The 1974 Soviet First League was the fourth season of the Soviet First League and the 34th 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	RUS	Lokomotiv Moscow	38	23	7	8	73	33	+40	53	Promoted
2	RUS	SKA Rostov-on-Don	38	21	9	8	64	35	+29	51[a]
3	BLR	Dinamo Minsk	38	21	9	8	60	38	+22	51[a]
4	RUS	Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev	38	20	8	10	65	41	+24	48
5	AZE	Neftçi Baku	38	18	10	10	54	32	+22	46
6	UKR	Tavriya Simferopol	38	18	6	14	74	55	+19	42[b]
7	RUS	Kuzbass Kemerovo	38	19	4	15	48	50	−2	42
8	GEO	Torpedo Kutaisi	38	14	10	14	37	42	−5	38
9	TJK	Pamir Dushanbe	38	13	11	14	48	48	0	37
10	RUS	Zvezda Perm	38	13	11	14	54	59	−5	37
11	RUS	Shinnik Yaroslavl	38	11	14	13	50	53	−3	36
12	UKR	Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk	38	9	16	13	37	39	−2	34
13	UKR	Metalurh Zaporizhzhia	38	11	12	15	42	50	−8	34
14	RUS	Spartak Nalchik	38	10	14	14	37	47	−10	34
15	RUS	Kuban Krasnodar	38	12	10	16	54	67	−13	34[b]
16	RUS	Uralmash Sverdlovsk	38	13	8	17	38	54	−16	34[b]
17	RUS	Spartak Orzhonikidze	38	15	4	19	45	67	−22	34
18	TKM	Stroitel Ashgabad	38	11	11	16	50	52	−2	33	Relegated
19	RUS	Metallurg Lipetsk	38	8	9	21	30	58	−28	25
20	RUS	Tekstilshchik Ivanovo	38	5	7	26	33	73	−40	17

Number of teams by union republic

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	12	Lokomotiv Moscow, SKA Rostov-na-Donu, Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev, Kuzbass Kemerevo, Zvezda Perm, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Elbrus Nalchik, Kuban Krasnodar, Uralmash Sverdlovsk, Spartak Ordzhonikidze, Metallurg Lipetsk, Tekstilschik Ivanovo
2	Ukrainian SSR	3	Tavria Simferopol, Prykarpatye Ivano-Frankovsk, Metallurg Zaporozhye
3	Belarusian SSR	1	Dinamo Minsk
	Azerbaijan SSR		Neftchi Baku
	Georgian SSR		Torpedo Kutaisi
	Tajik SSR		Pamir Dushanbe
	Turkmen SSR		Stroitel Ashkhabat