Soviet Top League

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Soviet Top League
Высшая лига
Countries Soviet Union
Confederation UEFA
Founded 22 May 1936
Folded 1991
after 54 seasons
Divisions 1
Number of teams varied
Levels 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 Kyiv (13)
Top goalscorer 211 - Oleh Blokhin

The Soviet Top League since 1970 was officially known as the Supreme League (Russian: Высшая лига[1]) serving as the top division of Soviet Union football since 1936.

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 Kyiv, FC Dynamo Tbilisi, and FC Dynamo Moscow. According to UEFA the main successor of the league became the Russian Premier League.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] General outlook

The most prominent clubs of the league were FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Spartak Moscow, and FC Dynamo Moscow. The most popular clubs beside of the above mentioned were PFC CSKA Moscow and FC Dynamo 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). The Ukraine was also often represented by Shakhtar Donetsk (Miners) and later by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 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 the 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.

[edit] Development

Over the years the league has changed, however since 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 1960's 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 CDKA 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 1980's 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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)

[edit] European representation

The first time the Soviet League was represented in Europe in 1967 and until 1972 no more than only two teams participated in the continental competitions. The first club that participated in the European competitions was Dynamo Kyiv. In its first year the club managed to make to 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 1968-69 edition all Warsaw Pact countries boycotted the continental competitions. Since 1974 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. Only in 1982-83 season the league ranking fell under the 10th place. Since 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.

[edit] 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.
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) CDKA Moscow Metallurg Moscow Makar Goncharenko
(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
1945 Dynamo Moscow (4) CDKA Moscow Torpedo Moscow Vsevolod Bobrov
(CDKA Moscow, 24 goals)
1946 CDKA Moscow Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Aleksandr Ponomaryov
(Torpedo Moscow, 18 goals)
1947 CDKA Moscow (2) Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Vsevolod Bobrov
(CDKA Moscow, 14 goals)
Valentin Nikolayev
(CDKA Moscow, 14 goals)
Sergei Solovyov
(Dynamo Moscow, 14 goals)
1948 CDKA Moscow (3) Dynamo Moscow Spartak Moscow Sergei Solovyov
(Dynamo Moscow, 25 goals)
1949 Dynamo Moscow (5) CDKA Moscow Spartak Moscow Nikita Simonyan
(Spartak Moscow, 26 goals)
1950 CDKA Moscow (4) Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi Nikita Simonyan
(Spartak Moscow, 34 goals)
1951 CDSA Moscow (5) Dinamo Tbilisi Shakhter 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 CDSA Moscow Eduard Streltsov
(Torpedo Moscow, 15 goals)
1956 Spartak Moscow (6) Dynamo Moscow CDSA Moscow Vasily Buzunov
(ODO Sverdlovsk, 17 goals)
1957 Dynamo Moscow (8) Torpedo Moscow Spartak Moscow Vasily Buzunov
(CSK MO Moscow, 16 goals)
1958 Spartak Moscow (7) Dynamo Moscow CSK MO 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)
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 Kyiv CSKA Moscow Oleg Kopaev
(SKA Rostov-on-Don, 18 goals)
1966 Dynamo Kyiv (2) SKA Rostov-on-Don Neftchi 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) Torpedo Moscow Spartak 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)
1970 CSKA Moscow (6) Dynamo Moscow Spartak Moscow Givi Nodia
(Dinamo Tbilisi, 17 goals)
1971 Dynamo Kyiv (5) Ararat Yerevan Dinamo Tbilisi Eduard Malofeev
(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 Odessa 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 Andreasian
(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 Andreev
(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 Andreev
(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)

[edit] Overall Statistics

[edit] Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-Up 3rd Position Years Won
Dynamo Kyiv 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

[edit] Performance by republic

Republic Winners Runners-Up 3rd Position Appearances Winning Clubs
 Russian SFSR 34 32 28 416 Spartak Moscow (12)
Dynamo Moscow (11)
CSKA Moscow (7)
Torpedo Moscow (3)
Zenit Leningrad (1)
 Ukrainian SSR 16 15 8 191 Dynamo Kyiv (13)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2)
Zorya Voroshilovgrad (1)
 Georgian SSR 2 5 13 68 Dinamo Tbilisi (2)
 Armenian SSR 1 2 33 Ararat Yerevan (1)
 Byelorussian SSR 1 3 39 Dinamo Minsk (1)
 Azerbaijan SSR 1 29
 Lithuanian SSR 1 11
 Kazakh SSR 24
 Uzbek SSR 22
 Moldavian SSR 7
 Latvian SSR 7
 Tajik SSR 3
 Estonian SSR 2

Republics never represented at top-level were the Turkmen SSR and the Kyrgyz SSR

[edit] 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
Dynamo Kyiv UKR 54 1936 1991 1483 681 456 346 2306 1566 1810 13 11 3
Dynamo Moscow RUS 54 1936 1991 1485 707 404 374 2435 1457 1805 11 11 5
Dinamo Tbilisi GEO 51 1936 1989 1424 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
Shakhtar Donetsk[4] UKR 44 1938 1991 1288 434 379 475 1522 1641 1241 - 2 2
Dinamo Minsk (Spartak) 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
Chornomorets Odessa[7] UKR 26 1938 1991 789 260 230 299 841 986 744 - - 1
Kairat Almaty 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[8] RUS 21 1959 1985 680 218 194 268 843 911 620 - 1 -
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk UKR 19 1972 1991 554 227 154 173 729 634 604 2 2 2
Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev[9] RUS 26 1946 1979 715 185 209 321 675 996 579 - - -
Metalist Kharkiv[10] 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 - -
Dynamo 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[11] LIT 11 1953 1989 330 107 93 130 349 463 305 - - 1
Rotor Volgograd[12] RUS 11 1938 1990 293 91 66 136 352 488 248 - - -
Nistru Chişinău[13] MLD 11 1956 1983 312 69 84 159 312 534 222 - - -
Karpaty Lviv 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
Lokomotyv Kharkiv 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[14] RUS 5 1936 1939 80 22 18 40 112 163 62 - - -
Fakel Voronezh[15] 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[16] 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 - - -
SKA Odessa UKR 2 1965 1966 68 4 19 45 38 121 27 - - -
Metalurh Zaporizhya 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 - - -
Silmash Kharkiv 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 - - -
Lokomotyv Kyiv 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 Kharkiv 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.

[edit] See also

National Leagues of the former Soviet republics

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ukrainian: Вища ліга; Belarusian: Вышэйшая ліга
  2. ^ Includes appearances as CDKA Moscow, CDSA Moscow, and CSK MO Moscow, see club history at KLISF
  3. ^ Includes appearances as Stalinets Leningrad, see club history at KLISF
  4. ^ Includes appearances as Stakhanovets Stalino, see club history at KLISF
  5. ^ Includes appearances as Dynamo Yerevan and Spartak Yerevan, see club history at KLISF
  6. ^ Includes appearances as Neftyanik Baku, see club history at KLISF
  7. ^ Includes appearances as Dynamo Odessa, see club history at KLISF
  8. ^ Includes appearance as SKVO Rostov-on-Don, see club history at KLISF
  9. ^ Includes appearance as Zenit Kuybyshev, see club history at KLISF
  10. ^ Includes appearances as Avangard Kharkov, see club history at KLISF
  11. ^ Includes appearances as Spartak Vilnius, see club history at KLISF
  12. ^ Includes appearances as Traktor Stalingrad and Torpedo Stalingrad, see club history at KLISF
  13. ^ Includes appearances as Burevestnik Kishinev and Moldova Kishinev, see club history at KLISF
  14. ^ Includes appearances as Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad, see club history at KLISF
  15. ^ Includes appearance as Trud Voronezh, see club history at KLISF
  16. ^ Includes appearances as Torpedo Gorky, see club history at KLISF

[edit] External links
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men: Top League · First League · Second League (9 zones) · Second League B (10 zones) · Amateur League
women: Women's Championship
youth: Youth Championship
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1936 · 1937 · 1938 · 1939 · 1940 · 1941 · 1945 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · Russian League
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