1981 Soviet Top League

Statistics of Soviet Top League for the 1981 season.

Soviet Top League

Season	1981
Champions	Dinamo Kiev
Relegated	SKA Rostov-na-Donu, Tavriya Simferopol
European Cup	Dinamo Kiev
Cup Winners' Cup	SKA Rostov-na-Donu
UEFA Cup	Spartak Moscow Dinamo Moscow Dinamo Tbilisi
Matches played	306
Goals scored	779 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	(23) Ramaz Shengelia (Dinamo Tb.)
← 1980 1982 →

Overview

It was contested by 18 teams, and Dynamo Kyiv won the championship.

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dynamo Kyiv (C)	34	22	9	3	58	26	+32	53	Qualification for European Cup first round
2	Spartak Moscow	34	19	8	7	70	40	+30	46	Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
3	Dinamo Tbilisi	34	16	10	8	62	35	+27	42
4	Dynamo Moscow	34	15	10	9	41	29	+12	40
5	Torpedo Moscow	34	14	14	6	41	29	+12	38[a]	Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round
6	CSKA Moscow	34	14	9	11	39	33	+6	37
7	Shakhtar Donetsk	34	12	10	12	51	39	+12	34
8	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	34	12	8	14	42	53	−11	32
9	Dinamo Minsk	34	11	13	10	44	39	+5	32[b]
10	Neftchi Baku	34	11	12	11	34	49	−15	32[c]
11	Chornomorets Odessa	34	11	9	14	36	44	−8	31
12	Kairat Alma-Ata	34	10	12	12	42	46	−4	30[c]
13	Kuban Krasnodar	34	11	7	16	42	54	−12	29
14	Ararat Yerevan	34	10	9	15	44	50	−6	29
15	Zenit Leningrad	34	9	10	15	33	43	−10	28
16	SKA Rostov-on-Don (R)	34	8	10	16	39	58	−19	26	Relegation to First League
17	Tavria Simferopol (R)	34	8	7	19	27	54	−27	23
18	Pakhtakor Tashkent[d]	34	7	5	22	34	58	−24	19

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. 4 points deducted (10 draw limit)
2. 3 points deducted (10 draw limit)
3. 2 points deducted (10 draw limit)
4. Pakhtakor Tashkent avoided relegation as it received a three year guarantee of no relegation after the 1979 airplane crash.

Results

Home \ Away	ARA	CHO	CSK	DNI	DYK	DMN	DYN	DTB	KAI	KUB	NEF	PAK	SHA	SKA	SPA	TAV	TOR	ZEN
Ararat Yerevan		2–3	1–0	3–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	1–1	4–2	6–1	3–1	0–0	4–0	1–2	2–1	3–2	2–1
Chornomorets Odessa	1–0		2–3	0–1	1–3	3–3	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	0–1	1–4	2–0	1–1	0–0
CSKA Moscow	0–0	0–2		1–1	2–0	2–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–2	2–0
Dnipro	3–1	0–1	2–1		0–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	4–3	0–1	3–0	2–1	1–2	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	2–1
Dynamo Kyiv	1–0	2–1	0–0	3–1		3–3	3–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	1–1	4–0	2–1	3–2	2–0	3–1	1–0	3–0
Dinamo Minsk	1–2	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–1		0–2	1–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0
Dynamo Moscow	0–0	1–0	2–1	4–1	2–1	0–0		1–1	2–1	4–2	1–0	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–2
Dinamo Tbilisi	3–1	1–1	2–1	4–0	3–1	1–2	0–2		2–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	1–1	3–0	3–1	5–0	0–0	3–1
Kairat Alma-Ata	2–1	3–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–3		2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	1–2	1–1
Kuban Krasnodar	5–1	2–0	2–1	2–2	0–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	2–1		0–0	3–0	2–1	4–0	0–2	2–1	0–0	2–2
Neftçi Baku	0–0	2–1	2–1	4–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	2–1		3–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–0
Pakhtakor Tashkent	3–1	1–3	0–0	1–2	1–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–3	0–1	3–0		3–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1	0–1
Shakhtar Donetsk	1–0	2–0	2–1	5–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	5–0	1–1		4–0	1–2	3–0	1–1	2–3
SKA Rostov-on-Don	0–0	0–0	1–4	1–1	0–1	2–3	2–1	1–1	2–2	6–1	1–1	3–2	2–1		3–4	3–0	0–0	1–3
Spartak Moscow	3–0	2–2	3–0	3–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	3–1	3–0	4–2	4–1	5–1	1–0	1–1		6–1	3–1	1–1
Tavriya Simferopol	2–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–3	3–3	3–1	3–0	1–0	0–3	1–1	0–2		1–1	1–0
Torpedo Moscow	2–0	3–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–3	2–2	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–2	1–0		1–0
Zenit Leningrad	1–1	1–2	1–3	1–0	1–3	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–2	0–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

23 goals

• Ramaz Shengelia (Dinamo Tbilisi)

21 goals

• Yuri Gavrilov (Spartak Moscow)

19 goals

• Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)

16 goals

• Vladimir Kazachyonok (Zenit)

15 goals

• Valery Gazzaev (Dynamo Moscow)

14 goals

• Khoren Hovhannisyan (Ararat)
• Pyotr Vasilevsky (Dinamo Minsk)

13 goals

• Andrei Yakubik (Pakhtakor)

12 goals

• Viktor Grachyov (Shakhtar)
• Aleksandr Pogorelov (Dnipro)

Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. FC Dynamo Kyiv

Goalkeepers: Mykhaylo Mykhaylov (25), Yuriy Romenskyi (9). Defenders: Volodymyr Lozynskyi (34 / 2), Anatoliy Konkov (31), Sergei Baltacha (29), Anatoliy Demyanenko (29 / 2), Oleksandr Boyko (22), Oleksandr Sorokalet (10 / 1), Serhiy Zhuravlyov (5), Viktor Kaplun (5), Yuriy Makhynya (3). Midfielders: Andriy Bal (30 / 3), Leonid Buryak (29 / 9), Volodymyr Bezsonov (25 / 2), Volodymyr Veremeyev (24 / 4), Yaroslav Dumanskyi (12), Viktor Kolotov (4), Vasyl Rats (2). Forwards: Vadym Yevtushenko (31 / 8), Oleg Blokhin (29 / 19), Viktor Khlus (28 / 8), Aleksandr Khapsalis (21), Stepan Yurchyshyn (1). Manager: Valeriy Lobanovskyi. Transferred out during the season: .

2. FC Spartak Moscow

Goalkeepers: Rinat Dasayev (34), Aleksei Prudnikov (1). Defenders: Vladimir Sochnov (32 / 1), Viktor Samokhin (27 / 1), Oleg Romantsev (25), Alexander Mirzoyan (22), Gennady Morozov (14), Gocha Machaidze (1). Midfielders: Sergey Shavlo (34 / 8), Fyodor Cherenkov (32 / 4), Sergei Shvetsov (25 / 5), Yevgeni Sidorov (21), Boris Pozdnyakov (14), Manuchar Machaidze (2). Forwards: Yuri Gavrilov (33 / 21), Edgar Gess (33 / 11), Aleksandr Kalashnikov (32 / 9), Sergey Rodionov (29 / 9), Vladimir Safronenko (12 / 1), Sergei Krestenenko (9), Sergei Argudyayev (2). Manager: Konstantin Beskov. Transferred out during the season: .

3. FC Dinamo Tbilisi

Goalkeepers: Otar Gabelia (31), Karlo Mchedlidze (5). Defenders: Nodar Khizanishvili (30), Tengiz Sulakvelidze (29 / 4), Giorgi Tavadze (28 / 1), Aleksandre Chivadze (28 / 2), Shota Khinchagashvili (19), Tamaz Kostava (15), David Mudzhiri (13), Amiran Andguladze (9), Levan Melikia (7), Giorgi Chilaia (4). Midfielders: Vitaly Daraselia (33 / 2), Zaur Svanadze (33 / 2), Nugzar Kakilashvili (25 / 5), Gocha Dzhohadze (7 / 1), Amiran Minashvili (1). Forwards: Vladimir Gutsaev (33 / 3), Ramaz Shengelia (31 / 23), Vazha Zhvania (19 / 4), David Kipiani (18 / 8), Revaz Chelebadze (6 / 3), Grigol Tsaava (5). Manager: Nodar Akhalkatsi. Transferred out during the season: .

References

• Soviet Union - List of final tables (RSSSF)
• 1981. Higher League. (1981. Высшая лига.) Luhansk Our Futbol portal.
• 44th USSR Championship, 1981 Higher League (44-й чемпионат СССР, 1981г. Высшая лига). Wildstat website.