# 1940 Soviet First League

The 1940 Soviet football championship in Gruppa B (Russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу в группе «Б») was fifth season of the (second tier) professional football competitions in the Soviet Union. It was also the second season after revival of the second tier competitions and the last season before the Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union with the ongoing World War II.
The season started on 2 May 1940 (following the International Workers' Day) with matches in Ukraine and the Caucasus republics. The season ended on 27 October 1940 in Kiev.

## Teams

The league was reduced almost in half from 23 to 14 teams. The competitions were conducted in double round robin format where each team is playing with every other twice, at home and away.

### Relegated

Two teams were relegated from the 1939 Gruppa A
* FC Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad – 13th place (debut)
* FC Dinamo Odessa – 14th place (debut, merged with Pischevik)
** Former Dinamo Odessa players continued to play under Pischevik's colors.

### Promoted

* FC Dinamo Minsk – Champion of the Belorussian SSR (debut)
* FC Pischevik Odessa – Runner-up of the Ukrainian SSR (debut)

### Renamed

* FC Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad was previously known as FC Elektrik Leningrad
* FC Stroitel Baku was previously known as FC Temp Baku

## League Standings

| Pos | Republic | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Russian SFSR | Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad (C, P) | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 54 | 36 | +18 | 35 |
| 2 | Russian SFSR | Spartak Leningrad (P) | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 46 | 29 | +17 | 34 |
| 3 | Azerbaijan SSR | Stroitel Baku | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 39 | 29 | +10 | 31 |
| 4 | Ukrainian SSR | Dinamo Kharkov | 26 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 29 |
| 5 | Ukrainian SSR | Pischevik Odessa (P) | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 49 | 40 | +9 | 28 |
| 6 | Byelorussian SSR | Dinamo Minsk (P) | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 42 | 41 | +1 | 26 |
| 7 | Ukrainian SSR | Lokomotiv Kiev | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 33 | 34 | −1 | 26 |
| 8 | Ukrainian SSR | Sudostroitel Nikolayev | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 31 | −6 | 26 |
| 9 | Russian SFSR | Torpedo Gorkiy | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 44 | 47 | −3 | 25 |
| 10 | Russian SFSR | Burevestnik Moscow | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 28 | 31 | −3 | 25 |
| 11 | Russian SFSR | Avangard Leningrad | 26 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 40 | 51 | −11 | 25 |
| 12 | Russian SFSR | Pischevik Moscow | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 31 | 40 | −9 | 20 |
| 13 | Ukrainian SSR | Selmash Kharkov | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 17 |
| 14 | Armenian SSR | Spartak Yerevan | 26 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 17 |
* 1 2 Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad and Avangard Leningrad were merged with Zenit Leningrad (Gruppa A) for the next season.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Team | Goals (Pen.) |
| 1 | Ivan Borisevich | Pischevik Odessa | 15 |
| 2 | Boris Chuchelov | Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad | 14 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Korotkov | Torpedo Gorkiy | 14 |
| 4 | Vasiliy Gusarov | Dinamo Kharkov | 13 |
| 4 | Leonid Oryekhov | Pischevik Odessa | 13 |
| 6 | Pavel Bogatyryov | Spartak Leningrad | 11 |
| 6 | Vasiliy Panfilov | Dinamo Minsk | 11 |
| 6 | Aram Stepanov | Dynamo Kyiv | 11 |
| 9 | Artur Chalikyan | Spartak Yerevan | 10 |
| 9 | Sergei Chernykh | Spartak Leningrad | 10 |
| 9 | Aleksei Salakov | Torpedo Gorkiy | 10 |
| 9 | Aleksandr Sevidov | Pischevik Moscow | 10 |
| 9 | Ivan Talanov | Avangard Leningrad | 10 |
| 9 | Pavel Vinkovatov | Selmash Kharkov | 10 |

## Number of teams by republics

| Number | Union republics | Team(s) |
| 6 | Russian SFSR | FC Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad, FC Spartak Leningrad, FC Burevestnik Moscow, FC Avangard Leningrad, FC Pischevik MoscowFC Torpedo Gorky |
| 5 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Dinamo Kharkov, FC Pischevik Odessa, FC Lokomotiv Kiev, FC Sudostroitel Nikolaev, FC Selmash Kharkov |
| 1 | Azerbaijan SSR | Stroitel Baku |
| 1 | Belarusian SSR | FC Dinamo Minsk |
| 1 | Armenian SSR | FC Spartak Yerevan |