1991 Soviet Top League

(Redirected from Soviet Top League 1991)

The 1991 Soviet Top League season (Russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу 1991 (высшая лига)) was 22nd in the Top League and the 54th since the establishment of nationwide club competition, also the last one. Dynamo Kyiv were the defending 13-times champions and came fifth this season. A total of sixteen teams participated in the league, twelve of them have contested in the 1990 season while the remaining four were promoted from the Soviet First League due to withdrawals. The representatives of the Baltic states as well as Georgia chose not to take part in the competition.

Soviet Top League
Season1991
Dates10 March – 2 November 1991
ChampionsCSKA Moscow
(7th title)
Relegatednone (7 clubs withdrew)
Champions LeagueCSKA Moscow (for Russia)
Cup Winners' CupSpartak Moscow (for Russia)
UEFA CupDynamo Moscow
Torpedo Moscow
(for Russia)
Top goalscorer(18) Igor Kolyvanov (Dynamo Moscow)
Biggest home winSpartak – Dynamo M. 7–1 (26th)
Biggest away winDynamo M. – Torpedo 1–4 (18th)
Metalurh – Chornomorets 1–4 (16th)
Highest scoringSpartak – Dynamo M. 7–1 (26th)
Dynamo M. – Dnipro 6–2 (28th)
1990
1992

The season began on 10 March and lasted until 2 November 1991. The season was won by PFC CSKA Moscow that returned to the top league prior to the last season while winning the Soviet Cup competition as well. The season's culmination occurred in its final rounds, when the army team managed to overtake Spartak, while with four rounds left in the season, Spartak was leading the table a point ahead of CSKA and a recent thrashing of Dynamo Moscow 7 to 1.

Due to participants withdrawal in the preceding season four new teams entered the league. Upon the conclusion of the season no clubs were relegated and 12 out of its 16 participants formed a base for either the Russian or the Ukrainian competitions, while other four participants joined their own newly formed national leagues. If the Soviet Union had remained intact, Metalist Kharkiv and Lokomotiv Moscow would have been relegated to the Soviet First League for the next season, while FC Rotor Volgograd and FC Tiligul Tiraspol would have been promoted to the Top League for 1992.

The top six clubs of the league later entered European competitions for their respective nations. The Ukrainian clubs chose to qualify through a separate national competition.

Participating teams

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The league was expanded to 16 after the last season, during which number of clubs left the Soviet competitions (from Georgia and Baltic states). The last-placed FC Rotor Volgograd of the 1990 Soviet Top League lost promotion/relegation playoff to Lokomotiv Moscow and was relegated to the 1991 Soviet First League. Rotor Volgograd returned to the Soviet First League after two seasons absence, while at the same time Lokomotiv Moscow returned to the Soviet Top League after only a one-season absence.

Beside the fourth placed Lokomotiv three more teams were promoted and included the champion (FC Spartak Vladikavkaz) and the runners-up of the 1990 Soviet First League (FC Pakhtakor Tashkent and FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia).

Locations

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Stadiums

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Stadium Team Opened Capacity Notes
Republican Stadium, Kyiv Dynamo Kyiv 1923 100,062
Olympic Stadium Luzhniki, Moscow Spartak Moscow 1956 81,000
CSKA
Central Stadium Dynamo, Moscow Dynamo Moscow 1928 71,430
Central Stadium Hrazdan, Yerevan Ararat 1970 70,000
BSS Central Stadium, Odesa Chornomorets 1935 55,000
Central Stadium Pakhtakor, Tashkent Pakhtakor 1956 55,000
OSC Metalist, Kharkiv Metalist 1926 42,000
Dinamo Stadium, Minsk Dinamo Minsk 1934 40,000
Meteor Stadium, Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro 1966 40,000
Republican Stadium Spartak, Vladikavkaz Spartak Vladikavkaz 1962 32,464
Central Stadium Shakhtar, Donetsk Shakhtar 1936 31,718
Central Stadium Lokomotiv, Moscow Lokomotiv 1966 30,000
SC Olimpiyskiy, Moscow Dynamo Moscow 1980 22,000 used in round 2nd
Frunze Republican Stadium, Dushanbe Pamir 1946 21,400
Torpedo Stadium, Moscow Torpedo 1959 16,000
CSKA used in round 29th
Abovyan City Stadium, Abovyan Ararat 1966 5,500 used in rounds 19th, 22nd, 23rd
LFK CSKA, Moscow CSKA 1979 4,000 used in rounds 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th
Spartak Moscow used in round 3rd
Dynamo Moscow used in rounds 1st, 5th, 6th
Lokomotiv used in round 4th
Central Stadium Metalurh, Zaporizhzhia Metalurh 1938 ?

Managers

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Club Head coach
PFC CSKA Moscow Pavel Sadyrin
FC Spartak Moscow Oleg Romantsev
FC Torpedo Moscow Valentin Ivanov (until September)
Yevgeni Skomorokhov (from September)
FC Chornomorets Odesa Viktor Prokopenko
FC Dynamo Kyiv Anatoliy Puzach
FC Dynamo Moscow Semen Altman (until March)
Valery Gazzaev (from April)
FC Dinamo Minsk Eduard Malofeyev (until April)
Mikhail Vergeyenko (from April)
FC Ararat Yerevan Armen Sarkisyan
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Yevhen Kucherevskyi
FC Pamir Dushanbe Sharif Nazarov
FC Spartak Vladikavkaz Valery Gazzaev (until March)
Nikolai Khudiyev (April to July)
Ruslan Khadartsev (from July)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk Valeriy Yaremchenko
FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia Ihor Nadein
FC Pakhtakor Tashkent Fyodor Novikov (until June)
Ahrol Inoyatov (from July to October)
Alexander Tarkhanov (from November)
FC Metalist Kharkiv Leonid Tkachenko
FC Lokomotiv Moscow Valeri Filatov

Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   CSKA Moscow (C) 30 17 9 4 57 32 +25 43 Qualification for Champions League first round
2   Spartak Moscow 30 17 7 6 57 30 +27 41 Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round
3   Torpedo Moscow 30 13 10 7 36 20 +16 36 Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
4   Chornomorets 30 10 16 4 39 24 +15 36 Withdrew from the league
5   Dynamo Kyiv 30 13 9 8 43 34 +9 35
6   Dynamo Moscow 30 12 7 11 43 42 +1 31 Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
7   Ararat 30 11 7 12 29 36 −7 29 Withdrew from the league
8   Dinamo Minsk 30 9 11 10 29 31 −2 29
9   Dnipro 30 9 10 11 31 36 −5 28 Withdrew from the league
10   Pamir Dushanbe 30 7 13 10 28 32 −4 27
11   Spartak Vladikavkaz 30 9 8 13 33 41 −8 26
12   Shakhtar Donetsk 30 6 14 10 33 41 −8 26 Withdrew from the league
13   Metalurh Zaporizhzhia 30 9 7 14 27 38 −11 25[a]
14   Pakhtakor Tashkent 30 9 7 14 37 45 −8 25[a]
15   Metalist Kharkiv[b] 30 8 9 13 32 43 −11 25 Withdrew from the league
16   Lokomotiv Moscow 30 5 8 17 18 47 −29 18 Avoided relegation
Source: footbook.ru footballfacts.ru
Rules for classification: 1) Total points (If two or more teams have equal points for the first place, the winner is determined by additional single round-robin play-off on condition and place determined by the Federation); 2) Total wins; 3) Head-to-head results (3.1. points 3.2. goal difference 3.3. goal scored); 4) Total goal difference; 5) Total games scored; 6) Draw lots[1]
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Metallurg received more head-to-head points against Pakhtakor.
  2. ^ Metallist placed last in total wins tie-breaker to Metallurg and Pakhtakor.
  • Immediately following this season, initially only Ukrainian-based teams officially informed the Football Federation of the Soviet Union about their withdrawal and participation in own national competitions. Just before organization of the next season, the Football Federation of the Soviet Union discovered that Armenian Ararat has no intentions to continue its participation either.

Results

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Home \ Away ARA CHO CSK DNE DYK DMN DMO LOK MKH MZA PAK PAM SHA SPA SPV TOR
Ararat Yerevan 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–0
Chornomorets Odesa 5–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–1
CSKA Moscow 2–1 4–3 1–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 5–1 4–0 4–0 3–1 2–1 3–4 0–1 2–1 3–1
Dnipro 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 1–3 1–2 3–1 0–2 1–1 0–0
Dynamo Kyiv 4–3 0–1 2–2 2–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 3–3 2–0 0–0 2–3 2–1 1–3
Dinamo Minsk 0–0 0–0 0–1 4–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 0–1 0–0
Dynamo Moscow 1–0 1–1 1–2 6–2 1–0 1–1 6–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–4
Lokomotiv Moscow 0–0 0–0 1–3 0–2 1–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–2
Metalist Kharkiv 0–1 3–1 3–2 1–1 0–2 0–0 0–1 3–1 3–1 3–1 0–0 2–2 1–3 2–0 0–2
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia 1–1 1–4 0–0 3–2 2–1 2–1 2–0 3–0 0–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 0–0
Pakhtakor Tashkent 3–1 0–0 0–0 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 4–2 0–0 2–2 4–1 1–0 2–0 1–1
Pamir Dushanbe 2–1 1–1 2–2 0–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 2–2 3–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 2–0 0–0
Shakhtar Donetsk 2–0 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–0 2–3 0–0 2–3 1–0 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–2
Spartak Moscow 3–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 4–0 7–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 1–0 3–1 2–1 1–2
Spartak Vladikavkaz 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 3–3 1–0
Torpedo Moscow 2–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 5–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–2 1–1
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Number of teams by union republic

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Rank Union republic Number of teams Club(s)
1   RSFSR 6 CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Spartak Vladikavkaz, Torpedo Moscow
  Ukrainian SSR Chornomorets Odesa, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Metalist Kharkiv, Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, Shakhtar Donetsk
3   Armenian SSR 1 Ararat Yerevan
  Belarusian SSR Dinamo Minsk
  Tajik SSR Pamir Dushanbe
  Uzbek SSR Pakhtakor Tashkent

Top scorers

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18 goals
14 goals
13 goals
12 goals
10 goals
9 goals

Clean sheets

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[1]

14 matches
11 matches
10 matches
9 matches
8 matches

Awards

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Prize Founder Laureate
Footballer of the Year Football weekly Igor Kolyvanov
Goalkeeper of the Year Ogoniok magazine Valeri Sarychev
Top Scorer newspaper Labor Igor Kolyvanov
Knight of Attack Soviet Warrior magazine Igor Kolyvanov
Top Rookie Sport Games magazine Valeriy Velichko
With Two Squads Football Federation Spartak Moscow
Grigory Fedotov Memorial CSKA Moscow Spartak Moscow
Fair Play Person and Law magazine Chornomorets Odesa
Large Score Football weekly Chornomorets Odesa
Will to Win newspaper Sovetskaya Rossiya Pamir Dushanbe
Best Difference of Aggregates Start magazine Spartak Moscow
Aggressive Visitor newspaper Komsomol's Banner CSKA Moscow
Danger of the Best Sport Moscow weekly Chornomorets Odesa
Progress Cup newspaper Labor Newspaper Chornomrets Odesa
First Height newspaper Socialist Industry CSKA Moscow

Medal squads

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(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. PFC CSKA Moscow[2]

Goalkeepers: Mikhail Yeremin (15 / -14), Dmitri Kharine (11 / -8), Aleksandr Guteyev (6 / -10).
Defenders: Sergei Kolotovkin (25 / 1), Sergei Fokin (25 / 1), Dmitri Galiamin (21 / 2), Dmitri Bystrov (21), Oleg Malyukov (19), Vasili Ivanov (15), Valeri Minko (8), Viktor Yanushevsky (8), Mikhail Sinyov (1).
Midfielders: Valeri Broshin (30 / 4), Dmitri Kuznetsov (29 / 12), Igor Korneev (29 / 10), Mikhail Kolesnikov (28 / 2), Vladimir Tatarchuk (24 / 5), Aleksandr Grishin (5), Dmitri Karsakov (1), Lev Matveyev (1).
Forwards: Oleg Sergeyev (30 / 9), Valeri Masalitin (18 / 7), Sergey Dmitriev (16 / 4), Ilshat Faizulin (3).

Manager: Pavel Sadyrin.

Transferred in during the season: Dmitri Kharine (from Dynamo Moscow), Lev Matveyev (from Zvezda Perm), Sergey Dmitriev (from   Xerez CD), Viktor Yanushevsky (from   Tennis Borussia).

Transferred out during the season: Mikhail Yeremin (deceased), Dmitri Karsakov (to FC KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny), Dmitri Galiamin, Dmitri Kuznetsov, Igor Korneev (all to   Espanyol), Vladimir Tatarchuk (to   Slavia Prague), Valeri Broshin (to   Kuopion Palloseura), Sergei Fokin (to   HJK Helsinki), Sergey Dmitriev (to   Stahl Linz).

2. FC Spartak Moscow

Goalkeepers: Stanislav Cherchesov (30 / -30).
Defenders: Dmitri Popov (30 / 5), Vasili Kulkov (22 / 1), Andrei Mokh (20 / 1), Dmitri Khlestov (14), Boris Pozdnyakov (10), Yevgeni Bushmanov (8 / 1), Dmitri Ananko (7), Dmitri Gradilenko (6), Sergei Bazulev (4), Sergei Chudin (1).
Midfielders: Hennadiy Perepadenko (28 / 5), Valery Karpin (28 / 3), Aleksandr Mostovoi (27 / 13), Andrei Ivanov (23), Igor Shalimov (22 / 5), Fyodor Cherenkov (22 / 3), Oleg Ivanov (14), Valeri Popovitch (6), Igor Kozlov (2), Oleg Imrekov (1), Aleksandr Karatayev (1), Serhiy Perepadenko (1).
Forwards: Dmitri Radchenko (29 / 13), Valeri Shmarov (19 / 6).

One own goal scored by Viktor Vasilyev (FC Spartak Vladikavkaz).

Manager: Oleg Romantsev.

Transferred in during the season: Andrei Mokh (from Dynamo Moscow), Dmitri Radchenko (from Zenit Leningrad), Igor Kozlov (from CSKA Moscow), Fyodor Cherenkov (from   Red Star).

Transferred out during the season: Igor Shalimov (to   Foggia), Vasili Kulkov, Aleksandr Mostovoi (both to   Benfica), Valeri Shmarov (to   Karlsruher SC), Boris Pozdnyakov, Oleg Imrekov (both to   FC Stahl Linz), Sergei Bazulev (to   OLS), Andrei Mokh (to   Espanyol), Hennadiy Perepadenko (to   Hapoel Tzafririm).

3. FC Torpedo Moscow

Goalkeepers: Valeri Sarychev (17 / -12), Aleksandr Podshivalov (14 / -8).
Defenders: Andrei Afanasyev (27 / 1), Aleksei Yushkov (24 / 5), Aleksandr Polukarov (19 / 1), Mikhail Solovyov (17), Maksim Cheltsov (5).
Midfielders: Gennadi Grishin (29 / 7), Igor Chugainov (28 / 2), Sergei Shustikov (28 / 1), Sergey Agashkov (26 / 3), Andrei Kalaychev (23 / 2), Nikolai Savichev (21 / 3), Dmitri Ulyanov (16 / 1), Sergei Zhukov (9), Oleg Shirinbekov (8 / 1), Sergey Borisov (7), Vladimir Yeryomin (3), Aleksei Arefyev (1).
Forwards: Yuri Tishkov (24 / 8), Vadim Rogovskoy (14), Yuri Matveyev (12 / 1), Aleksandr Kuzmichyov (6), Andrei Talalayev (5), Aleksandr Gitselov (3).

Manager: Valentin Ivanov (until September), Yevgeni Skomorokhov (from September).

Transferred in during the season: Aleksandr Podshivalov (from Ararat Yerevan), Aleksei Yushkov, Yuri Matveyev (both from Uralmash Sverdlovsk), Igor Chugainov (from Lokomotiv Moscow), Vladimir Yeryomin (from Chornomorets Odesa).

Transferred out during the season: Aleksandr Polukarov (to   Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.), Vadim Rogovskoy (free agent), Oleg Shirinbekov (to   Vasas SC), Vladimir Yeryomin (to FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia), Aleksei Yushkov (to Dynamo Moscow), Aleksandr Gitselov (to   Zagłębie Lubin), Sergei Zhukov, Aleksei Arefyev (both to   Abahani Dhaka), Yuri Matveyev (to Uralmash Yekaterinburg), Aleksandr Kuzmichyov (to Lokomotiv Moscow).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "ФУТБОЛ - 1991. О ПРОВЕДЕНИЕ СОРЕВНОВАНИЙ. (Football – 1991. On conducting the competitions". Центральный стадион им. В.И.Ленина (Tsentralny Stadion imeni V.I.Lenina). Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  2. ^ ЦСКА-1991. Последнее золото СССР. Как это было. www.championat.com. 27 October 2016
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