The 1937 Soviet Top League was the third season of the top-tier all-Union league competitions (Gruppa A). The league competition started a week after conculusion of the 1937 Soviet Cup.
Before the start of the season, two sports societies Dynamo and Spartak were awarded the order of Lenin on resolution of the USSR Central Executive Committee of 22 July 1937."ХУДШИЕ ПРИЕМЫ БУРЖУАЗНОГО РЕКОРДСМЕНСТВА". www.sport-express.ru (archived). Beside the sports societies, many awards were given to individual athletes among which were 12 footballers.
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.1937 season calendar 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.
Format Before the start of the football season, the All-Union Committee implemented several changes to rules (Laws of the Game).1937 ГОД. ЧАСТЬ ВТОРАЯ. ПЕРВЫЙ КРУГ ПОЧЕТА. www.sport-express.ru. 30 January 2004 goal kick throw-in substitutions players' discipline
Also, football players of exhibition teams (teams of masters) were given a participant's ticket. The purpose of the innovation was set out in the instructions: "Each footballer participating in the championship receives a "Footballer's Book", which he must present before the game. This will deprive teams of the opportunity to field disqualified players or players on a roster for other teams." No players were allowed to play at any match without the "Footballer's Book".
Unlike last seasons, it was decided to have both season halves combined. Originally the All-Union Committee planned to hold the competition from July 13 to September 30, 1937, in four groups: "A" and "B" with 8 participants in each and "V" and "G" with 10. Teams that placed last would switch with the top teams from lower tier. There was introduced an additional match if teams would finish with equal points for top two and bottom two. Teams were allowed to have from 15 to 25 footballers on their roster.
Later there were added two additional tiers: Group "D" with 11 teams and Group "Goroda Vostoka" (Cities of the East) with 7. Also, number of participants in Group G was increased to 12.
Competition calendar The competition calendar, which was composed in spring, had to be rearranged following the Basque team tour of the Soviet Union and the Spartak voyage to Europe. Some rounds were overstretched for several weeks, the last season champions Spartak had to start late, and Dinamo Tbilisi played their whole first half of the season abroad and returned to play its home games only in the second half of the season.
Teams Changes from last season Promoted from1936 (fall) Gruppa B Relegated from1936 (fall) Gruppa A Serp i Molot Moscow CDKA Moscow
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 as Serp i Molot Moscow. At the end of the season no teams were relegated as the group was planned to be extended for the next season.
Reversal of the CDKA Moscow relegation "Resolution of the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSRЧАСТЬ СЕДЬМАЯ. Продолжение. ДЕВЯТЫЙ ВАГОН. www.sport-express.ru. 23 April 2004
On the revision of the transfer of the CDKA football team of masters from class "A" to class "B"
1. Considering that the CDKA football team is the only football team of masters in the Red Army (), and also having examined the results of the investigation into the simultaneous triple workload of the CDKA team players during the autumn season of 1936 (Games: a) for the Soviet championship, b) for the RKKA championship and c) for the Moscow city garrison championship), which led to the withdrawal of a number of the strongest players from the team due to traumatic injuries and to unacceptable physical workload of individual players, and, in addition, taking into account that the CDKA team remains among the strongest teams of the Union from year to year, namely: 1. the 1935 Moscow city champion; 2. In the 1936 spring all-Union [Soviet] championship, it took fourth place among the strongest teams of the Union; 3. In the autumn all-Union championship of the same year, it lagged behind the seven strongest teams of the Union by only half a point; 4. In the 1937 Soviet Cup, it won a place in the top four of the Soviet Union (having conceded only one goal in the last three minutes of the game against the finalist, Dynamo (Tbilisi); 5. It has a victory in calendar matches against the 1936 Soviet champion (the Spartak Moscow team); 6. In the same season, it has a 4:1 victory in a friendly match against the Dynamo Moscow team, which won the 1937 Soviet Cup.
The All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decrees:
1. To transfer the CDKA football team of masters from class "B" to class "A".
2. To rearrange the calendar of the class "A" draw with the inclusion of the CDKA team in it.
3. The games played by the CDKA team for the 1937 Soviet championship in group "B" with the Spartak (Leningrad) and "Stalinets" (Leningrad), considered friendly.
Acting Chairman of the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR Elena Knopova.
August 4, 1937"
Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow was the base team for the Soviet Union national football team at the 1937 Workers' Summer Olympiad and returned to the Soviet Union after the start of the competition.Часть восьмая. НАЕЗД НА ЧЕМПИОНОВ. www.sport-express.ru. 7 May 2004
Upon arrival of Spartak, the football team administration was accused of "the imposition of bourgeois morals in the Spartak society." On September 3, 1937, Nikolai Starostin, who was heading the football section of the All-Union Committee of Sports and Physical Culture and one of the founders of Spartak sports society, was fired.
Name change Serp i Molot → Metallurg
Managers
Club Head coachГОД 1937. ЧАСТЬ ПЕРВАЯ. ПРЕДЧУВСТВИЕ "КЛАССОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ". www.sport-express.ru. 16 January 2024Spartak Moscow Konstantin KvashninDynamo Moscow Viktor DubininDynamo Tbilisi Aleksey SokolovLokomotiv Moscow Jules LimbeckKrasnaya Zaria Leningrad Mikhail OkunDynamo Kyiv Moisey TovarovskyDynamo Leningrad Mikhail ButusovMetallurg Moscow Boris ArkadyevCDKA Moscow Mikhail Rushchinsky
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Dynamo Tbilisi Jules Limbeck Resigned March 1937Pre-season Aleksey Sokolov Lokomotiv Moscow Aleksei Stolyarov Jules Limbeck April 1937 Metallurg Moscow Konstantin Blinkov Boris Arkadyev Dynamo Moscow Konstantin Kvashnin Viktor Dubinin Spartak Moscow Mikhail Kozlov Elected a president of the Soviet Football Section Konstantin Kvashnin Lokomotiv Moscow Jules Limbeck undisclosed August 8, 1937 3rd
Standings
Results
All matches results by date Source: football.lg.ua (in Russian) DateRoundHome teamResultVisiting teamStadium23.07.19371Dinamo K.0:2 (0:1)MetallurgDinamo24.07.19371Dinamo L.3:3 (2:0)Dinamo M.imeni Lenina 29.07.19378Dinamo K.1:1 (0:0)LokomotivDinamo30.07.19378Metallurg5:1 (3:1)Dinamo L.Dinamo05.08.19372Lokomotiv2:3 (1:1)Dinamo M.Lokomotiv05.08.19372Krasnaya Zaria3:1 (3:0)Metallurgimeni Lenina06.08.19379Dinamo L.0:1 (0:0)Dinamo K.imeni Lenina11.08.19373Dinamo L.0:0Lokomotivimeni Lenina11.08.19373Dinamo M.1:1 (0:0)Krasnaya ZariaDinamo12.08.19373Dinamo K.2:2 (1:0)Dinamo Tb.Dinamo12.08.19373Metallurg5:0 (0:0)CDKADinamo15.08.19372CDKA2:4 (0:1)Dinamo K.Dinamo17.08.19374Spartak1:2 (0:0)Dinamo K.Dinamo18.08.19374Dinamo M.3:3 (1:2)Dinamo Tb.Dinamo19.08.19374Dinamo L.2:2 (1:2)Krasnaya Zariaimeni Lenina19.08.19379Lokomotiv1:2 (1:0)MetallurgLokomotiv20.08.19372Spartak2:0 (1:0)Dinamo Tb.Lokomotiv21.08.19375CDKA5:1 (3:0)Krasnaya ZariaLokomotiv23.08.19375Spartak3:3 (3:2)Dinamo L.Lokomotiv24.08.19375Dinamo M.2:1 (0:0)Dinamo K.Dinamo24.08.19376Krasnaya Zaria0:1 (0:0)Lokomotivimeni Lenina25.08.19375Metallurg1:0 (1:0)Dinamo Tb.Dinamo27.08.19376Dinamo M.3:1 (3:1)CDKADinamo28.08.19376Spartak0:4 (0:1)MetallurgDinamo30.08.19376Dinamo L.0:2 (0:1)Dinamo Tb.imeni Lenina30.08.19377Dinamo K.4:1 (1:1)Krasnaya ZariaDinamo30.08.19377Dinamo M.2:1 (1:1)MetallurgDinamo31.08.19377Spartak3:1 (3:0)LokomotivDinamo02.09.193711CDKA0:3 (0:1)MetallurgDinamo03.09.19378Krasnaya Zaria1:1 (1:1)Dinamo Tb.imeni Lenina03.09.19378Dinamo M.0:1 (0:1)SpartakDinamo04.09.19377CDKA0:3 (0:1)Dinamo L.Dinamo05.09.193710Metallurg0:2 (0:1)Dinamo K.Dinamo06.09.19379Krasnaya Zaria0:2 (0:2)Spartakimeni Lenina07.09.19371Lokomotiv3:2 (1:1)Dinamo Tb.Lokomotiv07.09.193710Dinamo M.2:2 (2:2)Dinamo L.Dinamo09.09.19379CDKA2:5 (1:4)Dinamo Tb.Dinamo10.09.193711Krasnaya Zaria2:6 (0:3)Dinamo K.imeni Lenina11.09.193711Spartak0:0Dinamo M.Dinamo12.09.19374Lokomotiv1:2 (1:1)CDKAAvanhard (Kramatorsk)12.09.193712Dinamo L.1:1 (0:1)Metallurgimeni Lenina15.09.193712Lokomotiv2:2 (2:1)Dinamo K.Lokomotiv15.09.193718Spartak2:0 (0:0)Krasnaya ZariaDinamo18.09.193713Krasnaya Zaria0:0Dinamo L.imeni Lenina18.09.193713Dinamo Tb.0:4 (0:2)Dinamo M.Dinamo imeni Beria18.09.193718Lokomotiv0:0MetallurgLokomotiv21.09.19371Spartak2:0 (2:0)CDKADinamo23.09.193716Lokomotiv0:2 (0:2)Krasnaya ZariaLokomotiv24.09.193714Dinamo K.2:2 (0:0)Dinamo M.Dinamo imeni Yezhova24.09.193714Dinamo L.0:0Spartakimeni Lenina24.09.193714Dinamo Tb.4:0 (1:0)MetallurgDinamo imeni Beria26.09.193716Dinamo L.2:3 (0:1)CDKAimeni Lenina29.09.193715Metallurg0:1 (0:0)Krasnaya ZariaDinamo30.09.193715Dinamo K.1:1 (0:1)Dinamo L.Dinamo imeni Yezhova30.09.193715Dinamo M.1:2 (1:2)LokomotivDinamo30.09.193715Dinamo Tb.1:0 (0:0)SpartakDinamo imeni Beria01.10.193714Krasnaya Zaria3:0 (2:0)CDKAimeni Lenina04.10.193717Dinamo K.1:0 (0:0)CDKADinamo imeni Yezhova05.10.193711Lokomotiv1:0 (0:0)Dinamo L.Lokomotiv06.10.193712Krasnaya Zaria0:3 (0:0)Dinamo M.imeni Lenina06.10.193716Metallurg1:3 (1:1)SpartakDinamo08.10.193713CDKA0:2 (0:1)LokomotivLokomotiv10.10.193716Dinamo Tb.5:3 (1:2)Dinamo K.Dinamo imeni Beria11.10.193717Lokomotiv1:2 (0:0)SpartakLokomotiv12.10.193717Metallurg0:3 (0:2)Dinamo M.Dinamo12.10.193718Dinamo Tb.1:3 (0:2)Dinamo L.Dinamo imeni Beria18.10.193712Dinamo Tb.1:0 (0:0)CDKADinamo imeni Beria18.10.193713Dinamo K.1:1 (1:0)SpartakDinamo imeni Yezhova24.10.193717Dinamo Tb.3:0 (2:0)Krasnaya ZariaDinamo imeni Beria24.10.193718CDKA1:5 (1:1)Dinamo M.Dinamo30.10.193710CDKA2:2 (1:0)SpartakDinamo30.10.193710Dinamo Tb.0:0LokomotivDinamo imeni Beria
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 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 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).