1991 Soviet Top League

Soviet Top League

Season	1991
Dates	10 March – 2 November 1991
Champions	CSKA Moscow
Champions League	CSKA Moscow (for Russia)
Cup Winners' Cup	Spartak Moscow (for Russia)
UEFA Cup	Dynamo Moscow Torpedo Moscow (for Russia)
Top goalscorer	(18) Igor Kolyvanov (Dynamo Moscow)
Biggest home win	Spartak – Dynamo M. 7–1 (26th)
Biggest away win	Dynamo M. – Torpedo 1–4 (18th) Metalurh – Chornomorets 1–4 (16th)
Highest scoring	Spartak – Dynamo M. 7–1 (26th) Dynamo M. – Dnipro 6–2 (28th)
← 1990 1992 Russia →

The 1991 Soviet Top League season was the 54th since its establishment and the last one. Dynamo Kyiv were the defending 13-times champions. 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.

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. 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.

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[]

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 Volograd 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).

• FC Spartak Vladikavkaz – champions (returning for the first time since 1970 after 20 seasons absence)
• FC Pakhtakor Tashkent – 2nd place (returning after six seasons)
• FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia – 3rd place (debut)
• FC Lokomotiv Moscow – promotion play-off (returning after a season)

Locations[]

Stadiums[]

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	?

Final standings[]

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
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
14	Pakhtakor Tashkent	30	9	7	14	37	45	−8	25
15	Metalist Kharkiv	30	8	9	13	32	43	−11	25
16	Lokomotiv Moscow	30	5	8	17	18	47	−29	18

• After this season the league was reorganized as the Soviet Union fell apart. All of the non-Russia based participant teams went on to compete at the top national level of their native countries. The Russian Premier League became the direct successor of the Soviet Top League.

Under UEFA[]

• • Belarusian Premier League (Dinamo Minsk)
  • Vyscha Liha (Chornomorets Odesa, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Shakhtar Donetsk, Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, Metalist Kharkiv)
  • Armenian Premier League (Ararat Yerevan)

Under AFC[]

• • Uzbek League (Pakhtakor Tashkent)
  • Tajik League (Pamir Dushanbe)

Number of teams by union republic[]

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[]

18 goals

• Igor Kolyvanov (Dynamo Moscow)

14 goals

• Oleg Salenko (Dynamo Kyiv)
• Igor Shkvyrin (Pakhtakor)

13 goals

• Aleksandr Mostovoi (Spartak Moscow)
• Dmitri Radchenko (Spartak Moscow)
• Nazim Suleymanov (Spartak Vladikavkaz)

12 goals

• Dmitri Kuznetsov (CSKA Moscow)

10 goals

• Igor Korneev (CSKA Moscow)
• Andrei Piatnitski (Pakhtakor)

9 goals

• Andrei Kobelev (Dynamo Moscow)
• Viktor Leonenko (Dynamo Moscow)
• Oleg Sergeyev (CSKA Moscow)
• Valeri Velichko (Dinamo Minsk)

Managers[]

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 Odessa	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
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Yevhen Kucherevskyi
FC Pamir Dushanbe	Sharif Nazarov
FC Spartak Vladikavkaz	Valery Gazzaev (until March) Nikolai Khudiyev (April to July) (from July)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk	Valeriy Yaremchenko
FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia	Ihor Nadein
FC Pakhtakor Tashkent	Fyodor Novikov (until June) Alexander Tarkhanov (from November)
FC Metalist Kharkiv	Leonid Tkachenko
FC Lokomotiv Moscow	Valeri Filatov

Awards[]

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 Odessa
Large Score	Football weekly	Chornomorets Odessa
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 Odessa
Progress Cup	newspaper Labor Newspaper
First Height	newspaper Socialist Industry	CSKA Moscow

Medal squads[]

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. PFC CSKA Moscow

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 Odessa). 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).

Managers and captains[]

Club	Republic	Coach	Replaced coach(es)
PFC CSKA Moscow	Russian SFSR	Pavel Sadyrin
FC Dynamo Moscow	Russian SFSR	Valeri Gazzayev	Semen Altman (acting)
FC Lokomotiv Moscow	Russian SFSR	Valeri Filatov
FC Spartak Moscow	Russian SFSR	Oleg Romantsev
FC Spartak Vladikavkaz	Russian SFSR	Nikolai Khudiyev	Valeri Gazzayev
FC Torpedo Moscow	Russian SFSR	Yevgeni Skomorokhov	Valentin Ivanov
FC Chornomorets Odessa	Ukrainian SSR	Viktor Prokopenko
FC Dynamo Kyiv	Ukrainian SSR	Anatoli Puzach
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	Ukrainian SSR	Yevhen Kucherevskyi
FC Metalist Kharkiv	Ukrainian SSR	Leonid Tkachenko
FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia	Ukrainian SSR	Ihor Nadein
FC Shakhtar Donetsk	Ukrainian SSR	Valeri Yaremchenko
FC Ararat Yerevan	Armenian SSR
FC Dinamo Minsk	Byelorussian SSR	Mikhail Vergeyenko	Eduard Malofeyev
FC Pakhtakor Tashkent	Uzbek SSR	Aleksandr Tarkhanov	Fyodor Novikov
FC Pamir Dushanbe	Tajik SSR	Sharif Nazarov

See also[]

• 1991 Soviet First League
• 1991 Soviet Second League
• 1991 Soviet Second League B
• 1990–91 Soviet Cup
• 1991–92 Soviet Cup

External links[]

• (in Russian) KLISF. Soviet Top League 1991.
• 1991 Soviet Top League. FootballFacts.ru