Belarusian Premier League
Season1997
ChampionsDinamo Minsk
(6th title)
RelegatedAtaka Minsk
Transmash Mogilev
Champions LeagueDinamo Minsk
Cup Winners' CupLokomotiv-96 Vitebsk
UEFA CupBelshina Bobruisk
Intertoto CupDnepr Mogilev
Matches played240
Goals scored658 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorerBelarus Andrey Khlebosolov
(19 goals)
Biggest home winDinamo Mn 7–0 Torpedo-Kadino
(8 August 1997)
Biggest away winTorpedo-Kadino 1–7 Ataka
(13 June 1997);
Kommunalnik 1–7 Dnepr
(2 July 1997)
Highest scoringDinamo-93 6–3 Transmash
(8 July 1997)
← 1996
1998 →

The 1997 Belarusian Premier League was the seventh season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 11 and ended on November 11, 1997. MPKC Mozyr were the defending champions.

Team changes from 1996 season

Obuvshchik Lida and Vedrich Rechytsa, placed 15th and 16th respectively, relegated to the First League. They were replaced by two newcomers: 1996 First League winners Transmash Mogilev and runners-up Kommunalnik Slonim. Ataka-Aura Minsk shortened their name to Ataka Minsk

Overview

Dinamo Minsk won their 6th champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up Belshina Bobruisk qualified for UEFA Cup. Bronze medalists and 1997–98 Cup winners Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup. Originally Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev and Shakhtyor Soligorsk, placed 15th and 16th respectively, were supposed to be relegated to the First League. However, after Ataka Minsk withdrew from Premier League due to bad financial state and two Mogilev teams Dnepr and Transmash merged to form FC Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev, both Shakhtyor and Torpedo-Kadino were allowed to stay in the Premier League.

Teams and venues

1997 Belarusian Premier League is located in Belarus
Minsk
Minsk
Mogilev
Mogilev
Dinamo Brest
Belshina
Neman
Lokomotiv-96
Shakhtyor
Molodechno
MPKC
Naftan-Devon
Kommunalnik
Minsk clubs: Ataka Dinamo Mn Dinamo-93 Torpedo Mn Mogilev clubs: Dnepr Torpedo-Kadino Transmash
Location of teams in 1997 Belarusian Premier League
Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 1996
MPKC Mozyr Mozyr Yunost Stadium (Mozyr) 6,500 1
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Traktor Stadium[1] 25,000 2
Belshina Bobruisk Bobruisk Spartak Stadium (Bobruisk) 2,500 3
Dinamo-93 Minsk Minsk Traktor Stadium[2] 25,000 4
Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk Vitebsk Dinamo Stadium (Vitebsk) 5,500 5
Ataka Minsk Minsk Traktor Stadium[3] 25,000 6
Naftan-Devon Novopolotsk Novopolotsk Atlant Stadium 6,500 7
Molodechno Molodechno City Stadium (Molodechno) 5,500 8
Dnepr Mogilev Mogilev Spartak Stadium (Mogilev)[4] 11,200 9
Dinamo Brest Brest Dinamo Stadium (Brest) 2,400 10
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Soligorsk Stroitel Stadium[5] 5,000 11
Torpedo Minsk Minsk Torpedo Stadium (Minsk)[6] 5,000 12
Neman Grodno Grodno Neman Stadium 15,000 13
Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev Mogilev Torpedo Stadium (Mogilev) 3,500 14
Transmash Mogilev Mogilev Spartak Stadium (Mogilev)[7] 11,200 First league, 1
Kommunalnik Slonim Slonim Yunost Stadium (Slonim) 1,200 First league, 2
  1. ^
    Club's regular home ground Dinamo Stadium was reserved for Cup final and international matches during the whole season due to poor pitch conditions. Dinamo had to play all games of the season at different venus (eight games at Traktor Stadium, two at Central Stadium in Smolevichi, one at City Stadium in Lyuban, one at Stroitel Stadium in Soligorsk, one at City Stadium in Molodechno, two at Olympic Center in Stayki)
  2. ^
    Due to renovation works at Traktor Stadium and clashes with other clubs, one home game was played at Kamvolschik Stadium, four at City Stadium in Molodechno, one at Central Stadium in Smolevichi, one at Urozhay Stadium in Nesvizh, three at Olympic Center in Stayki.
  3. ^
    Due to renovation works at Traktor Stadium and clashes with other clubs, three home games were played at Kamvolschik Stadium, one at Orbita Stadium, three at City Stadium in Lyuban, one at KFP Drozdy, one at Olympic Center in Stayki.
  4. ^
    Four games played at Khimvolokno Stadium.
  5. ^
    Two games played at Shakhtyor Stadium.
  6. ^
    Due to renovation works at Torpedo Stadium, one home game was played at City Stadium in Lyuban, two games at Torpedo Stadium in Zhodino, three at Kamvolschik Stadium, two at Olympic Center in Stayki.
  7. ^
    Three games played at Lokomotiv Stadium, two at Khimvolokno Stadium and ten games at Spartak Stadium as club's own Transmash Stadium was not licensed for Premier League.

Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dinamo Minsk (C) 30 21 7 2 74 24 +50 70 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 Belshina Bobruisk 30 21 3 6 67 30 +37 66 Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3 Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk 30 18 5 7 46 30 +16 59 Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
4 Dnepr Mogilev 30 15 7 8 48 32 +16 52 Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
5 Dinamo-93 Minsk 30 14 7 9 53 30 +23 49
6 MPKC Mozyr 30 12 7 11 39 30 +9 43
7 Dinamo Brest 30 12 6 12 44 52 −8 42
8 Torpedo Minsk 30 12 6 12 45 43 +2 42
9 Naftan-Devon Novopolotsk 30 10 9 11 40 33 +7 39
10 Neman Grodno 30 10 8 12 32 41 −9 38
11 Kommunalnik Slonim 30 9 3 18 32 61 −29 30
12 Ataka Minsk (R) 30 8 6 16 29 44 −15 30 Dissolved
13 Molodechno 30 7 9 14 28 44 −16 30
14 Transmash Mogilev (R) 30 8 4 18 30 52 −22 28 Merged with Dnepr Mogilev
15 Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev 30 7 7 16 29 59 −30 28
16 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 30 6 6 18 22 53 −31 24
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away ATA BSH DBR DMI D93 DNE KOM LVI MOL MPK NAF NEM SHA TMI TMO TRA
Ataka Minsk 0–3 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 4–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0
Belshina Bobruisk 3–0 3–1 1–2 2–1 3–1 4–1 1–2 3–1 1–0 4–1 3–2 1–1 2–1 5–1 1–0
Dinamo Brest 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 5–3 3–1 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–2 1–1 1–1 2–2
Dinamo Minsk 3–1 0–0 3–0 3–1 3–1 4–0 6–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 7–0 3–1
Dinamo-93 Minsk 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–0 3–0 5–2 1–2 4–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 4–0 2–1 0–0 6–3
Dnepr Mogilev 2–0 3–0 2–0 1–3 2–1 1–0 0–0 3–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0
Kommunalnik Slonim 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–4 2–0 1–7 0–5 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–2 1–1 3–1
Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk 1–0 0–4 4–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 4–0 3–0 2–1 5–1 3–0
Molodechno 0–1 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 1–4 0–1 3–1 0–2 3–2 1–1 3–2 0–0 1–0 2–0
MPKC Mozyr 4–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 1–5 0–1 3–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 4–0 1–0 6–1 2–0 2–0
Naftan-Devon Novopolotsk 6–0 1–2 2–1 2–3 1–0 3–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–3 0–1 5–1 2–2
Neman Grodno 0–0 0–2 4–1 2–1 1–3 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–3
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1–0 1–4 3–0 0–4 0–4 2–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–4 0–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–0
Torpedo Minsk 3–0 1–0 1–3 1–3 0–3 4–3 5–2 0–1 0–0 5–0 2–2 0–2 1–2 3–1 2–0
Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev 1–7 3–4 0–1 1–4 2–3 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 4–0 1–0 0–2 0–1
Transmash Mogilev 2–1 2–5 4–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–3 2–0 0–2 3–2
Source: rsssf.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Belarusian clubs in European Cups

Round Team #1 Agg. Team #1 1st leg 2nd leg
1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup
Group stage Dinamo-93 Minsk Belarus 1–0 Netherlands Heerenveen 1–0
Polonia Warsaw Poland 1–4 Belarus Dinamo-93 Minsk 1–4
Dinamo-93 Minsk Belarus 0–1 Germany Duisburg 0–1
Aalborg Denmark 2–1 Belarus Dinamo-93 Minsk 2–1
1997–98 UEFA Cup
First qualifying round Dinamo Minsk Belarus (a) 2–2 Georgia (country) Kolkheti-1913 Poti 1–0 1–2
Second qualifying round Dinamo Minsk Belarus 0–3 Norway Lillestrøm 0–2 0–1
First round MPKC Mozyr Belarus 1–2 Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi 1–1 0–1
1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Qualifying round Sadam Tallinn Estonia 2–5 Belarus Belshina Bobruisk 1–1 1–4
First round Belshina Bobruisk Belarus 1–5 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 1–2 0–3
1997–98 UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round Constructorul Chişinău Moldova 3–4 Belarus MPKC Mozyr 1–1 2–3
Second qualifying round Olympiacos Greece 7–2 Belarus MPKC Mozyr 5–0 2–2

Top scorers

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Belarus Andrey Khlebosolov Belshina Bobruisk 19
2 Belarus Uladzimir Makowski Dinamo Minsk 16
3 Belarus Dzmitry Balashow Belshina Bobruisk 15
Russia Vladimir Solodukhin Dnepr Mogilev 15
Belarus Andrey Turchinovich Dinamo-93 Minsk 15
6 Belarus Dmitry Podrez Dinamo Minsk 13
Belarus Maksim Razumaw Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk 13
8 Belarus Raman Vasilyuk Dinamo Brest 12
Belarus Vladimir Putrash Belshina Bobruisk 12
Belarus Valery Strypeykis Naftan-Devon Novopolotsk 12

See also

External links

Belarusian Premier League
1997 in Belarusian football
1996–97 in European football (UEFA)
1997–98 in European football (UEFA)
Categories