# 1971 Soviet Second League, Zone 1

The 1971 Football Championship of Ukrainian SSR was the 41st season of association football competition of the Ukrainian SSR, which was part of the Soviet Second League in Zone 1. It was the first season in the newly established Soviet Second League, after both Class A and Class B competitions were discontinued.
The season started on 3 April 1971.
The 1971 Football Championship of Ukrainian SSR was won by FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.

## Reorganization

The division became a part of big football reform that took place in the Soviet Union and stretched over two years 1970–1971. Most of the club previously competed in the 1970 Class A Second Group (Zone 1) and were grandfathered into the newly established Second League (Zone 1). Clubs from other union republics (Belorussian SSR) were weeded out into other Zone. The lower tier Class B competition were completely disbanded with only eight teams allowed to advance to the Second League, thus replacing those club of other union republics.

## Teams
### Relegated teams

* SKA Kiev – (returning after five seasons)

### Promoted teams

Eight clubs were promoted from the 1970 Class B (Ukrainian SSR).
* FC Khimik Severodonetsk
* FC Lokomotyv Vinnytsia
* FC Lokomotyv Donetsk
* FC Dynamo Khmelnytskyi
* FC Verkhovyna Uzhhorod
* FC Torpedo Lutsk
* FC Horyn Rovno
* FC Dnipro Cherkasy

### Relocated and renamed teams

* FC Azovets Zhdanov changed its name to FC Metalurh Zhdanov.
* FC Spartak Sumy changed its name to FC Frunzenets Sumy.
* FC Verkhovyna Uzhhorod changed its name to FC Hoverla Uzhhorod.

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (C, Q) | 50 | 31 | 10 | 9 | 78 | 32 | +46 | 72 | Promotion qualification |
| 2 | Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv | 50 | 30 | 11 | 9 | 69 | 31 | +38 | 71 | |
| 3 | Avtomobilist Zhytomyr | 50 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 58 | 30 | +28 | 65 | |
| 4 | Shakhtar Kadiivka | 50 | 24 | 15 | 11 | 67 | 34 | +33 | 63 | |
| 5 | Tavriya Simferopol | 50 | 24 | 11 | 15 | 79 | 50 | +29 | 59 | |
| 6 | Zirka Kirovohrad | 50 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 52 | 33 | +19 | 59 | |
| 7 | Lokomotyv Vinnytsia | 50 | 17 | 22 | 11 | 47 | 35 | +12 | 56 | |
| 8 | Budivelnyk Poltava | 50 | 21 | 13 | 16 | 54 | 43 | +11 | 55 | |
| 9 | Shakhtar Horlivka | 50 | 17 | 20 | 13 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 54 | |
| 10 | Khimik Severodonetsk | 50 | 19 | 15 | 16 | 66 | 61 | +5 | 53 | |
| 11 | Metalurh Zhdanov | 50 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 62 | 55 | +7 | 51 | |
| 12 | SKA Odessa | 50 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 50 | 48 | +2 | 51 | |
| 13 | Lokomotyv Kherson | 50 | 18 | 14 | 18 | 46 | 53 | −7 | 50 | |
| 14 | Avanhard Ternopil | 50 | 18 | 13 | 19 | 43 | 46 | −3 | 49 | |
| 15 | Frunzenets Sumy | 50 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 48 | |
| 16 | Bukovyna Chernivtsi | 50 | 17 | 14 | 19 | 35 | 38 | −3 | 48 | |
| 17 | SKA Kiev | 50 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 47 | |
| 18 | Dynamo Khmelnytskyi | 50 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 46 | |
| 19 | Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk | 50 | 18 | 9 | 23 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 45 | |
| 20 | Hoverla Uzhhorod | 50 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 42 | 55 | −13 | 45 | |
| 21 | Avanhard Sevastopol | 50 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 45 | |
| 22 | Lokomotyv Donetsk | 50 | 12 | 16 | 22 | 40 | 62 | −22 | 40 | |
| 23 | SKA Lviv | 50 | 10 | 17 | 23 | 33 | 55 | −22 | 37 | Reformed |
| 24 | Dnipro Cherkasy | 50 | 9 | 15 | 26 | 28 | 69 | −41 | 33 | Relegated |
| 25 | Torpedo Lutsk | 50 | 7 | 16 | 27 | 21 | 66 | −45 | 30 | Reformed |
| 26 | Horyn Rovno | 50 | 9 | 10 | 31 | 27 | 72 | −45 | 28 | |
* ↑ Kryvbas qualified for the play off with the third team that placed third in final tournament. After winning the play off, Kryvbas was promoted.
* 1 2 3 According to the season's regulations two bottom teams had to be relegated including Torpedo Lutsk and Horyn Rovno, but the Football Federation of Ukrainian SSR, considering the loss of professional team in two adjacent oblasts in western Ukraine, adopted a decision to leave teams of both cities in the Second League. However, in 1972 on a basis of the Lutsk city team, there was formed professional team of the Carpathian Military District and created SC Lutsk. At the same time, the original professional team of the Carpathian Military District SKA Lviv was merged with the newly formed SC Lutsk. Moreover, other two army sports clubs of Ukrainian competitions, SKA Kiev and SKA Odessa, moved next year to another cities.

## Top goalscorers

The following were the top goalscorers.
| # | Scorer | Goals (Pen.) | Team |
| 1 | Stanislav Vovk | 21 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
| 2 | Valentyn Prylepskyi | 20 | Tavriya Simferopol |
| 2 | Yevhen Dereviaha | 20 | Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv |
| 4 | Yevhen Satayev | 19 | Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv |
| 4 | Vladyslav Nechai | 19 | Khimik Severodonetsk |
| 6 | Volodymyr Tovchykh | 17 | Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
| 7 | Yuriy Nesmiyan | 16 | Avtomobilist Zhytomyr |
| 7 | Andriy Cheremysin | 16 | Tavriya Simferopol |
| 7 | Oleksiy Katsman | 16 | Zirka Kirovohrad |
| 10 | Vitaliy Starukhin | 15 | Budivelnyk Poltava |