The 1985 Soviet Top League was the 16th season of the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

, the highest tier football league 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 also was 48th season of the top tier club competition.

Zenit Leningrad Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...

were the defending champions.

Teams

Promoted teams

FC Fakel Voronezh FC Fakel Voronezh () is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Voronezh. Founded in 1947, the club has played in the Soviet Top League and the Russian Premier League. The club will return to the Russian First League i ...

– champion ''(returning for the first time since 1961 after twenty 24 seasons, known as Trud Voronezh)'' *

FC Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi ( Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი ტორპედო ქუთაისი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. The team competes in the Erovnuli ...

– 2nd place ''(returning after a season)''

Location

Final table

Post-season promotion/relegation tournament

* For the following season the League was reduced to 16 members. The teams that finished 15th and 16th played a mini-tournament in format of home-away double round-robin with the two best out of the Soviet First League (Daugava Riga and CSKA Moscow). Out of this tournament the two best teams (Chernomorets Odessa and Nefchi Baku) continued on in ''the Soviet Top League''. The tournament was conducted in winter-like conditions from 27 November to 15 December. * For the 1986 season there was no promotion out of the Soviet First League.

Results

Top scorers

;35 goals *

Oleh Protasov Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov (; born 4 February 1964) is a Ukrainian and Soviet former footballer who played as a striker. He was a key member of the Soviet Union national team throughout the 1980s; his 28 goals for the Soviet Union are second ...

(Dnipro) ;14 goals * Vladimir Klementyev (Zenit) *

Sergey Rodionov Sergei Yurievich Rodionov (, born 3 September 1962) is a Russian football coach and former professional player, who played most of his career as a forward for Spartak Moscow. Career During his years at Spartak (1979–90, 1993–95) and Red ...

(Spartak Moscow) ;13 goals *

Fyodor Cherenkov Fyodor Fyodorovich Cherenkov (; 25 July 1959 – 4 October 2014) was a Soviet and Russian football midfielder who played for Spartak Moscow (1977–90 and 1991–94) and Red Star Football Club (1990–91). Playing career Cherenkov played f ...

(Spartak Moscow) *

Oleh Taran Oleh Anatolyevich Taran (; born 11 January 1960) is a Ukrainian football coach and former player. He was a prolific forward who possessed a powerful shot and was capable of dribbling quickly and precisely. In 1983, he was named the Ukrainian F ...

(Dnipro) ;12 goals *

Oleg Blokhin Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin, or Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin (, ; born 5 November 1952), is a Ukrainian former football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of his generation, Blokhin was a standout striker for Dynamo ...

(Dynamo Kyiv) * Viktor Grachyov (Shakhtar) * Sigitas Jakubauskas (Žalgiris) ;11 goals * Georgi Kondratyev (Dinamo Minsk) *

Sergei Volgin Sergei Volgin (; born 5 May 1960) is a Kazakhstani football coach and a former player. Playing career Volgin played 174 games in Soviet Top League and scored 34 goals. His position was midfielder. Managerial career Volgin started his coaching ...

(Kairat)

Medal squads

''(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)''

Number of teams by union republic

Attendances

References

1985 season
{{1985–86 in European football (UEFA) Soviet Top League seasons 1

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 ...