Belarusian Premier League

Belarusian Premier League
Founded 1992
Country Belarus
Confederation UEFA
Number of teams 16
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to Belarusian First League
Domestic cup(s) Belarusian Cup
Belarusian Super Cup
International cup(s) UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
Current champions BATE Borisov
(2017)
Most championships BATE Borisov (14 titles)
TV partners Belarus 5
Website http://www.bff.by/
2018 Belarusian Premier League

The Belarusian Premier League or the Vysheyshaya Liga (Belarusian: Вышэйшая ліга, Russian: Высшая лига, "Top League") is the top division of professional football in Belarus, and is organized by the Belarusian Football Federation. The number of teams in the competition has varied over the years from as high as 17 (1992–93 season) to as low as 11 (2012). As of 2017, the league includes 16 teams. Each team plays every other team twice during the course of the season. At the end of the season two teams are relegated to the Belarusian First League, and two are promoted from the First League to replace them.

BATE Borisov are the current champions and most successful team, with 14 titles.

History

The Belarusian Premier League was organized in 1992. The first participants were: Dinamo Minsk, the only Belarusian side in the former Soviet Top League, five teams from the lower tiers of the Soviet league system, and ten teams who were previous competitors in the Belarusian SSR First League.

After the league creation, it was decided to change its schedule from a Soviet-style summer season to a European-style winter season. To perform the transition, the first season was shortened, consisting of a single round-robin tournament between 16 teams, finishing in mid-summer. Due to the shortened season, no team was relegated from the Premier League and only one was promoted from the First League. The 1992–93 season had 17 teams, but was reduced back to 16 teams for the following season. In 1995, the winter season experiment was proven unsuccessful due to poor weather and field conditions in Belarus in the late autumn and early spring. The season was changed back to summer, and the 1995 championship was once again held as a single round-robin tournament. Every season since 1996 has been played in the summer.

Throughout the 2000s, the number of competing teams has changed several times. In 2001, the league was reduced to 14 teams, but expanded back to 16 in 2003. In 2005, after two teams withdrew before the start of the season, the league was once again reduced to 14 clubs, but expanded again to 16 teams in 2008. That same year, the decision was made to gradually reduce the number of teams even more, starting with 14 teams in 2009 and 12 in 2010 onwards. 2012 season was played with only 11 teams due to last minute withdrawal of Partizan Minsk.

In its earliest years, the league was dominated by Dinamo Minsk, who won the league five times in a row between 1992 and 1995. During the next ten seasons, seven different teams finished as champions: Slavia Mozyr (1996 as MPKC Mozyr, 2000), Dinamo Minsk (1997, 2004), Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev (1998), BATE Borisov (1999, 2002), Belshina Bobruisk (2001), Gomel (2003), Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2005). Since 2006, BATE Borisov has dominated the league, winning 12 championships in a row (2006–2017), and becoming the first Belarusian team to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League (2008) and the UEFA Europa League (2009) (feats that they have achieved repeatedly in the following years).

Premier League in 2017

Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 2016
BATE Borisov Borisov Arena 12,896 1st
Dinamo Brest Brest OSK Brestskiy 10,060 8th
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Traktor Stadium 16,500 3rd
Dnepr Mogilev Spartak Stadium 7,350 First League, 2nd
Gomel Gomel Central Stadium 14,307 First League, 1st
Gorodeya Gorodeya Gorodeya Stadium 1,625 9th
Isloch Minsk Raion FC Minsk Stadium1 3,000 7th
Krumkachy Minsk FC Minsk Stadium2 3,000 11th
Minsk Minsk FC Minsk Stadium 3,000 4th
Naftan Novopolotsk Atlant Stadium 4,500 13th
Neman Grodno Neman Stadium 8,500 14th
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Stroitel Stadium 4,200 2nd
Slavia Mozyr Yunost Stadium 5,300 10th
Slutsk Slutsk City Stadium 1,896 12th
Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Torpedo Stadium 3,020 5th
Vitebsk Vitebsk Vitebsky CSK 8,100 6th

Soviet era champions

Champions and top scorers

Season Champion Runner-up Third place Top scorer
1992
 Dinamo Minsk Dnepr Mogilev Dinamo Brest Belarus Andrey Skorobogatko (Dnepr Mogilev) (11)
1992–93
 Dinamo Minsk KIM Vitebsk Belarus Minsk Belarus Sergey Baranovsky (Dinamo Minsk) (19)
Belarus Miroslav Romaschenko (Vedrich Rechitsa / Dnepr Mogilev) (19)
1993–94
 Dinamo Minsk Dinamo-93 Minsk KIM Vitebsk Belarus Pyotr Kachuro (Dinamo-93 Minsk / Dinamo Minsk) (21)
1994–95
 Dinamo Minsk Dvina Vitebsk Dinamo-93 Minsk Belarus Pavel Shavrov (Dinamo-93 Minsk) (19)
1995
 Dinamo Minsk MPKC Mozyr Dinamo-93 Minsk Belarus Sergey Yaromko (MPKC Mozyr) (16)
1996
 MPKC Mozyr Dinamo Minsk Belshina Bobruisk Belarus Andrey Khlebasolaw (Belshina Bobruisk) (34)
1997
 Dinamo Minsk Belshina Bobruisk Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk Belarus Andrey Khlebasolaw (Belshina Bobruisk) (19)
1998
 Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev BATE Borisov Belshina Bobruisk Belarus Sergey Yaromko (Torpedo Minsk) (19)
1999
 BATE Borisov Slavia Mozyr Gomel Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Slavia Mozyr) (21)
2000
 Slavia Mozyr BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Belarus Raman Vasilyuk (Slavia Mozyr) (31)
2001
 Belshina Bobruisk Dinamo Minsk BATE Borisov Russia Sergei Davydov (Neman-Belcard Grodno) (25)
2002
 BATE Borisov Neman Grodno Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Belshina Bobruisk) (18)
2003
 Gomel BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Belarus Gennadi Bliznyuk (Gomel) (18)
Belarus Sergei Kornilenko (Dinamo Minsk) (18)
2004
 Dinamo Minsk BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Naftan Novopolotsk) (18)
2005
 Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk MTZ-RIPO Minsk Belarus Valery Strypeykis (Naftan Novopolotsk) (16)
2006
 BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Alyaksandr Klimenka (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (17)
2007
 BATE Borisov Gomel Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Raman Vasilyuk (Gomel) (24)
2008
 BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk MTZ-RIPO Minsk Belarus Gennadi Bliznyuk (BATE Borisov) (16)
Belarus Vitali Rodionov (BATE Borisov) (16)
2009
 BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Dnepr Mogilev Brazil Maycon (Gomel) (15)
2010
 BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Minsk Brazil Renan Bressan (BATE Borisov) (15)
2011
 BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Gomel Brazil Renan Bressan (BATE Borisov) (13)
2012
 BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk Belarus Dzmitry Asipenka (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (14)
2013
 BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk Belarus Vitali Rodionov (BATE Borisov) (14)
2014
 BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Mikalay Yanush (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (15)
2015
 BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Mikalay Yanush (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) (15)
2016
 BATE Borisov Shakhtyor Soligorsk Dinamo Minsk Belarus Vitali Rodionov (BATE Borisov) (16)
Belarus Mikhail Gordeichuk (BATE Borisov) (16)
2017
 BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarus Mikhail Gordeichuk (BATE Borisov) (18)

Performances

Performance by club

Teams Champion Runner-up Third place
BATE Borisov 14 (1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) 4 (1998, 2000, 2003, 2004) 1 (2001)
Dinamo Minsk 7 (1992, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995, 1997, 2004) 9 (1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017) 5 (2000, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2016)
Slavia Mozyr 2 (1996, 2000) 2 (1995, 1999) –
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1 (2005) 5 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016) 7 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2017)
Gomel 1 (2003) 1 (2007) 2 (1999, 2011)
Belshina Bobruisk 1 (2001) 1 (1997) 2 (1996, 1998)
Dnepr Mogilev 1 (1998) 1 (1992) 1 (2009)
Vitebsk – 2 (1992–93, 1994–95) 2 (1993–94, 1997)
Dinamo-93 Minsk – 1 (1993–94) 3 (1992–93, 1994–95, 1995)
Neman Grodno – 1 (2002) –
Partizan Minsk – – 2 (2005, 2008)
Dinamo Brest – – 1 (1992)
Minsk – – 1 (2010)

All-time table

As of end of 2017 season.
Rank Club1 Seasons Debut Last
Season		 Pld2 W D L Goals Points3 Best Result
1Dinamo Minsk 271992—7634561651421408–64715331st (1992, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995, 1997, 2004)
2BATE Borisov 201998—582387118771157–44112791st (1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
3Shakhtyor Soligorsk 271992—7633561892201091–79012471st (2005)
4Neman Grodno 271992—764276200288851–92310282nd (2002)
5Dinamo Brest 271992—763259184320906–10189613rd (1992)
6Dnepr Mogilev 241992—677258169240896–8369431st (1998)
7Gomel 221992—593238129226751–7358431st (2003)
8Vitebsk 221992—613225157231699–7568322nd (1992–93, 1994–95)
9Belshina Bobruisk 201993–942016578219128231784–7707851st (2001)
10Naftan Novopolotsk 2119962017615190131294716–9456964th (2009)
11Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino 181992—513184132197590–6056844th (2004, 2005, 2007, 2014)
12Slavia Mozyr 161995201745017095185640–6635851st (1996, 2000)
13Torpedo Minsk 141992—383151106126457–4165594th (2002, 2003)
14Minsk 102007—29810873117357–3453973rd (2010)
15Dinamo-93 Minsk 71992–931998181994339296–1573402nd (1993–94)
16Molodechno-2000 12199220033238080163339–4903204th (1994–95)
17Partizan Minsk 720042010198804276288–2812823rd (2005, 2008)
18Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev 10199220002716476131266–4442687th (1992)
19Vedrich-97 Rechitsa 8199220012084644118167–3271828th (1992)
20Darida Minsk Raion 620032008168443886165–2521708th (2006)
21Bobruisk 519921995122443444119–1451664th (1992)
22Lida 719922000182384698144–2891608th (1994–95)
23Slutsk 42014—118353449104–1321397th (2017)
24Granit Mikashevichi 420082016112313546112–1611285th (2015)
25Ataka Minsk 3199519977529163086–931034th (1995)
26Lokomotiv Minsk 420032008112232564100–1879411th (2005)
27Lokomotiv Vitebsk 419921994–9510722275882–1819310th (1993–94)
28Zvezda-BGU Minsk 420022005112212368106–2288612th (2002, 2003)
29Smorgon 3200720098218263858–114808th (2008)
30Gorodeya 22016—6016281673–74769th (2016, 2017)
31Isloch Minsk Raion 22016—6021122760–85757th (2016)
32Kommunalnik Slonim 3199720008915175766–1916211th (1997)
33Stroitel Starye Dorogi 319921993–947714184548–1176014th (1992, 1992–93)
34Krumkachy Minsk 2201620176014163050–865811th (2016)
35Transmash Mogilev 11997199730841830–522814th (1997)
36Savit Mogilev 12008200830561928–612115th (2008)
37Svisloch-Krovlya Osipovichi 11999199930442224–741615th (1999)
38Luch Minsk 02018—00000–00TBD (2018)
39Smolevichi 02018—00000–00TBD (2018)

  1. For clubs that have been renamed, their name at the time of their most recent season in the Premier League is given. The current members are listed in bold.
  2. Includes 2002 championship play-off, 2004 relegation play-off and 14 games of Dinamo-93 in 1998 season.
  3. For the purposes of this table, each win is worth 3 points. The three-points system was adopted in fall 1995 season.

Player of the year

Belarusian Premier League Player of the year is an annual award given by a sports newspaper Pressball.

Season Player Club
1992
 Belarus Valyantsin Byalkevich Dinamo Minsk
1992–93
 Belarus Sergey Gotsmanov Dinamo Minsk
1993–94
 Belarus Yury Shukanov Dinamo Minsk
1994–95
 Belarus Valyantsin Byalkevich Dinamo Minsk
1995
 Belarus Valyantsin Byalkevich Dinamo Minsk
1996
 Belarus Alyaksandr Kulchy MPKC Mozyr
1997
 Belarus Andrei Lavrik Dinamo Minsk
1998
 Belarus Aleh Konanaw Torpedo Minsk
1999
 Russia Dmitri Karsakov Slavia Mozyr
2000
 Belarus Aleksandr Lisovsky BATE Borisov
2001
 Belarus Vitali Kutuzov BATE Borisov
2002
 Belarus Dzmitry Likhtarovich BATE Borisov
2003
 Belarus Timofei Kalachev Shakhtyor Soligorsk
2004
 Belarus Andrey Razin Dinamo Minsk
2005
 Belarus Vital Valadzyankow Dinamo Minsk
2006
 Belarus Oleg Strakhanovich MTZ-RIPO Minsk
2007
 Belarus Raman Vasilyuk Gomel
2008
 Belarus Vitali Rodionov BATE Borisov
2009
 Belarus Sergey Krivets BATE Borisov
2010
 Brazil Renan Bressan BATE Borisov
2011
 Brazil Renan Bressan BATE Borisov
2012
 Belarus Stanislaw Drahun Dinamo Minsk
2013
 Belarus Alexander Hleb BATE Borisov
2014
2015

Reserves League

An annual league competition is organized for the reserve teams of Premier League clubs since 2001. This tournament was won by the reserves of Dinamo Minsk (7 titles), Gomel (2 titles), Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2 titles), BATE Borisov (1 title), Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino (1 title) and Dnepr Mogilev (1 title).

Notes

  1. ↑ a team of the Belarusian Military District
  2. ↑ a team of the Home of the Red Army (Home of the Red Army is a special organization and used to include sports section preceding the Army Sports Club (SKA))
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.