# 1990 Soviet First League

1990 Soviet First League was part of the Soviet football competition in the second league division. After the fall of the Soviet Union some clubs left the Soviet competitions and the league was reduced.

## Teams
### Promoted teams

* Dinamo Sukhumi – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of 28 seasons)
* Tiras Tiraspol – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of 28 seasons)
* Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod – Winner of the Second League finals (debut)

### Relegated teams

* Lokomotiv Moscow – (Returning after 2 seasons)
* Zenit Leningrad – (Returning after 48 seasons)

### Renamed teams

* Prior to the start of the season Textilshchik Tiraspol was renamed to Tiras Tiraspol.

### Withdrawn teams

Prior to the start of the season all Georgian clubs (with the exception of Dinamo Sukhumi, a majority-Russian club from Abkhazia) withdrew from Soviet competitions. This included two First League clubs, FC Torpedo Kutaisi and FC Dinamo Batumi. Because of that the league was reduced to 20 as compared to the previous season of 22 participants.

### Locations
## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Spartak Vladikavkaz (C, P) | 38 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 73 | 30 | +43 | 57 | Promotion to Top League |
| 2 | Pakhtakor Tashkent (P) | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 80 | 45 | +35 | 54 | Promotion to Top League |
| 3 | Metalurh Zaporizhzhia (P) | 38 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 58 | 30 | +28 | 52 | Promotion to Top League |
| 4 | Lokomotiv Moscow (P) | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 52 | 34 | +18 | 47 | Qualification for Promotion play-off |
| 5 | Dynamo Stavropol | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 56 | 42 | +14 | 46 | |
| 6 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 46 | |
| 7 | Nistru Chisinau | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 40 | |
| 8 | Neftchi Baku | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 52 | 51 | +1 | 38 | |
| 9 | Tavriya Simferopol | 38 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 38 | |
| 10 | Fakel Voronezh | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 37 | |
| 11 | Geolog Tyumen | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 38 | 45 | −7 | 37 | |
| 12 | Dinamo Sukhumi | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 36 | 41 | −5 | 36 | |
| 13 | Tiras Tiraspol | 38 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 32 | 45 | −13 | 35 | |
| 14 | Kotayk Abovyan | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 44 | 52 | −8 | 33 | |
| 15 | Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 31 | |
| 16 | Lokomotiv Nizhniy Novgorod | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 39 | 58 | −19 | 31 | |
| 17 | Kairat Almaty | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 35 | 50 | −15 | 30 | |
| 18 | Zenit Leningrad | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 35 | 41 | −6 | 30 | |
| 19 | Kuban Krasnodar | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 34 | 60 | −26 | 28 | |
| 20 | Kuzbass Kemerevo (R) | 38 | 4 | 6 | 28 | 21 | 66 | −45 | 14 | Relegation to Second League |
Notes:
* The city of Ordzhonikidze was renamed to Vladikavkaz.
* The city of Gorkiy was renamed to Nizhniy Novgorod.
* Kotayk Abovyan played all its home games in the neighboring Yerevan.

### Promotion/relegation play-off

(13th team of the Top League and 4th team of the First League)
* Lokomotiv Moscow – Rotor Volgograd 3–1 0–1
Lokomotiv Moscow won the promotion on 3–2 aggregate

## Top scorers

| # | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Igor Shkvyrin | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 37 |
| 2 | Bakhva Tedeyev | Spartak Vladikavkaz | 23 |
| 3 | Vali Gasimov | Neftchi Baku | 22 |
| 4 | Sergei Volgin | Metalurh Zaporizhia | 19 |
| 5 | Vyacheslav Protsenko | Nistru Chisinau | 18 |
| 6 | Vladimir Sushiy | Dynamo Stavropol | 16 |
| 7 | Robert Kocharyan | Kotayk Abovian | 15 |
| 8 | Georgiy Chaligava | Dinamo Sukhumi | 12 |
| 8 | Viktor Leonenko | Geolog Tyumen | 12 |

## Number of teams by union republic

| Rank | Union republic | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| 1 | RSFSR | 11 | Spartak Vladikavkaz, Lokomotiv Moscow, Dinamo Stavropol, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Fakel Voronezh, Geolog Tyumen, Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu, Lokomotiv Nizhniy Novgorod, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Kuban Krasnodar, Kuzbass Kemerovo |
| 2 | Moldavian SSR | 2 | Tiligul Tiraspol, Nistru Kishenev |
| 2 | Ukrainian SSR | 2 | Metallurg Zaporozhye, Tavriya Simferopol |
| 5 | Armenian SSR | 1 | Kotaik Abovian |
| 5 | Uzbek SSR | 1 | Pakhtakor Tashkent |
| 5 | Azerbaijan SSR | 1 | Neftchi Baku |
| 5 | Georgian SSR / ( Abkhazia) | 1 | Dinamo Sukhumi |
| 5 | Kazakh SSR | 1 | Kairat Alma-Ata |