1990 Baltic League


1990 Baltic League was Soviet and at the same time international football competition organized in 1990 with the ongoing dissolution of the Soviet Union. The league consisting of 18 clubs from the Lithuania SSR, Estonian SSR, the Latvian SSR and FC Progress Cherniakhovsk from Kaliningrad Oblast. The status of the tournament is not fully determined. The league also served as a preliminary tournament for the first post-Soviet Lithuanian football championship.
With the ongoing revolutions of 1989, in 1990 the Baltic republics declared reinstatement of their independence and exit out of the Soviet Union. Lithuania declared its independence on March 11, on March 30 the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic announced that its existence is not legal by recognizing itself as a territory under the Soviet occupation since 1940, Latvia simply repeated the feat of Lithuania on May 4.
The Lithuanian club Žalgiris, a member of the Soviet Top League after losing its first game in Odesa 0–1 to Chernomorets Odessa, withdrew from the 1990 Soviet Top League and joined the Baltic League. The club that in previous season qualified for the 1990–91 UEFA Cup was denied entrance to the European competitions.

History

The four best Lithuanian teams from Baltic League and the 1 Lyga qualified for the National Championship play-off. Also all Lithuanian clubs from the Baltic League qualified for the next season of A Lyga. Most of Latvian clubs also joined the championship of Latvia, while some continued their participation in the Soviet championship. The Soviet Estonian clubs after the fall of the Soviet Union were dissolved, while Progress Chernyakhovsk continued to participate in lower leagues of the Russian championship.
Note that Pardaugava also this season competed in the 1990 Soviet Second League, while Zalgiris just pulled out of the Soviet competitions after playing the first game of the 1990 Soviet Top League, losing it away in Odessa. Also both Chernyakovsk and Yelgava clubs competed in the 1990 Soviet Second League B, Zone 6.

Teams

All-Union competition

Football championship of the Lithuanian SSR

Team/ClubPlace
Banga Kaunas1st place
Ekranas Panevezys2nd place
Sirijus Klaipeda3rd place
Jovaras Mazeikiaj6th place
Sakalas Siauliaj10th place
Neris Vilnius13th place
Suduva Marijampole14th place

Football championship of the Latvian SSR

Team/ClubPlace
RAF Jelgava1st place
Torpedo Riga2nd place
Stroitel Daugavpils3rd place
Daugava-LGIFK Riga4th place
Metalurgs Liepaja7th place
Pardaugava-RShVSM Rigastudents

Notes:

Football championship of the Russian SFSR (among KFK)

Withdrew

Play-offs for the football champion title of Lithuania

Play-offs were organized between the Lithuanian clubs of all-Union Soviet professional competitions and competitions of the Lithuanian SSR.