The professional top level of football competition among clubs was established in 1936 on proposition of Nikolai Starostin and was approved by the All-Union Council of Physical Culture. Originally it was called as Group A and after the World War II as the First Group. In 1950 after another reform of football in the Soviet Union, the First Group was replaced with Class A. By 1970 the Class A had expanded to three tiers with the top tier known as the Higher Group which in 1971 was renamed into the Higher League.