The 2004 Belarusian Premier League was the 14th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 15 and ended on November 11, 2004. Gomel were the defending champions.
| Season | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Dinamo Minsk |
| Relegated | Lokomotiv Vitebsk Belshina |
| Champions League | Dinamo Minsk |
| UEFA Cup | MTZ-RIPO Minsk BATE Borisov |
| Intertoto Cup | Neman |
| Matches played | 241 |
| Goals scored | 657 (2.73 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |  Valery Strypeykis (18) |
| Biggest home win | MTZ-RIPO 6–0 Lokomotiv Vitebsk |
| Biggest away win | Belshina 0–5 BATE; MTZ-RIPO 0–5 Torpedo Zhodino |
| Highest scoring | 5–2 – 3 games; 6–1 – 1 game |
← 2003 2005 → | |
Team changes from 2003 season edit
Two lowest placed teams in 2003 (Lokomotiv Minsk and Molodechno-2000) relegated and were replaced by two best teams from 2003 First League: newcomers MTZ-RIPO Minsk and Lokomotiv Vitebsk, who previously competed in Premiere League as KIM, Dvina and Lokomotiv-96 and is a different team from Lokomotiv Vitebsk, who relegated to First League in 1995 and after a few seasons in First and Second Leagues was disbanded in late 2000.
Overview edit
Dinamo Minsk won their 7th champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up BATE Borisov and 2004–05 Cup winners MTZ-RIPO Minsk qualified for UEFA Cup. 2001 champions Belshina Bobruisk finished on last place and directly relegated to the First League. Lokomotiv Vitebsk and MTZ-RIPO Minsk shared 14th and 15th places with equal number of points and had to play one-legged play-off on a neutral ground to determine who will relegate and who will stay. Lokomotiv Vitebsk lost the game and relegated to the First League. Torpedo-SKA Minsk, who finished 6th, lost financial support from their sponsor in early 2005 and, after losing almost all their main squad and not having funds to pay entrance fee for next season's Premiere League, had to relegate to Second League.
Teams and venues edit
| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity | Position in 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gomel | Gomel | Central Stadium | 10,600 | 1 |
| BATE | Borisov | City Stadium (Borisov) | 5,500 | 2 |
| Dinamo Minsk | Minsk | Dinamo Stadium | 40,000 | 3 |
| Torpedo-SKA | Minsk | Torpedo Stadium (Minsk) | 5,200 | 4 |
| Shakhtyor | Soligorsk | Stroitel Stadium | 3,000 | 5 |
| Torpedo | Zhodino | Torpedo Stadium (Zhodino) | 2,020 | 6 |
| Neman | Grodno | Neman Stadium | 6,300 | 7 |
| Naftan | Novopolotsk | Atlant Stadium | 5,300 | 8 |
| Dnepr-Transmash | Mogilev | Spartak Stadium (Mogilev) | 6,800 | 9 |
| Belshina | Bobruisk | Spartak Stadium (Bobruisk) | 3,000 | 10 |
| Dinamo Brest | Brest | OSK Brestskiy | 3,000 | 11 |
| Zvezda-VA-BGU | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 17,600 | 12 |
| Darida | Minsk Raion | Darida Stadium[1] | 3,000 | 13 |
| Slavia | Mozyr | Yunost Stadium | 5,300 | 14 |
| Lokomotiv | Vitebsk | Vitebsky CSK[2] | 8,100 | First league, 1 |
| MTZ-RIPO | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 17,600 | First league, 2 |
- ^ One game played at Torpedo Stadium in Minsk.
- ^
Table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dinamo Minsk (C) | 30 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 64 | 18 | +46 | 75 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | BATE Borisov | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 59 | 25 | +34 | 70 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 55 | 21 | +34 | 65 | |
| 4 | Torpedo Zhodino | 30 | 19 | 2 | 9 | 57 | 28 | +29 | 59 | |
| 5 | Gomel | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 41 | +1 | 46 | |
| 6 | Torpedo-SKA Minsk (R) | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 46 | Relegation to Belarusian Second League[a] |
| 7 | Neman Grodno | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 40 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
| 8 | Dinamo Brest | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 39 | |
| 9 | Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 29 | 37 | −8 | 37 | |
| 10 | Naftan Novopolotsk | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 45 | 50 | −5 | 35 | |
| 11 | Darida Minsk Raion | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 35 | |
| 12 | Slavia Mozyr | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 32 | 51 | −19 | 31 | |
| 13 | Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 56 | −25 | 29 | |
| 14 | MTZ-RIPO Minsk (O) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 56 | −24 | 27 | UEFA Cup first qualifying round and relegation play-offs[b] |
| 15 | Lokomotiv Vitebsk (R) | 30 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 27 | Relegation to Belarusian First League[c] |
| 16 | Belshina Bobruisk (R) | 30 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 21 | 62 | −41 | 12 |
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Torpedo-SKA Minsk were relegated to the Second League due to the financial reasons.
- ^ MTZ-RIPO Minsk qualified for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round by winning the 2004–05 Belarusian Cup.
- ^ MTZ-RIPO Minsk and Lokomotiv Vitebsk finished the season level on points so the Football Federation of Belarus decided to organise a playoff game to determine which side will be relegated to the First League.
Relegation play-off edit
| Lokomotiv Vitebsk | 1 – 4 | MTZ-RIPO Minsk |
|---|---|---|
Yeremeyev  66' |
Report | Zelmikas 15' Mkhitaryan 34'Fedorchenko 55'Parfenov 61' |
Results edit
Belarusian clubs in European Cups edit
| Round | Team #1 | Agg. | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup | |||||
| First round | Odra Wodzisław 
|
1–2 | Dinamo Minsk
|
1–0 | 0–2 |
| Second round | Dinamo Minsk
|
4–3 |  Smederevo
|
1–2 | 3–1 (aet) |
| Third round | Lille 
|
4–3 | Dinamo Minsk
|
2–1 | 2–2 |
| 2004–05 UEFA Cup | |||||
| First qualifying round | Nistru Otaci 
|
3–2 | Shakhtyor Soligorsk
|
1–1 | 2–1 |
| BATE Borisov
|
2–4 |  Dinamo Tbilisi
|
2–3 | 0–1 | |
| 2004–05 UEFA Champions League | |||||
| First qualifying round | Gomel
|
1–2 |  Tirana
|
0–2 | 1–0 |
Top scorers edit
| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valery Strypeykis |
Naftan Novopolotsk | 18 |
| 2 | Raman Vasilyuk |
Dinamo Brest | 17 |
| 3 |  Aleksandr Sokolov |
Darida Minsk Raion | 16 |
| 4 | Yawhen Zuew |
Torpedo Zhodino | 15 |
| 5 |  Vitaliy Bondarev |
Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 14 |
| Artsyom Hancharyk |
Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 14 | |
| 7 | Oleg Strakhanovich |
BATE Borisov | 13 |
| 8 |  Edu |
Torpedo-SKA Minsk | 12 |
| Dzmitry Parfyonaw |
MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 12 | |
| Andrey Razin |
Dinamo Minsk | 12 |