Soviet Cup

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Soviet Cup
Organising bodyFootball Federation of the USSR
Founded1936; 88 years ago (1936)
Abolished1992
RegionSoviet Union
Number of teams80 (1991–92)
Qualifier forEuropean Cup Winners' Cup
Last championsSpartak Moscow (10th title)
Most successful club(s)Spartak Moscow (10 titles)

The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (Russian: Кубок СССР),[a] was the premier football cup competition in the Soviet Union conducted by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The 1991–92 season of the tournament was known as Soviet/CIS Cup (Russian: Кубок СССР—СНГ). As a knockout tournament it was conducted parallel to the All-Union league competitions in double round-robin format.

The winner of the competition was awarded a qualification to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, unless it already qualified for the European Cup, in turn passed the qualification to the finalist. In case if a team would win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and not win its national league cup titles the next year, it qualified to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup along with the new cup holder. The first participation in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup took place in 1965–66 when Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the European competition for winning the 1964 Soviet Cup.

The winner of the 1991–92 season competed in European competitions representing the Russian Federation instead of CIS, the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Format

Format of competitions was constantly changing.

The very first edition of the competition in 1936 was a single-elimination tournament (more precisely sudden-death tournament) throughout all rounds. It was played during the season's summer intermission of the 1936 split season. The tournament consisted of seven rounds starting with the Round of 128.

The first changes took place in the 1938 Soviet Cup when there was introduced a preliminary (qualification) stage as the number of participants grew. The competition still was a single-elimination tournament with only more added rounds (up to 9). All teams of masters (All-Union league teams) started from the final stage. The competition rounds were in-mixed within the league's playing calendar for the first time. The final stage contained 6 rounds.

In 1939 the competition was expanded as number of participants grew over 6 times. The preliminary stage was expanded and included republican football cup for each union republic, winners of which would qualify for the Soviet Cup.

In 1940 the competition was split. The league teams (Groups A and B) were scheduled to play for the All-Union Sports Committee Cup, while non-league teams (republican level) were competing in a separate bracket, winner of which would play the All-Union Sports Committee Cup holder. However, due to scheduling issues the All-Union Sports Committee Cup was postponed and never took place.

Until 1984 the Soviet Cup corresponded to the calendar of the whole Soviet football "spring"-"fall", however after that it changed to "fall"-"spring" calendar which synchronized it with the most of Europe.

In 1959-1960 the competition was conducted for two years. From 1965 to 1968 seasons were overlapping each other.

Until 1968, the competition contained a stage known as "Zonal tournament" which was a qualification stage for the main tournament. Since then, the tournament was restricted to professional clubs (teams of masters) of the All-Union competition (tiers 1 through 3). Until 1957, in the tournament participated "teams of physical culture"[1] (Soviet "newspeak" (phraseology) for non-professional, amateur teams). After 1957 teams of physical culture competed in a separate competition known as the Soviet Amateur Cup.[b] In 1979 to 1982 there was a group stage better teams of which would continue in a traditional single-game elimination format.[1]

The 1992 Soviet Cup Final took place after the fall of the Soviet Union in the independent Russia.[2][1][3][4][5]

All tournaments final were played in a single game in Moscow, but until introduction of penalty kicks in early 1970s as a tiebreaker some finals that ended in tie were replayed. Introduction of the penalty shoot-out was adopted for tiebreaker took place in 1972 after such procedure was adopted by FIFA in 1970.

Until 1955 the tournament finals were played at Central Stadium "Dynamo", after being transferred to Central Stadium of Lenin (today Luzhniki Stadium).[citation needed]

Trophy

Picture of trophy

The cup itself is an artistically crafted crystal vase in a silver frame. The cup is crowned with a bronze figurine of a football player with a ball. The names of the teams that won the cup are engraved on the lid and base.

The trophy's height is 57 cm (22 in), weight is 6 kg (13 lb). In 1992, after Spartak Moscow won the last USSR Cup, the trophy was given to the club forever.

The cup itself was bought in an ordinary Moscow thrift store.[6] The first chairman of the All-Union Football Section, Aleksei Sokolov, took a liking to the small pitcher, which it was decided to make a transferable trophy.[6][7] Few people knew about the Davis Cup in the Soviet Union at that time, and accusations of plagiarism could not follow by definition.

Together with the All-Union Council on Physical Culture and Sport inspector Morar, Aleksei Sokolov created a sketch of the future prize.[8] The jewelers attached silver legs to the base and built a lid with a small hole on top. There they mounted a figurine of a football player, donated by Raspevin, a great fan of this game. The crystal chest of the trophy was decorated with the coat of arms of the USSR.

Seasons and final games

List of Soviet Cup winners
Season Teams Winners Score Runners–up
1936 94[c] Lokomotiv Moscow 2–0 Dinamo Tbilisi
1937 125 Dynamo Moscow 5–2 Dinamo Tbilisi
1938 64*[d] Spartak Moscow 3–2 Elektrik Leningrad
1939 49*[e] Spartak Moscow 3–1 Stalinets Leningrad
1940 canceled, its qualification stage changed to the Soviet Amateur Cup[9]
1944 24 Zenit Leningrad 2–1 CDKA Moscow
1945 32 CDKA Moscow 2–1 Dynamo Moscow
1946 16 Spartak Moscow 3–2 (a.e.t.) Dinamo Tbilisi
1947 19*[f] Spartak Moscow 2–0 Torpedo Moscow
1948 20 CDKA Moscow 3–0 Spartak Moscow
1949 Torpedo Moscow 2–1 Dynamo Moscow
1950 Spartak Moscow 3–0 Dynamo Moscow
1951 CDSA Moscow 2–1 (a.e.t.) Kalinin FC
1952 Torpedo Moscow 1–0 Spartak Moscow
1953 Dynamo Moscow 1–0 Zenit Kuybyshev
1954 Dynamo Kyiv 2–1 Spartak Yerevan
1955 CDSA Moscow 2–1 Dynamo Moscow
1957 Lokomotiv Moscow 1–0 Spartak Moscow
1958 Spartak Moscow 1–0 (a.e.t.) Torpedo Moscow
1959–60 Torpedo Moscow 4–3 (a.e.t.) Dinamo Tbilisi
1961 Shakhtyor Stalino 3–1 Torpedo Moscow
1962 Shakhtyor Stalino 2–0 Znamya Truda Orekhovo-Zuyevo
1963 Spartak Moscow 2–0 Shakhtar Donetsk
1964 Dynamo Kyiv 1–0 Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev
1965 Spartak Moscow 0–0 Dynamo Minsk
2–1 (a.e.t.) (replay)
1965–66 Dynamo Kyiv 2–0 Torpedo Moscow
1966–67 Dynamo Moscow 3–0 CSKA Moscow
1967–68 Torpedo Moscow 1–0 Pakhtakor Tashkent
1969 Karpaty Lviv 2–1 SKA Rostov-on-Don
1970 Dynamo Moscow 2–1 Dinamo Tbilisi
1971 38 Spartak Moscow 2–2 SKA Rostov-on-Don
1–0 (replay)
1972 36 Torpedo Moscow 0–0 Spartak Moscow
1–1 (5–1 p) (replay)
1973 36 Ararat Yerevan 2–1 (a.e.t.) Dynamo Kyiv
1974 36 Dynamo Kyiv 3–0 (a.e.t.) Zorya Voroshilovgrad
1975 36 Ararat Yerevan 2–1 Zorya Voroshilovgrad
1976 42 Dinamo Tbilisi 3–0 Ararat Yerevan
1977 48 Dynamo Moscow 1–0 Torpedo Moscow
1978 48 Dynamo Kyiv 2–1 (a.e.t.) Shakhtar Donetsk
1979 48 Dinamo Tbilisi 0–0 (5–4 p) Dynamo Moscow
1980 48 Shakhtar Donetsk 2–1 Dinamo Tbilisi
1981 48 SKA Rostov-on-Don 1–0 Spartak Moscow
1982 40 Dynamo Kyiv 1–0 Torpedo Moscow
1983 40 Shakhtar Donetsk 1–0 Metalist Kharkiv
1984 48 Dynamo Moscow 2–0 (a.e.t.) Zenit Leningrad
1984–85 50 Dynamo Kyiv 2–1 Shakhtar Donetsk
1985–86 74 Torpedo Moscow 1–0 Shakhtar Donetsk
1986–87 80 Dynamo Kyiv 3–3 (4–2 p) Dynamo Minsk
1987–88 80 Metalist Kharkiv 2–0 Torpedo Moscow
1988–89 80 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1–0 Torpedo Moscow
1989–90 80 Dynamo Kyiv 6–1 Lokomotiv Moscow
1990–91 78 CSKA Moscow 3–2 Torpedo Moscow
1991–92 80 Spartak Moscow 2–0[10] CSKA Moscow

Notes:

  • The "teams" column includes number of participants in the final stage (tournament proper). Those with asterisk (x*) indicates that there was a preliminary (qualification) stage with additional number of participants.
  • In seasons 1990–91 and 1991–92 (dissolution of the Soviet Union) due to political situation in the Soviet Union, the Football Federation of the Soviet Union was nominally including teams without confirmation whether they would be competing in the competition. The Soviet Union was slowly disintegrating and former union republics were succeeding away, while the Football Federation of the Soviet Union remained in the "position of reality denial". For example, starting from January of 1990 the Georgian Football Federation has officially separated away from the Football Federation of the Soviet Union and all its clubs quit the All-Union competitions, nonetheless the Soviet Union football officials continued to place Georgian teams in the Soviet Cup competitions.

Overall statistics

Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-Up Semi-finalists Years Won
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Spartak Moscow 10 5 7 1938, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1992
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Dinamo Kiev 9 1 4 1954, 1964, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Torpedo Moscow 6 9 5 1949, 1952, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1986
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Dinamo Moscow 6 5 10 1937, 1953, 1967, 1970, 1977, 1984
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic CSKA Moscow 5 3 11 1945, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1991
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Shakhter Donetsk 4 4 6 1961, 1962, 1980, 1983
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Dinamo Tbilisi 2 6 7 1976, 1979
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Ararat Yerevan 2 2 2 1973, 1975
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Lokomotiv Moscow 2 1 7 1936, 1957
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Zenit Leningrad 1 2 7 1944
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic SKA Rostov-na-Donu 1 2 0 1981
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Metallist Kharkov 1 1 1 1988
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Karpaty Lvov 1 0 2 1969
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk 1 0 5 1989
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev 0 2 2
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Dinamo Minsk 0 2 2
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Zaria Voroshilovgrad 0 2 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Elektrik Leningrad 0 1 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Kalinin city team 0 1 0
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Znamia Truda Orekhovo-Zuyevo 0 1 0
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Pakhtakor Tashkent 0 1 0
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Neftchi Baku 0 0 4
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Dinamo Leningrad 0 0 3
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Dinamo Tashkent 0 0 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Rotor Volgograd 0 0 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic VSS Moscow 0 0 1
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic SKA Kiev 0 0 1
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic SKA Odessa 0 0 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Admiralteyets Leningrad 0 0 1
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic Qairat Almaty 0 0 1
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Chernomorets Odessa 0 0 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Sokol Saratov 0 0 1
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Sudostroitel Nikolayev 0 0 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Iskra Smolensk 0 0 1
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Tavriya Simferopol 0 0 1
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Žalgiris Vilnius 0 0 1
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic Pamir Dushanbe 0 0 1
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Fakel Voronezh 0 0 1
Total 51 51 102

Performance by republic

Republic Winners Runners-up Semi-finals Winning clubs
 Russian SFSR 31 32 59 Spartak Moscow (10), Dinamo Moscow (6), Torpedo Moscow (6), CSKA Moscow (5), Lokomotiv Moscow (2), Zenit Leningrad (1), SKA Rostov-na-Donu (1)
 Ukrainian SSR 16 8 24 Dinamo Kiev (9), Shakhter Donetsk (4), Metallist Kharkov (1), Karpaty Lvov (1), Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk (1)
 Georgian SSR 2 6 7 Dinamo Tbilisi (2)
 Armenian SSR 2 2 2 Ararat Yerevan (2)
 Byelorussian SSR 0 2 2
 Uzbek SSR 0 1 1
 Azerbaijan SSR 0 0 4
 Kazakh SSR 0 0 1
 Lithuanian SSR 0 0 1
 Tajik SSR 0 0 1
Total 51 51 102

Best coaches

Valeriy Lobanovsky (1939-2002).
Boris Arkadiev (1899-1986).
Valentin Ivanov (1934-2011).
Place Name Medals Champion clubs
gold silver
1 Viktor Maslov 6 3 Torpedo Moscow (3), Dynamo Kyiv (2), Ararat Yerevan (1)
2 Valeriy Lobanovsky 6 - Dynamo Kyiv
3 Boris Arkadiev 4 1 CDKA Moscow (3), Lokomotiv Moscow (1)
Nikita Simonyan 4 1 Spartak Moscow (3), Ararat Yerevan (1)
5 Oleg Oshenkov 3 1 Shakhtar Donetsk (2), Dynamo Kyiv (1)
6 Valentin Ivanov 2 5 Torpedo Moscow
7 Aleksandr Sevidov 2 2 Dynamo Moscow
8-11 Nodar Akhalkatsi 2 1 Dinamo Tbilisi
Konstantin Beskov 2 1 Dynamo Moscow
Konstantin Kvashnin 2 1 Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow
Viktor Nosov 2 1 Shakhtar Donetsk

Another coach Albert Vollrat won two cups in 1946 and 1947.

Notes

  1. ^ Ukrainian: Кубок СРСР, Belarusian: Кубак СССР, Uzbek: СССР Кубоги, Kazakh: КСРО Кубогы, Georgian: სსრკ თასი, Azerbaijani: ССРИ кубоку, Lithuanian: TSRS taurė, Romanian: Cupa URSS (Moldovan Cyrillic: Купа УРСС), Latvian: PSRS kauss, Armenian: ԽՍՀՄ Գավաթ, Estonian: NSVL Karikas.
  2. ^ broadly and officially known as the Football Cup of the Soviet Union among teams of physical culture collectives
  3. ^ Initially it was announced that the competition will have 87 participants.[1]
  4. ^ Total number of participants in 1938 including preliminary rounds was 275.
  5. ^ Total number of participants in 1939 including preliminary rounds was 1,728.
  6. ^ Total number of participants in 1939 including preliminary rounds was 80.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Все финалы кубка СССР по футболу (1936-1991): как это было, фотоархивы, статистика. dzen.ru. 15 August 2023 (in Russian)
  2. ^ Последний кубок СССР-СНГ по футболу 1991/1992. dzen.ru. 20 August 2023 (in Russian)
  3. ^ 30 лет последнему финалу Кубка СССР. «Спартак» выиграл трофей, который не хотел отдавать Садырин. www.sportsdaily.ru. 10 May 2022 (in Russian)
  4. ^ Последний финал Кубка СССР пытался сорвать телефонный террорист. «Спартак» это не смутило. www.championat.com. 10 May 2021 (in Russian)
  5. ^ Заминированные «Лужники», дубль Бесчастных, пенальти Харина. 31 год назад состоялся финал последнего Кубка СССР. www.sports.ru. 10 May 2023 (in Russian)
  6. ^ a b Истории из хрустальных кубков. www.xfile.ru. 9 May 2017. accessed 27 February 2024
  7. ^ Кубком СССР по футболу была обычная ваза. sport.sevastopol.su. 30 October 2023
  8. ^ ГОД 1936. ЧАСТЬ ПЯТАЯ. ПАТЕНТ НА "ВНЕЗАПНУЮ СМЕРТЬ". www.sport-express.ru (Sport-Express). 10 October 2003
  9. ^ Кубок СССР среди команд коллективов физической культуры 1940 год. vla-glubokov.narod.ru. (in Russian)
  10. ^ «Стою голым в судейской. Вдруг бросается овчарка — хорошо, ничего не оторвала». Матчи ЦСКА со «Спартаком» навсегда запомнились этому арбитру. www.sport-express.ru. 14 October 2022 (in Russian)

External links