After third-place triumph in 1978 FC Shakhtar win league silver in 1979



1979. FC Shakhtar forward Vitaliy Starukhin - USSR best football player and best forward (26 goal record)



1980. USSR Cup in Donetsk again



1984. FC Shakhtar - USSR Super Cup holder
FC Shakhtar was three times below top-10 (1982, 1984 and 1985). But those seasons are not typical for Shakhtar in the best decade for the club. With three time league trophies, two circles of honour around Luzhniki with USSR Cup, successful start in the European tournaments with beaten German, Hungarian, Italian and Swiss clubs.

In 1976 they had two leagues - in sring and autumn. Only one loss was sufficient - Viktor Zvyagintsev switched to FC Dynamo Kyiv. But his team-partners Mikhail Sokolovsky, Nikolay Fedorenko, Vladimir Rogovsky and Viktor Kondratov took the leading positions in the team.

FC Shakhtar's debut in Europe was recognized successful. Donetsk won over Dinamo Berlin with aggregate 4:1 in Round of 16, then Hungarian Honved - 6:2 in Round of 8 and lost only to Juve - 1:3 in Quarterfinals.

In season 1977 FC Shakhtar was fifth in the league. They still won some trophies. Yuriy Degterev was awarded the best keeper's title by Ogonek magazine. "Cup of progress" (for the most rapid progress in the league) came to Donetsk for the second time (first was in 1975).

The successive two season were the apogee of glory for Shakhtar.

In 1978 Donetsk except for the league third place played in the Cup final tie and lost to FC Dynamo Kyiv - 1:2.

1979 was the most successful season for the club and their fans. FC Shakhtar was an inch away from the champions title. Viktor Nosov's team (one of the most titled coach in the history of Shakhtar) was league leader, but finished second. Besides a central forward Vitaliy Starukhin won the award of the daily "Trud" as the player of the year. He was also nominated the top-scorer of USSR League with 26 goal record.

1980 and 1983 brought League Cups to Shakhtar. Donetsk beat in finals FC Dinamo Tbilisi - 2:1 and FC Metalist Kharkiv - 1:0.

It was quite understandable that Donetsk lost their position in the league as they signed young players. In 1980 Shakhtar finished sixth, 1981 - one line lower.

The Cup team focused on the cup ties. It was a good console for the fans that FC Shakhtar was nominated the best club of the USSR 1984. Besides Donetsk showcased brilliant performance in the Cup Winners' Cup season 1983-84 (they managed to repeat this record only in 21 years).

League Table

P TEAM PLD W D L F:A PTS
1 Dynamo 18 15 3 0 44:7 48
2 Shakhtar 18 13 2 3 49:12 41
3 Dnipro 18 12 4 2 35:12 40
4 Zorya 18 9 3 6 26:20 30
5 Metalist 17 7 6 4 27:24 27