The 1940 Soviet football championship in Gruppa B () was fifth season of the ( second tier) professional football competitions in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. It was also the second season after revival of the second tier competitions and the last season before the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

invaded the

with the ongoing

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The season started on 2 May 1940 (following the

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

) with matches in Ukraine and the Caucasus republics. The season ended on 27 October 1940 in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Teams

The league was reduced almost in half from 23 to 14 teams. The competitions were conducted in double round robin format where each team is playing with every other twice, at home and away.

Relegated

Two teams were relegated from the 1939 Gruppa A *

FC Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad FC Electrosila Leningrad () or Krasnaya Zorya () was a Soviet association football club from Leningrad, Soviet Union. The club played in the Soviet Top League from its inception to World War II. Until 1930 Krasnaya Zorya played in local competiti ...

– 13th place ''(debut)'' * FC Dinamo Odessa – 14th place ''(debut, merged with Pischevik)'' ** Former Dinamo Odessa players continued to play under Pischevik's colors.

Promoted

FC Dinamo Minsk FC Dinamo Minsk or FK Dynama Minsk (; ) is a Belarusian professional Association football, football club based in the capital city of Minsk. It was founded in 1927 as part of the Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dinamo Sports Society, and was the o ...

– Champion of the Belorussian SSR ''(debut)'' *

FC Pischevik Odessa FC Chornomorets Odesa ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Odesa, Ukraine. According to the club's website, it was formed in 1936 as ''Dynamo'', but until 2002 it carried a logo with 1958 and 1959

– Runner-up of the Ukrainian SSR ''(debut)''

Renamed

* FC Krasnaya Zaria Leningrad was previously known as FC Elektrik Leningrad * FC Stroitel Baku was previously known as FC Temp Baku

League Standings

Top scorers

Number of teams by republics

External links

1940 Group B

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

{{1940 in Soviet football

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...