# 1986 Soviet Top League

The 1986 Soviet Top League season was the 17th in Top League and 49th of its kind (between clubs). Dynamo Kyiv were the defending 11-times champions.
A total of sixteen teams participated in the league, which was two teams fewer than in the 1985 season and no teams were promoted from the First League due to the league reorganization. Also it was the only season when the Top League contained more Ukrainian clubs rather than Russian 5 to 4. The overdraw concept was preserved with no more than 10 draws being allowed (same as the previous season). Dynamo Kyiv, however, was excused from the rule because the Soviet national football team, consisting almost exclusively out of the first team of Dynamo Kyiv, participated at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The reduction of the league was compensated by the introduction of a new competition, the Cup of Football Federation of USSR. For that purpose the league took a short break in September when the new competition kicked off and involved only the participants of the Soviet Top League. The new competition was brief, lasting for just over a month.
The season began on March 1 and lasted until November 22, 1986, however some additional postponed games were played until December 7. The season was won by Dynamo Kyiv once again for the 12th time on the last day of the season on December 7 when they faced off against their main opponent Dynamo Moscow in Kiev, pulling off a dramatic 2–1 win and thus passing their Moscow rivals in the final league standings.
The top five clubs of the league later entered European competitions, joined additionally by the losing cup finalist Dinamo Minsk, beaten by Dynamo Kyiv in the 1987 Final. The winner of the 1986 League Cup Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk did not qualify for any European tournaments.

## Teams
### Promoted teams

* none

### Location
## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dynamo Kyiv (C) | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 53 | 33 | +20 | 39 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dinamo Moscow | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 46 | 26 | +20 | 38 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 52 | 21 | +31 | 37 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Zenit Leningrad | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 33 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 33 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 31 | |
| 7 | Kairat Alma-Ata | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 30 | |
| 8 | Žalgiris Vilnius | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 37 | −5 | 30 | |
| 9 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 31 | 28 | +3 | 30 | |
| 10 | Dinamo Minsk | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 37 | 40 | −3 | 28 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 11 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 28 | |
| 12 | Metalist Kharkiv | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 25 | −4 | 27 | |
| 13 | Neftçi Baku | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 33 | 38 | −5 | 26 | |
| 14 | Ararat Yerevan | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 26 | |
| 15 | Chornomorets Odessa (R) | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 37 | −8 | 23 | Relegation to First League |
| 16 | Torpedo Kutaisi (R) | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 24 | 60 | −36 | 17 | Relegation to First League |
* 1 2 1 point deducted (10 draw limit)
* ↑ 2 points deducted (10 draw limit)
Next year promotion
* CSKA Moscow ( Russian SFSR)
* Guria Lanchkhuti ( Georgian SSR)

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARA | CHO | DNI | DYK | DMN | DYN | DTB | KAI | MKH | NEF | SHA | SPA | TKU | TOR | ŽAL | ZEN |
| Ararat Yerevan | | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Chornomorets Odessa | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 |
| Dnipro | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 5–3 |
| Dinamo Minsk | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 7–2 | 1–2 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 6–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Kairat Alma-Ata | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Metalist Kharkiv | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Neftçi Baku | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | | 3–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Spartak Moscow | 6–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 7–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | | 5–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Torpedo Kutaisi | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 |
| Torpedo Moscow | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Žalgiris Vilnius | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 2–1 |
| Zenit Leningrad | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | |

## Top scorers
### 21 goals

* Aleksandr Borodyuk (Dynamo Moscow)

### 17 goals

* Oleh Protasov (Dnipro)
* Sergey Rodionov (Spartak Moscow)

### 13 goals

* Mashalla Akhmedov (Neftchi)
* Georgi Kondratyev (Dinamo Minsk)

### 12 goals

* Alexei Mikhailichenko (Dynamo Kyiv)
* Ihor Petrov (Shakhtar)
* Yuri Savichev (Torpedo Moscow)

### 10 goals

* Ihor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)
* Revaz Chelebadze (Dynamo Tbilisi)
* Arminas Narbekovas (Žalgiris)
* Yevstafi Pekhlevanidi (Kairat)

## Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
* 1. FC Dynamo Kyiv
* Goalkeepers: Viktor Chanov (30), Mykhaylo Mykhaylov (3).
* Defenders: Anatoliy Demyanenko (29 / 2), Oleh Kuznetsov (27 / 2), Andriy Bal (26), Volodymyr Bezsonov (16 / 1), Vasyl Yevseyev (15), Sergei Baltacha (13), Vladimir Gorilyi (9), Vadym Karatayev (8 / 1), Mykhaylo Olefirenko (2), Ivan Palamar (1).
* Midfielders: Vasyl Rats (30 / 7), Pavlo Yakovenko (28 / 2), Vadym Yevtushenko (27 / 6), Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko (20 / 12), Oleksandr Zavarov (20 / 4), Ivan Yaremchuk (15 / 3).
* Forwards: Oleg Blokhin (23 / 2), Ihor Belanov (22 / 10), Oleksandr Shcherbakov (12 / 1).
* Manager: Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
* Transferred out during the season: Mykhaylo Olefirenko (to FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Ivan Palamar (to FC Nyva Vinnytsia).
* 2. FC Dynamo Moscow
* Goalkeepers: Aleksei Prudnikov (30), Aleksandr Uvarov (1).
* Defenders: Aleksandr Novikov (27 / 1), Boris Pozdnyakov (27 / 1), Sergei Silkin (25), Igor Bulanov (24 / 3), Viktor Losev (23), Sergei Kozhanov (15), Aleksandr Golovnya (8), Vladimir Demidov (8), Vasili Zhupikov (6).
* Midfielders: Vasili Karatayev (30 / 4), Igor Dobrovolski (28 / 4), Viktor Vasilyev (21), Aleksandr Molodtsov (15 / 1), Andrey Kobelev (15), Yuri Pudyshev (6), Valeri Matyunin (2).
* Forwards: Aleksandr Borodyuk (28 / 21), Sergei Stukashov (25 / 7), Igor Kolyvanov (17 / 4).
* Manager: Eduard Malofeyev.
* Transferred out during the season: Vasili Zhupikov (to Sport Tallinn), Yuri Pudyshev (to FC Dynamo Stavropol), Valeri Matyunin (to FC Fakel Voronezh).
* 3. FC Spartak Moscow
* Goalkeepers: Rinat Dasayev (24), Stanislav Cherchesov (7).
* Defenders: Boris Kuznetsov (30), Vagiz Khidiyatullin (27 / 4), Aleksandr Bubnov (21), Yuri Susloparov (20), Aleksandr Shibayev (18), Almir Kayumov (15), Gennady Morozov (13), Valeri Popelnukha (5), Gennadi Bogachyov (4), Yuri Klyuchnikov (1).
* Midfielders: Yevgeni Kuznetsov (26 / 3), Fyodor Cherenkov (22 / 8), Sergei Novikov (17 / 3), Aleksei Yeryomenko (15 / 4), Renat Ataulin (15), Sergei Volgin (9 / 1), Andrei Mitin (8 / 1), Vladimir Kapustin (8), Igor Shalimov (5 / 1), Nikolai Latysh (5), Igor Ivanov (4).
* Forwards: Andrei Rudakov (24 / 9), Sergey Rodionov (23 / 17), Mikhail Rusyayev (11), Oleg Kuzhlev (9 / 1).
* Manager: Konstantin Beskov.
* Transferred out during the season: Sergei Volgin (to FC Kairat), Nikolai Latysh (to FC Zirka Kirovohrad), Igor Ivanov (to FC Pakhtakor Tashkent), Yuri Klyuchnikov (to FC Sokol Saratov).

## Number of teams by union republic

| Rank | Union republic | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| 1 | Ukrainian SSR | 5 | Chernomorets Odessa, Dinamo Kiev, Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, Metallist Kharkov, Shakhter Donetsk |
| 2 | RSFSR | 4 | Dinamo Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, Zenit Leningrad |
| 3 | Georgian SSR | 2 | Dinamo Tbilisi, Torpedo Kutaisi |
| 4 | Armenian SSR | 1 | Ararat Yerevan |
| 4 | Azerbaijan SSR | 1 | Neftchi Baku |
| 4 | Belarusian SSR | 1 | Dinamo Minsk |
| 4 | Kazakh SSR | 1 | Kairat Alma-Ata |
| 4 | Lithuanian SSR | 1 | Zhalgiris Vilnius |