# 1972 in Soviet football

The 1972 Soviet football championship was the 40th seasons of competitive football in the Soviet Union and the 34th among teams of sports societies and factories. Zaria Voroshilovgrad won the championship becoming the Soviet domestic champions for the first time.

## Honours

| Competition | Winner | Runner-up |
| Top League | Zaria Voroshilovgrad (1) | Dinamo Kiev |
| First League | Pakhtakor Tashkent (1) | Shakhter Donetsk |
| Second League | Kuzbass Kemerovo | Metallurg Lipetsk |
| Soviet Cup | Torpedo Moscow (5) | Spartak Moscow |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## Soviet Union football championship
### Top League

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Zarya Voroshilovgrad (C) | 30 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 52 | 30 | +22 | 40 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 35 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 41 | 34 | +7 | 35 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Ararat Yerevan | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 34 | |
| 5 | CSKA Moscow | 30 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 34 | |
| 6 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 34 | |
| 7 | Zenit Leningrad | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 30 | +14 | 33 | |
| 8 | Dinamo Minsk | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 27 | 28 | −1 | 31 | |
| 9 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 31 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 10 | Dynamo Moscow | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 30 | |
| 11 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 29 | 30 | −1 | 26 | |
| 12 | SKA Rostov-on-Don | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 31 | 35 | −4 | 26 | |
| 13 | Kairat Alma-Ata | 30 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 23 | 27 | −4 | 26 | |
| 14 | Karpaty Lviv | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 24 | |
| 15 | Lokomotiv Moscow (R) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 48 | −19 | 21 | Relegation to First League |
| 16 | Neftchi Baku (R) | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 28 | 55 | −27 | 20 | Relegation to First League |

### First League

| Pos | Rep | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | UZB | Pahtakor Tashkent | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 74 | 36 | +38 | 55 | Promoted |
| 2 | UKR | Shakhtyor Donetsk | 38 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 57 | 21 | +36 | 51 | Promoted |
| 3 | UKR | Chernomorets Odessa | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 67 | 36 | +31 | 48 | |
| 4 | RUS | Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev | 38 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 50 | 35 | +15 | 45 | |
| 5 | GEO | Torpedo Kutaisi | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 49 | 32 | +17 | 44 | |
| 6 | RUS | Zvezda Perm | 38 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 44 | |
| 7 | RUS | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 40 | |
| 8 | TJK | Pamir Dushanbe | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 52 | 51 | +1 | 39 | |
| 9 | RUS | Spartak Orjonikidze | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 38 | |
| 10 | KAZ | Shakhtyor Karaganda | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 35 | |
| 11 | KGZ | Alga Frunze | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 34 | |
| 12 | MDA | Nistru Kishinev | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 39 | 49 | −10 | 34 | |
| 13 | RUS | Textilshchik Ivanovo | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 37 | 52 | −15 | 34 | |
| 14 | UKR | Metallurg Zaporozhye | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 33 | |
| 15 | RUS | Avtomobilist Nalchik | 38 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 28 | 43 | −15 | 33 | |
| 16 | UKR | Metallist Kharkov | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 33 | 42 | −9 | 32 | |
| 17 | TKM | Stroitel Ashkhabad | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 36 | 55 | −19 | 32 | |
| 18 | RUS | UralMash Sverdlovsk | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 38 | 58 | −20 | 31 | Relegated |
| 19 | UKR | Krivbass Krivoi Rog | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 50 | 62 | −12 | 30 | Relegated |
| 20 | RUS | Dinamo Leningrad | 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 28 | Relegated |
* 1 2 -
* 1 2 3 +
* ↑ Nistru Kishinev was called Moldova.

### Second League (finals)

| Pos | Rep | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| 1 | RUS | Kuzbass Kemerovo | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 8 | Promoted |
| 2 | RUS | Metallurg Lipetsk | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Promoted |
| 3 | LVA | Daugava Riga | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 6 | Additional Play-Off |
| 4 | RUS | Amur Blagoveshchensk | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | |
| 5 | RUS | Sokol Saratov | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 3 | |
| 6 | RUS | Terek Grozny | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 3 | |

#### Additional Play-Off
### Top goalscorers

Top League
* Oleg Blokhin (Dinamo Kiev) – 14 goals
First League
* Berador Abduraimov (Pakhtakor Tashkent) – 34 goals