1981 Soviet First League

Soviet First League
Season	1981
	← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Soviet First League was the eleventh season of the Soviet First League and the 41st season of the Soviet second tier league competition.

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Metalist Kharkiv (C, P)	46	25	12	9	68	33	35	62	Promotion to Top League
2	Torpedo Kutaisi (P)	46	26	4	16	57	46	11	56	Promotion to Top League
3	Lokomotiv Moscow	46	21	15	10	65	41	24	54^[a]
4	Shinnik Yaroslavl	46	21	10	15	68	58	10	52
5	Kolos Nikopol	46	20	11	15	68	53	15	51
6	Žalgiris Vilnius	46	17	15	14	48	39	9	46^[a]
7	Iskra Smolensk	46	17	12	17	48	45	3	46
8	Nistru Kishinev	46	17	12	17	54	51	3	46
9	Pamir Dushanbe	46	17	11	18	52	54	−2	45
10	Fakel Voronezh	46	17	10	19	45	44	1	44
11	Karpaty Lvov	46	17	10	19	57	60	−3	44
12	Spartak Kostroma	46	16	16	14	49	50	−1	44^[a]
13	Metallurg Zaporozhia	46	16	14	16	57	51	6	44^[a]
14	Guria Lanchkhuti	46	16	13	17	50	56	−6	44^[a]
15	Zarya Voroshilovgrad	46	16	13	17	44	53	−9	44^[a]
16	SKA Odessa	46	16	13	17	62	54	8	44^[a]
17	SKA Kiev	46	16	10	20	59	71	−12	42
18	Buston Dzhizak	46	16	9	21	47	63	−16	41
19	SKA Khabarovsk	46	16	8	22	50	58	−8	40
20	Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk^[b] (R)	46	14	13	19	44	56	−12	40^[a]	Relegation to Second League
21	Spartak Ordjonikidze (R)	46	14	12	20	36	49	−13	40
22	Kuzbass Kemerovo (R)	46	14	12	20	47	51	−4	40
23	Dinamo Stavropol (R)	46	13	14	19	45	60	−15	38^[a]
24	Traktor Pavlodar (R)	46	12	15	19	41	65	−24	36^[a]

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j There was a draw limit for the draws earned, 12. Only twelve draws earn a point, in contrast, over the limit draws earn no points.
^ Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk was called Spartak.

#	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ravil Sharipov	Metallurg Zaporozhye	26 (6)
2	Vladimir Mukhanov	Lokomotiv Moscow	22 (1)
3	Gennady Smirnov	Fakel Voronezh	21 (2)
3	Viktor Nastashevskyi	SKA Kiev	21 (2)
5	Oleh Taran	SKA Odessa	20
6	Devizi Dardzhania	Torpedo Kutaisi	19 (1)
7	Nodar Bachiashvili	Metallist Kharkov	17
8	Yuriy Koryukov	Nistru Kishenev	15
9	Valeriy Tursunov	Pamir Dushanbe	14 (1)

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	9	Lokomotiv Moscow, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Iskra Smolensk, Fakel Voronezh, Spartak Kostroma, SKA Khabarovsk, Spartak Ordzhonikidze, Kuzbass Kemerevo, Dinamo Stavropol
2	Ukrainian SSR	8	Metallist Kharkov, Kolos Nikopol, Karpaty Lvov, Metallurg Zaporozhye, Zaria Voroshilovgrad, SKA Odessa, SKA Kiev, Prykarpatye Ivano-Frankovsk
3	Georgian SSR	2	Torpedo Kutaisi, Guria Lanchkhuti
4	Lithuanian SSR	1	Žalgiris Vilnius
	Moldavian SSR		Nistru Kishinev
	Tajik SSR		Pamir Dushanbe
	Uzbek SSR		Zvezda Dzhizak
	Kazakh SSR		Traktor Pavlodar