# List of Soviet football teams of masters

The Soviet football championship was composed of professional teams that were known as "teams of masters".
The first professional football competitions in the Soviet Union started in 1936. The format of Soviet football championship was not consisted and was changing almost every year.
Officially professional sports in the Soviet Union was prohibited as any other private form of business. As anything else in the country, football also was controlled by Soviet government and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The best "teams of masters" were Dynamo controlled by Soviet secret police, Army and Armed Forces clubs, and Spartak which officially represented "industrial cooperation" but was actually directed by the young communists of Komsomol. Following the so-called "liberation of Europe by the Red Army" in 1944–45, numerous Dynamos, CSKA, and Spartaks were set up in countries of the Warsaw Pact. These teams were also instantaneously created with occupation of eastern Poland, Baltics and eastern Romania in 1939–1940.
Officially all footballers were employed because unemployment was illegal. So, footballers were playing football, while on the books working and getting paid as a regular worker. Unlike professional athletes in the West who were becoming rich celebrities, in the Soviet Union notable sports athletes were transitioning to their new career as an "apparatchik", or Communist official, whether in coaching or administrative positions.

## Teams of masters

| Club | Union republic | First League season | Last League season | Status |
| Spartak Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Dynamo Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Dynamo Kyiv | Ukraine | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | Georgia | 1936 | 1989 | Joined Georgian competitions |
| Torpedo Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| CSKA Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Zenit Leningrad | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | Ukraine | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Dinamo Minsk | Belarus | 1940 | 1991 | Joined Belarusian competitions |
| Ararat Yerevan | Armenia | 1937 | 1991 | Joined Armenian competitions |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Neftchi Baku | Azerbaijan | 1937 | 1991 | Joined Azerbaijani competitions |
| Chornomorets Odesa | Ukraine | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Kairat Alma-Ata | Kazakhstan | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Kazakhstani competitions |
| SKA Rostov-na-Donu | Russia | 1958 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Pakhtakor Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Uzbekistani competitions |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | Ukraine | 1937 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev | Russia | 1945 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Dinamo Leningrad | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Metalist Kharkiv | Ukraine | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Zorya Luhansk | Ukraine | 1939 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Metalurh Odesa | Ukraine | 1953 | 1954 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Trudovi Rezervy Voroshilovgrad | Ukraine | 1949 | 1963 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Torpedo Kutaisi | Georgia | 1949 | 1989 | Joined Georgian competitions |
| Zalgiris Vilnius | Lithuania | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Lithuanian competitions |
| Rotor Volgograd | Russia | 1936 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Nistru Kishinev | Moldova | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Moldovan competitions |
| Karpaty Lviv | Ukraine | 1963 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| VVS Moscow | Russia | 1945 | 1952 | Dissolved |
| Daugava Riga | Latvia | 1948 | 1990 | Dissolved |
| Serp i Molot Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1969 | Dissolved |
| Krylia Sovetov Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1969 | Dissolved |
| Lokomotyv Kharkiv | Ukraine | 1945 | 1955 | Dissolved |
| Kuban Krasnodar | Russia | 1949 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Admiralteyets Leningrad | Russia | 1939 | 1961 | Dissolved |
| Pamir Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Tajikistani competitions |
| Elektrosila Leningrad | Russia | 1936 | 1946 | Dissolved |
| Fakel Voronezh | Russia | 1954 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Spartak Tbilisi | Georgia | 1947 | 1977 | Dissolved |
| Trudovye Rezervy Leningrad | Russia | 1954 | 1959 | Dissolved |
| Spartak Vladikavkaz | Russia | 1960 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Metalurh Zaporizhzhia | Ukraine | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Torpedo Gorky | Russia | 1936 | 1962 | Dissolved |
| Volga Gorky | Russia | 1963 | 1984 | Dissolved |
| Avtomobilist Leningrad | Russia | 1936 | 1966 | Dissolved |
| Tavria Simferopol | Ukraine | 1958 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| SKA Odesa | Ukraine | 1958 | 1991 | Replaced with SC Odesa |
| Silmash Kharkiv | Ukraine | 1937 | 1940 | Dissolved |
| VMS Moscow | Russia | 1946 | 1953 | Dissolved |
| Stalinets Moscow | Russia | 1936 | 1939 | Dissolved |
| Lokomotyv Kyiv | Ukraine | 1936 | 1940 | Dissolved |
| Uralmash Sverdlovsk | Russia | 1945 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Spartak Kharkiv | Ukraine | 1936 | 1941 | Dissolved |
| Kalev Tallinn | Estonia | 1947 | 1962 | Dissolved |
| Dynamo Rostov-na-Donu | Russia | 1936 | 1949 | Dissolved |
| Shinnik Yaroslavl | Russia | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Temp Baku | Azerbaijan | 1936 | 1939 | Dissolved |
| Kapaz Ganja | Azerbaijan | 1959 | 1991 | Joined Azerbaijani competitions |
| Lokomotivi Tbilisi | Georgia | 1936 | 1986 | Joined Georgian competitions |
| Guria Lanchkhuti | Georgia | 1967 | 1989 | Joined Georgian competitions |
| ODO Sverdlovsk | Russia | 1946 | 1959 | Dissolved |
| Pischevik Moscow | Russia | 1938 | 1947 | Dissolved |
| Kalinin | Russia | 1945 | 1953 | Dissolved |
| Burevestnik Moscow | Russia | 1937 | 1947 | Dissolved |
| Profsoyuzy-1 Moscow | Russia | 1941 | 1941 | Dissolved |
| Profsoyuzy-2 Moscow | Russia | 1941 | 1941 | Dissolved |
| Kuzbass Kemerevo | Russia | 1948 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Tekstilschik Ivanovo | Russia | 1939 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| SKA Lviv | Ukraine | 1949 | 1991 | Turned into FC Halychyna Drohobych |
| Zvezda Perm | Russia | 1945 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Kopetdag Ashgabat | Turkmenistan | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Turkmenistani competitions |
| Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu | Russia | 1953 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| SKA Khabarovsk | Russia | 1957 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Alga Frunze | Kyrgyzstan | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Kyrgyzstani competitions |
| Dynamo Stavropol | Russia | 1957 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| SKA Kyiv | Ukraine | 1947 | 1991 | Turned into CSKA Kyiv |
| Shakhter Karaganda | Kazakhstan | 1958 | 1991 | Joined Kazakhstani competitions |
| Terek Grozny | Russia | 1957 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk | Ukraine | 1956 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv | Ukraine | 1939 | 1991 | Turned into Evis Mykolaiv |
| Rubin Kazan | Russia | 1958 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Dinamo Batumi | Georgia | 1939 | 1989 | Joined Georgian competitions |
| Volga Kalinin | Russia | 1949 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Sokol Saratov | Russia | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Lokomotiv Chelyabinsk | Russia | 1957 | 1987 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Kolos Nikopol | Ukraine | 1962 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Spartak Nalchik | Russia | 1959 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| SKA Tbilisi | Georgia | 1946 | 1959 | Joined Georgian competitions |
| SKA Novosibirsk | Russia | 1945 | 1968 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Irtysh Omsk | Russia | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |
| Nyva Vinnytsia | Ukraine | 1958 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Avtomobilist Leningrad | Russia | 1936 | 1966 | Dissolved |
| Zakarpattia Uzhhorod | Ukraine | 1947 | 1991 | Joined Ukrainian competitions |
| Torpedo Taganrog | Russia | 1948 | 1991 | Joined Russian competitions |