1991 Soviet Top League
The 1991 Soviet Top League season was the 54th since its establishment and the last one. Dynamo Kyiv were the defending 13-times champions. A total of sixteen teams participated in the league, twelve of them have contested in the 1990 season while the remaining four were promoted from the Soviet First League due to withdrawals. The representatives of the Baltic states as well as Georgia chose not to take part in the competition.
The season began on 10 March and lasted until 2 November 1991. The season was won by PFC CSKA Moscow that returned to the top league prior to the last season while winning the Soviet Cup competition as well. Due to participants withdrawal in the preceding season four new teams entered the league. Upon the conclusion of the season no clubs were relegated and 12 out of its 16 participants formed a base for either the Russian or the Ukrainian competitions, while other four participants joined their own newly formed national leagues. If the Soviet Union had remained intact, Metalist Kharkiv and Lokomotiv Moscow would have been relegated to the Soviet First League for the next season, while FC Rotor Volgograd and FC Tiligul Tiraspol would have been promoted to the Top League for 1992.
Top six clubs of the league later entered European competitions for their respective nations. The Ukrainian clubs chose to qualify through a separate national competition.
Participating teams
The league was expanded to 16 after the last season, during which number of clubs left the Soviet competitions. The last-placed FC Rotor Volgograd of the 1990 Soviet Top League lost promotion/relegation playoff to Lokomotiv Moscow and was relegated to the 1991 Soviet First League. Rotor Volograd returned to the Soviet First League after two seasons absence, while at the same time Lokomotiv Moscow returned to the Soviet Top League after only a one-season absence.Beside the fourth placed Lokomotiv three more teams were promoted and included the champion and the runners-up of the 1990 Soviet First League.
- FC Spartak Vladikavkaz – champions '
- FC Pakhtakor Tashkent – 2nd place '
- FC Metalurh Zaporizhia – 3rd place '
- FC Lokomotiv Moscow – promotion play-off '
Locations
Stadiums
Final standings
- After this season the league was reorganized as the Soviet Union fell apart. All of the non-Russia based participant teams went on to compete at the top national level of their native countries. The Russian Premier League became the direct successor of the Soviet Top League.
Under [UEFA]
- * Belarusian Premier League
- * Vyscha Liha
- * Armenian Premier League
Under AFC">Asian Football Confederation">AFC
- * Uzbek League
- * Tajik League
Number of teams by union republic
Top scorers
;18 goals;14 goals
;13 goals
;12 goals
;10 goals
;9 goals
| Club | Head coach |
| PFC CSKA Moscow | Pavel Sadyrin |
| FC Spartak Moscow | Oleg Romantsev |
| FC Torpedo Moscow | Valentin Ivanov Yevgeni Skomorokhov |
| FC Chornomorets Odessa | Viktor Prokopenko |
| FC Dynamo Kyiv | Anatoliy Puzach |
| FC Dynamo Moscow | Semen Altman Valery Gazzaev |
| FC Dinamo Minsk | Eduard Malofeyev Mikhail Vergeyenko |
| FC Ararat Yerevan | Armen Sarkisyan |
| FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | Yevhen Kucherevskyi |
| FC Pamir Dushanbe | Sharif Nazarov |
| FC Spartak Vladikavkaz | Valery Gazzaev Nikolai Khudiyev Ruslan Khadartsev |
| FC Shakhtar Donetsk | Valeriy Yaremchenko |
| FC Metalurh Zaporizhya | Ihor Nadein |
| FC Pakhtakor Tashkent | Fyodor Novikov Alexander Tarkhanov |
| FC Metalist Kharkiv | Leonid Tkachenko |
| FC Lokomotiv Moscow | Valeri Filatov |
Awards
Medal squads
'| 1. PFC CSKA Moscow |
Goalkeepers: Mikhail Yeremin, Dmitri Kharine, Aleksandr Guteyev. Defenders: Sergei Kolotovkin, Sergei Fokin, Dmitri Galiamin, Dmitri Bystrov, Oleg Malyukov, Vasili Ivanov, Valeri Minko, Viktor Yanushevsky, Mikhail Sinyov. Midfielders: Valeri Broshin, Dmitri Kuznetsov, Igor Korneev, Mikhail Kolesnikov, Vladimir Tatarchuk, Aleksandr Grishin, Dmitri Karsakov, Lev Matveyev. Forwards: Oleg Sergeyev, Valeri Masalitin, Sergey Dmitriev, Ilshat Faizulin. Manager: Pavel Sadyrin. Transferred in during the season: Dmitri Kharine, Lev Matveyev, Sergey Dmitriev, Viktor Yanushevsky. Transferred out during the season: Mikhail Yeremin, Dmitri Karsakov, Dmitri Galiamin, Dmitri Kuznetsov, Igor Korneev, Vladimir Tatarchuk, Valeri Broshin, Sergei Fokin, Sergey Dmitriev. |
| 2. FC Spartak Moscow |
Goalkeepers: Stanislav Cherchesov. Defenders: Dmitri Popov, Vasili Kulkov, Andrei Mokh, Dmitri Khlestov, Boris Pozdnyakov, Yevgeni Bushmanov, Dmitri Ananko, Dmitri Gradilenko, Sergei Bazulev, Sergei Chudin. Midfielders: Hennadiy Perepadenko, Valery Karpin, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Andrei Ivanov, Igor Shalimov, Fyodor Cherenkov, Oleg Ivanov, Valeri Popovitch, Igor Kozlov, Oleg Imrekov, Aleksandr Karatayev, Serhiy Perepadenko. Forwards: Dmitri Radchenko, Valeri Shmarov. One own goal scored by Viktor Vasilyev. Manager: Oleg Romantsev. Transferred in during the season: Andrei Mokh, Dmitri Radchenko, Igor Kozlov, Fyodor Cherenkov. Transferred out during the season: Igor Shalimov, Vasili Kulkov, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Valeri Shmarov, Boris Pozdnyakov, Oleg Imrekov, Sergei Bazulev, Andrei Mokh, Hennadiy Perepadenko. |
| 3. FC Torpedo Moscow |
Goalkeepers: Valeri Sarychev, Aleksandr Podshivalov. Defenders: Andrei Afanasyev, Aleksei Yushkov, Aleksandr Polukarov, Mikhail Solovyov, Maksim Cheltsov. Midfielders: Gennadi Grishin, Igor Chugainov, Sergei Shustikov, Sergey Agashkov, Andrei Kalaychev, Nikolai Savichev, Dmitri Ulyanov, Sergei Zhukov, Oleg Shirinbekov, Sergey Borisov, Vladimir Yeryomin, Aleksei Arefyev. Forwards: Yuri Tishkov, Vadim Rogovskoy, Yuri Matveyev, Aleksandr Kuzmichyov, Andrei Talalayev, Aleksandr Gitselov. Manager: Valentin Ivanov, Yevgeni Skomorokhov. Transferred in during the season: Aleksandr Podshivalov, Aleksei Yushkov, Yuri Matveyev, Igor Chugainov, Vladimir Yeryomin. Transferred out during the season:''' Aleksandr Polukarov, Vadim Rogovskoy, Oleg Shirinbekov, Vladimir Yeryomin, Aleksei Yushkov, Aleksandr Gitselov, Sergei Zhukov, Aleksei Arefyev, Yuri Matveyev, Aleksandr Kuzmichyov. |