1984 Soviet Top League

The 1984 Soviet Top League was the 15th season of the Soviet Top League and 47th since the start of the Soviet top-tier club competitions. It started on March 10 and continued until November 24.

Soviet Top League

Season	1984
Champions	Zenit Leningrad (1st title)
Relegated	Pakhtakor Tashkent, CSKA Moscow
European Cup	Zenit Leningrad
Cup Winners' Cup	Dinamo Kiev
UEFA Cup	Spartak Moscow Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk Chernomorets Odessa
Matches played	306
Goals scored	767 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorer	(19) Sergey Andreyev (SKA)
← 1983 1985 →

Zenit Leningrad won their first league title, while the defending champion Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk finished third. The league was composed of 18 teams and draw limit was implemented this season of 10 games. There were only allowed two substitutions. Footballers who were on a team list for one team, during the season were not allowed to compete for another except for those who were demobilized from the Soviet Army (sic)^[1] and returned to their home club. Those athletes transferred during the season were not allowed to play against the team for which they played earlier.

Teams

Promoted teams

• FC Kairat Alma-Ata – champion (returning after a season)
• SKA Rostov-na-Donu – 2nd place (returning after two seasons)

Location

500km
300miles

Pakhtakor

SKA R/D

CSKA

Torpedo M

Spartak

Dynamo

Chornomorets

Dynamo T

Neftchi

Metallist

Žalgiris

Shakhter

Dnepr

Zenit

Kairat

Dynamo Mi

Ararat

Dynamo K

  

Locations of teams in the 1984 Top League

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Zenit Leningrad (C)	34	19	9	6	60	32	+28	47	Qualification for European Cup first round
2	Spartak Moscow	34	18	9	7	53	29	+24	45	Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
3	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	34	17	8	9	54	40	+14	42
4	Chornomorets Odessa	34	16	9	9	49	38	+11	41
5	Dinamo Minsk[lower-alpha 1]	34	15	13	6	43	28	+15	40[lower-alpha 2]
6	Torpedo Moscow	34	15	10	9	43	36	+7	40[lower-alpha 2]
7	Dinamo Tbilisi	34	14	8	12	36	41	−5	36
8	Kairat Alma-Ata	34	13	8	13	44	42	+2	34
9	Žalgiris Vilnius[lower-alpha 3]	34	12	11	11	30	38	−8	34[lower-alpha 4]
10	Dynamo Kyiv[lower-alpha 1]	34	12	13	9	46	30	+16	34[lower-alpha 4]	Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round
11	Ararat Yerevan	34	12	7	15	46	50	−4	31
12	Metalist Kharkiv	34	12	5	17	42	53	−11	29
13	Shakhtar Donetsk	34	10	9	15	47	46	+1	29
14	SKA Rostov-on-Don	34	10	7	17	48	58	−10	27
15	Neftchi Baku	34	9	8	17	30	50	−20	26
16	Dynamo Moscow	34	8	10	16	35	43	−8	26
17	Pakhtakor Tashkent (R)	34	10	5	19	37	58	−21	25	Relegation to First League
18	CSKA Moscow (R)	34	5	9	20	24	55	−31	19

Source: www.rsssf.org
Rules for classification: 1) Total points (If two or more teams have equal points for the first place, the winner is determined by additional single round-robin play-off on neutral ground); 2) Total wins; 3) Head-to-head results with consideration of draw limit and goal difference; 4) Total goal difference; 5) Total games scored; 6) Results of reserve squads^[2]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. 3 points deducted (10 draw limit)
2. Dinamo Minsk wins head-to-head against Torpedo
3. 1 point deducted (10 draw limit)
4. Žalgiris wins head-to-head against Dynamo Kyiv

Results

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

Source: football.lg.ua
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

19 goals

• Sergey Andreyev (SKA Rostov-on-Don)

18 goals

• Hamlet Mkhitaryan (Ararat)

17 goals

• Oleh Protasov (Dnipro)
• Yuri Tarasov (Metalist)
• Yuri Zheludkov (Zenit)

14 goals

• Andrei Redkous (Torpedo Moscow)

13 goals

• Sergey Rodionov (Spartak Moscow)
• Sergei Stukashov (Kairat)

12 goals

• Georgi Kondratyev (Dinamo Minsk)
• Yevstafi Pekhlevanidi (Kairat)

Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. FC Zenit Leningrad

Goalkeepers: Mikhail Biryukov (34). Defenders: Aleksei Stepanov (32 / 2), Sergei Vedeneyev (28 / 1), Anatoli Davydov (27 / 1), Vladimir Dolgopolov (27), Sergey Kuznetsov (22), Valeri Zolin (13), Nikolai Vorobyov (8), Gennadi Timofeyev (6). Midfielders: Valeri Broshin (32 / 4), Yuri Zheludkov (31 / 17), Arkadi Afanasyev (28 / 1), Vyacheslav Melnikov (21 / 3), Dmitri Barannik (19), Nikolay Larionov (9 / 2), Igor Komarov (5 / 2). Forwards: Sergey Dmitriev (30 / 8), Vladimir Klementyev (29 / 10), Boris Chukhlov (28 / 7), Yuri Gerasimov (7 / 1), Aleksandr Zakharikov (6). Manager: Pavel Sadyrin. Transferred out during the season: none.

2. FC Spartak Moscow

Goalkeepers: Rinat Dasayev (34), Stanislav Cherchesov (2), Andrei Mikhalychev (1). Defenders: Vladimir Sochnov (33 / 2), Aleksandr Bubnov (33 / 1), Gennady Morozov (31), Boris Pozdnyakov (30 / 2), Sergei Bazulev (16), Sergei Shvetsov (11), Sergei Shulgin (3), Almir Kayumov (1). Midfielders: Yuri Gavrilov (34 / 8), Yevgeni Kuznetsov (34 / 5), Sergey Shavlo (32 / 5), Yevgeni Sidorov (26 / 4), Fyodor Cherenkov (25 / 8), Guram Adzhoyev (13 / 1), Valeri Gladilin (12 / 3), Oleksandr Baranov (2). Forwards: Sergey Rodionov (32 / 13), Mikhail Rusyayev (6 / 1), Jevgeņijs Miļevskis (6), Oleg Kuzhlev (5). Manager: Konstantin Beskov. Transferred out during the season: none.

3. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Goalkeepers: Serhiy Krakovskyi (31 / 3), Viktor Konsevich (3). Defenders: Sergei Bashkirov (32), Serhiy Puchkov (29 / 2), Oleksandr Lysenko (28 / 2), Mykola Pavlov (19 / 1), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (17), Petro Kutuzov (17), Petro Chylibi (9), Andriy Bobrikov (1), Anatoliy Nazarenko (1), Oleksandr Chervonyi (1). Midfielders: Hennadiy Lytovchenko (33 / 7), Vyktor Kuznetsov (30 / 2), Andriy Dilay (30 / 1), Volodymyr Bahmut (25 / 2), Oleksiy Cherednyk (19 / 2), Oleh Serebryanskyi (13 / 2), Mykola Fedorenko (9), Serhiy Khudozhylov (3), Anatoli Zagrebayev (2), Volodymyr Ustymchyk (2). Forwards: Oleh Protasov (34 / 17), Volodymyr Lyutyi (30 / 8), Oleh Taran (20 / 7). One own goal scored by Yuri Lykov (FC SKA Rostov-on-Don). Manager: Volodymyr Yemets. Transferred out during the season: Volodymyr Ustymchyk (retired).

Number of teams by union republic

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	6	CSKA Moscow, Dinamo Moscow, 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	Armenian SSR	1	Ararat Yerevan
	Azerbaijan SSR		Neftchi Baku
	Belarusian SSR		Dinamo Minsk
	Georgian SSR		Dinamo Tbilisi
	Kazakh SSR		Kairat Alma-Ata
	Lithuanian SSR		Zhalgiris Vilnius
	Uzbek SSR		Pakhtakor Tashkent

References

1. Soviet Army was a major branch of the Soviet Armed Forces, but in the regulations was only mentioned the Army.
2. "ФУТБОЛ - 1984. О ПРОВЕДЕНИЕ СОРЕВНОВАНИЙ. (Football – 1984. On conducting the competitions". Центральный стадион им. В.И.Ленина (Tsentralny Stadion imeni V.I.Lenina). Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

External links

• 1984 season regulations. football.lg.ua
• 1984 season calendar. fc-dynamo.ru
• Soviet Union - List of final tables (RSSSF)