Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

had been played in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

since the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

days in the early 1900s, but it was not until 1936, 19 years after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, that the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

established a national championship of clubs. Before then local leagues in Moscow and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

/Leningrad were the only prominent league competitions in the country, with some national championships held intermittently from 1912 to 1933, made up of city selections. Teams in bold indicates

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

s won with the

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS (Moldova ...

before 1992 and with the Russian Cup thereafter. Teams in ''italics'' include Cup winners between the 2nd and 3rd league places.

Football championship of Russian Empire

Football championship of Russian SFSR among city teams

USSR championship

Note: according to Dynamo sports society, the first Soviet football championship took place in 1924, while other sources (megabook.ru) indicate that the first championship took place earlier in 1923. In Moscow it was decided to consider the football tournament of the 1924 All-Union festival of physical culture as the first national championship.Rodionov, S.
The Kharkiv football: from A to Z (Харьковский футбол: от А до Я)
'. Sport.ua. 30 June 2005

Russian SFSR championship

Republican level competitions among teams from the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. Until 1960 it included teams that were considered amateurs, after 1960 the competition was conducted as part of the Soviet Second League.
Source
Footballfacts.ru

Soviet League (1936–1991)

Soviet Group A

Soviet First Group

Soviet Class A

Soviet Class A, 1st Group

Soviet Supreme League (Soviet Top League)

Russian League (1992–present)

Russian Top League

Russian Top Division

Russian Premier League

Performances by club

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

are the most successful club in the overall ranking, having won 22 national titles. They are followed by city rivals

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

with thirteen.

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Union, Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dynamo Sports Soc ...

also have thirteen titles, although the team no longer competes in the Russian football system, since it is now part of Ukraine. Fourth place is taken by

Dinamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

, who were the dominant team in Soviet Russia during the 1930s and 1950s. Dinamo Moscow has won eleven titles, although their last title came in 1976.

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), 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, acco ...

is by far the most successful Russian team outside of Moscow. They have won seven titles, mostly in the 2000s and 2010s. All clubs are included with all national titles: ''Note: Teams in bold are teams from Russia, flags indicate a club based outside Russia, namely , , and . These teams are no longer eligible for the championship as they play in their own leagues.''

Best finish in Europe by club

Table shows best-finish achievements in major European competitions starting from 1965-66 season. For non-Russian teams it is provided the results for Soviet period only. Table sorted by success at European Cup / UEFA Champions League first and foremost.

References

Soviet champions at RSSSF
{{Football in Russia

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

Football champions Football champions