# 1985 Soviet Top League

The 1985 Soviet Top League was the 16th season of the Soviet Top League, the highest tier football league in the Soviet Union. It also was 48th season of the top tier club competition. Zenit Leningrad were the defending champions.

## Teams
### Promoted teams

* FC Fakel Voronezh – champion (returning for the first time since 1961 after twenty 24 seasons, known as Trud Voronezh)
* FC Torpedo Kutaisi – 2nd place (returning after a season)

### Location
## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dynamo Kyiv (C) | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 64 | 26 | +38 | 48 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Spartak Moscow | 34 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 72 | 28 | +44 | 46 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 71 | 41 | +30 | 42 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Dinamo Minsk | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 40 | 31 | +9 | 41 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Torpedo Moscow | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 42 | 40 | +2 | 36 | |
| 6 | Zenit Leningrad | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 35 | |
| 7 | Žalgiris Vilnius | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 43 | 49 | −6 | 34 | |
| 8 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 34 | 39 | −5 | 32 | |
| 9 | Kairat Alma-Ata | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 43 | 46 | −3 | 32 | |
| 10 | Metalist Kharkiv | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 39 | 55 | −16 | 31 | |
| 11 | Torpedo Kutaisi | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 40 | 51 | −11 | 31 | |
| 12 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 46 | 45 | +1 | 30 | |
| 13 | Ararat Yerevan | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 46 | −4 | 30 | |
| 14 | Dinamo Moscow | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 29 | |
| 15 | Chornomorets Odessa (O) | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 44 | 65 | −21 | 29 | Qualification for Relegation play-off |
| 16 | Neftçi Baku (O) | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 28 | Qualification for Relegation play-off |
| 17 | Fakel Voronezh (R) | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 24 | 45 | −21 | 27 | Relegation to First League |
| 18 | SKA Rostov-na-Donu (R) | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 36 | 60 | −24 | 21 | Relegation to First League |
* 1 2 3 1 point deducted (10 draw limit)
* ↑ 3 points deducted (10 draw limit)
* 1 2 2 points deducted (10 draw limit)

## Post-season promotion/relegation tournament

* For the following season the League was reduced to 16 members. The teams that finished 15th and 16th played a mini-tournament in format of home-away double round-robin with the two best out of the Soviet First League (Daugava Riga and CSKA Moscow). Out of this tournament the two best teams (Chernomorets Odessa and Nefchi Baku) continued on in the Soviet Top League. The tournament was conducted in winter-like conditions from 27 November to 15 December.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Chornomorets Odessa | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 9 |
| 2 | Neftçi Baku | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 7 |
| 3 | Daugava Riga | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | CSKA Moscow | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 3 |
* For the 1986 season there was no promotion out of the Soviet First League.

## Results

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

## Top scorers
### 35 goals

* Oleh Protasov (Dnipro)

### 14 goals

* Vladimir Klementyev (Zenit)
* Sergey Rodionov (Spartak Moscow)

### 13 goals

* Fyodor Cherenkov (Spartak Moscow)
* Oleh Taran (Dnipro)

### 12 goals

* Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
* Viktor Grachyov (Shakhtar)
* Sigitas Jakubauskas (Žalgiris)

### 11 goals

* Georgi Kondratyev (Dinamo Minsk)
* Sergei Volgin (Kairat)

## Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
* 1. FC Dynamo Kyiv
* Goalkeepers: Mykhaylo Mykhaylov (34), Viktor Chanov (1).
* Defenders: Anatoliy Demyanenko (34 / 8), Oleh Kuznetsov (29 / 1), Sergei Baltacha (26 / 1), Volodymyr Bezsonov (25), Vasyl Yevseyev (19), Ivan Palamar (2), Mykhaylo Olefirenko (1), Vadym Karatayev (1).
* Midfielders: Vasyl Rats (34 / 6), Ivan Yaremchuk (33 / 3), Oleksandr Zavarov (31 / 9), Andriy Bal (31 / 1), Pavlo Yakovenko (29), Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko (20 / 2).
* Forwards: Ihor Belanov (31 / 10), Oleg Blokhin (29 / 12), Vadym Yevtushenko (22 / 10), Oleksandr Hushchyn (2), Viktor Khlus (2).
* Manager: Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
* Transferred out during the season: Viktor Khlus (to FC Chornomorets Odesa).
* 2. FC Spartak Moscow
* Goalkeepers: Rinat Dasayev (34), Stanislav Cherchesov (2).
* Defenders: Aleksandr Bubnov (34), Boris Kuznetsov (34), Gennady Morozov (31 / 1), Vladimir Sochnov (24 / 2), Almir Kayumov (14), Aleksandr Shibayev (4).
* Midfielders: Fyodor Cherenkov (33 / 13), Yevgeni Kuznetsov (33 / 7), Sergei Novikov (31 / 7), Yuri Gavrilov (26 / 6), Sergey Shavlo (25 / 6), Yevgeni Sidorov (24 / 4), Guram Adzhoyev (7 / 1).
* Forwards: Sergey Rodionov (29 / 14), Andrei Rudakov (23 / 8), Vladimir Kapustin (13 / 1), Mikhail Rusyayev (5 / 2), Oleg Kuzhlev (5).
* Manager: Konstantin Beskov.
* Transferred out during the season: none.
* 3. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
* Goalkeepers: Serhiy Krakovskyi (32), Valeriy Horodov (6).
* Defenders: Serhiy Puchkov (32 / 1), Oleksandr Lysenko (31 / 2), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (31), Sergei Bashkirov (29 / 1), Oleksandr Sorokalet (11), Sergey Kulinich (3), Anatoliy Nazarenko (3), Volodymyr Gerashchenko (2), Petro Kutuzov (2), Ihor Deli (1).
* Midfielders: Hennadiy Lytovchenko (34 / 7), Vyktor Kuznetsov (33 / 3), Oleksiy Cherednyk (28 / 1), Andriy Dilay (27), Volodymyr Bahmut (20 / 1), Borys Shurshin (12 / 2), Mykola Kudrytsky (9), Serhiy Khudozhylov (2), Mykola Fedorenko (1).
* Forwards: Oleh Protasov (33 / 35), Oleh Taran (27 / 13), Volodymyr Lyutyi (22 / 4), Volodymyr Mozolyuk (1), Andriy Sydelnykov (1).
* Manager: Volodymyr Yemets.
* Transferred out during the season: Serhiy Khudozhylov, Mykola Fedorenko (both to FC Kolos Nikopol).

## Number of teams by union republic

| Rank | Union republic | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| 1 | RSFSR | 6 | Dinamo Moscow, Fakel Voronezh, SKA Rostov-na-Donu, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, Zenit Leningrad |
| 2 | Ukrainian SSR | 5 | Chernomorets Odessa, Dinamo Kiev, Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, Metallist Kharkov, Shakhter Donetsk |
| 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 |

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 17 | 54,429 |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 17 | 35,918 |
| 3 | Torpedo Kutaisi | 17 | 26,765 |
| 4 | Ararat Yerevan | 17 | 26,659 |
| 5 | Fakel Voronezh | 17 | 25,676 |
| 6 | FC Dnipro | 17 | 25,506 |
| 7 | FC Spartak Moscow | 17 | 25,159 |
| 8 | FC Zenit | 17 | 24,882 |
| 9 | FC Dinamo Minsk | 17 | 24,435 |
| 10 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 17 | 21,688 |
| 11 | Metalist Kharkiv | 17 | 19,324 |
| 12 | Chornomorets Odesa | 17 | 17,371 |
| 13 | FC Kairat | 17 | 16,424 |
| 14 | Neftçi | 17 | 11,388 |
| 15 | SKA Rostov-on-Don | 17 | 9,771 |
| 16 | FC Dynamo Moscow | 17 | 9,129 |
| 17 | FK Žalgiris | 17 | 8,171 |
| 18 | FC Torpedo Moscow | 17 | 5,776 |