# 1976 Soviet Top League

The 1976 Soviet Top League was the 38th and 39th season of the first tier football competitions in the Soviet Union.
By the end of the previous season, it was decided to shift to fall-spring calendar competition, but later in January the decision was reversed. However, it was decided to split competitions in the top tier in spring half and autumn half. According to the season's regulations, the split season championship was carried with consideration to the interest of the national team which was preparing for the 21st Olympic Games (1976 Summer Olympics) and the Europe Championship (UEFA Euro 1976).
Qualification for the European competitions and league relegation was based only on the autumn half portion (39th season). Qualification for the 1976–77 UEFA Cup was reserved for the 1976 spring Champion. This reservation was canceled after Dinamo Moscow, which already qualified for the European competition, won the title.

## Spring
### Overview

It was contested by 16 teams, and Dynamo Moscow won the championship.

### League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Dynamo Moscow (C) | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 22 |
| 2 | Ararat Yerevan | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 19 |
| 3 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 18 |
| 4 | Karpaty Lviv | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 19 | +6 | 18 |
| 5 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 16 | −1 | 18 |
| 6 | Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 17 |
| 7 | CSKA Moscow | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 15 |
| 8 | Dynamo Kyiv | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 15 |
| 9 | Dinamo Minsk | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 18 | −1 | 15 |
| 10 | Chornomorets Odessa | 15 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 18 | −4 | 15 |
| 11 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 14 |
| 12 | Torpedo Moscow | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 20 | −5 | 14 |
| 13 | Zenit Leningrad | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 15 | −1 | 13 |
| 14 | Spartak Moscow | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 10 |
| 15 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 23 | −6 | 9 |
| 16 | Zaria Voroshilovgrad | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 24 | −15 | 8 |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ARA | CHO | CSK | DNI | DYK | DMN | DYN | DTB | KAR | KRY | LOK | SHA | SPA | TOR | ZAR | ZEN |
| Ararat Yerevan | | 4–0 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | | | 1–1 | | | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | |
| Chornomorets Odessa | | | | 2–1 | 1–1 | | | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | | | 1–0 | | 0–0 |
| CSKA Moscow | | 1–1 | | | 1–0 | 2–0 | | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | | 1–2 | | 3–0 | |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 2–3 | | 2–0 | | | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | | | 0–0 | | | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | | | | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | -:+ | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | | | | 2–1 | |
| Dinamo Minsk | 0–1 | 2–1 | | | | | | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | | |
| Dynamo Moscow | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | | 1–0 | | 2–1 | | | | 4–1 | 1–0 | | | |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | | | 1–1 | 4–1 | | | | | 3–0 | 1–0 | | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | |
| Karpaty Lviv | 2–1 | 2–2 | | | | | 1–1 | | | 2–0 | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | |
| Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev | 1–1 | | | 1–0 | | | 1–0 | | | | 3–0 | 2–2 | | 0–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | | | | 2–0 | | | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | | 1–2 | | 2–3 | | 2–1 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | | | | | 1–0 | | | 1–0 |
| Spartak Moscow | | 4–1 | | 1–4 | 0–1 | | | | | 1–0 | 0–3 | | | 0–1 | 0–0 | |
| Torpedo Moscow | | | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | | | | | 1–2 | | | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Zaria Voroshilovgrad | 0–1 | 0–0 | | | | 3–1 | 0–0 | | | | 1–0 | 0–2 | | | | 1–1 |
| Zenit Leningrad | 1–2 | | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | | | 0–0 | | | |
* ↑ The match between Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Tbilisi resulted in a goalless victory for Tbilisi. The team from Kiev fielded an ineligible player.

### Top scorers
#### 8 goals

* Arkady Andreasyan (Ararat)

#### 7 goals

* Nikolai Kazaryan (Ararat)

#### 6 goals

* Ravil Aryapov (Krylya Sovetov)
* Vladimir Danilyuk (Karpaty)
* David Kipiani (Dinamo Tbilisi)
* Boris Kopeikin (CSKA Moscow)
* Anatoliy Shepel (Dynamo Moscow)

#### 5 goals

* Lev Brovarsky (Karpaty)
* Anatoli Degterev (Torpedo Moscow)
* Sergei Grishin (Torpedo Moscow)
* Sergei Malko (Dnipro)
* Aleksandr Markin (Zenit)
* Yuri Smirnov (Krylya Sovetov)
* Pyotr Vasilevsky (Dinamo Minsk)

## Autumn
### Overview

It was performed in 16 teams, and Torpedo Moscow won the championship.

### League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Torpedo Moscow (C) | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 20 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 18 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 17 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Karpaty Lviv | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 19 | +3 | 17 | |
| 5 | Zenit Leningrad | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 16 | |
| 6 | Dynamo Moscow | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 16 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 7 | CSKA Moscow | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 15 | |
| 8 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 15 | |
| 9 | Chornomorets Odessa | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 20 | −6 | 15 | |
| 10 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 14 | |
| 11 | Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 14 | |
| 12 | Zaria Voroshilovgrad | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 14 | |
| 13 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 14 | |
| 14 | Ararat Yerevan | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 20 | −6 | 14 | |
| 15 | Spartak Moscow (R) | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 13 | Relegation to First League |
| 16 | Dinamo Minsk (R) | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 21 | −11 | 8 | Relegation to First League |
* 1 2 Head-to-head goals ratio: Zaria advantage.

### Results

| Home \ Away | ARA | CHO | CSK | DNI | DYK | DMN | DYN | DTB | KAR | KRY | LOK | SHA | SPA | TOR | ZAR | ZEN |
| Ararat Yerevan | | 2–0 | 1–1 | | | | | | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | | |
| Chornomorets Odessa | | | | | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | | | | 2–1 |
| CSKA Moscow | | 4–0 | | | | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | | | | | | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | | | | | 2–0 | | | 3–1 | 3–2 | | |
| Dinamo Minsk | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | | | | | 0–0 | 0–1 | | | 0–1 | 1–2 | |
| Dynamo Moscow | 0–0 | | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | | | | 1–0 | | | | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 1–1 | | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | | | | 0–0 | | | | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Karpaty Lviv | | | | | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | | | 4–1 | | | | 3–1 | 0–3 |
| Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev | | 2–0 | | | | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | | | 0–0 | 1–0 | | | 2–0 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | | | | 0–0 | | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | | | | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | | | | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Spartak Moscow | | 0–1 | | | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | | 1–0 | | | | 1–2 |
| Torpedo Moscow | | 4–0 | | | | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 2–2 | | | |
| Zaria Voroshilovgrad | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | | | | 1–0 | | | 2–0 | 0–2 | | |
| Zenit Leningrad | 5–0 | | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | | | | 1–0 | | | 1–0 | 3–1 | |

### Top scorers
#### 13 goals

* Aleksandr Markin (Zenit)

#### 8 goals

* Vladimir Danilyuk (Karpaty)
* Boris Kopeikin (CSKA Moscow)

#### 6 goals

* Mikhail Bulgakov (Spartak Moscow)

#### 5 goals

* Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
* Fyodor Chorba (Karpaty)
* Yevgeni Khrabrostin (Torpedo Moscow)
* Nazar Petrosyan (Ararat)
* Aleksandr Pogorelov (Chornomorets)
* Vladimir Sakharov (Torpedo Moscow)
* Pyotr Yakovlev (Dnipro)
* Andrei Yakubik (Dynamo Moscow)