# 1997 Belarusian Premier League

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

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity | Position in 1996 |
| MPKC Mozyr | Mozyr | Yunost Stadium (Mozyr) | 6,500 | 1 |
| Dinamo Minsk | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 25,000 | 2 |
| Belshina Bobruisk | Bobruisk | Spartak Stadium (Bobruisk) | 2,500 | 3 |
| Dinamo-93 Minsk | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 25,000 | 4 |
| Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk | Vitebsk | Dinamo Stadium (Vitebsk) | 5,500 | 5 |
| Ataka Minsk | Minsk | Traktor Stadium | 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) | 11,200 | 9 |
| Dinamo Brest | Brest | Dinamo Stadium (Brest) | 2,400 | 10 |
| Shakhtyor Soligorsk | Soligorsk | Stroitel Stadium | 5,000 | 11 |
| Torpedo Minsk | Minsk | Torpedo Stadium (Minsk) | 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) | 11,200 | First league, 1 |
| Kommunalnik Slonim | Slonim | Yunost Stadium (Slonim) | 1,200 | First league, 2 |
* ^ 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)
* ^ 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.
* ^ 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.
* ^ Four games played at Khimvolokno Stadium.
* ^ Two games played at Shakhtyor Stadium.
* ^ 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.
* ^ 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 | |

## 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 | |

## Belarusian clubs in European Cups

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

## Top scorers

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