- Soviet First League
The Soviet First League was the second highest division of Soviet football, below the
Soviet Top League . The division lasted from the inception of Soviet league football in 1936 to the dissolution of USSR in 1991.It has been known as "Group B", "Group 2", "Class B", and "Class A, group 2" before being renamed First League in 1971. The number of teams playing at this level fluctuated significantly during the history of Soviet football. In 1940s-1970s the league frequently consisted of several regional groups. The group winners qualified for the final tournament. One unusual feature of the league was one that had taken place before 1989. The participated clubs received a point for each drawn game, but the amount of all those drawn games could not exceed a third of all their games played. After that they received no points for any further draws. In 1987 for example Fakel(Voronezh) FC were relegated by 1 point having received no points for 2 drawn games. [http://klisf.info/numeric/index.app?cmd=tournn&lang=en&id=549936875231248]
References
*cite web|url=http://klisf.info/numeric/index.app?cmd=tourn&lang=en&id=495126111738883|title=USSR First League|accessdate=2006-06-09|work=KLISF
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