List of Soviet football teams of masters

The Soviet football championship was composed of professional teams that were known as "teams of masters".[citation needed]

The first professional football competitions in the Soviet Union started in 1936. The format of Soviet football championship was not consisted and was changing almost every year.[citation needed]

Officially professional sports in the Soviet Union was prohibited[1] as any other private form of business. As anything else in the country, football also was controlled by Soviet government and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The best "teams of masters" were Dynamo controlled by Soviet secret police, Army and Armed Forces clubs, and Spartak which officially represented "industrial cooperation" but was actually directed by the young communists of Komsomol.[2] Following the so-called "liberation of Europe by the Red Army" in 1944–45, numerous Dynamos, CSKA, and Spartaks were set up in countries of the Warsaw Pact. These teams were also instantaneously created with occupation of eastern Poland, Baltics and eastern Romania in 1939–1940.[citation needed]

Officially all footballers were employed because unemployment was illegal. So, footballers were playing football, while on the books working and getting paid as a regular worker. Unlike professional athletes in the West who were becoming rich celebrities, in the Soviet Union notable sports athletes were transitioning to their new career as an "apparatchik", or Communist official, whether in coaching or administrative positions.[citation needed]

Teams of masters

edit
Club Union republic First League
season
Last League
season
Status
Spartak Moscow Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Dynamo Moscow Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Dynamo Kyiv Ukraine 1936 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Dinamo Tbilisi Georgia 1936 1989 Joined Georgian competitions
Torpedo Moscow Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
CSKA Moscow Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Zenit Leningrad Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Shakhtar Donetsk Ukraine 1936 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Dinamo Minsk Belarus 1940 1991 Joined Belarusian competitions
Ararat Yerevan Armenia 1937 1991 Joined Armenian competitions
Lokomotiv Moscow Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Neftchi Baku Azerbaijan 1937 1991 Joined Azerbaijani competitions
Chornomorets Odesa Ukraine 1936 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Kairat Alma-Ata Kazakhstan 1947 1991 Joined Kazakhstani competitions
SKA Rostov-na-Donu Russia 1958 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Pakhtakor Tashkent Uzbekistan 1947 1991 Joined Uzbekistani competitions
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Ukraine 1937 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev Russia 1945 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Dinamo Leningrad Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Metalist Kharkiv Ukraine 1936 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Zorya Luhansk Ukraine 1939 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Metalurh Odesa Ukraine 1953 1954 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Trudovi Rezervy Voroshilovgrad Ukraine 1949 1963 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Torpedo Kutaisi Georgia 1949 1989 Joined Georgian competitions
Zalgiris Vilnius Lithuania 1947 1991 Joined Lithuanian competitions
Rotor Volgograd Russia 1936 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Nistru Kishinev Moldova 1947 1991 Joined Moldovan competitions
Karpaty Lviv Ukraine 1963 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
VVS Moscow Russia 1945 1952 Dissolved
Daugava Riga Latvia 1948 1990 Dissolved
Serp i Molot Moscow Russia 1936 1969 Dissolved
Krylia Sovetov Moscow Russia 1936 1969 Dissolved
Lokomotyv Kharkiv Ukraine 1945 1955 Dissolved
Kuban Krasnodar Russia 1949 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Admiralteyets Leningrad Russia 1939 1961 Dissolved
Pamir Dushanbe Tajikistan 1947 1991 Joined Tajikistani competitions
Elektrosila Leningrad Russia 1936 1946 Dissolved
Fakel Voronezh Russia 1954 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Spartak Tbilisi Georgia 1947 1977 Dissolved
Trudovye Rezervy Leningrad Russia 1954 1959 Dissolved
Spartak Vladikavkaz Russia 1960 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia Ukraine 1947 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Torpedo Gorky Russia 1936 1962 Dissolved
Volga Gorky Russia 1963 1984 Dissolved
Avtomobilist Leningrad Russia 1936 1966 Dissolved
Tavria Simferopol Ukraine 1958 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
SKA Odesa Ukraine 1958 1991 Replaced with SC Odesa
Silmash Kharkiv Ukraine 1937 1940 Dissolved
VMS Moscow Russia 1946 1953 Dissolved
Stalinets Moscow Russia 1936 1939 Dissolved
Lokomotyv Kyiv Ukraine 1936 1940 Dissolved
Uralmash Sverdlovsk Russia 1945 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Spartak Kharkiv Ukraine 1936 1941 Dissolved
Kalev Tallinn Estonia 1947 1962 Dissolved
Dynamo Rostov-na-Donu Russia 1936 1949 Dissolved
Shinnik Yaroslavl Russia 1947 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Temp Baku Azerbaijan 1936 1939 Dissolved
Kapaz Ganja Azerbaijan 1959 1991 Joined Azerbaijani competitions
Lokomotivi Tbilisi Georgia 1936 1986 Joined Georgian competitions
Guria Lanchkhuti Georgia 1967 1989 Joined Georgian competitions
ODO Sverdlovsk Russia 1946 1959 Dissolved
Pischevik Moscow Russia 1938 1947 Dissolved
Kalinin Russia 1945 1953 Dissolved
Burevestnik Moscow Russia 1937 1947 Dissolved
Profsoyuzy-1 Moscow Russia 1941 1941 Dissolved
Profsoyuzy-2 Moscow Russia 1941 1941 Dissolved
Kuzbass Kemerevo Russia 1948 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Tekstilschik Ivanovo Russia 1939 1991 Joined Russian competitions
SKA Lviv Ukraine 1949 1991 Turned into FC Halychyna Drohobych
Zvezda Perm Russia 1945 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Kopetdag Ashgabat Turkmenistan 1947 1991 Joined Turkmenistani competitions
Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu Russia 1953 1991 Joined Russian competitions
SKA Khabarovsk Russia 1957 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Alga Frunze Kyrgyzstan 1947 1991 Joined Kyrgyzstani competitions
Dynamo Stavropol Russia 1957 1991 Joined Russian competitions
SKA Kyiv Ukraine 1947 1991 Turned into CSKA Kyiv
Shakhter Karaganda Kazakhstan 1958 1991 Joined Kazakhstani competitions
Terek Grozny Russia 1957 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk Ukraine 1956 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv Ukraine 1939 1991 Turned into Evis Mykolaiv
Rubin Kazan Russia 1958 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Dinamo Batumi Georgia 1939 1989 Joined Georgian competitions
Volga Kalinin Russia 1949 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Sokol Saratov Russia 1947 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Lokomotiv Chelyabinsk Russia 1957 1987 Joined Russian competitions
Kolos Nikopol Ukraine 1962 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Spartak Nalchik Russia 1959 1991 Joined Russian competitions
SKA Tbilisi Georgia 1946 1959 Joined Georgian competitions
SKA Novosibirsk Russia 1945 1968 Joined Russian competitions
Irtysh Omsk Russia 1947 1991 Joined Russian competitions
Nyva Vinnytsia Ukraine 1958 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Avtomobilist Leningrad Russia 1936 1966 Dissolved
Zakarpattia Uzhhorod Ukraine 1947 1991 Joined Ukrainian competitions
Torpedo Taganrog Russia 1948 1991 Joined Russian competitions

References

edit
edit