1991 Soviet Top League

Soviet Top League
Season	1991
Dates	10 March – 2 November 1991
Champions	CSKA Moscow; (7th title)
Relegated	none (7 clubs withdrew)
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 →

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.

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

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).

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

Moscow
Spartak
CSKA
Dynamo
Lokomotiv
Torpedo

Location of teams in the 1991 Soviet Top League.

Stadiums

Stadium	Team	Opened	Capacity	Notes
Republican Stadium, Kyiv	Dynamo Kyiv	1923	100,062
Olympic Stadium Luzhniki, Moscow	Spartak Moscow	1956	81,000
Olympic Stadium Luzhniki, Moscow	CSKA	1956	81,000
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
Torpedo Stadium, Moscow	CSKA	1959	16,000	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

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

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	Withdrew from the league
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]	Withdrew from the league
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:

^ ^a ^b Metallurg received more head-to-head points against Pakhtakor.
^ 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

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

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	6	CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Spartak Vladikavkaz, Torpedo Moscow
1	Ukrainian SSR	6	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)

Clean sheets

[1]

14 matches

Viktor Hryshko (Chornomorets Odesa)

11 matches

Yuri Kurbyko (Dinamo Minsk)

10 matches

Valeri Sarychev (Torpedo Moscow)
Valeriy Horodov (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk)
Andriy Kovtun (Shakhtar Donetsk)

9 matches

Stanislav Cherchesov (Spartak Moscow)
Ihor Kutepov (Dynamo Kyiv)

8 matches

Aleksandr Podshivalov (Torpedo Moscow)
Andrei Manannikov (Pamir Dushanbe)

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 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

(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).