The 1988 Soviet First League was the 49th season of the second tier of association football in the Soviet Union.

• SC Tavriya Simferopol – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of 3 seasons)
• FC Kuban Krasnodar – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of a season)
• FC Zvezda Perm – Winner of the Second League finals (returning after an absence of 8 seasons)

• CSKA Moscow – (Returning after a season)
• FC Guria Lanchkhuti – (Returning after a season)

Kuzbass

SKA Karpaty

Rostov- on- Don
Rostselmash
SKA

Spartak

Tavriya

Pakhtakor

Zvezda

Dinamo B

CSKA

Shinnik

Rotor

Pamir

Zorya

Dynamo S

Kotayk

Daugava

Kolos

Geolog

Kuban

Metalurh

Guria

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Location of teams in the 1988 Soviet First League.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Pamir Dushanbe (C, P)	42	24	10	8	78	44	+34	58	Promotion to Top League
2	Rotor Volgograd (P)	42	25	7	10	76	37	+39	57
3	CSKA Moscow	42	23	10	9	69	35	+34	56
4	Guria Lanchkhuti	42	23	7	12	71	44	+27	53
5	Pakhtakor Tashkent	42	21	10	11	64	38	+26	52
6	Dynamo Stavropol	42	18	11	13	59	46	+13	47
7	SKA Karpaty Lviv	42	18	8	16	51	39	+12	44
8	Daugava Riga	42	18	7	17	56	54	+2	43
9	SKA Rostov-on-Don	42	16	10	16	57	64	−7	42
10	Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don	42	16	8	18	59	67	−8	40
11	Shinnik Yaroslavl	42	16	8	18	48	48	0	40
12	Geolog Tyumen	42	17	5	20	46	58	−12	39
13	Spartak Ordjonikidze	42	15	9	18	57	60	−3	39
14	Tavriya Simferopol	42	13	14	15	34	43	−9	38[a]
15	Kuzbass Kemerevo	42	13	14	15	38	39	−1	38[a]
16	Dinamo Batumi	42	15	6	21	40	53	−13	36
17	Metalurh Zaporizhia	42	12	13	17	30	43	−13	36[a]
18	Kotayk Abovyan	42	14	7	21	55	83	−28	35
19	Kuban Krasnodar	42	12	11	19	41	56	−15	35
20	Zarya Voroshylovhrad (R)	42	11	10	21	44	59	−15	32	Relegation to Second League
21	Zvezda Perm (R)	42	10	12	20	37	69	−32	32
22	Kolos Nikopol (R)	42	10	7	25	31	62	−31	27

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	11	Rotor Volgograd, CSKA Moscow, Dinamo Stavropol, SKA Rostov-na-Donu, Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Geolog Tyumen, Spartak Vladikavkaz, Kuzbass Kemerovo, Kuban Krasnodar, Zvezda Perm
2	Ukrainian SSR	5	Metallurg Zaporozhye, Tavriya Simferopol, SKA Karpaty Lvov, Zaria Voroshilovgrad, Kolos Nikopol
3	Georgian SSR	2	Guria Lanchkhuti, Dinamo Batumi
4	Uzbek SSR	1	Pakhtakor Tashkent
	Latvian SSR		Daugava Riga
	Tajik SSR		Pamir Dushanbe
	Armenian SSR		Kotaik Abovian

• Soviet First League

• 1988. First League. (1988. Первая лига. ) Luhansk Nash Futbol