The USSR Cup among football teams was held from 1936 to 1992. During this time, about fifty finals and more than ten thousand matches of the preliminary rounds were played. In total, about 300 professional clubs and 500 amateur groups took part in the tournament. In addition to the games of the major league of the USSR, the All-Union Football Cup was the most spectacular and popular sporting event among fans. Victory in this prestige tournament was tantamount to a champion title.
The basics of regulation
USSR football cups have always passed according to a single set of rules. The only aspect that underwent changes several times was the tournament grid.
Prior to the 1957 season, amateur physical education teams performed on a par with the teams of masters, who, following the results of a city or regional championship, received the right to participate at the all-Union level. The tournament began with preliminary rounds. They were played by representatives of the lower divisions and amateurs. Closer to the final stage, the participants of the major leagues were included in the struggle. The strongest clubs in the Soviet Union started from the 1/16 finals.
USSR football cups were held according to the Olympic system. The games took place on the relegation, that is, the losing team automatically left the tournament. The winner of the confrontation was determined in one meeting. If it ended in a draw, then a replay was appointed on the opponent's field. Since the 1950s, extra time and a penalty shootout were allowed in the second match. A similar system was taken as a basis in the final of the cup. Replay of the decisive match was carried out only 3 times.
In the late 1970s, the regulation underwent some changes. The preliminary stage of the cup was held in a circular system. Teams were divided according to zonal affiliation. Only the clubs that took the first two places in their group entered the final round.
Initially, the cup was held according to the “spring-autumn” scheme, that is, in one year. In the mid-1960s and after 1984, the tournament began to be held in 2 stages. Preliminary rounds were played in the fall of one year, and final rounds in the spring of another.
Absolutely all the final matches were held in Moscow stadiums.
First USSR Cup
94 teams took part in the debut draw of the tournament. Of these, only 28 teams had the status of masters. The first USSR football cup started in July 1936.
The draw began with the 1/64 finals. At this stage, along with the amateurs, such strong teams as Dynamo from Batumi, Dnepropetrovsk Steel, and also the best clubs of Sverdlovsk and Nikolaev took part. The pair turned out to be the strongest - Wings of the Soviets from Zaporozhye and Kharkiv Lokomotiv. To identify the winner in this tandem, I had to immediately carry out 2 replay. As a result, Kharkiv managed to achieve a major victory, reaching the next round.
The first USSR Cup winner took part in the tournament only from the 1/32 final stage. Moscow Lokomotiv showed outstanding results throughout the competition. In the early stages, teams such as Dynamo Trudkommuna and Leningrad Spartak were heavily beaten. The hardest match at this stage was the match against Dynamo Kharkov. The game was replete with red cards (6 deletions). And the only goal was scored from the penalty spot by Muscovites leader Lavrov.
In the decisive rounds, several clubs showed brilliant results at once, including Dynamo Tbilisi, which beat Moscow Spartak on the way to the finals. Also worth noting is the "Red Banner" from Noginsk.
In the final confrontation met Moscow “Lokomotiv” and Tbilisi “Dynamo”. The match ended in a dry victory for the "railroad".
The hegemony of Spartak
In 1930 and 1940, only one team was enchanted in the USSR major league. It was the fearless Moscow Spartak under the leadership of Peter Popov, and then the Estonian Albert Volrat. It was these two mentors who four times made the main metropolitan team the owner of the All-Union Cup.
In the period from the end of 1930 to 1940, Spartak won this prestigious tournament the most. The USSR Cup season in football obeyed red and white in 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948.
Twice the victory in the competition was celebrated only by the capital CSKA. Once the Cup was won by the Moscow clubs Dynamo and Torpedo, as well as the Leningrad Zenit.
The most interesting ending of those years was the confrontation between Moscow and Tbilisi in 1946. Georgian “Dynamo” in a bitter struggle following the results of the first half was able to come forward against the capital “Spartak”. However, in the end, Glazkov equalized the score, and Timakov established the final result in extra time. Thus, Muscovites celebrated a strong-willed victory - 3: 2.
Stubborn confrontation
In the period from 1950 to 1960, the hegemony of Moscow clubs began to be violated with enviable regularity by Ukrainian teams. This applies to Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk, and even Lviv Carpathians.
It is noteworthy that during this period the team from the Far East reached the finals for the first time. In 1968, the Tashkent Pakhtakor in the decisive rounds of the Cup first confidently went around the Saratov Sokol and the strong Lugansk Zarya, and then did not leave a wet spot from Shakhtar Donetsk. Many experts considered the Uzbek club to be the favorite of the final, but the Moscow Torpedo did not agree with this. The match ended with a minimal victory for the Russian team.
From the opening of the tournament of that time, it is worth highlighting the Kuibyshev “Zenith” and the national team of the city of Kalinin.
Georgian-Armenian Diaspora
In 1970 and 1980, the USSR football cups became truly international tournaments. The hegemony of the Ukrainian and Russian teams gradually began to fade. The Moscow clubs were replaced by strong Georgian and Armenian teams.
In the 1970s, Yerevan "Ararat" and Tbilisi "Dynamo" 2 times became owners of the honorary Cup. In the final matches they could not oppose anything stellar Moscow and Kiev teams.
It should be noted the rapid rise of the "Dawn" from Voroshilovgrad, which twice in a row reached the finals of 1974 and 1975. However, each time the matches ended not in favor of the Ukrainian team.
The period of the 1970s and 1980s was the most successful for another club of the Ukrainian SSR - Dynamo Kyiv. The 1985 USSR Cup was the seventh for white and blue. And after 2 seasons, the All-Union tournament was submitted to Kiev for the eighth time.
Latest Draws
Since 1990, the holders of the USSR football cup have been constantly changing. The first winner of the tournament in a new format (autumn-spring rally) was Dynamo Kyiv. Ukrainians easily defeated the Moscow Lokomotiv with a score of 6: 1. Then on the field such stars of Dynamo shone as Salenko, Luzhny and Mikhaylichenko.
In 1991, the All-Union Cup was won by Moscow “army men". In the final, CSKA defeated the metropolitan Torpedo in a bitter struggle. The decisive ball with a score of 2: 2 was scored by the “army” forward Sergeyev a few minutes before the end of the meeting.
The last owner of the USSR Cup in 1992 was the Moscow Spartak. This is very symbolic, because it is red and white that are considered the best team of the all-Union tournament in its history. In the final, Muscovites confidently defeated CSKA.
Winners of the USSR Football Cup (by years)
The All-Union tournament gathered dozens of the strongest domestic clubs under its wing. And we must pay tribute - all the finals of the USSR Cup in football turned out to be unforgettable by the intensity of emotions and the quality of playing on the field. This tournament really revealed the strongest in the Soviet space.
More often than others, the honorary trophy was raised by football players of the Moscow Spartak - 10 times (2 cups every 10 years). One less title at Dynamo Kyiv (from 1954 to 1990).
6 times in the finals won the Moscow “Torpedo” and “Dynamo”. Following, with 5 trophies, appears the capital CSKA.
Shakhtar from Donetsk won the cup 4 times (in the early 1960s and 1980s). Two trophies are in Tbilisi, Yerevan, as well as in the museum of Moscow “Locomotive”. And a number of teams won the final once, among them there is even the Rostov SKA (1981).
Sensational accomplishments
One of the main surprises of the tournament in its history is considered to be the Tavria team of the second league of the USSR in the semifinals.
In the late 1930s, several semi-professional clubs from the third division made their way to the decisive stages of the Cup. We are talking about Moscow “Wings”, Pyatigorsk “Dynamo” and “Dzerzhinets-STZ”.
However, the main sensation was presented by amateur teams - Noginsk “Red Banner” and Tashkent “Dynamo”. In the late 1940s, these teams managed to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
Interesting Facts
- Most often in the finals played the Moscow team “Torpedo” and “Spartak” (15 times). USSR football cups obeyed only 14 clubs.
- Not a single team managed to win the trophy more than 2 times in a row.
- The first club that managed to remove Moscow teams from the Cup podium was Zenit from Leningrad.
- The All-Union tournament ceased to exist after the collapse of the USSR.