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The Soviet First League was the second highest division of Soviet football, below the Soviet Top League. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered The Soviet Top League (Высшая лига was the top division of Soviet Union football. The division lasted from the inception of Soviet league football in 1936 to the dissolution of USSR in 1991.

It has been known as Group B, Group 2, Class B, and Class A, group 2 before being renamed First League in 1971. 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 regional groups. The group winners qualified for the final tournament. One unusual feature of the league was that before 1989 clubs only received points for drawing a third of their games. After that they received no points for any further draws. In 1987 for example Fakel(Voronezh) FC were relegated by 1 point having received no points for 2 drawn games. [[1]]

Season Winner Participants Notes
1936 (spring) Dinamo Tiflis 8
1936 (autumn) Serp i Molot Moscow 8
1937 Spartak Leningrad 8
1938 not held, there was only one division
1939 Krylya Sovetov Moscow 23 single round robin
1940 Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad 14
1941-44 abandoned due to World War II
1945 Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev 18 single round robin
1946 VVS Moscow 26 two groups
1947 Lokomotiv Moscow 67 six groups
1948 Lokomotiv Kharkiv 75 seven groups
1949 Spartak Tbilisi 84 six groups
1950 VMS Moscow 14
1951 Kalinin city team 18
1952 Lokomotiv Kharkiv 18 three preliminary groups, two final groups
1953 Dynamo Minsk 30 three preliminary groups, eight final groups
1954 Shakhtyor Stalino 36 three groups
1955 Burevestnik Chisinau
ODO Sverdlovsk		 32 two groups, no final
1956 Spartak Minsk
Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev		 36 two groups, no final
1957 Avangard Leningrad 64 four groups
1958 SKVO Rostov-on-Don 94 six groups
1959 Admiralteyets Leningrad 101 seven groups; final was held for RSFSR teams only
1960 Trud Voronezh (RSFSR)
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya (UkrSSR)
Torpedo Kutaisi (other republics)		 142 nine groups, three separate finals
1961 Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev (RSFSR)
Chornomorets Odessa (UkrSSR)
Torpedo Kutaisi (other republics)		 147 ten groups, three separate finals
1962 Spartak Krasnodar (RSFSR)
Trudovye Rezervy Lugansk (UkrSSR)
Shakhtyor Karaganda (other republics)		 137 ten groups, three separate finals
1963 Shinnik Yaroslavl 18
1964 Lokomotiv Moscow 27 two preliminary groups, two final groups
1965 Ararat Yerevan 32 two preliminary groups, two final groups
1966 Zorya Luhansk 53 three groups
1967 Dynamo Kirovabad 59 three groups
1968 Uralmash Sverdlovsk 84 four groups
1969 Spartak Ordzhonikidze 87 five groups
1970 Karpaty Lviv 22
1971 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 22
1972 Pakhtakor Tashkent 20
1973 Chornomorets Odessa 20
1974 Lokomotiv Moscow 20
1975 Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev 20
1976 Kairat Almaty 20
1977 Spartak Moscow 20
1978 Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev 20
1979 Karpaty Lviv 24
1980 Tavriya Simferopol 24
1981 Metalist Kharkiv 24
1982 Žalgiris Vilnius 22
1983 Kairat Almaty 22
1984 Fakel Voronezh 22
1985 Daugava Rīga 22 two preliminary groups, two final groups
1986 CSKA Moscow 24
1987 Chornomorets Odessa 22
1988 Pamir Dushanbe 22
1989 CSKA Moscow 22
1990 Spartak Vladikavkaz 20
1991 Rotor Volgograd 22

References

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