USSR. Never ending reforms… the championship of the Second Division went through new formula, the top league was going to be reduced to 16 teams and promotion/relegation was affected, 10 ties was still the limit – no points for those going over it.
The winners of the 9 zones of Third Division proceeded to the usual qualification tournament for promotion, but this time they were joined by the last 3 finishers in the Second Division. 12 teams divided in three groups, winners going to play in the Second Division. Frankly, the idea was not great – second division was a problem every year, because most teams were weak or lacked ambition, yet, it was enlarged to 24 teams. The weakest had a good chance to stay as well under the new concept – if winning their promotion/relegation groups. Then again, teams promoted from third level usually went down quickly, so no much harm if they did not come up at all.
The following teams entered the promotion/relegation round: Sokhibkor (Khalkiabad), Tavria (Simferopol), Mertzkhali (Makharadze), Zvezda (Perm), Dinamo (Bryansk), Geolog (Tyumen), Rostselmash (Rostov), Atlantas (Klaipeda), Meliorator (Chimkent) as winners of Third Division 9 zones. Krylya Sovetov (Kuybishev), 20th, Iskra (Smolensk), 21st, and Zvezda Dzhizak), 20th – the last three in the Second Division final table. The 12 teams were divided into 3 groups of which only Group 1 appeared strong: along with Zvezda (Dzhizak), 2 former second division members – Rostselmash and Tavria.
Rostselmash (Rostov) finished first and earned promotion. Too bad for Tavria, which played in the First Division not long ago – they were 2nd and remained in Third Division. Zvezda (Dzhizak) was 3rd and Sokhibkor – last.
Group 2. Krylya Sovetov was expected to win the group and stay in Second Division, but it was hollow expectation based on name alone. Krylya Sovetov was going through terrible period – perhaps their worst in history – and finished last in the group. The Georgian team Mertzkhali ended 3rd, Zvezda (Perm) – 2nd, and Atlantas (Klaipeda) won promotion. Baltic football was doing well at this time – after years of obscurity.
Group 3. Iskra (Smolensk) not only won the tournament, but was the strongest team at this stage – they won 5 games and tied one, 11 points. Rostselmash also won 5 games in their group, but lost the 6th match. Anyhow, Iskra preserved its place in the Second Division, the only one of the second-level clubs achieving that. Meliorator was 2nd, Geolog – 3rd, and Dinamo – last.
Thus, promoted for the next season were Rostselmash (Rostov), Atlantas (Klaipeda), and Iskra (Smolensk) kept its place.