The 1972 Soviet First League was the second season of the Soviet First League and the 32nd season of the Soviet second tier league competition.

Final standings

Pos	Rep	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	UZB	Pahtakor Tashkent	38	24	7	7	74	36	+38	55[a]	Promoted
2	UKR	Shakhtar Donetsk	38	19	13	6	57	21	+36	51[a]
3	UKR	Chornomorets Odessa	38	20	8	10	67	36	+31	48
4	RUS	Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev	38	14	17	7	50	35	+15	45
5	GEO	Torpedo Kutaisi	38	19	6	13	49	32	+17	44
6	RUS	Zvezda Perm	38	14	16	8	41	35	+6	44[b]
7	RUS	Shinnik Yaroslavl	38	15	10	13	39	44	−5	40
8	TJK	Pamir Dushanbe	38	13	13	12	52	51	+1	39
9	RUS	Spartak Orzhonikidze	38	14	10	14	49	50	−1	38
10	KAZ	Shakhter Karagandy	38	11	13	14	37	48	−11	35
11	KGZ	Alga Frunze	38	10	14	14	42	44	−2	34
12	MDA	Nistru Chișinău[c]	38	11	12	15	39	49	−10	34
13	RUS	Tekstilshchik Ivanovo	38	11	12	15	37	52	−15	34
14	UKR	Metalurh Zaporizhzhia	38	13	7	18	45	49	−4	33
15	RUS	Automobilist Nalchik	38	8	17	13	28	43	−15	33[b]
16	UKR	Metallist Kharkiv	38	10	12	16	33	42	−9	32
17	TKM	Stroitel Ashgabad	38	11	10	17	36	55	−19	32
18	RUS	Uralmash Sverdlovsk	38	11	9	18	38	58	−20	31	Relegated
19	UKR	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	38	10	10	18	50	62	−12	30[b]
20	RUS	Dinamo Leningrad	38	7	14	17	32	53	−21	28

Number of teams by union republic

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	8	Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev, Zvezda Perm, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Spartak Ordzhonikidze, Tekstilschik Ivanovo, Avtomobilist Nalchik, Uralmash Sverdlovsk, Dinamo Leningrad
2	Ukrainian SSR	5	Shakhter Donetsk, Chernomorets Odessa, Metallurg Zaporozhye, Metallist Kharkov, Krivbass Krivoi Rog
3	Uzbek SSR	1	Pakhtakor Tashkent
	Georgian SSR		Torpedo Kutaisi
	Tajik SSR		Pamir Dushanbe
	Kazakh SSR		Shakhter Karaganda
	Kyrgyz SSR		Alga Frunze
	Moldavian SSR		Nistru Kishinev
	Turkmen SSR		Stroitel Ashkhabat