Soviet First League 1991 was the last season of the Soviet First League. With the collapse of the Soviet Union the football structure was reformed. All of its participants have entered the Top Divisions of the republics of their origin, except of Dinamo Sukhumi that because of the 1992-93 War in Abkhazia was dissolved.
Due to the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, a process of dissolution of the Soviet Union accelerated as well as a process of decommunization in former union republics. Number of cities changed their names returning to their original names.
Teams Promoted teams FC Uralmash Sverdlovsk – Winner of the 1990 Soviet Second League, Zone Center (returning after an absence of 10 seasons) FC Bukovina Chernovtsy – Winner of the 1990 Soviet Second League, Zone West (debut) FC Neftianik Fergona – Winner of the 1990 Soviet Second League, Zone East (debut) FC Novbakhor Namangan – Runner-up of the 1990 Soviet Second League, Zone East (debut) FC Textilshchik Kamyshin – Runner-up of the 1990 Soviet Second League, Zone Center (debut) FC Daugava Riga – Runner-up of the 1990 Soviet Second League, Zone West (debut)
Relegated teams Rotor Volgograd – (Returning after 2 seasons)
Renamed teams Prior to the start of the season Tiras Tiraspol was renamed to Tiligul Tiraspol. Prior to the start of the season Nistru Kishenev was renamed to Zimbrul Kishinev.
Replaced or withdrawn teams With fall of the Soviet Union, the promoted FC Daugava Riga was dissolved and replaced with FC Pardaugava Riga that was based on the junior squad of the Latvia national U-21 football team and took part in the 1990 Baltic League placing only 15th out 17 teams.
Locations
League standings Notes: On 6 September 1991, the city of Leningrad was renamed into Saint Petersburg On 4 September 1991, the city of Sverdlovsk was renamed into Yekaterinburg
Number of teams by union republic Rank Union republic Number of teams Club(s)1 11Dinamo Stavropol, Fakel Voronezh, Geolog Tyumen, Kuban Krasnodar, Lokomotiv Nizhniy Novgorod, Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu, Rotor Volgograd, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Tekstilschik Kamyshin, Uralmash Yekaterinburg, Zenit Saint Petersburg2 2Tiligul Tiraspol, Zimbru Kishenev Bukovina Chernovtsy, Tavriya Simferopol Navbahor Namangan, Neftiannik Fergana5 1Kotaik Abovian Neftchi Baku Dinamo Sukhumi Kairat Alma-Ata Pardaugava Riga
Top scorers
#PlayerClubGoalsGames1Serhiy Husyev«Tiligul Tiraspol»25362Serhiy Shevchenko«Tavriya Simferopol»21403Valeri Shushlyakov«Uralmash Yekaterinburg»20384Vladislav Lemish«Kuban Krasnodar»20425Rustam Zabirov«Navbahor Namangan»19356Yuri Kalitvintsev«Rotor Volgograd»18377Aleksandr Tikhonov«Rostselmash Rostov»17408Yunis Hüseynov«Neftchi Baku»16349Vəli Qasımov«Neftchi Baku»163810Rustem Shaymukhametov«Textilshchik Kamyshin»153811Yuriy Hudymenko«Rotor Volgograd»1539
Managers
Club Head coachFC Rotor Volgograd Leonid KoltunSC Tiligul Tiraspol Vladimir VeberFC Uralmash SverdlovskFC Uralmash Yekaterinburg Korney Shperling (until July)Nikolai Agafonov (from July)FC Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu Enver YulgushovFC Bukovina Chernovtsy Yukhym ShkolnykovSC Tavriya Simferopol Anatoliy ZayaevFC Neftiannik Fergona Yuriy SarkisyanFC Lokomotiv Nizhniy Novgorod Valeri OvchinnikovFC Navbakhor Namangan Igor VolchokFC Dinamo Sukhumi Oleg DolmatovFC Tekstilshchik Kamyshin Sergei PavlovFC Shinnik Yaroslavl Stanislav VorotilinFC Fakel Voronezh Sergei Savchenkov (until June)Fyodor Novikov (from July)FC Kairat Alma-Ata Boris StukalovFC Neftchi Baku Ruslan Abdullaev (until April)Kazbek Tuaev (from May)FC Dinamo Stavropol Viktor Nosov (until July)Vladimir Kitin (from July, interim)FC Kotayk Abovyan Arkady AndreasyanFC Zenit Saint Petersburg Yury MorozovFC Zimbru Kishinev Ion CarasFC Geolog Tyumen Rudolf AtamalyanSerhiy Morozov (from July)FC Kuban Krasnodar Vladimir Brazhnikov (until July)Yuri Marushkin (from July)FK Pārdaugava Riga Jānis Skredelis
See also 1991 Soviet Top League 1991 Soviet Second League 1991 Soviet Second League B
External links 1990 First League at the RSSSF