1985 Soviet Top League

The 1985 Soviet Top League was the 16th season of the Soviet Top League, the highest tier football league in the Soviet Union. It also was 48th season of the top tier club competition. Zenit Leningrad were the defending champions.

Soviet Top League

Season	1985
Dates	1 March – 23 November 27 November – 15 December (relegation tournament)
Champions	FC Dynamo Kyiv
Relegated	FC Fakel Voronezh, FC SKA Rostov-na-Donu
European Cup	Dynamo Kyiv
Cup Winners' Cup	Torpedo Moscow
UEFA Cup	FC Dinamo Minsk Spartak Moscow Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Matches played	306
Goals scored	795 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	(35) Oleh Protasov (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk)
← 1984 1986 →

Teams

Promoted teams

• FC Fakel Voronezh – champion (returning for the first time since 1961 after twenty 24 seasons, known as Trud Voronezh)
• FC Torpedo Kutaisi – 2nd place (returning after a season)

Location

350km
217miles

Torpedo K

SKA R/D

Fakel

Torpedo M

Spartak

Dynamo

Chornomorets

Dynamo T

Neftchi

Metallist

Žalgiris

Shakhter

Dnepr

Zenit

Kairat

Dynamo Mi

Ararat

Dynamo K

   

Locations of teams in the 1989 Top League

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dynamo Kyiv (C)	34	20	8	6	64	26	+38	48	Qualification for European Cup first round
2	Spartak Moscow	34	18	10	6	72	28	+44	46	Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
3	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	34	16	11	7	71	41	+30	42[a]
4	Dinamo Minsk	34	16	9	9	40	31	+9	41
5	Torpedo Moscow	34	13	10	11	42	40	+2	36
6	Zenit Leningrad	34	14	7	13	48	38	+10	35
7	Žalgiris Vilnius	34	12	11	11	43	49	−6	34[a]
8	Dinamo Tbilisi	34	11	10	13	34	39	−5	32
9	Kairat Alma-Ata	34	11	13	10	43	46	−3	32[b]
10	Metalist Kharkiv	34	12	7	15	39	55	−16	31
11	Torpedo Kutaisi	34	11	9	14	40	51	−11	31
12	Shakhtar Donetsk	34	10	12	12	46	45	+1	30[c]
13	Ararat Yerevan	34	10	12	12	42	46	−4	30[c]
14	Dinamo Moscow	34	11	7	16	37	50	−13	29
15	Chornomorets Odessa (O)	34	11	7	16	44	65	−21	29	Qualification for Relegation play-off
16	Neftçi Baku (O)	34	9	11	14	30	40	−10	28[a]
17	Fakel Voronezh (R)	34	9	9	16	24	45	−21	27	Relegation to First League
18	SKA Rostov-na-Donu (R)	34	7	7	20	36	60	−24	21

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. 1 point deducted (10 draw limit)
2. 3 points deducted (10 draw limit)
3. 2 points deducted (10 draw limit)

Post-season promotion/relegation tournament

• For the following season the League was reduced to 16 members. The teams that finished 15th and 16th played a mini-tournament in format of home-away double round-robin with the two best out of the Soviet First League (Daugava Riga and CSKA Moscow). Out of this tournament the two best teams (Chernomorets Odessa and Nefchi Baku) continued on in the Soviet Top League. The tournament was conducted in winter-like conditions from 27 November to 15 December.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chornomorets Odessa	6	3	3	0	6	3	+3	9
2	Neftçi Baku	6	2	3	1	9	4	+5	7
3	Daugava Riga	6	1	3	2	7	7	0	5
4	CSKA Moscow	6	1	1	4	3	11	−8	3

Source: rsssf.com

• For the 1986 season there was no promotion out of the Soviet First League.

Results

Home \ Away	ARA	CHO	DNI	DYK	DMN	DYN	DTB	FAK	KAI	MKH	NEF	SHA	SKA	SPA	TKU	TOR	ŽAL	ZEN
Ararat Yerevan		1–2	3–5	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	3–0	4–2	3–1	0–0	3–3	2–0	0–0	3–1	2–1	3–3	1–0
Chornomorets Odessa	2–1		2–1	0–3	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	4–3	1–1	3–2	1–3	1–4	3–0	3–2	2–3	0–0
Dnipro	2–0	3–3		1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	6–0	4–3	1–0	4–0	5–4	2–0	0–0	2–0	3–3	5–0	2–1
Dynamo Kyiv	4–0	0–1	0–0		1–1	5–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	4–2	2–0	1–0	1–2	3–0	3–1
Dinamo Minsk	3–2	4–1	2–1	0–2		1–0	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–0
Dynamo Moscow	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–2	0–1		1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–0	3–4	2–0	1–3	1–2	0–1	2–3
Dinamo Tbilisi	0–0	3–3	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–1		0–0	2–1	3–1	2–1	5–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–0
Fakel Voronezh	1–0	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–1	0–1	0–0		1–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	0–5	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–0
Kairat Alma-Ata	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–2		1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	4–4	4–1	1–1	2–0	2–1
Metalist Kharkiv	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	3–0		1–1	1–0	2–0	0–7	3–1	1–0	2–1	1–0
Neftçi Baku	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	0–0		0–0	1–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–1
Shakhtar Donetsk	0–0	4–0	1–1	1–2	3–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1		3–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–0
SKA Rostov-na-Donu	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–2	6–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–3		0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–0
Spartak Moscow	0–0	6–0	3–0	1–2	3–0	5–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	3–0		0–0	1–0	4–1	2–0
Torpedo Kutaisi	1–1	2–0	4–3	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	2–1	1–4	0–0	1–2		1–2	1–1	1–1
Torpedo Moscow	2–1	0–0	0–3	1–4	0–0	1–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	0–2		3–2	1–3
Žalgiris Vilnius	4–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–5	0–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	5–1	1–1	2–2	1–2		0–0
Zenit Leningrad	1–1	3–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	3–0	4–1	3–1	2–1	1–3	1–4	2–0	1–2	3–1

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

Top scorers

35 goals

• Oleh Protasov (Dnipro)

14 goals

• Vladimir Klementyev (Zenit)
• Sergey Rodionov (Spartak Moscow)

13 goals

• Fyodor Cherenkov (Spartak Moscow)
• Oleh Taran (Dnipro)

12 goals

• Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
• Viktor Grachyov (Shakhtar)
• Sigitas Jakubauskas (Žalgiris)

11 goals

• Georgi Kondratyev (Dinamo Minsk)
• Sergei Volgin (Kairat)

Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. FC Dynamo Kyiv

Goalkeepers: Mykhaylo Mykhaylov (34), Viktor Chanov (1). Defenders: Anatoliy Demyanenko (34 / 8), Oleh Kuznetsov (29 / 1), Sergei Baltacha (26 / 1), Volodymyr Bezsonov (25), Vasyl Yevseyev (19), Ivan Palamar (2), Mykhaylo Olefirenko (1), Vadym Karatayev (1). Midfielders: Vasyl Rats (34 / 6), Ivan Yaremchuk (33 / 3), Oleksandr Zavarov (31 / 9), Andriy Bal (31 / 1), Pavlo Yakovenko (29), Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko (20 / 2). Forwards: Ihor Belanov (31 / 10), Oleg Blokhin (29 / 12), Vadym Yevtushenko (22 / 10), Oleksandr Hushchyn (2), Viktor Khlus (2). Manager: Valeriy Lobanovskyi. Transferred out during the season: Viktor Khlus (to FC Chornomorets Odesa).

2. FC Spartak Moscow

Goalkeepers: Rinat Dasayev (34), Stanislav Cherchesov (2). Defenders: Aleksandr Bubnov (34), Boris Kuznetsov (34), Gennady Morozov (31 / 1), Vladimir Sochnov (24 / 2), Almir Kayumov (14), Aleksandr Shibayev (4). Midfielders: Fyodor Cherenkov (33 / 13), Yevgeni Kuznetsov (33 / 7), Sergei Novikov (31 / 7), Yuri Gavrilov (26 / 6), Sergey Shavlo (25 / 6), Yevgeni Sidorov (24 / 4), Guram Adzhoyev (7 / 1). Forwards: Sergey Rodionov (29 / 14), Andrei Rudakov (23 / 8), Vladimir Kapustin (13 / 1), Mikhail Rusyayev (5 / 2), Oleg Kuzhlev (5). Manager: Konstantin Beskov. Transferred out during the season: none.

3. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Goalkeepers: Serhiy Krakovskyi (32), Valeriy Horodov (6). Defenders: Serhiy Puchkov (32 / 1), Oleksandr Lysenko (31 / 2), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (31), Sergei Bashkirov (29 / 1), Oleksandr Sorokalet (11), Sergey Kulinich (3), Anatoliy Nazarenko (3), Volodymyr Gerashchenko (2), Petro Kutuzov (2), Ihor Deli (1). Midfielders: Hennadiy Lytovchenko (34 / 7), Vyktor Kuznetsov (33 / 3), Oleksiy Cherednyk (28 / 1), Andriy Dilay (27), Volodymyr Bahmut (20 / 1), Borys Shurshin (12 / 2), Mykola Kudrytsky (9), Serhiy Khudozhylov (2), Mykola Fedorenko (1). Forwards: Oleh Protasov (33 / 35), Oleh Taran (27 / 13), Volodymyr Lyutyi (22 / 4), Volodymyr Mozolyuk (1), Andriy Sydelnykov (1). Manager: Volodymyr Yemets. Transferred out during the season: Serhiy Khudozhylov, Mykola Fedorenko (both to FC Kolos Nikopol).

Number of teams by union republic

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	6	Dinamo Moscow, Fakel Voronezh, SKA Rostov-na-Donu, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, Zenit Leningrad
2	Ukrainian SSR	5	Chernomorets Odessa, Dinamo Kiev, Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, Metallist Kharkov, Shakhter Donetsk
3	Georgian SSR	2	Dinamo Tbilisi, Torpedo Kutaisi
4	Armenian SSR	1	Ararat Yerevan
	Azerbaijan SSR		Neftchi Baku
	Belarusian SSR		Dinamo Minsk
	Kazakh SSR		Kairat Alma-Ata
	Lithuanian SSR		Zhalgiris Vilnius

Attendances

#	Football club	Home games	Average attendance[1]
1	Dinamo Tbilisi	17	54,429
2	Dynamo Kyiv	17	35,918
3	Torpedo Kutaisi	17	26,765
4	Ararat Yerevan	17	26,659
5	Fakel Voronezh	17	25,676
6	FC Dnipro	17	25,506
7	FC Spartak Moscow	17	25,159
8	FC Zenit	17	24,882
9	FC Dinamo Minsk	17	24,435
10	Shakhtar Donetsk	17	21,688
11	Metalist Kharkiv	17	19,324
12	Chornomorets Odesa	17	17,371
13	FC Kairat	17	16,424
14	Neftçi	17	11,388
15	SKA Rostov-on-Don	17	9,771
16	FC Dynamo Moscow	17	9,129
17	FK Žalgiris	17	8,171
18	FC Torpedo Moscow	17	5,776