# 2002 Belarusian First League

2002 Belarusian First League was the 12th season of 2nd level football championship in Belarus. It started in April and ended in October 2002.

## Team changes from 2001 season

Two top teams of last season (Torpedo Zhodino and Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. They were replaced by two teams that finished at the bottom of 2001 Belarusian Premier League table (Naftan Novopolotsk and Vedrich-97 Rechitsa).
One team that finished at the bottom of 2001 season table (Rogachev-DUSSh-1) relegated to the Second League. They were replaced by two best teams of 2001 Second League (Lokomotiv Minsk and Smorgon), and the league was expended from 15 to 16 teams.
Orsha, who finished 12th last season, withdrew to the amateur level in winter. To replace them, Rogachev-DUSSh-1 were spared from relegation.
Before the start of the season, Svisloch Osipovichi changed their name to Osipovichi, Keramik Bereza to FC Bereza and Rogachev-DUSSh-1 to Dnepr-DUSSh-1 Rogachev.

## Teams and locations

| Team | Location | Position in 2001 |
| Naftan | Novopolotsk | Premier League, 13 |
| Vedrich-97 | Rechitsa | Premier League, 14 |
| Darida | Minsk Raion | 3 |
| Khimik | Svetlogorsk | 4 |
| Torpedo-Kadino | Mogilev | 5 |
| Granit | Mikashevichi | 6 |
| ZLiN | Gomel | 7 |
| Bereza | Bereza | 8 |
| Lida | Lida | 9 |
| Kommunalnik | Slonim | 10 |
| Osipovichi | Osipovichi | 11 |
| Dinamo-Juni | Minsk | 13 |
| Neman | Mosty | 14 |
| Dnepr-DUSSh-1 | Rogachev | 15 |
| Lokomotiv | Minsk | Second League, 1 |
| Smorgon | Smorgon | Second League, 2 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Darida Minsk Raion (P) | 30 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 89 | 23 | +66 | 74 | Promotion to Belarusian Premier League |
| 2 | Naftan Novopolotsk (P) | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 56 | 23 | +33 | 68 | Promotion to Belarusian Premier League |
| 3 | Lokomotiv Minsk (P) | 30 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 59 | 16 | +43 | 66 | Promotion to Belarusian Premier League |
| 4 | Vedrich-97 Rechitsa | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 55 | 25 | +30 | 61 | |
| 5 | Granit Mikashevichi | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 37 | 22 | +15 | 57 | |
| 6 | Lida | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 46 | |
| 7 | ZLiN Gomel | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 46 | |
| 8 | Kommunalnik Slonim | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 27 | 41 | −14 | 35 | |
| 9 | Dinamo-Juni Minsk | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 40 | 47 | −7 | 34 | |
| 10 | Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 34 | |
| 11 | Neman Mosty | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 34 | |
| 12 | Dnepr-DUSSh-1 Rogachev | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 49 | −14 | 31 | |
| 13 | Khimik Svetlogorsk | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 27 | 46 | −19 | 30 | |
| 14 | Smorgon | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 21 | 36 | −15 | 29 | |
| 15 | Bereza | 30 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 36 | 65 | −29 | 23 | |
| 16 | Osipovichi (R) | 30 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 17 | 100 | −83 | 9 | Relegation to Belarusian Second League |
* 1 2 Lida placed above ZLiN Gomel by better head-to-head record (4–1, 0–1).
* 1 2 Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev placed above Neman Mosty by better overall goal difference, having an equal head-to-head record (3–0, 0–3).

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Goalscorer | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Oleg Kuzmenok | Darida Minsk Raion | 39 |
| 2 | Andrey Yusipets | Vedrich-97 Rechitsa | 20 |
| 3 | Dmitry Denisyuk | Lokomotiv Minsk | 16 |
| 4 | Aleksey Novitskiy | Dnepr-DUSSh-1 Rogachev | 15 |
| 5 | Ruslan Usaw | ZLiN Gomel | 14 |