1968 Soviet Top League

The 1968 Class A – Pervaya Gruppa was the 30th season of the first-tier football competition in the Soviet Union. 20 teams took part in the league with FC Dynamo Kyiv winning the championship.

Class A – Pervaya Gruppa

Season	1968
← 1967 1969 →

Last season placing dead last Zenit Leningrad was spared from relegation to the 50th Anniversary of the "Great October" being the cradle of the Bolshevik coup-d'etat.^[1] The league composition was increased from 19 to 20 keeping the Leningrad team at the top.

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dynamo Kyiv (C)	38	21	15	2	58	25	+33	57	Qualification for European Cup first round
2	Spartak Moscow	38	21	10	7	64	43	+21	52
3	Torpedo Moscow	38	18	14	6	60	32	+28	50
4	CSKA Moscow	38	20	10	8	50	30	+20	50
5	Dynamo Moscow	38	19	9	10	58	32	+26	47
6	Dinamo Minsk	38	17	12	9	52	36	+16	46	Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round
7	Dinamo Tbilisi	38	16	13	9	53	29	+24	45
8	Chornomorets Odessa	38	11	16	11	47	49	−2	38
9	Neftchi Baku	38	13	12	13	42	48	−6	38
10	Lokomotiv Moscow	38	10	17	11	35	39	−4	37
11	Zenit Leningrad	38	10	14	14	35	49	−14	34
12	SKA Rostov-on-Don	38	11	11	16	44	48	−4	33
13	Zarya Voroshilovgrad	38	10	13	15	23	41	−18	33
14	Shakhtar Donetsk	38	9	14	15	38	42	−4	32
15	Kairat Alma-Ata	38	12	8	18	33	42	−9	32
16	Ararat Yerevan	38	11	9	18	34	46	−12	31
17	Pakhtakor Tashkent	38	9	11	18	42	61	−19	29
18	Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev	38	9	11	18	24	45	−21	29
19	Torpedo Kutaisi	38	9	10	19	27	48	−21	28
20	Dynamo Kirovobad (R)	38	5	9	24	25	59	−34	19	Relegation to Class A Second Group

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARA	CHO	CSK	DKB	DYK	DMN	DYN	DTB	KAI	KRY	LOK	NEF	PAK	SHA	SKA	SPA	TKU	TOR	ZAR	ZEN
Ararat Yerevan		0–2	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–0	3–0
Chornomorets Odessa	1–0		1–0	4–0	2–4	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	4–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	1–0	2–2	4–0	1–1
CSKA Moscow	1–0	2–2		1–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	3–2	3–0	1–0	2–0	1–2	3–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	4–0	1–0
Dynamo Kirovobad	1–0	0–0	1–0		0–0	0–3	1–1	2–0	2–4	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–4	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–3
Dynamo Kyiv	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–0		2–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	3–1	3–0	2–0	1–1	4–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	5–2
Dinamo Minsk	1–0	3–2	0–0	2–1	0–0		1–0	0–1	2–0	4–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	4–0	0–3	2–1	2–1
Dynamo Moscow	3–0	1–1	1–1	6–1	1–0	1–0		1–0	1–0	5–1	6–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	3–5	1–0	3–0
Dinamo Tbilisi	5–3	4–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	0–0		3–0	7–2	0–1	4–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–0
Kairat Alma-Ata	0–0	2–0	0–2	1–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	0–0		0–1	1–0	3–0	4–1	3–1	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–2
Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev	0–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–0	2–0		0–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–2
Lokomotiv Moscow	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–3	1–0	1–0		1–1	5–0	2–2	4–1	0–2	5–2	1–1	1–1	0–0
Neftçi Baku	2–0	4–0	0–1	1–3	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–1		2–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1
Pakhtakor Tashkent	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1		2–2	2–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	5–0
Shakhtar Donetsk	1–0	0–2	0–0	3–0	2–3	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–0		1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	3–0	0–2
SKA Rostov-on-Don	4–0	4–0	0–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–3	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–1		5–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	3–1
Spartak Moscow	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–1	3–3	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	4–3	4–0	2–1	3–1		2–1	1–5	1–1	4–0
Torpedo Kutaisi	1–0	1–0	0–4	2–1	0–2	0–1	1–0	4–2	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–0		3–4	0–2	0–1
Torpedo Moscow	2–0	2–0	3–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	0–2	3–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	3–3	0–0		1–0	1–1
Zarya Voroshilovgrad	1–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–2	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	3–1	1–0	1–3	0–1	1–0		0–0
Zenit Leningrad	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	3–0	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–1

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

Top scorers

22 goals

• Berador Abduraimov (Pakhtakor)
• Georgi Gavasheli (Dinamo Tbilisi)

21 goals

• Eduard Streltsov (Torpedo Moscow)

14 goals

• Galimzyan Khusainov (Spartak Moscow)
• Vladimir Kozlov (Dynamo Moscow)

13 goals

• Oleg Kopayev (SKA Rostov-on-Don)

12 goals

• Mikhail Gershkovich (Torpedo Moscow)

11 goals

• Eduard Malofeyev (Dinamo Minsk)
• Anatoliy Puzach (Dynamo Kyiv)
• Demuri Vekua (Torpedo Kutaisi)

Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. FC Dynamo Kyiv[2]

Goalkeepers: Viktor Bannikov (19), Yevhen Rudakov (19). Defenders: Vasyl Turyanchyk (36 / 3), Volodymyr Levchenko (34 / 1), Vadym Sosnikhin (34), Serhiy Krulykovskyi (26 / 1). Midfielders: Volodymyr Muntyan (36 / 5), Fedir Medvid (33 / 3), Yozhef Sabo (29 / 6). Forwards: Vitaliy Khmelnytskyi (37 / 10), Viktor Serebryanikov (34 / 7), Anatoliy Puzach (32 / 11), Anatoliy Pylypchuk (20 / 2), Valeriy Porkuyan (20 / 2), Anatoliy Byshovets (15 / 4). Manager: Viktor Maslov, Assistants: Mykhailo Koman, Viktor Terentyev. Transferred out during the season: Yuriy Vankevych (DF, 11), Serhiy Shklyar (MF, 8), Viktor Nazarov (MF, 6/1), Leonid Ostrovskyi (DF, 6), Viktor Kashchey (FW, 4/1), Volodymyr Veremeyev (FW, 3), Anatoliy Bohovyk (MF, 2), Vyacheslav Semenov (MF, 2), Oleksandr Shpakov (DF, 1), Viktor Horoza (MF, 1).

References

1. Команда эпохи застоя. fc-zenit.ru
2. Перемога у чемпіонаті СРСР-1968. fcdynamo.com

• 1968 (Championship) Class A - First Group (First Level)