1940 Soviet First League
The 1940 Gruppa B was fifth season of the Soviet (second tier) professional football competitions. It was the second season after revival of the second tier competitions and the last season before the Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
The season started on 2 May 1940 (following the International Workers' Day) with games in Ukraine and the Caucasus republics. The season ended on 27 October 1940 in Kiev.
Teams
The league was reduced almost in half from 23 to 14 teams. The competitions were conducted in double round robin format where each team is playing with every other twice, at home and away.
Relegated
- FC Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad – 13th place (debut)
- FC Dinamo Odessa – 14th place (debut, merged with Pischevik)
- Former Dinamo Odessa players continued to play under Pischevik's colors, while Pischevik team discontinued its participation at republican level in Ukraine.
Promoted
- FC Dinamo Minsk – Champion of the Belorussian SSR (debut)
- FC Pischevik Odessa – Runner-up of the Ukrainian SSR (debut)
Renamed
- FC Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad was previously known as FC Elektrik Leningrad
- FC Stroitel Baku was previously known as FC Temp Baku
League Standings
Template:Fb cl header
! width=15%|Rpblc
|- bgcolor="silver"
| 1
| align=left|Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad (C) (P)||26||15||5||6||54||36|| 18||35
| align=left|
Russian SFSR
|- bgcolor="#D0F0C0"
| 2
| align=left|Spartak Leningrad (P)||26||13||8||5||46||29|| 17||34
| align=left| Russian SFSR
|-
| 3
| align=left|Stroitel Baku||26||12||7||7||39||29|| 10||31
| align=left|
Azerbaijan SSR
|-
| 4
| align=left|Dinamo Kharkov||26||12||5||9||44||37|| 7||29
| align=left|
Ukrainian SSR
|- bgcolor="#D0F0C0"
| 5
| align=left|Pischevik Odessa (P)||26||12||4||10||49||40|| 9||28
| align=left| Ukrainian SSR
|- bgcolor="#D0F0C0"
| 6
| align=left|Dinamo Minsk (P)||26||10||6||10||42||41|| 1||26
| align=left|
Byelorussian SSR
|-
| 7
| align=left|Lokomotiv Kiev||26||11||4||11||33||34|| -1||26
| align=left| Ukrainian SSR
|-
| 8
| align=left|Sudostroitel Nikolayev||26||9||8||9||25||31|| -6||26
| align=left| Ukrainian SSR
|-
| 9
| align=left|Torpedo Gorkiy||26||8||9||9||44||47|| -3||25
| align=left| Russian SFSR
|-
| 10
| align=left|Burevestnik Moscow||26||10||5||11||28||31|| -3||25
| align=left| Russian SFSR
|-
| 11
| align=left|Avangard Leningrad||26||12||1||13||40||51|| -11||25
| align=left| Russian SFSR
|-
| 12
| align=left|Pischevik Moscow||26||7||6||13||31||40|| -9||20
| align=left| Russian SFSR
|-
| 13
| align=left|Selmash Kharkov||26||6||5||15||41||53|| -12||17
| align=left| Ukrainian SSR
|-
| 14
| align=left|Spartak Yerevan||26||4||9||13||25||42|| -17||17
| align=left|
Armenian SSR
|}
Notes:
- Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad and Avangard Leningrad were merged with Zenit Leningrad (Gruppa A) for the next season.
Top scorers
| Rank | Scorer | Team | Goals (Pen.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Borisevich | Pischevik Odessa | 15 |
| 2 | Boris Chuchelov | Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad | 14 |
| Aleksandr Korotkov | Torpedo Gorkiy | 14 | |
| 4 | Vasiliy Gusarov | Dinamo Kharkov | 13 |
| Leonid Oryekhov | Pischevik Odessa | 13 | |
| 6 | Pavel Bogatyryov | Spartak Leningrad | 11 |
| Vasiliy Panfilov | Dinamo Minsk | 11 | |
| Aram Stepanov | Dynamo Kyiv | 11 | |
| 9 | Artur Chalikyan | Spartak Yerevan | 10 |
| Sergei Chernykh | Spartak Leningrad | 10 | |
| Aleksei Salakov | Torpedo Gorkiy | 10 | |
| Aleksandr Sevidov | Pischevik Moscow | 10 | |
| Ivan Talanov | Avangard Leningrad | 10 | |
| Pavel Vinkovatov | Selmash Kharkov | 10 |