1937 Soviet Top League#Standings

Before the start of the football season, the All-Union Committee implemented several changes to rules (Laws of the Game).[https://www.sport-express.ru/newspaper/2004-01-30/10_1/ 1937 ГОД. ЧАСТЬ ВТОРАЯ. ПЕРВЫЙ КРУГ ПОЧЕТА]. www.sport-express.ru. 30 January 2004

• goal kick
• throw-in
• substitutions
• players' discipline

Also, football players of exhibition teams (teams of masters) were given a participant's ticket. The purpose of the innovation was set out in the instructions: "Each footballer participating in the championship receives a "Footballer's Book", which he must present before the game. This will deprive teams of the opportunity to field disqualified players or players on a roster for other teams." No players were allowed to play at any match without the "Footballer's Book".

Unlike last seasons, it was decided to have both season halves combined. Originally the All-Union Committee planned to hold the competition from July 13 to September 30, 1937, in four groups: "A" and "B" with 8 participants in each and "V" and "G" with 10. Teams that placed last would switch with the top teams from lower tier. There was introduced an additional match if teams would finish with equal points for top two and bottom two. Teams were allowed to have from 15 to 25 footballers on their roster.

Later there were added two additional tiers: Group "D" with 11 teams and Group "Goroda Vostoka" (Cities of the East) with 7. Also, number of participants in Group G was increased to 12.

The competition calendar, which was composed in spring, had to be rearranged following the Basque team tour of the Soviet Union and the Spartak voyage to Europe. Some rounds were overstretched for several weeks, the last season champions Spartak had to start late, and Dinamo Tbilisi played their whole first half of the season abroad and returned to play its home games only in the second half of the season.

After playing two games in the Group B it was decided to return CDKA Moscow back to the Group A. The Group A was extended once again to nine teams with a new team FC Metallurg Moscow joining the group that won the 1936 Group B fall championship as Serp i Molot Moscow. At the end of the season no teams were relegated as the group was planned to be extended for the next season.

"Resolution of the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR[https://www.sport-express.ru/newspaper/2004-04-23/13_1/ ЧАСТЬ СЕДЬМАЯ. Продолжение. ДЕВЯТЫЙ ВАГОН]. www.sport-express.ru. 23 April 2004

On the revision of the transfer of the CDKA football team of masters from class "A" to class "B"

1. Considering that the CDKA football team is the only football team of masters in the Red Army ({{abbr|RKKA|Red Army of Workers and Peasants}}), and also having examined the results of the investigation into the simultaneous triple workload of the CDKA team players during the autumn season of 1936 (Games: a) for the Soviet championship, b) for the RKKA championship and c) for the Moscow city garrison championship), which led to the withdrawal of a number of the strongest players from the team due to traumatic injuries and to unacceptable physical workload of individual players, and, in addition, taking into account that the CDKA team remains among the strongest teams of the Union from year to year, namely: 1. the 1935 Moscow city champion; 2. In the 1936 spring all-Union [Soviet] championship, it took fourth place among the strongest teams of the Union; 3. In the autumn all-Union championship of the same year, it lagged behind the seven strongest teams of the Union by only half a point;{{efn|possibly a confusion with the chess points calculation system}} 4. In the 1937 Soviet Cup, it won a place in the top four of the Soviet Union{{efn|reached semifinals}} (having conceded only one goal in the last three minutes of the game against the finalist, Dynamo (Tbilisi); 5. It has a victory in calendar matches against the 1936 Soviet champion (the Spartak Moscow team); 6. In the same season, it has a 4:1 victory in a friendly match against the Dynamo Moscow team, which won the 1937 Soviet Cup.

The All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decrees:

1. To transfer the CDKA football team of masters from class "B" to class "A".

2. To rearrange the calendar of the class "A" draw with the inclusion of the CDKA team in it.

3. The games played by the CDKA team for the 1937 Soviet championship in group "B"{{efn|In the same document tiers are interchangeably named either "classes" or "groups".}} with the Spartak (Leningrad) and "Stalinets" (Leningrad), considered friendly.

Acting Chairman of the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR Elena Knopova.

August 4, 1937"

Spartak Moscow was the base team for the Soviet Union national football team at the 1937 Workers' Summer Olympiad and returned to the Soviet Union after the start of the competition.[https://www.sport-express.ru/newspaper/2004-05-07/12_1/ Часть восьмая. НАЕЗД НА ЧЕМПИОНОВ]. www.sport-express.ru. 7 May 2004

Upon arrival of Spartak, the football team administration was accused of "the imposition of bourgeois morals in the Spartak society." On September 3, 1937, Nikolai Starostin, who was heading the football section of the All-Union Committee of Sports and Physical Culture and one of the founders of Spartak sports society, was fired.

• Serp i Molot → Metallurg

{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL

|res_col_header=PQ

|sortable_table=y

|winpoints=3|drawpoints=2|losspoints=1

|show_groups=y

|group_header=Republic

|use_goal_ratio=y

|team1=DYN|group_DYN={{nowrap|{{flag|Russian SFSR}}}}|name_DYN=Dynamo Moscow

|team2=SPA|group_SPA={{flag|Russian SFSR}}|name_SPA=Spartak Moscow

|team3=DK |group_DK ={{flag|Ukrainian SSR}}|name_DK =Dynamo Kiev

|team4=DTB|group_DTB={{flag|Georgian SSR}}|name_DTB=Dynamo Tbilisi

|team5=MTM|group_MTM={{flag|Russian SFSR}}|name_MTM=Metallurg Moscow

|team6=LOK|group_LOK={{flag|Russian SFSR}}|name_LOK=Lokomotiv Moscow

|team7=DLE|group_DLE={{flag|Russian SFSR}}|name_DLE=Dynamo Leningrad

|team8=KRZ|group_KRZ={{flag|Russian SFSR}}|name_KRZ=Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad

|team9=CDKA|group_CDKA={{flag|Russian SFSR}}|name_CDKA=CDKA Moscow

|win_DYN=8|draw_DYN=6|loss_DYN=2|gf_DYN=37|ga_DYN=20

|win_SPA=8|draw_SPA=5|loss_SPA=3|gf_SPA=24|ga_SPA=16

|win_DK =7|draw_DK =6|loss_DK =3|gf_DK =33|ga_DK =24

|win_DTB=7|draw_DTB=4|loss_DTB=5|gf_DTB=30|ga_DTB=24

|win_MTM=7|draw_MTM=2|loss_MTM=7|gf_MTM=26|ga_MTM=21

|win_LOK=5|draw_LOK=5|loss_LOK=6|gf_LOK=18|ga_LOK=20

|win_DLE=2|draw_DLE=9|loss_DLE=5|gf_DLE=21|ga_DLE=25

|win_KRZ=4|draw_KRZ=4|loss_KRZ=8|gf_KRZ=17|ga_KRZ=31

|win_CDKA=3|draw_CDKA=1|loss_CDKA=12|gf_CDKA=18|ga_CDKA=43

|status_DYN=C

|col_CP=green1|text_CP=Champions of the Soviet Union

|result1=CP

|col_P=green2|text_P=Runners-up prize recipients

|result2=P|result3=P

|col_RA=red3 |text_RA=Relegation cancelled{{efn|Resolution of the All-Union Committee of Physical Culture and Sports under the Soviet Sovnarkom of April 11, 1938}}

|result9=RA

|class_rules=Points awarded were 3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss and none for a no appearance. In case of tie on points, there was used goal ratio for tiebreaker for any places beside the first and the last, for which was decided to conduct additional game.[http://football.lg.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=253&Itemid=775 1937 ГОД. ТАБЛИЦЫ. КАЛЕНДАРИ. СОСТАВЫ КОМАНД.] Luhansk Our Football (football.lg.ua).

|update=complete|source=[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesu/ussrhist.html rsssf.com]

}}

{{#invoke:sports results|main

|matches_style=FBR|solid_cell=grey

|team1=CDK|team2=DYK|team3=DLE|team4=DYN|team5=DTB

|team6=KZL|team7=LOK|team8=MTM|team9=SPA

|name_DYN=Dynamo Moscow

|match_DYN_SPA=0–1

|match_DYN_DYK=2–1

|match_DYN_DTB=3–3

|match_DYN_MTM=2–1

|match_DYN_LOK=1–2

|match_DYN_DLE=2–2

|match_DYN_KZL=1–1

|match_DYN_CDK=3–1

|name_SPA=Spartak Moscow

|match_SPA_DYN=0–0

|match_SPA_DYK=1–2

|match_SPA_DTB=2–0

|match_SPA_MTM=0–4

|match_SPA_LOK=3–1

|match_SPA_DLE=3–3

|match_SPA_KZL=2–0

|match_SPA_CDK=2–0

|name_DYK=Dynamo Kiev

|match_DYK_DYN=2–2

|match_DYK_SPA=1–1

|match_DYK_DTB=2–2

|match_DYK_MTM=0–2

|match_DYK_LOK=1–1

|match_DYK_DLE=1–1

|match_DYK_KZL=4–1

|match_DYK_CDK=1–0

|name_DTB=Dynamo Tbilisi

|match_DTB_DYN=0–4

|match_DTB_SPA=1–0

|match_DTB_DYK=5–3

|match_DTB_MTM=4–0

|match_DTB_LOK=0–0

|match_DTB_DLE=1–3

|match_DTB_KZL=3–0

|match_DTB_CDK=1–0

|name_MTM=Metallurg Moscow

|match_MTM_DYN=0–3

|match_MTM_SPA=1–3

|match_MTM_DYK=0–2

|match_MTM_DTB=1–0

|match_MTM_LOK=2–1

|match_MTM_DLE=5–1

|match_MTM_KZL=0–1

|match_MTM_CDK=5–0

|name_LOK=Lokomotiv Moscow

|match_LOK_DYN=2–3

|match_LOK_SPA=1–2

|match_LOK_DYK=2–2

|match_LOK_DTB=3–2

|match_LOK_MTM=0–0

|match_LOK_DLE=1–0

|match_LOK_KZL=0–2

|match_LOK_CDK=1–2

|name_DLE=Dynamo Leningrad

|match_DLE_DYN=3–3

|match_DLE_SPA=0–0

|match_DLE_DYK=0–1

|match_DLE_DTB=0–2

|match_DLE_MTM=1–1

|match_DLE_LOK=0–0

|match_DLE_KZL=2–2

|match_DLE_CDK=2–3

|name_KZL=Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad

|match_KZL_DYN=0–3

|match_KZL_SPA=0–2

|match_KZL_DYK=2–6

|match_KZL_DTB=1–1

|match_KZL_MTM=3–1

|match_KZL_LOK=0–1

|match_KZL_DLE=0–0

|match_KZL_CDK=3–0

|name_CDK=CDKA Moscow

|match_CDK_DYN=1–5

|match_CDK_SPA=2–2

|match_CDK_DYK=2–4

|match_CDK_DTB=2–5

|match_CDK_MTM=0–3

|match_CDK_LOK=0–2

|match_CDK_DLE=0–3

|match_CDK_KZL=5–1

|update=complete|source=[http://football.lg.ua/index.php?option=com_joomleague&view=matrix&p=214&division=69 football.lg.ua] (in Russian)

}}

• Source: [http://football.lg.ua/index.php?option=com_joomleague&view=teamplan&p=214&division=69 football.lg.ua] (in Russian)

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

{{winners||Group A 1937 winners|FC Dynamo Moscow|Second}}

• As the previous the season was filled with violence on the field. According to the Russian sports historian Aksel Vartanyan on July 23, 1937, Dynamo Moscow visited another Dynamo in Leningrad. In several Leningrad newspapers the game was dubbed as the "Battle of the Neva". During the match the leading footballer of Leningrad team Pyotr Dementyev was hospitalized, while his "offender" Teterin was convoyed from Moscow by the Leningrad Oblast NKVD chief to apologize.

• During the Tbilisi match between Dinamo Tbilisi and Dynamo Kyiv, it was discovered that players of Dynamo Kyiv forgot their "Footballer's Books" in Kyiv and were supposed to be awarded administrative loss. The referee of the game Vladimir Strepikheyev took upon himself and encouragement from Boris Paichadze to hold the match, nonetheless. In the game report protocol Vladimir Strepikheyev noted that personally knowing all players of Dynamo Kyiv he confirmed that all players in the submitted report are correctly noted.

• Following the match of Dinamo Tbilisi vs Dynamo Kyiv, in two days Vladimir Strepikheyev served one more game in Tbilisi against Dynamo Leningrad before he returned to Moscow. Upon arrival to Moscow, Strepikheyev who refereed the 1937 Soviet Cup Final was arrested and soon executed at age 34.

• Interesting situation occurred with two rounds to go before the finish when Dynamo Kyiv was ahead with 33 points and the Moscow teams trailing right behind with Dynamo 30 and Spartak 30. Following the loss to Dinamo Tbilisi, Kyiv still had some possibility to keep their lead if Dynamo Moscow would lose to Metallurg and Dynamo Kyiv overpower Spartak.

• Near the end of the season on October 12, 1937, a big scandal erupted following the match between Muscovite Dynamo and Metallurg which ended in the 3:0 win for Dynamo. The scandal also influenced the situation with refereeing in the competition as the blame for the Dynamo vs Metallurg match was placed on the referee of the match who has accumulated several bad reviews from previous games. During the match the referee canceled two goals that Metallurg scored in the beginning (at the 7th minute) and instead by the end of the first half Dynamo scored twice going for break with a two-goal lead. Following the match many leading Muscovite newspapers were demanding for the match to be replayed. And, while the central committee seemed to be ignoring the situation, on October 16, the local Moscow Committee of Physical Culture and Sport held discussion which was raised by the Red Sport newspaper about the match where some participants insisted on disqualification of the referee and replay of the match. On October 20, in the Soviet central newspaper "Pravda" appeared an article "About sports referees" (О спортивных судьях) where the author of the article was very critical not only about the referee of Dynamo-Metallurg match, but also number of other referees accusing them in corruption. About the same time several Leningrad newspapers also published articles about corruption in the sports referee community. The campaign against referees did not result in replay of the Dynamo-Metallurg match, but the All-Union Committee dissolved the Referee Collegium that supervised all referees, and many referees were disqualified and fired. Later after the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1999 a sports historian Yuriy Lukosyak after studying some materials in the FSB Archives in Saint Petersburg published an article where he mentioned a "depesha" (type of a secret message) for the Leningrad NKVD of March 7, 1938, where several former referees were accused in planning of terrorist actions against the government officials including Stalin, Molotov, Kaganovich.

• 1937 Soviet Cup
• 1937 Group B (Soviet football championship)
• 1937 Group V (Soviet football championship)
• 1937 Group G (Soviet football championship)
• 1937 groups D and cities of Far East

{{notelist}}

• [https://www.rsssf.org/tablesu/ussrhist.html Soviet Union - List of final tables (RSSSF)]

{{Soviet Top League seasons}}

{{1937 in Soviet football}}

{{1936–37 in European football (UEFA)}}

{{1937–38 in European football (UEFA)}}

Category:Soviet Top League seasons

1

Soviet

Soviet