ARE KHIMIK SVETLOGORSK ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR SECOND TIER STATUS?

Could their be any other team in the world who have played in a division with promotion and relegation for as long as Belarusian First League side Khimik Svetlogorsk? 

The club formed in 1971 have played in the second tier of Belarusian football since the football pyramid in the Country was formed in 1992 - they have never gone up and never been relegated! 

Their best placed finish came in 2008 when they finished second but in that season only one team were promoted and it was FC Minsk who went up 14 points ahead of Khimik. In 2006 they finished in third place with Smorgon and FC Minsk being promoted. 

This season that could all change as Khimik are rock bottom of the First League table on -8 points as they were deducted 9 points before the start of the season as a result of a match-fixung investigation from a previous season. (Naftan Novopolotsk were dedcuted 15 points, Gomel had 5 points, Orsha 3 points deducted along with Lida who started on -3).

They have so far played twelve league games with just one draw being their only positive result - This came in a 0-0 draw with Lida on Saturday 30th May. 

They did beat Second League side Polotsk 1-3 in the Belarusian Cup where they now face a very tough game against Premier League side Rukh Brest in the Third Round to be played at the end of August. 

You will notice that since their game with Krumcahy at their Bumazhnik Stadium they have not played a home game aside from the recent one against Oshmyany which I believe was played in a different stadium. Reports from tribuna.com were that the pitch was in a terrible condition with even a 'technical victory' offered to their opponents. Tribuna went no to say 'the city has no money and the holes are covered with sand'.

Their next two games prior to the mid-season break come against Gomel and Lokomotiv Gomel who both have a chance of promotion at the top of the division. It's two tough games for Manager Oleg Cherepnev who joined the club in March after being a youth coach at Gomel. His playing career saw him represent Dynamo Brest, Gomel, Torepdo Minsk, Belshina and Slavia Mozyr. Svetlogorsk is around 70 miles from the City of Gomel. 

DATE	OPPONENTS	RESULT
17/4	Lokomotiv Gomel	L 0-5
26/4	KRUMKACHY	L 0-4
2/5	Arsenal	L 0-1
10/5	Sputnik	L 0-1
16/5	Volna	L 2-4
23/5	Orsha	L 0-4
30/5	Lida	D 0-0
6/6	Polotsk (Cup 2nd Round)	W 3-1
14/6	Slonim	L 0-1
20/6	Smorgon	L 0-2
27/6	OSHMYANY	L 1-4
5/7	Granit	L 1-2
11/7	Naftan	L 0-3
18/7	Gomel
15/8	LOKOMOTIV GOMEL

GOAL-SCORERS SO FAR 

Volna - A Komarov & Pavel Trofimchuk 

Polotsk (Cup) - Pavel Trofimchuk, Denis Yakhno & Danila Kruktanov

Oshmyany - Evgeni Kuleshov 

Granit - Maksim Dashuk 

CURRENT BELARUSIAN FIRST LEAGUE TABLE - BOTTOM THREE ONLY 

POS	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS	FORM
12.	GRANIT	12	2	2	8	10	21	-11	8	DWDLWL
13.	NAFTAN	12	4	4	4	16	15	+1	1	LDLWWW
14	KHIMIK	12	0	1	11	4	31	-27	-8	DLLLLL