The number of teams playing at this level fluctuated significantly during the history of Soviet football.
Since after the World War II there existed only top two tiers for football competitions among "teams of masters".
Following the 1963 reform, the second tier competitions became the Vtoraya Gruppa Classa A (Class A second group) and the top tier being renamed as the Pervaya Gruppa Classa A (Class A first group).
After the 1970-1971 reforms there was established the Soviet First League with a single group competition.
The Soviet Football Union tried to eliminate the growing number of drawn games, thus, intensify the competition.
In 1973, a point for a draw was awarded only to a team that won the subsequent penalty shootout.