, 16 goals) Dzhemal Kherhadze (Torpedo Kutaisi, 16 goals) |
Supreme League (Top League)
Overall statistics
Performance by club
| Club | Winners | Runners-Up | 3rd Position | Years Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamo Kiev | 13 | 11 | 3 | 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990 |
| Spartak Moscow | 12 | 11 | 10 | 1936a, 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 11 | 11 | 5 | 1936s, 1937, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1976s |
| CSKA Moscow | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1970, 1991 |
| Torpedo Moscow | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1960, 1965, 1976a |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2 | 5 | 13 | 1964, 1978 |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1983, 1988 |
| Ararat Yerevan | 1 | 2 | 1973 | |
| Dinamo Minsk | 1 | 3 | 1982 | |
| Zenit Leningrad | 1 | 1 | 1984 | |
| Zorya Voroshilovgrad | 1 | 1972 | ||
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 | 2 | ||
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 1 | |||
| SKA Rostov-on-Don | 1 | |||
| Serp i Molot Moscow | 1 | |||
| Neftchi Baku | 1 | |||
| Chornomorets Odessa | 1 | |||
| Žalgiris Vilnius | 1 |
Performance by republic
| Republic | Winners | Runners-Up | 3rd Position | 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 | 14 | Dynamo Kiev (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 |
Republics never represented at top-level were the Turkmen SSR and the Kyrgyz SSR
All-time table
| Team | Republic | Seasons | First season | Last season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals for | Goals against | Points1 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spartak Moscow | RUS | 53 | 1936 | 1991 | 1453 | 722 | 385 | 346 | 2483 | 1467 | 1821 | 12 | 12 | 9 |
| Dinamo Kiev | UKR | 54 | 1936 | 1991 | 1483 | 681 | 456 | 346 | 2306 | 1566 | 1810 | 13 | 11 | 3 |
| Dinamo Moscow | RUS | 54 | 1936 | 1991 | 1485 | 707 | 404 | 374 | 2435 | 1457 | 1805 | 11 | 11 | 5 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | GEO | 51 | 1936 | 1989 | 1724 | 621 | 406 | 397 | 2176 | 1677 | 1642 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| Torpedo Moscow | RUS | 51 | 1938 | 1991 | 1455 | 601 | 433 | 421 | 2059 | 1656 | 1613 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| CSKA Moscow[2] | RUS | 48 | 1936 | 1991 | 1326 | 585 | 363 | 378 | 2030 | 1451 | 1524 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| Zenit Leningrad[3] | RUS | 49 | 1938 | 1989 | 1402 | 464 | 411 | 527 | 1725 | 1914 | 1328 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Shakhter Donetsk[4] | UKR | 44 | 1938 | 1991 | 1288 | 434 | 379 | 475 | 1522 | 1641 | 1241 | - | 2 | 2 |
| Dinamo Minsk (Spartak Minsk) | BLR | 33 | 1945 | 1991 | 1053 | 342 | 319 | 392 | 1162 | 1297 | 989 | 1 | - | 3 |
| Ararat Yerevan[5] | ARM | 33 | 1949 | 1991 | 1026 | 352 | 280 | 394 | 1150 | 1306 | 972 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | RUS | 38 | 1936 | 1991 | 1001 | 303 | 289 | 409 | 1218 | 1431 | 888 | - | 1 | - |
| Neftchi Baku[6] | AZE | 27 | 1949 | 1988 | 884 | 253 | 270 | 361 | 907 | 1141 | 771 | - | - | 1 |
| Chernomorets Odessa | UKR | 24 | 1965 | 1991 | 738 | 244 | 217 | 277 | 777 | 884 | 699 | - | - | 1 |
| Kairat Almata | KAZ | 24 | 1960 | 1988 | 780 | 226 | 234 | 320 | 742 | 983 | 678 | - | - | - |
| Pakhtakor Tashkent | UZB | 22 | 1960 | 1991 | 722 | 212 | 211 | 299 | 805 | 1035 | 629 | - | - | - |
| SKA Rostov-on-Don[7] | RUS | 21 | 1959 | 1985 | 680 | 218 | 194 | 268 | 843 | 911 | 620 | - | 1 | - |
| Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk | UKR | 19 | 1972 | 1991 | 554 | 227 | 154 | 173 | 729 | 634 | 604 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev[8] | RUS | 26 | 1946 | 1979 | 715 | 185 | 209 | 321 | 675 | 996 | 579 | - | - | - |
| Metallist Kharkov[9] | UKR | 14 | 1960 | 1991 | 438 | 133 | 124 | 181 | 413 | 530 | 390 | - | - | - |
| Zorya Voroshilovgrad | UKR | 14 | 1967 | 1979 | 412 | 125 | 135 | 152 | 416 | 469 | 377 | 1 | - | - |
| Dinamo Leningrad | RUS | 17 | 1936 | 1963 | 397 | 135 | 102 | 160 | 589 | 649 | 372 | - | - | - |
| Torpedo Kutaisi | GEO | 13 | 1962 | 1986 | 439 | 104 | 129 | 206 | 395 | 655 | 335 | - | - | - |
| Žalgiris Vilnius[10] | LIT | 11 | 1953 | 1989 | 330 | 107 | 93 | 130 | 349 | 463 | 305 | - | - | 1 |
| Rotor Volgograd[11] | RUS | 11 | 1938 | 1990 | 293 | 91 | 66 | 136 | 352 | 488 | 248 | - | - | - |
| Nistru Chişinău[12] | MLD | 11 | 1956 | 1983 | 312 | 69 | 84 | 159 | 312 | 534 | 222 | - | - | - |
| Karpaty Lvov | UKR | 9 | 1971 | 1980 | 244 | 68 | 85 | 91 | 250 | 301 | 218 | - | - | - |
| VVS Moscow | RUS | 6 | 1947 | 1952 | 161 | 58 | 32 | 71 | 235 | 270 | 148 | - | - | - |
| Daugava Riga | LAT | 7 | 1949 | 1962 | 203 | 51 | 48 | 104 | 198 | 311 | 150 | - | - | - |
| Krylya Sovetov Moscow | RUS | 6 | 1938 | 1948 | 143 | 32 | 39 | 72 | 145 | 259 | 103 | - | - | - |
| Metallurg Moscow | RUS | 4 | 1937 | 1940 | 91 | 40 | 17 | 34 | 173 | 170 | 97 | - | - | 1 |
| Lokomotiv Kharkov | UKR | 4 | 1949 | 1954 | 34 | 23 | 57 | 47 | 112 | 176 | 91 | - | - | - |
| Kuban Krasnodar | RUS | 3 | 1980 | 1982 | 102 | 29 | 26 | 47 | 111 | 145 | 84 | - | - | - |
| Admiralteyets Leningrad | RUS | 3 | 1958 | 1961 | 84 | 26 | 17 | 41 | 122 | 149 | 69 | - | - | - |
| Pamir Dushanbe | TJK | 3 | 1989 | 1991 | 84 | 21 | 27 | 36 | 74 | 104 | 69 | - | - | - |
| Elektrik Leningrad[13] | RUS | 5 | 1936 | 1939 | 80 | 22 | 18 | 40 | 112 | 163 | 62 | - | - | - |
| Fakel Voronezh[14] | RUS | 2 | 1961 | 1985 | 66 | 20 | 17 | 29 | 63 | 83 | 57 | - | - | - |
| Trudovye Rezervy Leningrad | RUS | 3 | 1954 | 1956 | 68 | 16 | 23 | 29 | 82 | 113 | 55 | - | - | - |
| Volga Gorky[15] | RUS | 3 | 1951 | 1964 | 85 | 14 | 27 | 44 | 58 | 143 | 55 | - | - | - |
| Spartak Tbilisi | GEO | 2 | 1950 | 1951 | 64 | 21 | 11 | 32 | 82 | 109 | 53 | - | - | - |
| Spartak Vladikavkaz | RUS | 2 | 1970 | 1991 | 62 | 16 | 16 | 30 | 64 | 89 | 48 | - | - | - |
| Dinamo Odessa | UKR | 2 | 1938 | 1939 | 51 | 16 | 13 | 22 | 64 | 102 | 45 | - | - | - |
| SKA Odessa | UKR | 2 | 1965 | 1966 | 68 | 4 | 19 | 45 | 38 | 121 | 27 | - | - | - |
| Metallurg Zaporozhye | UKR | 1 | 1991 | 1991 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 27 | 38 | 25 | - | - | - |
| VMS Moscow | RUS | 1 | 1951 | 1951 | 28 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 30 | 50 | 23 | - | - | - |
| Tavriya Simferopol | UKR | 1 | 1981 | 1981 | 34 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 27 | 54 | 23 | - | - | - |
| Selmash Kharkov | UKR | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 34 | 45 | 22 | - | - | - |
| Uralmash Sverdlovsk | RUS | 1 | 1969 | 1969 | 34 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 19 | 39 | 22 | - | - | - |
| Stalinets Moscow | RUS | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 36 | 44 | 21 | - | - | - |
| Lokomotiv Kiev | UKR | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 43 | 64 | 21 | - | - | - |
| Shinnik Yaroslavl | RUS | 1 | 1964 | 1964 | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 20 | 48 | 21 | - | - | - |
| Dynamo Rostov-on-Don | RUS | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 39 | 43 | 20 | - | - | - |
| Temp Baku | AZE | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 33 | 40 | 20 | - | - | - |
| Spartak Leningrad | RUS | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 30 | 39 | 20 | - | - | - |
| Kalev Tallinn | EST | 2 | 1960 | 1961 | 58 | 3 | 14 | 41 | 46 | 146 | 20 | - | - | - |
| Dynamo Kirovabad | AZE | 1 | 1968 | 1968 | 38 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 25 | 59 | 19 | - | - | - |
| Guria Lanchkhuti | GEO | 1 | 1987 | 1987 | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 18 | 38 | 18 | - | - | - |
| Spartak Kharkov | UKR | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 43 | 63 | 17 | - | - | - |
| Zenit (Bolshevik) Leningrad | RUS | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 35 | 57 | 17 | - | - | - |
| ODO Sverdlovsk | RUS | 1 | 1956 | 1956 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 31 | 45 | 16 | - | - | - |
| Pishchevik Moscow | RUS | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 25 | 53 | 16 | - | - | - |
| Lokomotiv Tbilisi | GEO | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 44 | 62 | 15 | - | - | - |
| Kalinin city team | RUS | 1 | 1952 | 1952 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 19 | 14 | - | - | - |
| Burevestnik Moscow | RUS | 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
| Place | Name | Medals | Champion clubs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gold | silver | bronze | |||
| 1 | Valeriy Lobanovsky | 8 | 4 | 2 | Dynamo Kiev |
| 2 | Mikhail Yakushin | 6 | 6 | 1 | Dynamo Moscow |
| 3 | Boris Arkadiev | 6 | 2 | 2 | CDKA Moscow (5), Dynamo Moscow (1) |
| 4 | Viktor Maslov | 4 | 4 | - | Dynamo Kiev (3), Torpedo Moscow (1) |
| 5 | Nikita Simonyan | 3 | 2 | 2 | Spartak Moscow (2), Ararat Yerevan (1) |
| 6 | Konstantin Beskov | 2 | 7 | 2 | Spartak Moscow (2), Dynamo Moscow |
| 7 | Aleksandr Sevidov | 2 | 2 | 2 | Dynamo Kiev (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) | |
See also
- National Leagues of the former Soviet republics
|
References
- ↑ Ukrainian: Вища ліга; Belarusian: Вышэйшая ліга
- ↑ Includes appearances as CDKA Moscow, CDSA Moscow, and CSK MO Moscow, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Stalinets Leningrad, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Stakhanovets Stalino, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Dynamo Yerevan and Spartak Yerevan, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Neftyanik Baku, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearance as SKVO Rostov-on-Don, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearance as Zenit Kuybyshev, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Avangard Kharkov, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Spartak Vilnius, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Traktor Stalingrad and Torpedo Stalingrad, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Burevestnik Kishinev and Moldova Kishinev, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearance as Trud Voronezh, see club history at KLISF
- ↑ Includes appearances as Torpedo Gorky, see club history at KLISF
External links
- USSR (Soviet Union) – Final Tables, rsssf.com. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
- Russian Portal about Soviet Football, sovfootball.ru.
- USSR&Russian soccers tables
- An extensive database of game protocols and statistics (Russian)
- Media Biblioteca of the Soviets Football
- Media Biblioteca of the Soviets Football in VK
| ||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||