# 1968 Soviet Top League

The 1968 Class A – Pervaya Gruppa was the 30th season of the first-tier football competition in the Soviet Union. 20 teams took part in the league with FC Dynamo Kyiv winning the championship.
Last season placing dead last Zenit Leningrad was spared from relegation to the 50th Anniversary of the "Great October" being the cradle of the Bolshevik coup-d'etat. The league composition was increased from 19 to 20 keeping the Leningrad team at the top.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dynamo Kyiv (C) | 38 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 58 | 25 | +33 | 57 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Spartak Moscow | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 52 | |
| 3 | Torpedo Moscow | 38 | 18 | 14 | 6 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 50 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round |
| 4 | CSKA Moscow | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 50 | 30 | +20 | 50 | |
| 5 | Dynamo Moscow | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 58 | 32 | +26 | 47 | |
| 6 | Dinamo Minsk | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 46 | |
| 7 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 53 | 29 | +24 | 45 | |
| 8 | Chornomorets Odessa | 38 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 47 | 49 | −2 | 38 | |
| 9 | Neftchi Baku | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 38 | |
| 10 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 38 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 37 | |
| 11 | Zenit Leningrad | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 35 | 49 | −14 | 34 | |
| 12 | SKA Rostov-on-Don | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 44 | 48 | −4 | 33 | |
| 13 | Zarya Voroshilovgrad | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 23 | 41 | −18 | 33 | |
| 14 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 32 | |
| 15 | Kairat Alma-Ata | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 33 | 42 | −9 | 32 | |
| 16 | Ararat Yerevan | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 34 | 46 | −12 | 31 | |
| 17 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 42 | 61 | −19 | 29 | |
| 18 | Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 24 | 45 | −21 | 29 | |
| 19 | Torpedo Kutaisi | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 27 | 48 | −21 | 28 | |
| 20 | Dynamo Kirovobad (R) | 38 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 25 | 59 | −34 | 19 | Relegation to Class A Second Group |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARA | CHO | CSK | DKB | DYK | DMN | DYN | DTB | KAI | KRY | LOK | NEF | PAK | SHA | SKA | SPA | TKU | TOR | ZAR | ZEN |
| Ararat Yerevan | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Chornomorets Odessa | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| CSKA Moscow | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| Dynamo Kirovobad | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 |
| Dinamo Minsk | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 6–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–5 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 5–3 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | | 3–0 | 7–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Kairat Alma-Ata | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Neftçi Baku | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Pakhtakor Tashkent | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| SKA Rostov-on-Don | 4–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 5–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Spartak Moscow | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| Torpedo Kutaisi | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 3–4 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Torpedo Moscow | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Zarya Voroshilovgrad | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 0–0 |
| Zenit Leningrad | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |

## Top scorers
### 22 goals

* Berador Abduraimov (Pakhtakor)
* Georgi Gavasheli (Dinamo Tbilisi)

### 21 goals

* Eduard Streltsov (Torpedo Moscow)

### 14 goals

* Galimzyan Khusainov (Spartak Moscow)
* Vladimir Kozlov (Dynamo Moscow)

### 13 goals

* Oleg Kopayev (SKA Rostov-on-Don)

### 12 goals

* Mikhail Gershkovich (Torpedo Moscow)

### 11 goals

* Eduard Malofeyev (Dinamo Minsk)
* Anatoliy Puzach (Dynamo Kyiv)
* Demuri Vekua (Torpedo Kutaisi)

## Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
* 1. FC Dynamo Kyiv
* Goalkeepers: Viktor Bannikov (19), Yevhen Rudakov (19).
* Defenders: Vasyl Turyanchyk (36 / 3), Volodymyr Levchenko (34 / 1), Vadym Sosnikhin (34), Serhiy Krulykovskyi (26 / 1).
* Midfielders: Volodymyr Muntyan (36 / 5), Fedir Medvid (33 / 3), Yozhef Sabo (29 / 6).
* Forwards: Vitaliy Khmelnytskyi (37 / 10), Viktor Serebryanikov (34 / 7), Anatoliy Puzach (32 / 11), Anatoliy Pylypchuk (20 / 2), Valeriy Porkuyan (20 / 2), Anatoliy Byshovets (15 / 4).
* Manager: Viktor Maslov, Assistants: Mykhailo Koman, Viktor Terentyev.
* Transferred out during the season: Yuriy Vankevych (DF, 11), Serhiy Shklyar (MF, 8), Viktor Nazarov (MF, 6/1), Leonid Ostrovskyi (DF, 6), Viktor Kashchey (FW, 4/1), Volodymyr Veremeyev (FW, 3), Anatoliy Bohovyk (MF, 2), Vyacheslav Semenov (MF, 2), Oleksandr Shpakov (DF, 1), Viktor Horoza (MF, 1).