1989 Soviet First League
# 1989 Soviet First League

The 1989 Soviet First League was the 50th season of the second-tier round-robin competitions of association football in the Soviet Union.

## Teams

### Promoted teams

* FC Fakel Voronezh – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of a season)
* FC Nistru Chisinau – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of 2 seasons)
* FC Torpedo Kutaisi – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of a season)

### Relegated teams

* FC Kairat Almaty – (Returning after 5 seasons)
* FC Neftchi Baku – (Returning after 13 seasons)

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | CSKA Moscow (C, P) | 42 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 79 | 44 | +35 | 59 | Promotion to Top League |
| 2 | Guria Lanchkhuti (X) | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 64 | 45 | +19 | 54 | Withdrew from the league |
| 3 | Kairat Almaty | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 68 | 40 | +28 | 51 | |
| 4 | Dynamo Stavropol | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 50 | |
| 5 | Fakel Voronezh | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 48 | |
| 6 | Tavriya Simferopol | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 64 | 56 | +8 | 48 | |
| 7 | Metalurh Zaporizhia | 42 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 54 | 56 | −2 | 47 | |
| 8 | Neftchi Baku | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 46 | 35 | +11 | 47 | |
| 9 | Kotayk Abovyan | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 60 | 53 | +7 | 45 | |
| 10 | Nistru Chisinau | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 43 | |
| 11 | Geolog Tyumen | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 56 | 52 | +4 | 43 | |
| 12 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 57 | 59 | −2 | 41 | |
| 13 | Torpedo Kutaisi (X) | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 45 | 50 | −5 | 41 | Withdrew from the league |
| 14 | Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 58 | 52 | +6 | 40 | |
| 15 | Kuzbass Kemerevo | 42 | 17 | 5 | 20 | 60 | 58 | +2 | 39 | |
| 16 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 50 | 54 | −4 | 39 | |
| 17 | Spartak Ordjonikidze | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 37 | |
| 18 | Dinamo Batumi (X) | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 44 | 50 | −6 | 36 | Withdrew from the league |
| 19 | Kuban Krasnodar | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 36 | 49 | −13 | 35 | |
| 20 | SKA Rostov-on-Don (R) | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 32 | 47 | −15 | 35 | Relegation to Second League |
| 21 | Daugava Riga (R) | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 40 | 68 | −28 | 26 | Relegation to Second League |
| 22 | SKA Karpaty Lviv (R) | 42 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 31 | 73 | −42 | 20 | Relegation to Second League |

## Top scorers

| # | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Valeriy Masalitin | CSKA Moscow | 32 |
| 2 | Merab Megreladze | Torpedo Kutaisi | 29 |
| 3 | Aleksandr Gaydash | Tavriya Simferopol | 27 |
| 4 | Seiran Osipov | Dynamo Stavropol | 25 |
| 4 | Merab Zhordania | Guria Lanchkhuti | 25 |
| 6 | Gia Guruli | Guria Lanchkhuti | 18 |
| 7 | Vitaliy Papadopulo | SKA Rostov-on-Don | 17 |
| 8 | Vali Gasimov | Neftchi Baku | 16 |
| 8 | Oleh Taran | Metalurh Zaporizhia | 16 |

## Number of teams by union republic

| Rank | Union republic | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | RSFSR | 10 | CSKA Moscow, Dinamo Stavropol, Fakel Voronezh, Geolog Tyumen, Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu, Kuzbass Kemerovo, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Spartak Vladikavkaz, Kuban Krasnodar, SKA Rostov-na-Donu |
| 2 | Georgian SSR | 3 | Guria Lanchkhuti, Torpedo Kutaisi, Dinamo Batumi |
| 2 | Ukrainian SSR | 3 | Metallurg Zaporozhye, Tavriya Simferopol, SKA Karpaty Lvov |
| 4 | Moldavian SSR | 1 | Nistru Kishenev |
| 4 | Armenian SSR | 1 | Kotaik Abovian |
| 4 | Uzbek SSR | 1 | Pakhtakor Tashkent |
| 4 | Azerbaijan SSR | 1 | Neftchi Baku |
| 4 | Kazakh SSR | 1 | Kairat Alma-Ata |
| 4 | Latvian SSR | 1 | Daugava Riga |
