Klass A

Klass A served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936.

The professional top level of football competition among clubs was established in 1936 on proposition of Nikolai Starostin and was approved by the All-Union Council of Physical Culture. Originally it was called as Grouppa A and after the World War II as the Pervaïa Grouppa. In 1950 after another reform of football in the Soviet Union, the Pervaïa Grouppa was replaced with Klass A.