Postition last season - 15th Premier League (relegated)
The club were founded in 1959 as Lokomotiv Gomel and have undergone a number of name changes - Spartak Gomel, Gomselmash Gomel and Mashinostroitel Gomel before FC Gomel in 1995. The team played in the second level of Soviet football between 1959 to 1968 and then at the third level until 1989 before dropping to the fourth level in 1990. Gomselmash Gomel, as they were known, were founder members of the Belarusian Premier League and were champions in 2003 as well as being cup winners in 2002 and 2011. This is the fourth time they have dropped to the first league since the football pyramid in Belarus was established.
Liverpool fans will remember them from the Europa League qualifying round game in 2012 which they won 4-0 on aggregate. Stuart Downing scored the only goal in Belarus in the first leg before Fabio Borini, Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson scored in the second leg at Anfield.
There majority of the staring XI at Anfield are still playing - Goalkeeper Uladzimir Bushma is currently with Torpedo Belaz Zhodino. Syarhey Matsveychyk is with Shakhtyor Soligorsk, Igor Kuzmenok (Isloch) Nikalay Kashevsky (retired from playing but is currently on the coaching team at Torpedo Belaz Zhodino), Dmitri Klimovich (FC Minsk), Ihor Voronkov (Arsenal Dzerzhinsk), Syarhey Kazeka (Krumkachy Minsk) Tomasz Nowak (Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała in the Polish Second Division) Illya Aleksiyevich (FC Minsk) and Dzmitry Platonaw (retired from playing - last with Latvian club FK RFS).
Russian Centre forward Aleksandr Alumona was one of several Isloch players alleged to be involved in match fixing during their match with Dynamo Brest in April 2016. This resulted in the Belarusian Football Federation banning Alumona for 24 months for his involvement in the incident from February 2018.
The club's current manager is Ivan Bionchik who has been with them since 2019 - He led Luch Minsk to the First League title in 2017. Their Central Stadium has a capacity of 14,307.
Gomel were one of five clubs to start the 2020 season with five points deducted.
Artem Vaskov, 31, is one of the most experienced players in their squad having played for Gorodeya, Smolevichy-STI, Neman Grodno, Torpedo Belaz Zhodino and Vitebsk. Russian centre-forward Murat Khotov, 33, has played in the Premier League for Slutsk, Naftan and Dnepr Mogilev. Ukranian duo Dmytro Tereschenko and Oleksandr Batyshchev also have lots of experience in playing for Premier League clubs.
Position last season - 4th
Unlike their City rivals Lokomotiv are a relatively new team having been formed in 2008. After playing in the lower regional leagues they joined the second league and were promoted to the first league for the 2014 season. Manager Andrey Gorovstsov started his playing career with Gomel in 1999 - He has recently stepped up to from the position of Assistant Manager last season.
Lokomtiv have made a great start to their season which had included a 3-2 derby victory at Gomel in front of 1,850 people.
25 year old forward Andrey Solvey scored 13 goals in 23 games last season and has started well scoring 4 in 4 so far. He started his career with Dynamo Brest in 2012 and was a first team regular in 2015 when he made 20 appearances - He then moved to Torpedo Belaz Zhodino where he only made 7 games in two seasons before dropping into the first league with Slonim. In 2015 he made two appearances for the Belarus u21 team. Another striker have also started well - Pavel Klenje, 25, who played in the Premier League in 2018 and 2019 for Tarpeda Minsk has scored 3 goals in 4 games including the winner against Gomel which he counts as one of his former clubs. Russian defender Ilya Shabanov started his career with Ruban Kazan in 2015 and then played in the Russian Second Division for Syzran-2003 before playing for Vlasim in the Czech Second Division - He has made a great start to his career in Belarus scoring 3 goal in 4 games.
FC NAFTAN NOVOPOLOTSK
Position last season - 5th
A club with lots of history having been formed in 1963 and regular members of the Premier League from 1996 to 2001 and 2003 to 2017 as well as playing in the Europa League in 09/10 and 12/13 following their Belarusian Cup wins. Their current coach is Ukranian Tara Chopyk who has been with them since April 2019. The furthest Northern side in the First League for 2020 - Novopolotsk is around 50 miles from the Russian border and translated means 'New Polotsk' - the City is close to Polotsk and was built in the late 1950s when many people moved to the area following the establishment of an oil refinery plant and various factories.
They are also one of the five with points deductions - They started with a massive -15 points taken off.
They have 27 year old Nigerian defender/midfielder Addulaziz Laval in their ranks who has been with the club since 2015. Denis Trapashko, 29, has Premier League experience with Slavia Mozyr and Torpedo Belaz Zhodino. 19 year old attacker Elvin Aliev has played three games so far - he played 24 games last season.
Position last season - 6th
The club were only founded in 2017 after 'FC DYuSSh-DSK Gomel relocated to the Southern city of Rechytsa. After finishing third in the 2018 Second League they moved up to the first league for 2019 and finished in a creditable sixth place last season. Their manager is Vyacheslav Levchuk who after many years working as an assistant and scout at various clubs was given the job DNEPR Mogilev before moving to Sputnik in 2018. As a player he won the Premier League and Cup double with MPKC Mozyr (now Slavia Mozyr) in 1996.
Midfielder Vadim Kurlvich has a huge amount of experience in the Premeir League representing Slavia Mozyr, Granit, Slutsk, Dynamo Brest and BATE Borisov where he started his career in 2010. He was part of BATE's 11/12 Champions League squad as well as their Premier League winning squad in 2010, 2011 and 2012 - He came off the bench to face Barcelona in one game. He got 10 caps for the under 21 Belarus side but never a full International cap. Igor Yasinskiy, 29, started his career with Dynamo Minsk and has since played for a number of sides in the Premier League as well as Kauno Zalgris in Lithuania.
FC LIDA
Position last season - 7th
Founded in 1962 the club come from Lida in Western Belarus in the Grodno region. Like many Belarusian clubs they have gone through a number of name changes - they were founded as Krasnoye Znamya Lida and have been called Vympel Lida and Obuvshchik Lida before FC Lida in 1997. They won the Belarusian SSR League 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1989 and did play in the Premier League between 1992 to 1993, 1994 to 1996 and 1999 to 2000. Since 2001 they have been in the first league aside from two drops to the second league in 2007 (2nd and promoted) and 2011 (1st and promoted). A real yo-yo club as since 1992 they have been relegated five times and promoted four times.
They signed veteran 37 year old Andrey Lysayuk in pre-season - He scrored 12 goals in 25 games for First League champions Belshina last season. He is yet to score for his new team. Their main goalscorer this season has been Yan Senkevich who joined from Smolevichi in the pre-season - He spent most of last season on loan at Sputnik Rechitsa. He has scored four goals in five games so far. Yury Karaty has been manager since July 2019.
Lida are one of the five teams with points deductions but started with only -3 points.
Centre-Forward Andrey Lyasuk is probably their most well known player. He has heaps of experience being a 37 year old. He counts Dynamo Brest, Pinsk-900, Neman Grodno, Volna Pinsk, FC Minsk, DNEPR Mogilev, Gomel, Gorodeya and Belshina in Belarus as well as Kauno Zalgris and FK Nevezis in Lithuania.
In their four games played so far they started in game one with 25 year old Yevgenny Gremza in goal who was replaced 23 year old Andrey Sineko (formerly of Energetyk-BGU) in games two and three - He came off with an injury in game three with 17 year old Nikita Patsenko coming on who started in game four.
Position last season - 8th
Only founded in 2011 by a group of fans - the name Krumkachy means 'Ravens'. The co-founders of the team got to know each other on an online forum and made the decision to form a football team. Many of the teams in Belarus are backed by state owned companies such as BATE Borisov and Shakhytor Solgorsk so a fan's formed club was something of a rarety.
They joined the second league in 2014 after playing in the local leagues and after back-to-back promotions incredibly found themselves in the Premier League rubbing shoulders with the giants of Belarusian football like BATE Borisov and Dynamo Minsk from their home city. They last two seasons in the Premier League finishing 11th and 13th (of 16 teams) before financial issues resulted in their relegation to the second league for the 2018 season with the club restarted as a new legal entity. They reportedly had one of the lowest budgets in the top tier.
A second placed finish in 2018 saw them promoted to the First League for the 2019 season where they finished 8th - they were renamed NFK Minsk to avoid a clash with the old Krumkachy club. The naming issue was resolved over the pre-season and they have reverted back to the Krumkachy name for the 2020 season. Segey Kuzminch is currently the club's coach/manager - It was Dzianis Shunto who was also general director and shareholder when the club were in the Premier League.
Krumkachy have a very experienced squad. In goal they have Valery Fomichev who has played in the Premier League for a number of clubs as well as in Turkey for Orduspor as well as in the Uzbekistan and Khazakstan Premier Leagues. They have Christian Intosen in defence - The 20 year old Cameroonian has yet to make a start this season. 35 year old Aleksandr Yatskevich played in the Premier League after staring his career with Dynamo Minsk he moved onto Naftan, Torpedo Belaz Zhodino, Belshina and Slutsk before moving to the club in 2019.
Position last season - 9th
The club were formed in 1978 and joined the Second League in 1994. In 2007 they were promoted to the Premier League after a second place finish where they spent two seasons finshing 10th and 13th. In 2014 they were first league champions and once again moved up to the top tier where the had a impressive 5th placed finish before finishing bottom in 2016 and moving back down to the second tier. Since then they have finished 8th, 8th and 9th. The City of Mikashevichy has a population of around 13,000. Oleg Korol is the manager at the moment - He represented a number teams during his playing career including BATE Borisov, FC Bereza (now defunct) and Dynamo Brest. He also played in Hungary and Greece - He has two caps for the Belarusian International team. He started his managerial career as assistant at Dynamo Brest and Granit between 2014 to 2017. He then moved to Slonim-2017 and Volna Pinsk before moving to Granit for the 2020 season.
Position last season - 11th
The club have an amazing record of playing in the first league since 1992 and not being relegated or promoted - they are the only club to do so. This season they have lost all four of their opening games so this record could be in doubt especially when you read they are one of the five clubs with points deductions - they started 2020 on -9 points. Manager Oleg Cherepnev played for Torpedo Zhodino, Dynamo Brest, Gomel and Torpedo Minsk during his playing career.
Position last season - 14th
The club must have one of the best badges in Belarusian football. They spent three seasons in the top tier from 2007 to 2010 finishing 10th, 8th and 14th. This was only a decade after they slipped in the regional leagues from the second league in 1994 to 1998.
Vyacheslav Gerashchenko was made manager in January 2020. He is 47 years old and has managed previously at DNEPR Mogilev, Belshina, Gomel and Lida. He has just returned to Belarus after a very short stint with FK Palanga in Lithuania. He was with the club from July 2019 to September 2019 after leaving Lida where he was for another short spell from April to July 2019.
Position last season - 10th
Formed in 1951 they played in the regional leagues before moving up the Belarusian SSR League top tier from 1971 to 1985. They were founder members of the second league in 1992 and promoted to the first league in 1995 before in 2001 they withdrew back to the regional leagues due to financial problems. In 2004 they rejoined the second league and now find themselves in the First League. They have had a number of name changes -
1956 - FC ZShM Orsha
1960 - FC Mashinostroitel Orsha
1965 - FC Start Orsha
1992 - FC Legmash Orsha
1995 - FC Maxim-Orsha
1996 - FC Maxim-Legmash Orsha
1997 - FC Orsha
2006 - FC Orsha-BelAutoService
2007 - FC Orsha
They most famous achievement was in 1971 when they were runner's up to Torpedo Zhodino in the Belarusian SSR Cup.
Aleksandr Vopsev is the current manager who moved from Granit where he was boss from June 2019 through to January 2020.
Orsha started with -3 points.
Position last season - 12th
Established in 1987 Volna have come close to promotion to the top tier on a number of occasions when they finished in the top three of the First League four times during the 1990s. They spent two seasons in the Second League in 2015 and 2016 when they were champions. Since promotion they have finished in 7th, 13th and 12th. Pinsk is on the South-West of Belarus close to the border with Ukraine.
Position last season - 13th
Their name would suggest they were formed in 2017 but the club were actually formed in 2013 as a result of a merger between "Beltransgaz Slonim" and "Kommunalnik Slonim".
Kommunalnik had been in the Premier League in 1997, 1998 and 2000 as well as being first league champions in 1999. Beltransgaz were formed in 2010 and were in the second league.
The newly merged club is inherited mostly the Beltransgaz squad as well as thier training facilities. The club were initially called FC Slonim but renamed Slonim-2017 in 2017.
Position last season - 1st (Second League)
The new team on the block having been formed in 2019 where they joined the second league and were champions earning promotion to the first league at the first attempt. They had an impressive squad last season for a second tier side and have aspirations of reaching the Premier League. They include a six veteran players in their squad with heaps of experience.
37 year old midfielder Vyacheslav Hleb who had 45 Belarus International caps from 2004 to 2011 as well as playing in Germany for VFB Stuttgart, Hamburger and FSV Frankfurt along with a spell at Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua in 09/10.
39 year old defender Pavel Kirylchyk who has played for a number of Belarusian and Russian sides during his career where he got 4 full caps in 2005 and 2006.
37 year old forward Dmitri Osipenko has played for a number of clubs in the Premier League during his career and is probably best known for his time with Shakhtyor Soligorsk when he played in the Europa League.
36 year old Russian midfielder Yuri Mamaev has played in Germany, Russia and Lithuania in his career.
38 year old Igor Rozhkov has played for a number of Premier League clubs as well as in the Ukraine in 2007/08. He has one Belarus International Cap to his name and he scored in the game against Uzbekistan in 2003.
39 year old Ukrainian Ihor Voronkov was a regular in the Premier League for Slavia Mozyr (21 appearances) last season and was part of their squad which won the First League in 2018. He has also played for Gomel, FC Minsk, Belshina, Dynamo Minsk, Toepedo Zhodino, Dnepr Mogilev and NFK Minsk in the Premier League.
Also look out for 21 year old midfielder Anton Abramovich who joined from BATE Borisov in the pre-season and Aleksandr Skshinetskiy, 30, who has recent Premier League experience with Smolevichy-STI and NFK Minsk.
At the opposite end of their career to Osipenko, Kirylchyk and Hleb is Dmitri Matyash (aged 19 signed from BATE in the pre-season) and 17 year old Andrey Rylach who has made a number of first team appearances this season already.
They are currently managed by 48 year old Sergey Yaskovich.
The town of Dzerzhinsk is in the Minsk District and is around 25 miles from the city of Minsk.
Position last season - 2nd (second league)
Founded in 2012 as Slavyanin Minsk playing the regional league until 2014 when they joined the second league. In early 2015 the club relocated to the town of Oshmyany which is around 80 miles away in the Grodno district. They had a short stay in the first league before moving back down to the second league and then being promoted again last season. Managed Antuan Mayarov has been in his position since April 2018.
They have Russian midfielder Arseni Kontsedaylov in their squad who made a handful of apperances for Energetyk-BGU in the Premier League last season. Another midfielder in their squad is Aleksandr Krotov who was a squad player for Rukh Brest (3rd in the second league) last season.
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