Football Cup of the Ukrainian SSR

Football Cup of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukrainian: Кубок УРСР з футболу) was a playoff republican competitions in association football that were taken place in Ukrainian SSR in 1936–1991 and were predecessors of the Ukrainian Cup.[1] The competition was originally called as a Football championship of UkrSSR among the best teams of sports societies in 1936 and 1937.[1] The first cup was awarded in 1937 and starting since 1938, the competition was renamed as Football cup competitions of the Ukrainian SSR[1] as it was commemorated on the Soviet envelope.

First Ukrainian SSR Cup on cover of the Soviet Union

History

Unlike its replacement the Ukrainian Cup, the Cup of Ukrainian SSR involved participation of up to 40,000 clubs of different levels that strife for the republican accolades. The participation was allowed to everybody whether it was a team of the Soviet Top League or a team of some education institution as long as none of the players competed in the Soviet Cup simultaneously.

In 1939, 1940 and since 1949 no teams from the Soviet Top League participated in the competition. In 1959 the competition among teams of masters was replaced with competition for amateur clubs (see Ukrainian Amateur Cup).

In 1972 it was revived again for the next five seasons and one more time in 1990, while competition for physical fitness clubs at that time discontinued. The last winner FC Temp Shepetivka of the Soviet Ukrainian Cup was allowed to join the Ukrainian Premier League in 1991.

During the World War II, the crystal trophy, cup of the Ukrainian SSR, was not evacuated and was stolen by one of employees of the All-Ukrainian Council of Physical Culture.[1] During the Nazi occupation of Kiev, the trophy appeared in a store of random things at Velyka Vasylkivska street and was spotted by Kiev footballers who stayed behind and played for a local team Rukh Kyiv.[1] The athletes informed the municipal department of education and culture which in turn on 19 May 1942 wrote a letter to the administration of the antique store with a request to return them the Cup and inform the name of individual who pawned it in the store.[1] It is unknown if the person who stole the trophy was ever found, but the Cup was returned.[1] In such way the athletes who later labeled as "traitors" by the Soviet regime saved the trophy for Ukrainian football of post war period.[1]

Finals

Year	Venue	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1936 Final	24 June 1936 18:00 (MST) Kiev – Balytskyi Stadium Attendance: 35,000	Dynamo Kyiv Viktor Shylovsky  7', 23', 53' Konstantin Shchegotsky  56' Mykola Korotkykh  ?'	6 – 0 (2 – 0)	Dynamo Odessa Volodymyr Tokar  ?' (own)
1937 Final	18 May 1937 18:00 (MST) Kiev – Balytskyi Stadium Attendance: 25,000	Dynamo Kyiv Oleksiy Klymenko  35' (own) Makar Honcharenko  53' Viktor Shylovsky  68' Mykola Makhynia  94', 103'	4 – 2 (0 – 1)	Dynamo Odessa Leonid Oriekhov  65' (pen.)
1938 Final	15 October 1938 16:00 (MST) Kiev – Yezhov Stadium Attendance: 15,000	Dynamo Kyiv Petro Laiko  27', 76' Viktor Shylovsky  84'	3 – 1 (1 – 0)	Lokomotyv Kyiv Oleksandr Shatskyi  73'
among amateur teams
1939	Kramatorsk	Avanhard Kramatorsk	2 – 0	Kharchovyk Odessa
1940	Dnipropetrovsk	Dynamo Dnipropetrovsk	2 – 2 (6 – 2 replay)	Lokomotyv Odessa
After World War II reestablished as all-Ukrainian competition
1944 Final	Kiev	Dynamo Kyiv won the Final Group
1945 Final	8 November 1945 ?:? (MST) Kiev – Dynamo Stadium Attendance: ?	Lokomotyv Kharkiv Anatoliy Horokhov  ?'	1 – 0 (0 – 0)	Dynamo Kyiv
1946 Final	12 November 1946 14:30 (MST) Kiev – Dynamo Stadium Attendance: 20,000	Dynamo Kyiv Pavlo Vinkovatyi  42', 45'	2 – 0 (2 – 0)	Lokomotyv Kharkiv
1947 Final	9 November 1947 14:00 (MST) Kiev – Dynamo Stadium Attendance: 12,000	Dynamo Kyiv Mykhailo Chaplyhin  7', 10' Fedir Dashkov  20' Pavlo Vinkovatyi  47' Pyotr Dementiev  49'	5 – 1 (3 – 1)	Kharchovyk Odesa Mykola Potapov  34'
1948 Final	26 October 1948 15:00 (MST) Kiev – Dynamo Stadium Attendance: 7,000	Dynamo Kyiv Viktor Zhylin  16', 44' Heorhiy Ponomariov  46' Pavlo Vinkovatyi  78'	4 – 1 (2 – 0)	Bilshovyk Mukacheve József Egervári  83' (pen.)
among amateur teams
1949	Kharkiv	VPS Kharkiv	5 – 1	Vodnyk Odessa
1950	Kiev	Spartak Uzhhorod	4 – 2	Metalurh Zaporizhia
1951	Kiev	Metalurh Zaporizhia	4 – 0	BO Lviv
1952	Zaporizhia	Metalurh Zaporizhia	6 – 3	BO Lviv
1953	Kirovohrad	Torpedo Kirovohrad	3 – 1	Lokomotyv Poltava
1954	Kiev	Mashbud Kyiv	1 – 0, 3 – 1	OBO Kyiv
1955	Kiev	Mashbud Kyiv	2 – 1	Lokomotyv Artemivsk
1956	Kiev	Kolhospnyk Poltava	4 – 0	Mashbud Zaporizhia
1957	Kiev	SKMD Odessa	2 – 0	Kolhospnyk Rivne
1958	Ternopil	Torpedo Kharkiv	2 – 1 aet	Avanhard Ternopil
There were no competitions from 1959 till 1971. Ukrainian Amateur Cup established
1972	Kiev	Avtomobilist Zhytomyr	1 – 0, aet	Shakhtar Donetsk
1973	Kiev	Zirka Kirovohrad	1 – 0	Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk
1974	home/away basis	Tavriya Simferopol	2 – 0, 2 – 1	Avtomobilist Zhytomyr
1975	home/away basis	Zirka Kirovohrad	2 – 0, 1 – 2	Tavriya Simferopol
1976	Horlivka	SKA Kyiv	2 – 0	Shakhtar Horlivka
There were no competitions from 1977 till 1989.
1990	home/away basis	Polissya Zhytomyr	4 – 0, 1 – 3	Naftovyk Okhtyrka
1991	home/away basis	Temp Shepetivka	1 – 1, 2 – 1	Veres Rivne

Performances

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Winning years	Runner-up years
Dynamo Kyiv	7	1		1936, 1937, 1938, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948	1945
Zirka Kirovohrad	3	0	2	1953, 1973, 1975	–
Mashbud Kyiv	2	0	3	1954, 1955	–
Polissya Zhytomyr	2	1	1	1972, 1990	1974
Metalurh Zaporizhia	2	1		1951, 1952	1950
Lokomotyv Kharkiv	1	2	2	1945	1944, 1946
Tavriya Simferopol	1	1		1974	1975
SKA Kyiv	1	1		1976	1954
Torpedo Kharkiv	1	0	3	1958	–
Spartak Uzhhorod	1	0	2	1950	–
Avanhard Kramatorsk	1	0	1	1939	–
Dynamo Dnipropetrovsk	1	0	1	1940	–
SKVO Odessa	1	0	1	1957	–
VPS Kharkiv	1	0		1949	–
Kolhospnyk Poltava	1	0		1956	–
Temp Shepetivka	1	0		1991	–
FC Dynamo Odessa	0	2	2	–	1936, 1937
FC Kharchovyk Odesa	0	2	2	–	1939, 1947
BO Lviv	0	2		–	1951, 1952
Veres Rivne	0	2		–	1957, 1991
Shakhtar Donetsk	0	1	4	–	1972
Lokomotyv Kyiv	0	1	1	–	1938
Mashbud Zaporizhia	0	1	1	–	1956
Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk	0	1	1	–	1973
Naftovyk Okhtyrka	0	1	1	–	1990
Lokomotyv Odessa	0	1		–	1940
Bilshovyk Mukacheve	0	1		–	1948
Vodnyk Odessa	0	1		–	1949
Lokomotyv Poltava	0	1		–	1953
Lokomotyv Artemivsk	0	1		–	1955
Avanhard Ternopil	0	1		–	1958
Shakhtar Horlivka	0	1		–	1976
Torpedo Sumy	0	0	2
Metalurh Odesa	0	0	2
Lokomotyv Vinnytsia	0	0	2
Metalist Kharkiv	0	0	2
Lenin Factory Dnipropetrovsk	0	0	1
Dynamo Kharkiv	0	0	1
Stal Kostiantynivka	0	0	1
Snaiper Odessa	0	0	1
Zenit Stalino	0	0	1
Lokomotyv Zaporizhia	0	0	1
Dynamo Vinnytsia	0	0	1
Dynamo Mykolaiv	0	0	1
Zirka Konotop	0	0	1
Chervonyi Prapor Mykolaiv	0	0	1
Mashbud Dnipropetrovsk	0	0	1
Avanhard Mykolaiv	0	0	1
Khimik Kalush	0	0	1
GBO Lutsk	0	0	1
Lokomotyv Kherson	0	0	1
Frunzenets Sumy	0	0	1
Desna Chernihiv	0	0	1
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	0	0	1

External links

• Cup of the Ukrainian SSR at footballfacts.ru
• Banias, V. Forgotten tournaments (Забуті турніри). Ukrainian Premier League. 23 May 2017.
• The Bowl Contests of 80 years of age (Битви за Чашу восьмидесятилітньої давнини). Ukrainian Premier League. 11 May 2017.

References

1. Kolomiyets, A. Did you know that Ukrainian cup competitions will soon turn 80 years of age? (А чи знаєте ви, що розіграшу Кубка України скоро виповниться 80 років?). Kiev Oblast Football Federation.