2003 Belarusian Premier League

Belarusian Premier League
Season 2003
Champions Gomel
Relegated Lokomotiv Minsk
Molodechno-2000
Champions League Gomel
UEFA Cup Shakhtyor
BATE
Intertoto Cup Dinamo Minsk
Matches played 240
Goals scored 621 (2.59 per match)
Top goalscorer Belarus Gennadi Bliznyuk,
Belarus Sergei Kornilenko - (18)
Biggest home win Shakhtyor 9–0 Zvezda-VA-BGU
Biggest away win Slavia 0–7 Dinamo Minsk;
Slavia 0–7 BATE
Highest scoring Shakhtyor 9–0 Zvezda-VA-BGU;
Belshina 4–5 Dnepr-Transmash
← 2002
2004 →

Belarusian Premier League 2003 was the 13th season of top-tier football in Belarus. The first round was postponed from April 11–12 to later dates due to heavy snowfall. The season finally started on April 18 and ended on November 9, 2003. BATE Borisov were the defending champions.

Team changes from 2002 season

Due to Premiere League expansion from 14 to 16 teams, one lowest placed team in 2002 Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk was replaced by three best teams from 2002 First League: Darida Minsk Raion, Naftan Novopolotsk and Lokomotiv Minsk. Torpedo-MAZ Minsk changed their name to Torpedo-SKA Minsk. Darida originally was registered in Minsk suburb Zhdanovichi, while playing their games in Kuntsevschina district in Minsk. The team was renamed to Darida-TDZh Zhdanovichi (due to sponsorship from shopping center Zhdanovichi) for a few weeks in early 2003. However, after shopping center cancelled their sponsorship, team's name was changed back to Darida and official location became Minsk Raion, while team's office and stadium locations remained the same.

Overview

Gomel won their 1st champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up BATE Borisov and 2003–04 Cup winners Shakhtyor Soligorsk qualified for UEFA Cup. Teams finished on the last two places (Lokomotiv Minsk and Molodechno-2000) relegated to the First League.

Teams and venues

Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 2002
BATE Borisov City Stadium, Borisov 5,500 1
Neman Grodno Neman 6,300 2
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Stroitel 5,000 3
Torpedo-SKA Minsk Torpedo, Minsk 5,200 4
Torpedo Zhodino Torpedo, Zhodino 3,020 5
Gomel Gomel Central 11,800 6
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Dinamo, Minsk 41,040 7
Belshina Bobruisk Spartak, Bobruisk 3,550 8
Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev Spartak, Mogilev 11,200 9
Dinamo Brest Brest OSK Brestskiy 10,080 10
Slavia Mozyr Yunost 5,500 11
Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk Traktor 17,600 12
Molodechno-2000 Molodechno City Stadium, Molodechno 5,500 13
Darida Minsk Raion Darida 6,000 First league, 1
Naftan Novopolotsk Atlant 6,500 First league, 2
Lokomotiv Minsk Lokomotiv 800 First league, 3

Table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Gomel (C) 30 23 5 2 56 12 +44 74 2004–05 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round
2 BATE Borisov 30 20 6 4 70 21 +49 66 2004–05 UEFA Cup First qualifying round
3 Dinamo Minsk 30 20 4 6 62 24 +38 64 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup First round
4 Torpedo-SKA Minsk 30 19 7 4 54 20 +34 64
5 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 30 19 7 4 60 23 +37 64 2004–05 UEFA Cup First qualifying round
6 Torpedo Zhodino 30 13 10 7 44 25 +19 49
7 Neman Grodno 30 10 9 11 24 35 −11 39
8 Naftan Novopolotsk 30 10 5 15 39 49 −10 35
9 Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev 30 8 10 12 38 46 −8 34
10 Belshina Bobruisk 30 8 8 14 44 50 −6 32
11 Dinamo Brest 30 5 12 13 21 49 −28 27
12 Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk 30 7 4 19 23 64 −41 25
13 Darida Minsk Raion 30 7 4 19 22 45 −23 25
14 Slavia Mozyr 30 6 7 17 29 64 −35 25
15 Lokomotiv Minsk (R) 30 5 9 16 16 42 −26 24 Relegation to First League
16 Molodechno-2000 (R) 30 3 7 20 19 52 −33 16

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Belarusian clubs in Euporean Cups

Round Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup
First round Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus 8–1 Northern Ireland Omagh Town 1–0 7–1
Second round Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus 3–5 Croatia Cibalia Vinkovci 1–1 2–4
2003–04 UEFA Cup
Qualifying round Brøndby Denmark 5–0 Belarus Dinamo Minsk 3–0 2–0
Neman Grodno Belarus 1–1 (a) Romania Steaua Bucureşti 1–1 0–0
2003–04 UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round BATE Borisov Belarus 1–3 Republic of Ireland Bohemians 1–0 0–3

Top scorers

Rank Name Team Goals
1Belarus Gennadi BliznyukGomel18
Belarus Sergei KornilenkoDinamo Minsk18
3Belarus Anatoly TikhonchikShakhtyor Soligorsk17
4Belarus Pavel ByahanskiBATE Borisov16
Belarus Yury MarkhelTorpedo Zhodino16
6Ukraine Oleksandr PyschurDnepr-Transmash Mogilev13
7Belarus Aleksey DenisenyaBelshina Bobruisk12
8Belarus Aleksandr BorisikBelshina Bobruisk11
9Georgia (country) Suliko KakabadzeNaftan Novopolotsk10
Belarus Syarhey KozakTorpedo-SKA Minsk10
Belarus Syarhey NikiforenkaShakhtyor Soligorsk10

See also

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