Football in the Soviet Union

The football in the Soviet Union for about seventy years was a very popular sport in the USSR, the USSR national football championships were one of the major annual sporting events.[1][2][3][4]

Football in Soviet Union
CountrySoviet Union
Governing bodyFootball Federation of USSR
National team(s)Soviet Union national football team
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

History

Before the revolution of 1917, football was quite widespread in the Tsarist Russian Empire. In 1914, the Russian Football Union included representatives from 33 cities, while the number of football teams was close to two hundred and the number of registered players - five thousand. Interest in football has not fallen, and after the revolution, the number of football teams continued to grow. And soon, along with urban and territorial competitions, it was decided to hold the championships of the RSFSR and the USSR. Until 1936, teams representing cities and republics, as opposed to club teams, took part in these competitions.

The 1922 and 1923 tournaments were officially called the Championships of the RSFSR, even though teams from the Ukrainian SSR and the Transcaucasian Republics also took part. Both times, the team from Moscow was victorious. It wasn't until 1924 when the first All-Union championship was held. They were organized five times in total (1924, 1928, 1931, 1932 and 1935). In the first three tournaments, the team participated republics and cities, only two of the latter city.[5]

Since 1936, the USSR championships for club teams representing companies and institutions were held annually, and in two cases (1936, 1976) - twice a year. They were interrupted only once, during the Great Patriotic War. Tournaments were notable for their organizational instability. The number of participating teams was constantly changing (ranging from 7 to 26), some of the changes taking place in the course of the championship tournament. The championship tournaments lasted from 57 to 282 days, they were played in one (1936, 1938, 1952, 1976) or two rounds, there were single and multi-stage ones (1960, 1961, 1962, 1969). Changes to the scoring system were also made - during different seasons, the number of points awarded for a draw was two, one, or even none. The name of the tournament itself was also changed over the years: группа «А» (Group A), класс «А» (Class A), I группа (Group I), I группа класса «А» (Group I Class A), высшая группа класса «А» (Top Group Class A), высшая лига (Top League).

In the second half of the 1980s, leading players of the Soviet teams began to move to foreign clubs. In 1990, Dinamo Tbilisi and Žalgiris Vilnius left the competitions of the Soviet Union. Other clubs had similar intentions but these plans were not implemented before the actual collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1991, the history of the football championships of the Soviet Union ended with the victory of FC CSKA Moscow. The Commonwealth of Independent States Cup, traditionally attended by the winners of national championships from the former Soviet republics, was a reminder of the existence of the USSR Championships.[6]

See also

For the correspondent article on each one of the republics, please see:

Others:

References
  1. Stark, Harrison (28 May 2014). "The USSR Was a Soccer Powerhouse. Why Isn't Russia?". Retrieved 23 November 2017 – via Slate.
  2. "Host Mexico Opposes Soviet Union Today in World Cup Soccer Opener". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  3. Victor; Louis, Jennifer (22 October 2013). Sport in the Soviet Union. Elsevier. ISBN 9781483155913. Retrieved 23 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. The World through Soccer: The Cultural Impact of a Global Sport. Rowman & Littlefield. 7 May 2014. ISBN 9781442234741. Retrieved 23 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. Edelman, Robert (5 October 2012). Spartak Moscow: A History of the People's Team in the Workers' State. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801466137. Retrieved 23 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  6. "Russia rise to new order | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. July 9, 2018.
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