The 1990 Soviet Top League season was the 53rd since its establishment. Spartak Moscow were the defending 12-times champions, but came only fifth this season and marginally qualified for continental competitions. The league was shortened and a total of fourteen teams participated. By the start of the season both Georgian teams had withdrawn followed by another withdrawal from Žalgiris at the start of competition. The league consisted of ten teams contested in the 1989 season and the Army club promoted from the Soviet First League. The representatives of the Baltic states as well as Georgia chose not to take part in the competition.
The season began on 1 March with the game between Dnipro and Rotor and lasted until 20 October 1990. The season was won by FC Dynamo Kyiv.
Participating teams The league was reduced to 13 after first Georgian clubs (Dinamo Tbilisi and Guria Lanchkhuti) and then Žalgiris withdrew from the Soviet Top League.
Lokomotiv Moscow and the last placed Zenit Leningrad of the 1989 Soviet Top League were relegated to the 1990 Soviet First League. Lokomotiv returned to the Soviet First League after two seasons absence, while Zenit was relegated for the first time since being promoted back in 1938 through the club's merger.
Originally two teams were promoted from the 1989 Soviet First League and included PFC CSKA Moscow and FC Guria Lanchkhuti. Just before the start of new season Georgian clubs and Žalgiris left the league.
Promoted teams PFC CSKA Moscow – champion (returning after two seasons) FC Guria Lanchkhuti – 2nd place (returning after two seasons)
Withdrawn teams FC Guria Lanchkhuti, joined the Georgian Top League (Umaglesi Liga) FC Dinamo Tbilisi, joined the Georgian Top League (Umaglesi Liga) FC Zalgiris Vilnius, joined the 1990 Baltic League
Locations
Stadiums Stadium Team Opened Capacity NotesRepublican Stadium, KyivDynamo Kyiv 1923 100,062 Olimpic Stadium Luzhniki, MoscowSpartak195681,000 CSKA Central Stadium Dinamo, MoscowDinamo Moscow 1928 71,430 Central Stadium Hrazdan, YerevanArarat 1970 70,000 BSS Central Stadium, OdesaChornomorets 1935 55,000 OSC Metalist, KharkivMetalist 1926 42,000 Dinamo Stadium, MinskDinamo Minsk 1934 40,000 Meteor Stadium, DnipropetrovskDnipro 1966 40,000 Central Stadium, VolgogradRotor 1962 40,000 Central Stadium Shakhtar, DonetskShakhtar 1936 31,718 SC Olimpiyskiy, MoscowSpartak 1980 22,000 used in round 3rd, 4th, 7th, 9thFrunze Republican Stadium, DushanbePamir 1946 21,400 Torpedo Stadium, MoscowTorpedo 1959 16,000 LFK CSKA, MoscowCSKA19794,000 used in rounds 1st, 2nd, 5th, 10thDinamo Moscow used in rounds 1st, 2nd, 5th
Managers
Club Head coachFC Dynamo Kyiv Anatoliy PuzachPFC CSKA Moscow Pavel SadyrinFC Dynamo Moscow Semen AltmanFC Torpedo Moscow Valentin IvanovFC Spartak Moscow Oleg RomantsevFC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Yevhen KucherevskyiFC Ararat Yerevan Armen SarkisyanFC Shakhtar Donetsk Valeriy YaremchenkoFC Chornomorets Odessa Viktor ProkopenkoFC Pamir Dushanbe Sharif NazarovFC Metalist Kharkiv Leonid TkachenkoFC Dinamo Minsk Eduard MalofeyevFC Rotor Volgograd Vladimir FayzulinŽalgiris Vilnius Benjaminas Zelkevičius
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointmentRotor Volgograd Aleksandr Sevidov31 May 1990 Vladimir Fayzulin1 June 1990Dinamo Moscow Anatoliy Byshovets31 July 1990 Semen Altman1 August 1990Dinamo Kiev Valeriy Lobanovskyi31 August 1990 Anatoliy Puzach1 September 1990
Final standings
Promotion/relegation play-off (13th team of the Top League and 4th team of the First League)
Lokomotiv Moscow won the promotion on 3–2 aggregate
Results
Top scorers 12 goals Oleg Protasov (Dynamo Kyiv) Valeri Shmarov (Spartak Moscow)
10 goals Eduard Son (Dnipro)
9 goals Mykola Kudrytsky (Dnipro) Aleksandr Mostovoi (Spartak Moscow) Mukhsin Mukhamadiev (Pamir) Sergei Yuran (Dynamo Kyiv)
8 goals Igor Korneev (CSKA Moscow) Valeri Masalitin (CSKA Moscow) Yuri Savichev (Torpedo Moscow)
Clean sheets Сухие матчи вратарей Чемпионат СССР 1990. Высшая лига - статистика игроков 11 matches Stanislav Cherchesov (Spartak Moscow) Aleksandr Podshivalov (Torpedo Moscow)
10 matches Valeri Sarychev (Torpedo Moscow) Aleksandr Uvarov (Dynamo Moscow)
9 matches Viktor Chanov (Dynamo Kyiv)
8 matches Viktor Hryshko (Chornomorets Odesa)
7 matches Mikhail Yeryomin (CSKA Moscow) Andriy Kovtun (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Medal squads (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) 1. FC Dynamo Kyiv Goalkeepers: Viktor Chanov (21), Aleksandr Zhidkov (4). Defenders: Serhiy Shmatovalenko (22 / 1), Oleh Kuznetsov (20 / 2), Akhrik Tsveiba (20), Serhiy Zayets (17 / 1), Anatoliy Demyanenko (15), Oleh Luzhnyi (12), Andriy Annenkov (8), Volodymyr Bezsonov (7 / 1), Andriy Bal (4), Borys Derkach (3 / 2), Andriy Aleksanenkov (3), Yuriy Moroz (3). Midfielders: Hennadiy Lytovchenko (24 / 6), Vasyl Rats (21 / 2), Ivan Yaremchuk (18 / 2), Serhiy Kovalets (11 / 2), Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko (8), Pavlo Yakovenko (6). Forwards: Oleg Salenko (21 / 4), Oleh Protasov (16 / 12), Sergei Yuran (13 / 9).
Manager: Valeriy Lobanovskyi (until September), Anatoliy Puzach (from September).
Transferred out during the season: Oleh Kuznetsov (to Rangers), Oleh Protasov (to Olympiacos), Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko (to Sampdoria). 2. PFC CSKA Moscow Goalkeepers: Mikhail Yeremin (15), Aleksandr Guteyev (6), Yuri Shishkin (4). Defenders: Dmitri Bystrov (23 / 1), Dmitri Galiamin (23), Sergei Fokin (21 / 1), Sergei Kolotovkin (20), Oleg Malyukov (16), Viktor Yanushevsky (12). Midfielders: Valeri Broshin (24 / 5), Dmitri Kuznetsov (22 / 5), Igor Korneev (21 / 8), Vladimir Tatarchuk (21 / 3), Mikhail Kolesnikov (18 / 2), Igor Kozlov (8), Sergei Krutov (2), Aleksandr Grishin (1). Forwards: Oleg Sergeyev (24 / 6), Sergey Dmitriev (21 / 4), Valeri Masalitin (9 / 8).
Manager: Pavel Sadyrin.
Transferred out during the season: none. 3. FC Dynamo Moscow Goalkeepers: Aleksandr Uvarov (20), Andrei Smetanin (3), Dmitri Kharine (1). Defenders: Andrei Chernyshov (22 / 2), Igor Sklyarov (21 / 1), Viktor Losev (20), Andrei Mokh (18 / 2), Yevgeni Smertin (18), Yevgeni Dolgov (16), Vyacheslav Tsaryov (10), Serhiy Protsyuk (9), Andrei Zhirov (2), Ravil Sabitov (2). Midfielders: Aleksei Sereda (23), Andrey Kobelev (21 / 4), Sergei Derkach (19 / 4), Igor Dobrovolski (15 / 4), Roman Pylypchuk (15 / 2), Aleksandr Zakharov (4), Aleksandr Smirnov (3), Aleksei Yeryomenko (2), Sergei Neyman (1). Forwards: Sergei Kiriakov (22 / 3), Igor Kolyvanov (19 / 5), Igor Simutenkov (1).
Manager: Anatoli Byshovets (until July), Semen Altman (caretaker, from July).
Transferred out during the season: Aleksandr Smirnov, Ravil Sabitov (both to FC Dinamo Sukhumi).
Number of teams by union republic Rank Union republic Number of teams Club(s)1 5CSKA Moscow, Dinamo Moscow, Rotor Volgograd, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow Chernomorets Odessa, Dinamo Kiev, Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, Metallist Kharkov, Shakhter Donetsk3 1Ararat Yerevan Dinamo Minsk Pamir Dushanbe Zhalgiris Vilnius
Attendances
No. Club Average 1 Spartak Moscow 27,800 2 Dynamo Kyiv 20,467 3 Rotor 20,167 4 Pamir 15,500 5 Chornomorets 14,492 6 Shakhtar Donetsk 14,250 7 Dnipro 12,083 8 Ararat 11,492 9 PFC CSKA 11,242 10 Metalist 10,375 11 Dynamo Moscow 9,233 12 Dinamo Minsk 8,342 13 Torpedo Moscow 4,908Source:
See also Soviet First League 1990 1990 Soviet Second League 1990 Soviet Second League B 1990 Baltic League
References
External links KLISF. 1990 Soviet Top League (text only) 1990 season. FootballFacts.ru