# 2005 Belarusian Premier League

The 2005 Belarusian Premier League was the 15th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 16 and ended on November 5, 2005. Dinamo Minsk were the defending champions.

## Team changes from 2004 season

Two lowest placed teams in 2004 (Lokomotiv Vitebsk and Belshina Bobruisk) relegated to First League. Lokomotiv Minsk won the 2004 First League and were promoted. Vedrich-97 Rechytsa finished 2nd in First League and were supposed to be promoted as well. However, due to weak club infrastructure they couldn't obtain licence to compete in Premiere League and decided to stay in First League. Torpedo-SKA Minsk, who finished 6th in 2004, 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. BFF decided not to replace two withdrawn teams with anyone and the league was reduced to 14 clubs. Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk changed their name to Zvezda-BGU Minsk.

## Overview

Shakhtyor Soligorsk won their 1st champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up Dinamo Minsk and 2005–06 Cup winners BATE Borisov qualified for UEFA Cup. Zvezda-BGU Minsk and Slavia, who finished on last two places, relegated to the First League.

## Teams and venues

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity | Position in 2004 |
| Dinamo Minsk | Minsk | Dinamo Stadium | 40,000 | 1 |
| BATE | Borisov | City Stadium | 5,500 | 2 |
| Shakhtyor | Soligorsk | Stroitel Stadium | 3,030 | 3 |
| Torpedo | Zhodino | Torpedo Stadium | 3,020 | 4 |
| Gomel | Gomel | Central Stadium | 10,600 | 5 |
| Neman | Grodno | Neman Stadium | 6,300 | 7 |
| Dinamo Brest | Brest | OSK Brestskiy | 3,380 | 8 |
| Dnepr-Transmash | Mogilev | Spartak Stadium | 6,800 | 9 |
| Naftan | Novopolotsk | Atlant Stadium | 4,500 | 10 |
| Darida | Minsk Raion | Darida Stadium | 3,300 | 11 |
| Slavia | Mozyr | Yunost Stadium (Mozyr) | 5,300 | 12 |
| Zvezda-BGU | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 17,600 | 13 |
| MTZ-RIPO | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 17,600 | 14 |
| Lokomotiv | Minsk | Yunost Stadium (Smorgon) | 3,000 | First league, 1 |
* ^ One game played at Darida Stadium.
* ^ Lokomotiv Minsk spent the season at Yunost Stadium in Smorgon, as their own ground Lokomotiv Stadium did not meet Premier League criteria.

## Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Shakhtyor Soligorsk (C) | 26 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 59 | 14 | +45 | 63 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Dinamo Minsk | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 50 | 26 | +24 | 50 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 43 | 30 | +13 | 49 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
| 4 | Torpedo Zhodino | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 47 | |
| 5 | BATE Borisov | 26 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 47 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 6 | Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 43 | |
| 7 | Gomel | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 39 | |
| 8 | Dinamo Brest | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 36 | |
| 9 | Naftan Novopolotsk | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 33 | |
| 10 | Darida Minsk Raion | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 29 | |
| 11 | Lokomotiv Minsk | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 30 | 43 | −13 | 26 | |
| 12 | Neman Grodno | 26 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 20 | 50 | −30 | 24 | |
| 13 | Zvezda-BGU Minsk (R) | 26 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 24 | 60 | −36 | 14 | Relegation to Belarusian First League |
| 14 | Slavia Mozyr (R) | 26 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 14 | 60 | −46 | 11 | Relegation to Belarusian First League |
* ↑ BATE Borisov qualified for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round by winning the 2005–06 Belarusian Cup.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BAT | DAR | DBR | DMI | DNE | GOM | LMN | MTZ | NAF | NEM | SHA | SLA | TZH | ZBM |
| BATE Borisov | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 |
| Darida Minsk Raion | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 |
| Dinamo Brest | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Dinamo Minsk | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 5–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Gomel | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 |
| Lokomotiv Minsk | 3–3 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 2–3 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 0–1 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Naftan Novopolotsk | 1–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–3 | | 3–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 |
| Neman Grodno | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Slavia Mozyr | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–6 | | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Torpedo Zhodino | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 6–1 | | 0–0 |
| Zvezda-BGU Minsk | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 5–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | |

## Belarusian clubs in European Cups

| Round | Team #1 | Agg. | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup ||||||
| First round | Neman Grodno | 0–1 | Tescoma Zlín | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| 2005–06 UEFA Cup ||||||
| First qualifying round | Ferencváros Budapest | 2–3 | MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| First qualifying round | Torpedo Kutaisi | 0–6 | BATE Borisov | 0–1 | 0–5 |
| Second qualifying round | MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 2–3 | Teplice | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Second qualifying round | Krylia Sovetov Samara | 4–0 | BATE Borisov | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 2005–06 UEFA Champions League ||||||
| First qualifying round | Dinamo Minsk | 1–2 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 1–1 | 0–1 |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Valery Strypeykis | Naftan Novopolotsk | 16 |
| 2 | Ihor Chumachenko | Naftan Novopolotsk | 14 |
| 2 | Alyaksandr Klimenka | Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 14 |
| 4 | Vitali Rodionov | Torpedo Zhodino | 14 |
| 4 | Roman Vasilyuk | Gomel | 13 |
| 6 | Vadzim Boyka | Dinamo Brest | 12 |
| 6 | Syarhey Nikiforenka | Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 12 |
| 8 | Alyaksandr Kobets | BATE Borisov | 11 |
| 9 | Artyom Kontsevoy | MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 10 |
| 9 | Alyaksandr Pawlaw | Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 10 |