# 1937 in Soviet football

The 1937 Soviet football championship was the 7th seasons of competitive football in the Soviet Union. FC Dynamo Moscow won the championship becoming the winner of Group A for the second time.
CDKA Moscow once again avoided relegation since the format for the next 1938 season changed again.
The defending champions Spartak, while defeating their main rivals Dinamo (2–1, 0–0) this season, had a poor start in the first half losing to Metallurg and Dinamo Kiev and let Dinamo Moscow outperform them.
The football season started with debut of the Soviet film The Goalkeeper of the Lenfilm studios that came out on theater screens in January of 1937.

## Honours

| Competition | Winner | Runner-up |
| Group A | Dinamo Moscow (2*) | Spartak Moscow |
| Group B | Spartak Leningrad | Dinamo Rostov-na-Donu |
| Group V | Dinamo Odessa | Lokomotiv Kiev |
| Group G | Traktor Stalingrad | DKA Smolensk |
| Group D | Spartak Ivanovo | Lokomotiv Dnepropetrovsk |
| Cities of the East | Dinamo Cheliabinsk | Dinamo Sverdlovsk |
| Soviet Cup | Dinamo Moscow (1) | Dinamo Tbilisi |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## Soviet Cup

Dinamo Moscow beat Dinamo Tbilisi 5–2 in the Soviet Cup final. Hat-trick was made by Mikhail Semichastny, while two goals for Georgians were scored by Berdzenishvili brothers.

## Soviet Union football championship
### Group A

| Pos | Republic | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Russian SFSR | Dynamo Moscow | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 37 | 20 | 1.850 | 38 |
| 2 | Russian SFSR | Spartak Moscow | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 16 | 1.500 | 37 |
| 3 | Ukrainian SSR | Dynamo Kiev | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 24 | 1.375 | 36 |
| 4 | Georgian SSR | Dynamo Tbilisi | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 24 | 1.250 | 34 |
| 5 | Russian SFSR | Metallurg Moscow | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 26 | 21 | 1.238 | 32 |
| 6 | Russian SFSR | Lokomotiv Moscow | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 20 | 0.900 | 31 |
| 7 | Russian SFSR | Dynamo Leningrad | 16 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 21 | 25 | 0.840 | 29 |
| 8 | Russian SFSR | Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 31 | 0.548 | 28 |
| 9 | Russian SFSR | CDKA Moscow | 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 43 | 0.419 | 23 |

### Group B

| Pos | Republic | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Russian SFSR | Spartak Leningrad (P) | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 13 | 1.462 | 26 |
| 2 | Russian SFSR | FC Dinamo Rostov-na-Donu (P) | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 14 | 1.357 | 26 |
| 3 | Azerbaijan SSR | FC Temp Baku (P) | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 14 | 1.357 | 25 |
| 4 | Russian SFSR | Stalinets Leningrad (P) | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 18 | 1.222 | 25 |
| 5 | Russian SFSR | FC Stalinets Moscow (P) | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 0.941 | 25 |
| 6 | Russian SFSR | FC Torpedo Moscow (P) | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 18 | 0.889 | 24 |
| 7 | Russian SFSR | FC Dynamo Kazan | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 28 | 0.393 | 17 |
| 8 | Russian SFSR | CDKA Moscow | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1.500 | 5 |
* ↑ CDKA was returned during the season to the Soviet Top League after playing two games in the season. Their results were scratched for this League this season.

### Group V

| Pos | Republic | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Dynamo Odessa | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 11 | 2.091 | 23 |
| 2 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Lokomotiv Kiev | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 1.538 | 21 |
| 3 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Stakhanovets Stalino | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 13 | 1.538 | 21 |
| 4 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Dynamo Dnepropetrovsk | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 1.200 | 20 |
| 5 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Traktor Kharkov | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 1.417 | 18 |
| 6 | Georgian SSR | FC Lokomotiv Tbilisi | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 27 | 23 | 1.174 | 17 |
| 7 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Spartak Kharkov | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 0.714 | 17 |
| 8 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Selmash Kharkov | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 29 | 0.552 | 16 |
| 9 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Dynamo Kharkov | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 21 | 0.952 | 15 |
| 10 | Russian SFSR | FC Dynamo Gorky | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 0.308 | 11 |
* ↑ -1 point?

### Group G

| Pos | Republic | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Russian SFSR | FC Traktor Stalingrad | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 14 | 2.857 | 29 |
| 2 | Russian SFSR | DKA Smolensk | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 12 | 2.500 | 28 |
| 3 | Russian SFSR | FC Krylya Sovetov Moscow | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 19 | 1.474 | 26 |
| 4 | Russian SFSR | FC Burevestnik Moscow | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 20 | 1.650 | 24 |
| 5 | Azerbaijan SSR | FC Dinamo Baku | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 15 | 1.600 | 23 |
| 6 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Frunze Plant Kostiantynivka | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 25 | 0.920 | 23 |
| 7 | Russian SFSR | FC Kirov's Plant Leningrad | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 0.789 | 23 |
| 8 | Uzbek SSR | FC Dinamo Tashkent | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 21 | 0.762 | 22 |
| 9 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Stal Dnipropetrovsk | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 27 | 0.741 | 21 |
| 10 | Russian SFSR | FC Torpedo Gorky | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 34 | 0.559 | 16 |
| 11 | Azerbaijan SSR | PFC Neftchi Baku | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 31 | 0.452 | 16 |
| 12 | Armenian SSR | FC Spartak Yerevan | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 31 | 0.194 | 10 |
* ↑ The Torpedo Gorky was docked a point as it refused to play against the Tashkent team.
* ↑ The Yerevan's Club was docked two points for a failure to play a scheduled game against the Gorky's club and the club from Kostiantynivka.

### Group D

| Pos | Republic | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Russian SFSR | FC Spartak Ivanovo | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 12 | 1.750 | 25 |
| 2 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Lokomotyv Dnipropetrovsk | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 15 | 1.467 | 24 |
| 3 | Armenian SSR | FC Dinamo Yerevan | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 15 | 1.267 | 23 |
| 4 | Russian SFSR | FC Spartak Kalinin | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 1.077 | 23 |
| 5 | Russian SFSR | FC Metallurg Stalingrad | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 11 | 1.818 | 22 |
| 6 | Azerbaijan SSR | FC Lokomotiv Baku | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 0.895 | 20 |
| 7 | Russian SFSR | FC Dinamo Voronezh | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 0.800 | 18 |
| 8 | Russian SFSR | FC Dinamo Kirov | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 25 | 0.720 | 18 |
| 9 | Byelorussian SSR | FC Dinamo Minsk | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 21 | 0.952 | 17 |
| 10 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 0.643 | 17 |
| 11 | Ukrainian SSR | FC Spartak Kyiv | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 0.480 | 12 |
* ↑ The Sudnobudivnyk was docked a point.

### Cities of the East

| Pos | Republic | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Russian SFSR | FC Dynamo Sverdlovsk | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 8 | 4.750 | 15 |
| 2 | Russian SFSR | FC Dynamo Cheliabinsk | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 6 | 3.833 | 15 |
| 3 | Kazakh SSR | FC Dinamo Alma-Ata | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 1.875 | 14 |
| 4 | Russian SFSR | FC Sudnostroitel Vladivostok | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 22 | 0.682 | 11 |
| 5 | Russian SFSR | FC Zolotoprofsoyuz Chita | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 24 | 0.458 | 10 |
| 6 | Russian SFSR | SKA Omsk | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 37 | 0.297 | 10 |
| 7 | Russian SFSR | FC Lokomotiv Krasnoyarsk | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 0.333 | 9 |
| 8 | Russian SFSR | FC Burevestnik Novosibirsk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 9 | Russian SFSR | SKA Chita | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
* 1 2 Burevestnik Novosibirsk and SKA Chita withdrew.

### Top goalscorers

Group A
* Vasily Smirnov (Dinamo Moscow) – 8 goals
Group B
* Viktor Smagin (Stalinets Leningrad) – 7 goals

## Republican level

Football competitions of union republics

### Football championships

* Azerbaijan SSR – Lokomotiv Baku
* Armenian SSR – Spartak Yerevan
* Belarusian SSR – Dinamo Minsk (see Football Championship of the Belarusian SSR)
* Georgian SSR – Lokomotiv Tbilisi (reserves)
* Kazakh SSR – Dinamo Alma-Ata
* Kirgiz SSR – Dinamo Frunze
* Russian SFSR – none
* Tajik SSR – Dinamo Stalinabad
* Turkmen SSR – none
* Uzbek SSR – Spartak Tashkent
* Ukrainian SSR – Spartak Dnipropetrovsk (see 1937 Football Championship of the Ukrainian SSR)

### Football cups

* Azerbaijan SSR – Temp Baku
* Armenian SSR – none
* Belarusian SSR – none
* Georgian SSR – none
* Kazakh SSR – Dinamo Karaganda
* Kirgiz SSR – Dinamo Frunze
* Russian SFSR – none
* Tajik SSR – none
* Turkmen SSR – DKA Ashkhabad
* Uzbek SSR – none
* Ukrainian SSR – Dynamo Kyiv (see 1937 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR)