| Competition: | Soviet Top League |
| Season: | 1990 |
| Dates: | March 1 — October 20, 1990 |
| Winners: | Dynamo Kyiv (13th season) |
| Continentalcup1: | European Cup |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Dynamo Kyiv |
| Continentalcup2: | Cup Winners' Cup |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | CSKA Moscow |
| Continentalcup3: | UEFA Cup |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Dynamo Moscow Torpedo Moscow Spartak Moscow |
| League Topscorer: | (12) Oleh Protasov (Dynamo Kyiv) Valeri Shmarov (Spartak Moscow) |
| Biggest Home Win: | CSKA – Rotor 7–0 |
| Biggest Away Win: | Chornomorets – Dynamo K. 0–3 |
| Highest Scoring: | Spartak – CSKA 5–4 |
| Prevseason: | 1989 |
| Nextseason: | 1991 |
The 1990 Soviet Top League season was the 53rd since its establishment. Spartak Moscow were the defending 12-times champions, but came only fifth this season and marginally qualified for continental competitions. The league was shortened and a total of fourteen teams participated. By the start of the season both Georgian teams had withdrawn followed by another withdrawal from Žalgiris at the start of competition. The league consisted of ten teams contested in the 1989 season and the Army club promoted from the Soviet First League. The representatives of the Baltic states as well as Georgia chose not to take part in the competition.
The season began on 1 March with the game between Dnipro and Rotor and lasted until 20 October 1990. The season was won by FC Dynamo Kyiv.
The league was reduced to 13 after first Georgian clubs (Dinamo Tbilisi and Guria Lanchkhuti) and then Žalgiris withdrew from the Soviet Top League.
Lokomotiv Moscow and the last placed Zenit Leningrad of the 1989 Soviet Top League were relegated to the 1990 Soviet First League. Lokomotiv returned to the Soviet First League after two seasons absence, while Zenit was relegated for the first time since being promoted back in 1938 through the club's merger.
Originally two teams were promoted from the 1989 Soviet First League and included PFC CSKA Moscow and FC Guria Lanchkhuti. Just before the start of new season Georgian clubs and Žalgiris left the league.
| Stadium | Team | Opened | Capacity | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican Stadium, Kyiv | Dynamo Kyiv | 1923 | 100,062 | ||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Olimpic Stadium Luzhniki, Moscow | Spartak | 1956 | 81,000 | |
| CSKA | |||||
| Central Stadium Dinamo, Moscow | Dinamo Moscow | 1928 | 71,430 | ||
| Central Stadium Hrazdan, Yerevan | Ararat | 1970 | 70,000 | ||
| BSS Central Stadium, Odesa | Chornomorets | 1935 | 55,000 | ||
| OSC Metalist, Kharkiv | Metalist | 1926 | 42,000 | ||
| Dinamo Stadium, Minsk | Dinamo Minsk | 1934 | 40,000 | ||
| Meteor Stadium, Dnipropetrovsk | Dnipro | 1966 | 40,000 | ||
| Central Stadium, Volgograd | Rotor | 1962 | 40,000 | ||
| Central Stadium Shakhtar, Donetsk | Shakhtar | 1936 | 31,718 | ||
| SC Olimpiyskiy, Moscow | Spartak | 1980 | 22,000 | used in round 3rd, 4th, 7th, 9th | |
| Frunze Republican Stadium, Dushanbe | Pamir | 1946 | 21,400 | ||
| Torpedo Stadium, Moscow | Torpedo | 1959 | 16,000 | ||
| align=left rowspan=4 | LFK CSKA, Moscow | CSKA | 1979 | 4,000 | used in rounds 1st, 2nd, 5th, 10th |
| Dinamo Moscow | used in rounds 1st, 2nd, 5th |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotor Volgograd | Aleksandr Sevidov | 31 May 1990 | Vladimir Fayzulin | 1 June 1990 | ||
| Dinamo Moscow | Anatoliy Byshovets | 31 July 1990 | Semen Altman | 1 August 1990 | ||
| Dinamo Kiev | Valeriy Lobanovskyi | 31 August 1990[1] | Anatoliy Puzach | 1 September 1990 | ||
(13th team of the Top League and 4th team of the First League)----
Lokomotiv Moscow won the promotion on 3–2 aggregate
https://teams.by/champ/player_clean/1219/
(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
