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TheSoviet First League in football (Russian:Первая лига СССР по футболу) was the second highest division ofSovietfootball,[1] below theSoviet Top League.
| Founded | 1936 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1991 after 52[1] seasons |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Soviet Top League |
| Relegation to | Soviet Second League |
| League cup(s) | First League Cup Podsnezhnik tournament |
| Last champions | FC Rotor Volgograd (1) |
| Most championships | FC Krylya Sovetov Samara (5) |
While the second tier competitions in football among "teams of masters" (an official term for the Soviet professional clubs) existed since 1936,[1] the First League has been officially formed in 1971 out of the Class A First Group.[1] It followed the transitional 1970 season when the Class A was expanded to three groups (Vysshaya Gruppa, Pervaya Gruppa, Vtoraya Gruppa) and discontinuation of the Class B competitions for the 1971 season.
The league existed until thedissolution of the USSR in 1991.
Overview
editThe second tier competitions and predecessors of the First League has been known asGroup B,Group 2,Class B, andClass A, group 2. The number of teams playing at this level fluctuated significantly during the history of Soviet football. In 1940s-1970s the league frequently consisted of several groups. The group winners qualified for the final tournament.
The second tier competitions among "teams of masters" existed since 1936 as part of four groups of eight All-Union competitions where each group represented a tier with Group A representing top tier, Group B representing second tier, Group V representing third tier and so on. Before theWorld War II the season competitions were inconsistent in every group.
Since after theWorld War II there existed only top two tiers for football competitions among "teams of masters". The top tier was called Pervaya Gruppa (First Group) and the second tier Vtoraya Gruppa (Second Group). In 1950 those tiers were renamed with the second tier competitions being renamed into the Class B (the top tier became the Class A).
In 1960 Class B competitions were transformed into regional competitions with separate competitions for Russia, Ukraine, and other republics. More transformations took place in 1963 when the second tier competitions were included in the Class A competitions, while the Class B competitions were shifted to the third tier for 1964 season, thus reviving the third level competitions. Following the 1963 reform, the second tier competitions became the Vtoraya Gruppa Classa A (Class A second group) and the top tier being renamed as the Pervaya Gruppa Classa A (Class A first group). The Vtoraya Gruppa did not have multi groups competition with only one group round robin tournament.
After the 1970-1971 reforms there was established the Soviet First League with a single group competition. The league became more consisted with number of teams in league and relegation/promotion rules.
- 1936-1940[1]Gruppa B (no competition in 1938)
- 1945-1949[1]Vtoraya Gruppa
- 1950-1962[1]Class B
- 1963-1969[1]Vtoraya Gruppa (Class A)
- 1970-1970[1]Pervaya Gruppa (Class A)
- 1971-1991[1]Pervaya Liga
One unusual feature of the league was one that have taken place before 1989. The Soviet Football Union tried to eliminate the growing number of drawn games, thus, intensify the competition. The participated clubs were receiving a point for each drawn game, but the number of all their drawn games could not exceed a third of all their games played. After that they received no points for any further draws that they earned. In 1987, for example,FC Fakel Voronezh was relegated by being short of a point having received no points for their two extra drawn games.[1]
Laureates of the Soviet second tier competitions
editThe teams that either won its group or participated in play-offs are included as well. All seasons are double-round robin unless otherwise indicated in "Notes".
Gruppa B (Group B)
edit| Season | Winner | Runners-up | Third | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 (spring) | Dinamo Tiflis | ZIS Moscow | Stalinets Leningrad | 8 |
| 1936 (autumn) | Serp i Molot Moscow | Temp Baku | Stalinets Moscow | 8 |
| 1937 | Spartak Leningrad | FC Dynamo Rostov/Don | Temp Baku | 7 (8*) |
| 1938 | not held, part of theSuper League | |||
| 1939 | Krylya Sovetov Moscow | Lokomotivi Tbilisi | FC Dynamo Rostov/Don | 23 |
| 1940 | Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad | FC Spartak Leningrad | Stroitel Baku | 14 |
| 1941-44 | no competition due toWorld War II | |||
Vtoraya Gruppa (Second Group)
editClass B
editVtoraya Gruppa Klassa A (Second Group of the Class A)
editPervaya Gruppa Klassa A (First Group of the Class A)
edit| Season | Winner | Runners-up | Third | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Karpaty Lviv | Kairat Alma-Aty | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 22 |
Pervaya Liga (First League)
editWinners
edit| Republics | Winners | Years Won |
|---|---|---|
| Russian SFSR | 30 | 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1955*, 1956*, 1957, 1958, 1959*, 1960*, 1961*, 1962*, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991 |
| Ukrainian SSR | 15 | 1948, 1952, 1954, 1959*, 1960*, 1961*, 1962*, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1987 |
| Georgian SSR | 5 | 1936, 1949, 1960*, 1961*, 1961* |
| Kazakh SSR | 3 | 1962*, 1976, 1983 |
| Belarusian SSR | 2 | 1953, 1956* |
| Armenian SSR | 2 | 1959*, 1965 |
| Tajik SSR | 2 | 1959*, 1988 |
| Moldovan SSR | 1 | 1955* |
| Azerbaijan SSR | 1 | 1967 |
| Uzbek SSR | 1 | 1972 |
| Lithuanian SSR | 1 | 1982 |
| Latvian SSR | 1 | 1985 |
Podium sweep
edit- Russia (1963)
- Ukraine (1980)
All-time table (top 20)
editThere were over 260 teams that played in the Soviet First League.[6] In the list with green background are clubs with over 30 seasons in the league.
| Team | Republic | Seasons | First season | Last season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals for | Goals against | Points1 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metallurg Zaporozhie | Ukraine | 40 | 1947 | 1990 | 1470 | 563 | 406 | 501 | 1914 | 1687 | 2095 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shinnik Yaroslavl[a] | Russia | 33 | 1957 | 1991 | 1276 | 493 | 353 | 430 | 1567 | 1426 | 1832 | 1 | ||
| Pamir Dushanbe[b] | Tajikistan | 36 | 1947 | 1987 | 1329 | 468 | 325 | 536 | 1621 | 1851 | 1729 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kuban Krasnodar | Russia | 31 | 1949 | 1991 | 1116 | 436 | 287 | 393 | 1395 | 1287 | 1595 | 1 | 1 | |
| Fakel Voronezh | Russia | 26 | 1954 | 1991 | 993 | 421 | 280 | 292 | 1231 | 913 | 1543 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Nistru Kishinev | Moldova | 32 | 1947 | 1991 | 1154 | 406 | 322 | 426 | 1318 | 1416 | 1540 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kuzbass Kemerovo | Russia | 30 | 1948 | 1990 | 1086 | 402 | 244 | 440 | 1311 | 1397 | 1450 | |||
| Uralmash Sverdlovsk | Russia | 30 | 1945 | 1991 | 1003 | 390 | 230 | 383 | 1316 | 1266 | 1400 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zhalgiris Vilnius | Lithuania | 26 | 1947 | 1982 | 924 | 374 | 262 | 288 | 1179 | 922 | 1384 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk | Ukraine | 26 | 1939 | 1980 | 873 | 378 | 223 | 272 | 1226 | 1055 | 1357 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Rotor Volgograd | Russia | 27 | 1951 | 1991 | 918 | 370 | 222 | 326 | 1251 | 1118 | 1332 | 1 | 1 | |
| Tekstilschik Ivanovo | Russia | 30 | 1939 | 1983 | 938 | 347 | 265 | 326 | 1179 | 1134 | 1306 | |||
| Tavria Simferopol | Ukraine | 23 | 1958 | 1991 | 890 | 343 | 240 | 307 | 1162 | 1043 | 1269 | 1 | 2 | |
| Daugava Riga | Latvia | 26 | 1948 | 1989 | 959 | 328 | 271 | 360 | 1104 | 1164 | 1255 | 1 | 2 | |
| SKA Karpaty Lvov | Ukraine | 23 | 1949 | 1989 | 813 | 344 | 202 | 267 | 1058 | 918 | 1234 | |||
| Spartak Vladikavkaz | Russia | 24 | 1960 | 1990 | 933 | 340 | 212 | 381 | 1059 | 1177 | 1232 | 2 | ||
| Chernomorets Odesa | Ukraine | 22 | 1940 | 1973 | 703 | 343 | 164 | 196 | 1132 | 771 | 1193 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Torpedo Kutaisi | Georgia | 20 | 1949 | 1989 | 746 | 338 | 169 | 239 | 1037 | 818 | 1183 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Metallist Kharkiv | Ukraine | 21 | 1947 | 1981 | 772 | 316 | 211 | 245 | 913 | 784 | 1159 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zvezda Perm | Russia | 26 | 1945 | 1979 | 840 | 306 | 221 | 313 | 1046 | 1061 | 1139 |
1Three 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.
Soviet football championship among reserves
edit| Season | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Position | Top Goalscorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Chernomorets Odesa (1) | Metallurg Zaporozhye | Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk | |
| 1972 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1973 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1974 | SKA Rostov-na-Donu (1) | Dinamo Minsk | Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev | |
| 1975 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1976 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1977 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1978 | Dinamo Minsk (1) | SKA Rostov-na-Donu | Karpaty Lvov | |
| 1979 | Zhalgiris Vilnius (1) | Pamir Dushanbe | Karpaty Lvov | |
| 1980 | Kolos Nikopol (1) | SKA Odesa | Metallist Kharkiv | |
| 1981 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1982 | SKA-Karpaty Lvov (1) | SKA Odesa | Kolos Nikopol | |
| 1983 | Iskra Smolensk (1) | Lokomotiv Moscow | SKA Rostov-na-Donu | |
| Metallurg Zaporozhye (1) | Kairat Alma-Ata | SKA-Karpaty Lvov | ||
| 1984 | Iskra Smolensk (2) | Zvezda Dzhizak | Nistru Kishinev | |
| 1985 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1986 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1987 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1988 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1989 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1990 | ? | ? | ? | |
| 1991 | ? | ? | ? |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^abcdefghijEvgeni Kazakov.The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футболу)Archived 2023-04-07 at theWayback Machine. History of Soviet football championships. Volume 1 (1936–1969). Litres, 2019
- ^Trudovye Reservy were replacingDynamo Leningrad for several season. LaterDynamo was reinstated in their place.
- ^After 1989 season teams from Baltic states (Latvia,Lithuania,Estonia) andGeorgia withdrew from the Soviet competitions. Only the two pro-Soviet, pro-Russian teams:Pardaugava (Riga) andDinamo Sukhumi continued to participate.
- ^Four teams were promoted due to withdrawal of several teams prior to this season. The fourth team wasLokomotiv Moscow.
- ^Last season. Russian SFSR clubs form newRussian Top Division with compatriot clubs fromSoviet Top League, and other SSR clubs do the same.
- ^"Чемпионат СССР, первая лига".Archived from the original on 2019-03-25. Retrieved2019-03-24.
Further reading
edit- Evgeni Kazakov.The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футболу). History of Soviet football championships. Volume 1 (1936–1969). Litres, 2019.
External links
edit- "USSR First League".KLISF. Archived fromthe original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved2006-06-09.
- Compilation of all game reports for the Soviet second tier. FC Dynamo Moscow website.