Soviet Cup

The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (Кубок СССР), was the premier football cup competition in the Soviet Union conducted by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The winner of the competition was awarded a qualification to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, unless it already qualified for the European Cup, in turn passed the qualification to the finalist. In case if a team would win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and not win its national league cup titles next year, it qualified to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup along with the new cup holder.

The first participation in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup took place in 1965-66 when Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the European competition for winning the 1964 Soviet Cup.

Format
Format of competitions was constantly changing. Until 1984 the Soviet Cup corresponded to the Soviet Top League calendar "spring"-"fall", however after that it changed to "fall"-"spring" calendar which is now the most popular in the Europe. In 1959-1960 the competition was conducted for two years. From 1965 to 1968 seasons were overlapping each other. The 1992 Soviet Cup Final took place after the fall of the Soviet Union in the independent Russia.