The third tier (better known as the Second League) since its revival in 1963 consisted from about five to nine groups known as zones, the winners of which qualified to a promotional play-off tournament.
Rotation between republican competitions and the all-union football "pyramid" existed only for the Russian SFSR and the Ukrainian SSR.
The Soviet Union football league system was dominated by teams of masters from the Russian SFSR and particularly from Moscow.
Following World War II, there appeared winning CDKA[clarification needed] (today known as CSKA), which was also known as the team of lieutenants.
Following some reforms in the organization of competitions in the early 1960s, the top league champion's title was gained by clubs outside of Moscow as the Soviet Union football league system was expanded with more teams of masters from various union republics and their regions (provinces).