# 1989 Soviet Top League

The 1989 Soviet Top League season was the 52nd since its establishment. Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, the defending 2-times champions, came in second this season.
The season began on 11 March with six games played on the date and lasted until 27 October 1989. The season was won by FC Spartak Moscow.

## Teams
### Promoted teams

* FC Pamir Dushanbe – champion (debut)
* FC Rotor Volgograd – 2nd place (returning for the first time since 1950 after 39 seasons, known as Torpedo Stalingrad)

### Location
## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Spartak Moscow (C) | 30 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 49 | 19 | +30 | 44 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 47 | 27 | +20 | 42 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Dynamo Kyiv | 30 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 38 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Žalgiris Vilnius (X) | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 39 | 29 | +10 | 36 | Surrendered its qualification for UEFA competitions |
| 5 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 35 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Chornomorets Odesa | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 31 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Metalist Kharkiv | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | 33 | −3 | 30 | |
| 8 | Dinamo Moscow | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 31 | 26 | +5 | 30 | |
| 9 | Dinamo Minsk | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 35 | 33 | +2 | 29 | |
| 10 | Rotor Volgograd | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 28 | 35 | −7 | 27 | |
| 11 | Dinamo Tbilisi (X) | 30 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 25 | |
| 12 | Ararat Yerevan | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 41 | −16 | 24 | |
| 13 | Pamir Dushanbe | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 20 | 38 | −18 | 24 | |
| 14 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 24 | 36 | −12 | 23 | |
| 15 | Lokomotiv Moscow (R) | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 32 | −12 | 23 | Relegation to First League |
| 16 | Zenit Leningrad (R) | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 24 | 48 | −24 | 19 | Relegation to First League |
* ↑ Qualified to Europe instead of Žalgiris Vilnius

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARA | CHO | DNI | DYK | DMN | DYN | DTB | LOK | MKH | PAM | ROT | SHA | SPA | TOR | ŽAL | ZEN |
| Ararat Yerevan | | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Chornomorets Odessa | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Dnipro | 4–2 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 4–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Dinamo Minsk | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 6–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Metalist Kharkiv | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| Pamir Dushanbe | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Rotor Volgograd | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Spartak Moscow | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 6–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| Torpedo Moscow | 2–0 | 5–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Žalgiris Vilnius | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 4–0 |
| Zenit Leningrad | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 2–3 | |

## Top scorers
### 16 goals

* Sergey Rodionov (Spartak Moscow)

### 13 goals

* Georgi Kondratyev (Chornomorets)

### 11 goals

* Igor Dobrovolsky (Dinamo Moscow)
* Vladimir Grechnev (Torpedo Moscow)
* Igor Kolyvanov (Dinamo Moscow)
* Yuri Savichev (Torpedo Moscow)
* Valeri Shmarov (Spartak Moscow)

### 10 goals

* Mykola Kudrytsky (Dnipro)

### 9 goals

* Mikhail Rusyayev (Lokomotiv Moscow)
* Yuri Tarasov (Metalist)

## Clean sheets
### 17 matches

* Stanislav Cherchesov (Spartak Moscow)

### 13 matches

* Valeri Sarychev (Torpedo Moscow)

### 11 matches

* Andrei Manannikov (Pamir Dushanbe)
* Valdemaras Martinkenas (Zalgiris Vilnius)

### 10 matches

* Viktor Chanov (Dynamo Kyiv)

### 9 matches

* Dmitriy Kharine (Dynamo Moscow)
* Valeriy Horodov (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk)
* Ihor Kutepov (Metalist Kharkiv)
* Mykhailo Mykhailov (Shakhtar Donetsk)

## Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
* 1. FC Spartak Moscow
* Goalkeepers: Stanislav Cherchesov (30), Aleksei Prudnikov (2).
* Defenders: Vasili Kulkov (30 / 1), Gennady Morozov (25 / 1), Aleksandr Bokiy (23), Sergei Bazulev (21), Boris Pozdnyakov (17), Yuri Susloparov (12), Aleksandr Bubnov (11), Boris Kuznetsov (5), Dmitri Gradilenko (1), Vladimir Sochnov (1).
* Midfielders: Fyodor Cherenkov (28 / 7), Yevgeni Kuznetsov (26 / 2), Viktor Pasulko (22 / 3), Igor Shalimov (20 / 1), Vladimir Kapustin (12), Aleksandr Mostovoi (11 / 3), Andrei Ivanov (10), Sergei Novikov (6 / 2), Valeri Shikunov (1).
* Forwards: Sergey Rodionov (28 / 16), Valeri Shmarov (27 / 11), Dmitri Popov (5).
* One own goal each scored by Serhiy Kuznetsov (FC Chornomorets Odesa) and Gennady Lesun (FC Dinamo Minsk).
* Manager: Oleg Romantsev.
* Transferred out during the season: Aleksandr Bubnov (to Red Star), Vladimir Sochnov, Valeri Shikunov (both to RVShSM-RAF Jelgava).
* 2. FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
* Goalkeepers: Valeriy Horodov (21), Serhiy Krakovskyi (9).
* Defenders: Andriy Sydelnykov (29 / 2), Oleksiy Cherednyk (24), Evgeny Yarovenko (20 / 2), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (16), Serhiy Puchkov (15 / 1), Volodymyr Gerashchenko (13), Oleksandr Sorokalet (10), Oleksandr Chervonyi (8), Yuriy Kulish (6), Petro Buts (1).
* Midfielders: Volodymyr Bahmut (30 / 5), Mykola Kudrytsky (29 / 10), Volodymyr Lyutyi (29 / 7), Andriy Yudin (26 / 3), Vadym Tyshchenko (20 / 3), Anton Shokh (16), Marat Kabayev (1).
* Forwards: Eduard Son (27 / 6), Yevhen Shakhov (25 / 8), Valentyn Moskvyn (8), Igor Shkvyrin (4).
* Manager: Yevhen Kucherevskyi.
* Transferred out during the season: Volodymyr Lyutyi (to FC Schalke 04), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (to Fenerbahçe S.K.), Igor Shkvyrin, Marat Kabayev (both to FC Pakhtakor Tashkent).
* 3. FC Dynamo Kyiv
* Goalkeepers: Viktor Chanov (22), Aleksandr Zhidkov (10).
* Defenders: Oleh Kuznetsov (29 / 4), Oleh Luzhnyi (27), Serhiy Shmatovalenko (26), Serhiy Zayets (22 / 4), Andriy Bal (18), Volodymyr Bezsonov (17 / 5), Vladimir Gorilyi (17), Anatoliy Demyanenko (5 / 2), Albert Sarkisyan (3).
* Midfielders: Hennadiy Lytovchenko (29 / 7), Ivan Yaremchuk (18 / 1), Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko (15 / 3), Andrei Kanchelskis (15), Vasyl Rats (13 / 3), Mykhaylo Stelmakh (11 / 1), Pavlo Yakovenko (10).
* Forwards: Oleh Protasov (26 / 7), Oleg Salenko (26 / 3), Ihor Belanov (18 / 3).
* One own goal scored by Aleksei Arifullin (FC Lokomotiv Moscow).
* Manager: Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
* Transferred out during the season: Ihor Belanov (to Borussia Mönchengladbach).

## Number of teams by union republic

| Rank | Union republic | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| 1 | RSFSR | 6 | Dinamo Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Rotor Volgograd, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, Zenit Leningrad |
| 2 | Ukrainian SSR | 5 | Chornomorets Odesa, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Metalist Kharkiv, Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 3 | Armenian SSR | 1 | Ararat Yerevan |
| 3 | Belarusian SSR | 1 | Dinamo Minsk |
| 3 | Georgian SSR | 1 | Dinamo Tbilisi |
| 3 | Lithuanian SSR | 1 | Zhalgiris Vilnius |
| 3 | Tajik SSR | 1 | Pamir Dushanbe |