# 1973 in Soviet football

The 1973 Soviet football championship was the 41st seasons of competitive football in the Soviet Union and the 35th among teams of sports societies and factories. Ararat Yerevan won the championship becoming the Soviet domestic champions for the first time.

## Honours

| Competition | Winner | Runner-up |
| Top League | Ararat Yerevan (1) | Dinamo Kiev |
| First League | Chernomorets Odessa (2) | Nistru Kishinev |
| Second League | Uralmash Sverdlovsk | Tavriya Simferopol |
| Soviet Cup | Ararat Yerevan (1) | Dinamo Kiev |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## Soviet Union football championship
### Top League

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Ararat Yerevan (C) | 30 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 52 | 26 | +26 | 39 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 30 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 44 | 23 | +21 | 36 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dynamo Moscow | 30 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 43 | 30 | +13 | 33 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 37 | 28 | +9 | 31 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 30 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 31 | |
| 6 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 30 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 31 | |
| 7 | Zarya Voroshilovgrad | 30 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 38 | 26 | +12 | 29 | |
| 8 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 30 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 26 | |
| 9 | Kairat Alma-Ata | 30 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 25 | 37 | −12 | 26 | |
| 10 | CSKA Moscow | 30 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 25 | |
| 11 | Zenit Leningrad | 30 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 33 | 35 | −2 | 21 | |
| 12 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 30 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 20 | |
| 13 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 19 | |
| 14 | Karpaty Lviv | 30 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 28 | 48 | −20 | 19 | |
| 15 | Dinamo Minsk (R) | 30 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 21 | 36 | −15 | 17 | Relegation to First League |
| 16 | SKA Rostov-on-Don (R) | 30 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 19 | 43 | −24 | 11 | Relegation to First League |

### First League

| Pos | Rep | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | UKR | Chernomorets Odessa | 38 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 83 | 38 | +45 | 52 | Promoted |
| 2 | MDA | Nistru Kishinev | 38 | 25 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 71 | 35 | +36 | 52 | Promoted |
| 3 | RUS | Lokomotiv Moskva | 38 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 46 | |
| 4 | AZE | Neftchi Baku | 38 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 58 | 43 | +15 | 39 | |
| 5 | RUS | Metallurg Lipetsk | 38 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 42 | 38 | +4 | 35 | |
| 6 | UKR | Metallurg Zaporozhye | 38 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 62 | 53 | +9 | 34 | |
| 7 | RUS | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 38 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 34 | |
| 8 | RUS | Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev | 38 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 34 | |
| 9 | GEO | Torpedo Kutaisi | 38 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 34 | |
| 10 | UKR | Spartak Ivano-Frankovsk | 38 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 40 | 54 | −14 | 33 | |
| 11 | RUS | Zvezda Perm | 38 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 50 | 52 | −2 | 32 | |
| 12 | RUS | Textilshchik Ivanovo | 38 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 32 | |
| 13 | TKM | Stroitel Ashkhabad | 38 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 46 | 58 | −12 | 32 | |
| 14 | TJK | Pamir Dushanbe | 38 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 31 | |
| 15 | RUS | Kuzbass Kemerovo | 38 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 42 | 46 | −4 | 30 | |
| 16 | RUS | Spartak Nalchik | 38 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 46 | 61 | −15 | 30 | |
| 17 | RUS | Spartak Orjonikidze | 38 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 30 | |
| 18 | KAZ | Shakhtyor Karaganda | 38 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 42 | 60 | −18 | 28 | Relegated |
| 19 | UKR | Metallist Kharkov | 38 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 34 | 50 | −16 | 27 | Relegated |
| 20 | KGZ | Alga Frunze | 38 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 22 | 49 | 54 | −5 | 14 | Relegated |
* 1 2 -
* 1 2 3 +
* ↑ Spartak Nalchik was called Avtomobilist.

### Second League (finals)

| Pos | Rep | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | RUS | UralMash Sverdlovsk | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 9 | Promoted |
| 2 | UKR | Tavria Simferopol | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 8 | Promoted |
| 3 | RUS | Kuban Krasnodar | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 7 | Promoted |
| 4 | RUS | Iskra Smolensk | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 6 | |
| 5 | RUS | Spartak Kostroma | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 6 | |
| 6 | RUS | Sibiryak Bratsk | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 1 | |
| 7 | KAZ | Traktor Pavlodar | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 12 | −8 | 0 | |

### Top goalscorers

Top League
* Oleg Blokhin (Dinamo Kiev) – 18 goals
First League
* Anatoliy Shepel (Chernomorets Odessa) – 38 goals