# 1961 Soviet Top League

22 teams took part in the league with FC Dynamo Kyiv winning the championship (the first Soviet champion from outside Moscow).

## Round 1
### Group A
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Torpedo Moscow | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 48 | 20 | +28 | 33 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 2 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 20 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 26 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 3 | Avangard Kharkov | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 26 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 4 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 22 | +14 | 25 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 5 | SKA Rostov-on-Don | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 22 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 6 | Shakhter Stalino | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 19 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 7 | Neftyanik Baku | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 34 | −14 | 16 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 8 | Trud Voronezh | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 24 | 31 | −7 | 15 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 9 | Admiralteet Leningrad | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 30 | −8 | 15 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 10 | Daugava Rīga | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 41 | −20 | 12 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 11 | Spartak Vilnius | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 46 | −28 | 11 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | ADM | AVA | DAU | DTB | LOK | NEF | SHA | SKA | SVL | TOR | TRU |
| Admiralteet Leningrad | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Avangard Kharkov | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Daugava Rīga | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–5 | 2–0 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 6–4 | 1–1 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 5–1 |
| Neftyanik Baku | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–7 | 1–0 |
| Shakhter Stalino | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | | 4–2 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 |
| SKA Rostov-on-Don | 2–0 | 0–1 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 3–0 | | 5–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| Spartak Vilnius | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Torpedo Moscow | 6–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 3–1 |
| Trud Voronezh | 3–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 0–1 | |

### Group B
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | CSKA Moscow | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 55 | 28 | +27 | 29 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 41 | 19 | +22 | 29 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 3 | Spartak Moscow | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 21 | +17 | 25 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 4 | Spartak Yerevan | 20 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 27 | 26 | +1 | 23 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 5 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 30 | 33 | −3 | 23 | Qualification for Places 1–10 group |
| 6 | Dynamo Moscow | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 29 | +4 | 21 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 7 | Kairat Almaty | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 32 | −9 | 17 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 8 | Zenit Leningrad | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 17 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 9 | Moldova Chișinău | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 16 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 10 | Belarus Minsk | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 31 | −14 | 13 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |
| 11 | Kalev Tallinn | 20 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 43 | −29 | 7 | Qualification for Places 11–22 group |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BEL | CSK | DYK | DYN | KAI | KAL | MOL | PAK | SPA | SYE | ZEN |
| Belarus Minsk | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| CSKA Moscow | 3–0 | | 1–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 6–4 | 6–2 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 5–1 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 4–1 | 1–3 | 5–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Kairat Almaty | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Kalev Tallinn | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Moldova Chișinău | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 5–0 |
| Pakhtakor Tashkent | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Spartak Moscow | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Spartak Yerevan | 1–1 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | | 3–2 |
| Zenit Leningrad | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–6 | 0–0 | |

## Round 2
### Places 1–10
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Dynamo Kyiv (C) | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 58 | 28 | +30 | 45 |
| 2 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 68 | 35 | +33 | 41 |
| 3 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 57 | 34 | +23 | 40 |
| 4 | CSKA Moscow | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 38 |
| 5 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 30 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 58 | 42 | +16 | 38 |
| 6 | Avangard Kharkov | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 30 | 25 | +5 | 34 |
| 7 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 50 | 30 | +20 | 33 |
| 8 | Spartak Yerevan | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 37 | 41 | −4 | 32 |
| 9 | SKA Rostov-on-Don | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 54 | 36 | +18 | 30 |
| 10 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 44 | 61 | −17 | 30 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AVA | CSK | DYK | DTB | LOK | PAK | SKA | SPA | SYE | TOR |
| Avangard Kharkov | | 0–0 | 1–1 | | | 4–1 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | |
| CSKA Moscow | 1–0 | | | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | | | 0–3 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 0–0 | | | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | | | 2–0 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | | 3–0 | 0–1 | | | 4–0 | | 0–0 | –:+ | |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | | 4–0 | 3–4 | | | 2–1 | | 3–1 | 1–0 | |
| Pakhtakor Tashkent | 3–1 | | | 1–4 | 4–4 | | 1–1 | | | 1–0 |
| SKA Rostov-on-Don | | 0–0 | 2–4 | | | 2–2 | | 1–2 | 3–0 | |
| Spartak Moscow | 0–0 | | | 3–2 | 4–1 | | 1–1 | | | 4–3 |
| Spartak Yerevan | 3–0 | | | 1–1 | 2–2 | | 2–5 | | | 1–0 |
| Torpedo Moscow | | 4–2 | 1–1 | | | 6–0 | | 2–3 | 1–1 | |
* ↑ Victory awarded 3–0 to Spartak Yerevan; on the field he finished 3–1.

### Places 11–22
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 11 | Dynamo Moscow | 32 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 57 | 39 | +18 | 41 | |
| 12 | Shakhter Stalino | 32 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 45 | 37 | +8 | 34 | |
| 13 | Zenit Leningrad | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 50 | 52 | −2 | 32 | |
| 14 | Admiralteets Leningrad | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 49 | 47 | +2 | 31 | |
| 15 | Trud Voronezh (R) | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 30 | Relegation to Class B |
| 16 | Moldova Chișinău | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 46 | 54 | −8 | 30 | |
| 17 | Kairat Alma-Ata | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 31 | 48 | −17 | 28 | |
| 18 | Neftyanik Baku | 32 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 36 | 52 | −16 | 27 | |
| 19 | Belarus Minsk | 32 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 24 | |
| 20 | Spartak Vilnius | 32 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 33 | 64 | −31 | 19 | |
| 21 | Daugava Rīga | 32 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 30 | 63 | −33 | 17 | |
| 22 | Kalev Tallinn (R) | 32 | 1 | 8 | 23 | 25 | 74 | −49 | 10 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
* ↑ Admiralteets Leningrad were disbanded after the season and they were replaced by Dynamo Leningrad.
* ↑ Trud Voronezh were relegated because were been a worst ranked team from Russia.

#### Results

| Home \ Away | ADM | BEL | DAU | DYN | KAI | KAL | MOL | NEF | SHA | SVL | TRU | ZEN |
| Admiralteets Leningrad | | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 6–2 | 5–2 | | | | | 2–1 |
| Belarus Minsk | 0–0 | | 2–0 | | | | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Daugava Rīga | | 1–3 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | | | | 0–2 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 4–1 | | 2–1 | | | | | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | |
| Kairat Alma-Ata | 0–3 | | 2–1 | | | | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Kalev Tallinn | 0–2 | | 2–3 | | | | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 0–2 | |
| Moldova Chișinău | 2–1 | | 1–0 | | | | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | |
| Neftyanik Baku | | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | | | | | 2–2 |
| Shakhter Stalino | | 4–2 | | 0–0 | 6–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | | | | | 5–3 |
| Spartak Vilnius | | 0–1 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | | | | | 0–1 |
| Trud Voronezh | | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | | | | 2–0 |
| Zenit Leningrad | 2–2 | | 4–1 | | | | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | |

### Top scorers
#### 22 goals

* Gennadi Gusarov (Torpedo Moscow)

#### 20 goals

* Gennadi Krasnitsky (Pakhtakor Tashkent)
* Viktor Voroshilov (Lokomotiv Moscow)

#### 18 goals

* Viktor Kanevskyi (Dynamo Kyiv)
* Aleksei Mamykin (CSKA Moscow)

#### 15 goals

* Igor Chislenko (Dynamo Moscow)
* Sergey Kvochkin (Kairat Alma-Ata)

#### 14 goals

* Zaur Kaloyev (Dinamo Tbilisi)
* Galimzyan Khusainov (Spartak Moscow)
* Yuri Zakharov (Shakhtyor Stalino)

### Promotion/relegation Tournament

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Torpedo Kutaisi (R) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 | Promotion to Class A |
| 2 | Kalev Tallinn (R) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 | Relegation to Class B |
| 3 | Lokomotiv Tbilisi | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | |