Soviet Top League
| Country | Soviet Union |
|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Founded | 22 May 1936 (as Group A) |
| Folded | 1991 due to fall of USSR after 54 seasons |
| Divisions | 1 |
| Number of teams | varied |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Relegation to | Soviet First League |
| Domestic cup(s) |
Soviet Cup USSR Super Cup |
| League cup(s) | USSR Federation Cup |
| International cup(s) |
European Cup UEFA Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup |
| Last champions |
CSKA Moscow (1991) |
| Most championships | FC Dynamo Kyiv (13) |
| Top goalscorer | 211 - Oleg Blokhin |
The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (Russian: Высшая лига) served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991.
It was one of the best football leagues in Europe, ranking second among the UEFA members in 1988-1989 seasons. Three of its representatives reached the finals of the European club tournaments on four occasions: FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Dinamo Tbilisi, and FC Dynamo Moscow. According to UEFA the main successor of the league became the Russian Premier League.
The most prominent clubs of the league were FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Spartak Moscow, and FC Dynamo Moscow. The most popular clubs besides the above-mentioned were PFC CSKA Moscow, FC Ararat Yerevan, and FC Dinamo Tbilisi. The first team that won 10 championships was Dynamo Moscow in 1963, followed by Spartak in 1979. Dinamo Tbilisi became famous for finishing third but never winning the title, the first title they won in 1964. Perceived as exclusively Russian by people from other countries, the league was truly multinational with other republics in the USSR being represented.
Eleven clubs spent over 30 seasons in the league with just under half (five) of them from Moscow. Dynamo Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv were the only clubs that participated in all seasons of the league. Among other prominent Russian clubs were SKA Rostov/Donu (Army team), Zenit Leningrad (Zenith), and Krylia Sovietov Kuibyshev (Wings of the Soviets). Ukraine was also often represented by Shakhtar Donetsk (Miners) and later by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk who were strong in the 1980s.
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