1937 Soviet Top League

The 1937 Soviet Top League was the third season of the Soviet Top League.

Group A

Season	1937
Champions	FC Dynamo Moscow
Matches played	72
Goals scored	224 (3.11 per match)
Top goalscorer	Vasili Smirnov Leonid Rumyantsev Boris Paichadze 8 goals
Biggest home win	Metallurg 5–0 CDKA (August 12)
Biggest away win	Spartak 0–4 Metallurg (August 28) Krasnaya Zarya 2–6 Dynamo K. (August 28) Dynamo Tb. 0–4 Dynamo M. (September 18) CDKA 1–5 Dynamo M. (October 24)
Highest scoring	Krasnaya Zarya 2–6 Dynamo K. (August 28) Dynamo Tb. 5–3 Dynamo K. (October 10)
← 1936 Fall 1938 →

Format

This year it was decided to have both season halves combined. After playing two games in the Group B it was decided to return CDKA Moscow back to the Group A. The Group A was extended once again to nine teams with a new team FC Metallurg Moscow joining the group that won the 1936 Group B fall championship. At the end of the season no teams were relegated as the group was planned to be extended for the next season. The season started in the summer after the cup competition that preceded it and was also won by Dynamo Moscow.

The defending champion for this edition was FC Spartak Moscow. The season started somewhat late on July 23, 1937, with the game in Kyiv where the League newcomer Metallurg surprisingly defeated the local Dynamo 2:0. The conclusion of the season came on October 30, 1937, with the games in Tbilisi and Moscow's Sokolniki.[1] That game on CSKA Stadium became a culminating as the Army team hold the defending champions to a draw that left Spartak without their title. Interesting is the fact that less than a week prior to that Dynamo Moscow was able to defeat CDKA 5:1 setting them three points ahead of Spartak.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Republic
1	Dynamo Moscow	16	8	6	2	37	20	17	38	Russian SFSR
2	Spartak Moscow	16	8	5	3	24	16	8	37	Russian SFSR
3	Dynamo Kiev	16	7	6	3	33	24	9	36	Ukrainian SSR
4	Dynamo Tbilisi	16	7	4	5	30	24	6	34	Georgian SSR
5	Metallurg Moscow	16	7	2	7	26	21	5	32	Russian SFSR
6	Lokomotiv Moscow	16	5	5	6	18	20	-2	31	Russian SFSR
7	Dynamo Leningrad	16	2	9	5	21	25	-4	29	Russian SFSR
8	Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad	16	4	4	8	17	31	-14	28	Russian SFSR
9	CDKA Moscow	16	3	1	12	18	43	-25	23	Russian SFSR

Points awarded were 3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss and none for a no appearance.

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[2]
1	Boris Paichadze	Dynamo Tbilisi	8
	Leonid Rumyantsev	Spartak Moscow
	Vasily Pavlovich Smirnov	Dynamo Moscow
4	Pavel Komarov	Dynamo Kyiv	7
	Mikhail Semichastny	Dynamo Moscow
6	Gayk Andriasov	Lokomotiv Moscow	6
	Aleksei Ponomaryov	Dynamo Moscow
	Mikhail Yakushin	Dynamo Moscow
	Nikolai Yartsev	Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad
10	Pyotr Bykov	Dynamo Leningrad	5
	Grigory Fedotov	Metallurg Moscow
	Mikhail Kireyev	CSKA Moscow
	Ivan Kuzmenko	Dynamo Kyiv
	Vadim Potapov	Metallurg Moscow
	Ivan Smirnov	Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad

Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. FC Dynamo Moscow

Goalkeepers: Yevgeny Fokin (15 / -19), Aleksandr Kvasnikov (1 / -1). Defenders: Lev Korchebokov (13), Viktor Teterin (9), Aleksandr Myshlyayev (7). Midfielders: Yevgeny Yeliseyev (16), Arkady Chernyshev (15 / 1), Aleksey Lapshin (12), Gavriil Kachalin (11), Pavel Korotkov (5), Aleksandr Ryomin (1). Forwards: Mikhail Yakushin (16 / 6), Sergei Ilyin (16 / 4), Vasily Smirnov (14 / 8), Aleksey Ponomaryov (13 /6), Mikhail Semichastny (11 / 7), Nikolay Belousov (3 / 1), Ivan Shcherbakov (2 / 2), Georgy Dyomin (1). One own goal(s) scored by Mikhail Denisov (FC Dynamo Leningrad), Iosif Lifshyts (FC Dynamo Kyiv) Manager: Viktor Dubinin. Transferred out during the season: .

2. FC Spartak Moscow

Goalkeepers: Anatoly Akimov (13 / -10), Ivan Ryzhov (3 / -6). Defenders: Viktor Sokolov (15), Stanislav Leuta (10), Aleksandr Starostin (7), Sergey Plonsky (2). Midfielders: Andrey Starostin (16 / 2), Sergey Artemyev (13), Pyotr Starostin (8), Nikolai Palyska (8), Grigory Tuchkov (8). Forwards: Leonid Rumyantsev (16 / 8), Vladimir Stepanov (15 / 4), Nikolay Zhigalin (15 / 3), Boris Stepanov (12 / 2), Georgy Glazkov (7 / 2), Viktor Semyonov (7), Aleksandr Kasimov (6 / 1), Nikolay Gulyayev (3), Nikolay Tarasov (2 / 1), Sergey Udaleyev (1 / 1). Manager: Konstantin Kvashnin. Transferred out during the season: .

3. FC Dynamo Kyiv

Goalkeepers: Anton Idzkovsky (13 / -20), Mykola Trusevych (3 / -4). Defenders: Mykola Makhinya (16 / 3), Oleksiy Klymenko (15), Vasyl Pravovierov (10), Georgiy Timofeyev (1). Midfielders: Ivan Kuzmenko (16 / 5), Volodymyr Greber (16 / 3), Iosif Livshyts (14 / 1). Forwards: Pavlo Komarov (16 / 7), Petro Layko (15 / 4), Makar Honcharenko (14 / 3), Kostiantyn Kalach (10), Konstantin Shchegotsky (9 / 3), Viktor Shylovsky (9 / 3), Mykola Korotkykh (9 / 1), Fedir Tyutchev (2). Manager: Moisey Tovarovsky. Transferred out during the season: .

Group A 1937 Winners
FC Dynamo Moscow Second title

References

1. 1937 season calendar
2. "Soviet Union 1937". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 May 2020.

• Soviet Union - List of final tables (RSSSF)