# 2003 Belarusian First League

2003 Belarusian First League was the 13th season of 2nd level football championship in Belarus. It started in April and ended in November 2003.

## Team changes from 2002 season

Three top teams of last season (Darida Minsk Raion, Naftan Novopolotsk and Lokomotiv Minsk) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. Due to the expansion of Premier League from 14 to 16 clubs, the promoted teams were replaced by only one team that finished at the bottom of 2002 Belarusian Premier League table (Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk).
One team that finished at the bottom of 2002 season table (Osipovichi) relegated to the Second League. They were replaced by three best teams of 2002 Second League (MTZ-RIPO Minsk, Pinsk-900 and Vertikal Kalinkovichi).
Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk shortened their name to Lokomotiv Vitebsk before the start of the season.

## Teams and locations

| Team | Location | Position in 2002 |
| Lokomotiv | Vitebsk | Premier League, 14 |
| Vedrich-97 | Rechitsa | 4 |
| Granit | Mikashevichi | 5 |
| Lida | Lida | 6 |
| ZLiN | Gomel | 7 |
| Kommunalnik | Slonim | 8 |
| Dinamo-Juni | Minsk | 9 |
| Torpedo-Kadino | Mogilev | 10 |
| Neman | Mosty | 11 |
| Dnepr-DUSSh-1 | Rogachev | 12 |
| Khimik | Svetlogorsk | 13 |
| Smorgon | Smorgon | 14 |
| Bereza | Bereza | 15 |
| MTZ-RIPO | Minsk | Second League, 1 |
| Pinsk-900 | Pinsk | Second League, 2 |
| Vertikal | Kalinkovichi | Second League, 3 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Lokomotiv Vitebsk (P) | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 57 | 21 | +36 | 70 | Promotion to Belarusian Premier League |
| 2 | MTZ-RIPO Minsk (P) | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 63 | 15 | +48 | 70 | Promotion to Belarusian Premier League |
| 3 | Smorgon | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 47 | 20 | +27 | 58 | |
| 4 | Vedrich-97 Rechitsa | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 52 | 29 | +23 | 53 | |
| 5 | Granit Mikashevichi | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 34 | 27 | +7 | 51 | |
| 6 | ZLiN Gomel | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 47 | 38 | +9 | 48 | |
| 7 | Khimik Svetlogorsk | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 39 | +3 | 46 | |
| 8 | Lida | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 43 | |
| 9 | Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 42 | |
| 10 | Kommunalnik Slonim | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 42 | |
| 11 | Dnepr-DUSSh-1 Rogachev | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 32 | 52 | −20 | 29 | |
| 12 | Dinamo-Juni Minsk | 30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 27 | 60 | −33 | 27 | |
| 13 | Vertikal Kalinkovichi | 30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 22 | 44 | −22 | 27 | |
| 14 | Bereza | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 17 | 44 | −27 | 26 | |
| 15 | Neman Mosty (R) | 30 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 26 | 54 | −28 | 20 | Relegation to Belarusian Second League |
| 16 | Pinsk-900 (R) | 30 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 28 | 59 | −31 | 19 | Relegation to Belarusian Second League |
* 1 2 Lokomotiv Vitebsk placed above MTZ-RIPO Minsk after winning additional 1st place playoff match (2–1 at the neutral venue in Baranovichi).
* 1 2 Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev placed above Kommunalnik Slonim by better head-to-head record (1–1, 2–1).
* 1 2 Dinamo-Juni Minsk placed above Vertikal Kalinkovichi by better head-to-head record (3–1, 2–1).

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Goalscorer | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Oleg Kuzmenok | MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 25 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Savelyev | ZLiN Gomel | 20 |
| 3 | Dmytro Kolodin | Lokomotiv Vitebsk | 17 |
| 4 | Sergey Ulezlo | Khimik Svetlogorsk | 15 |
| 5 | Mihail Eramchuk | Vedrich-97 Rechitsa | 13 |