| Founded | 22 May 1936(as Group A) |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1991 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Divisions | 1 |
| Number of clubs | Various |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Relegation to | Soviet First League |
| Domestic cup(s) | USSR Cup USSR Super Cup(unofficial) |
| League cup(s) | USSR Federation Cup (1940–1990) |
| International cups | |
| Last champions | CSKA Moscow (1991) |
| Most championships | Dynamo Kyiv (13) |
| Most appearances | Oleg Blokhin (432) |
| Top scorer | Oleg Blokhin (211) |
TheSoviet Top League, known after 1970 as theHigher League (Russian:Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига,romanized: Vyschaya Liga),[1] served as thetop division (tier) ofSoviet Unionfootball championship from 1936 until 1991. Over the years, the league's name has changed several times. Created in 1936, the tier was originally known as "Gruppa A" and was one of four tiers that comprised the Soviet football championship. It was owned and governed by theAll-Union Committee of Physical Culture (an institution of theCouncil of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union). The winner of the competition was honored with the title "USSR Champion" and awarded the All-Union Committee banner.
From its inception to its eclipse, the top tier operated in conjunction with the second tier for most of the time, allowing for participants to exchange between tiers throughpromotion and relegation. In 1963, a third tier was introduced. Starting from 1971, the full official name was theUSSR Championship in football: Top League. An attempt to create an independent league as an autonomously governed business entity or organization during "perestroika" period was denied by the Federation due to the political culture in the Soviet Union.
Although the competition is considered professional, there were no professional (or commercial) sports in the Communist state due to its political stance on that issue. The teams that played in the league were composed of players who, officially, in fiscal books, were employed and paid by the state enterprises or agencies (such as SKA or Dynamo) that the teams represented. Also, players from the state agencies' teams, SKA or Dynamo, held a rank, captain, lieutenant, major, etc. Also, the naming of teams was strictly controlled and had to be approved by the central government. Only after thedeath of Stalin, teams were allowed to have names associated with their geographic location, due to the Soviet political stance on the national issue. Also, officially, teams represented so-called "voluntary" sports societies, which is a politicaloxymoron considering the organization of business in theSoviet Union (Voluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union).
After theWorld War II, along with the competition among the first teams, there were also conducted official competitions among reserve squads. It carried the name of "Tournament of the Doubles" (Turnir doublyorov). The reserve squads' competitions were running parallel to the first teams' competitions, normally scheduled a day prior, with relegation rules completely dependent on the league standing of their respective first team.
The Top League was one of the best football leagues in Europe, ranking second among theUEFA 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, andFC Dynamo Moscow (all in theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup). In the same way Russiapolitically succeeded the Soviet Union, UEFA considers theRussian Premier League to have succeeded the Soviet Top League.[2][3]
The league was established on the initiative of head ofSpartak 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, theSoviet Council on Physical Culture accepted Starostin's proposal, creating a league of "demonstration teams of masters" 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 theBasque Country national football team which was onthe side supported bySoviet Union in theSpanish Civil War and others.
In 1936, the first secretary of Komsomol, Kosarev, came up with the idea of playing an actual football game at theRed 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 directorValentin 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 theGUM department store located at the square.[6] Following the 1936 Red Square game, it became a tradition before theWorld 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 theCentral Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).[4] Among serious football fans wasLavrentiy Beria who proposed to have one team from each ofunion 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, theAll-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 wereFC Dynamo Kyiv,FC Spartak Moscow, andFC Dynamo Moscow. The most popular clubs besides the above-mentioned werePFC CSKA Moscow,FC Ararat Yerevan, andFC Dinamo Tbilisi. Dinamo Tbilisi became famous for finishing third but never winning the title.They won their first title in 1964.
Until the 1960s the main title contenders in the league were the Moscow clubs ofSpartak andDynamo whose dominance was disrupted for only a brief period afterWorld War II byCSKA 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 wereSKA Rostov/Donu (Army team),Zenit Leningrad (Zenith), andKrylia 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 above 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 bypenalty shoot-out lasted only one season.
Dynamo Kyiv's success as a Ukrainian club was supplemented in the 1980s with the appearance ofDnipro Dnipropetrovsk led by its strikerOleh 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 number 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 theCommonwealth of Independent States Cup, but due to a lack of interest on various levels, the venture has never been implemented.
The uneven population of the Soviet Union meant that the participants in a typical Top League season fell into three blocs. This was particularly apparent at the lower tiers of the Soviet Football Championship, such as the third tier (Vtoraya Liga), but sustained with less transparency up to the top/first tier.
Documentation about the league is scarce. Among well-known researchers areAksel Vartanyan forSport Express, Andrei Moroz and Georgiy Ibragimov forKLISF Club, Alexandru G.Paloşanu,Eugene Berkovich, Mike Dryomin, Almantas Lauzadis, and Hans Schöggl forRSSSF Archives. Another extensive databases are composed athelmsoccer.narod.ru andFC Dynamo Moscow website.
Since its creation, the Soviet Top League's name changed a quite few times:
Prior toWorld War II the championship was split into several groups usually of eight teams and named by the letters of theCyrillic script.
Upon the reestablishment of the league after the war for several years it was numbered sequentially with the top league being the First.
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.
The first time the Soviet League was represented in Europe in the1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup byDynamo Kyiv. In its first year, the club reached the quarterfinals, eliminating on its wayColeraine andRosenborg and winning all four matches against those clubs. The Ukrainians also knocked out reigning championsCeltic in the first round in the1967–68 European Cup. In the 1968–69 season, the Soviet clubs withdrew from continental competitions after theSoviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. In1972 came the first success of the Soviet club football when Dynamo Moscow reached the finals, but were defeated byGlasgow Rangers atCamp Nou inBarcelona.
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 thecollapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In 1987 and 1988, the Soviet Top League was the second-best in Europe; however, close to thecollapse of the Soviet Union, the results of its football clubs that it represented 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. In the 1992/93 season, all the results of the Soviet League were transferred to theRussian Premier League. Throughout its history, the representatives of the league on four occasions made it to the finals of the three primary European competitions and were victorious in three. Once, a Soviet club was able to win theUEFA Super Cup.
Before the establishment of professional competitions among clubs, in the Soviet Union existed another competition that was conducted among collective teams of various cities or republics. In 1923 and 1924, competitions were part of the All-Union Festival of Physical Culture. In 1928 and 1931, competitions were part of the All-Union qualification for the "Workers' Spartakiad" that was organized by theRed Sport International. In 1935, competitions were organized in two tiers.
| 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) |
| 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 toWorld War II (Dynamo Moscow had the best record at that time) | |||
| 1942–44 | Cancelled due to World War II | |||
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| Season | Champion | Runner-up | 3rd Position | Top Goalscorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | CSKA Moscow (6) | Dynamo Moscow | Spartak Moscow | Givi Nodia (Dinamo Tbilisi, 17 goals) |
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Third places | Years won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dynamo Kyiv | 13 | 11 | 3 | 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990 |
 Spartak Moscow | 12 | 12 | 9 | 1936 (a), 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 11 | 11 | 5 | 1936 (s), 1937, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1976 (s) |
| CSKA Moscow | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1970, 1991 |
| Torpedo Moscow | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1960, 1965, 1976 (a) |
 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 Odesa | – | – | 1 | – |
 Žalgiris Vilnius | – | – | 1 | – |
| Total | 54 | 54 | 54 |
| 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 theTurkmen SSR and theKyrgyz 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.
| 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.
| 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:
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.
| 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 |
| National teams |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League system |
| ||||||||||
| Domestic cups | |||||||||||
| Awards | |||||||||||
| Lists | |||||||||||
| Categories | |||||||||||
