| Competition: | Group A |
| Season: | 1937 |
| Dates: | July 23 – October 30 |
| Winners: | Dynamo Moscow 2nd All-Union league title |
| Relegated: | none |
| League Topscorer: | Vasili Smirnov Leonid Rumyantsev Boris Paichadze 8 goals |
| Biggest Home Win: | Metallurg 5–0 CDKA (August 12) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Spartak 0–4 Metallurg (August 28) Krasnaya Zarya 2–6 Dynamo K. (August 28) Dynamo Tb. 0–4 Dynamo M. (September 18) CDKA 1–5 Dynamo M. (October 24) |
| Highest Scoring: | Krasnaya Zarya 2–6 Dynamo K. (August 28) Dynamo Tb. 5–3 Dynamo K. (October 10) |
| Matches: | 72 |
| Total Goals: | 224 |
| Prevseason: | 1936 Fall |
| Nextseason: | 1938 |
The 1937 Soviet Top League was the third season of the top-tier all-Union league competitions (Gruppa A). The league competition started a week after conculusion of the 1937 Soviet Cup.
Before the start of the season, two sports societies Dynamo and Spartak were awarded the order of Lenin on resolution of the USSR Central Executive Committee of 22 July 1937.[1]
This year it was decided to have both season halves combined. The season started in the summer after the cup competition that preceded it and was also won by Dynamo Moscow.
The defending champion for this edition was FC Spartak Moscow. The season started somewhat late on July 23, 1937, with the game in Kyiv where the League newcomer Metallurg surprisingly defeated the local Dynamo 2:0. The conclusion of the season came on October 30, 1937, with the games in Tbilisi and Moscow's Sokolniki.[2] That game on CSKA Stadium became a culminating as the Army team hold the defending champions to a draw that left Spartak without their title. Interesting is the fact that less than a week prior to that Dynamo Moscow was able to defeat CDKA 5:1 setting them three points ahead of Spartak.
After playing two games in the Group B it was decided to return CDKA Moscow back to the Group A. The Group A was extended once again to nine teams with a new team FC Metallurg Moscow joining the group that won the 1936 Group B fall championship as Serp i Molot Moscow. At the end of the season no teams were relegated as the group was planned to be extended for the next season.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boris Paichadze | Dynamo Tbilisi | 8 |
| Leonid Rumyantsev | Spartak Moscow | ||
| Vasily Pavlovich Smirnov | Dynamo Moscow | ||
| 4 | Pavel Komarov | Dynamo Kyiv | 7 |
| Mikhail Semichastny | Dynamo Moscow | ||
| 6 | Gayk Andriasov | Lokomotiv Moscow | 6 |
| Aleksei Ponomaryov | Dynamo Moscow | ||
| Mikhail Yakushin | Dynamo Moscow | ||
| Nikolai Yartsev | Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad | ||
| 10 | Pyotr Bykov | Dynamo Leningrad | 5 |
| Grigory Fedotov | Metallurg Moscow | ||
| Mikhail Kireyev | CSKA Moscow | ||
| Ivan Kuzmenko | Dynamo Kyiv | ||
| Vadim Potapov | Metallurg Moscow | ||
| Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad |
(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
| 1. FC Dynamo Moscow | |
| Goalkeepers: Yevgeny Fokin (15 / -19), Aleksandr Kvasnikov (1 / -1). Defenders: Lev Korchebokov (13), Viktor Teterin (9), Aleksandr Myshlyayev (7). Midfielders: Yevgeny Yeliseyev (16), Arkady Chernyshev (15 / 1), Aleksey Lapshin (12), Gavriil Kachalin (11), Pavel Korotkov (5), Aleksandr Ryomin (1). Forwards: Mikhail Yakushin (16 / 6), Sergei Ilyin (16 / 4), Vasily Smirnov (14 / 8), Aleksey Ponomaryov (13 /6), Mikhail Semichastny (11 / 7), Nikolay Belousov (3 / 1), Ivan Shcherbakov (2 / 2), Georgy Dyomin (1). One own goal(s) scored by Mikhail Denisov (FC Dynamo Leningrad), Iosif Lifshyts (FC Dynamo Kyiv) Manager: Viktor Dubinin. Transferred out during the season: . | |
| 2. FC Spartak Moscow | |
| Goalkeepers: Anatoly Akimov (13 / -10), Ivan Ryzhov (3 / -6). Defenders: Viktor Sokolov (15), Stanislav Leuta (10), Aleksandr Starostin (7), Sergey Plonsky (2). Midfielders: Andrey Starostin (16 / 2), Sergey Artemyev (13), Pyotr Starostin (8), Nikolai Palyska (8), Grigory Tuchkov (8). Forwards: Leonid Rumyantsev (16 / 8), (15 / 4), Nikolay Zhigalin (15 / 3), Boris Stepanov (12 / 2), Georgy Glazkov (7 / 2), Viktor Semyonov (7), Aleksandr Kasimov (6 / 1), Nikolay Gulyayev (3), Nikolay Tarasov (2 / 1), Sergey Udaleyev (1 / 1). Manager: Konstantin Kvashnin. Transferred out during the season: . | |
| 3. FC Dynamo Kyiv | |
| Goalkeepers: Anton Idzkovsky (13 / -20), Mykola Trusevych (3 / -4). Defenders: Mykola Makhynya (16 / 3), Oleksiy Klymenko (15), Vasyl Pravovierov (10), Georgiy Timofeyev (1). Midfielders: Ivan Kuzmenko (16 / 5), Volodymyr Greber (16 / 3), Iosif Livshyts (14 / 1). Forwards: Pavlo Komarov (16 / 7), Petro Layko (15 / 4), Makar Honcharenko (14 / 3), Kostiantyn Kalach (10), Konstantin Shchegotsky (9 / 3), Viktor Shylovsky (9 / 3), Mykola Korotkykh (9 / 1), Fedir Tyutchev (2). Manager: Moisey Tovarovsky. Transferred out during the season: . |