WEEK ONE FIXTURES
Friday 15th March Isloch v Dynamo Brest
Slavia Mozyr v DNEPR Mogilev
Saturday 16th March
FC Minsk v BATE Borisov
Neman Grodno v Naftan Novopolotsk
Dynamo Minsk v Smorgon
Sunday 17th March
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk v Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino
Slutsk v FC Gomel
Shakhtyor Soligorsk v Vitebsk
The 2024 Belarusian Premier League kicks off this weekend. I still keep an eye on the competition many fans took a keen interest in during the pandemic and lock down - How long ago does that feel now?
There are three promoted sides for the new campaign - Arsenal Dzerzhinsk, DNEPR Mogilev and Vitebsk who were relegated from the Premier League in 2022. They all return after finishing in the top three of Division One last season. Vitesbsk beat Energetik BGU 1-0 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation play off.
Here we take a quick look at the teams involved this season.
ARSENAL DZERZHINSK
The club were formed very recently in 2019 and spent one season in Premier League in 2022 where they won 5 of 30 league games played and lost the relegation/promotion play-off to Maxline Rogachev (now Maxline Vitebsk). Maxline were not promoted as they were denied a Premier League licence but Arsenal were relegated. Arsenal had a brilliant 2023 season winning the First League title by 8 points and scoring 86 goals in 32 games of which 26 they won.
Former Slutsk boss Aleksandr Brazevich who took charge in July 2023 has moved on to Dynamo Brest for the 2024 season. He has been replaced by Vyacheslav Vashkevich who joins from Lokomotiv Moscow where he had been an academy coach and their second team manager from July to December last year.
They have signed defender Arseni Ageev from BATE Borisov on a permanent basis after he spent he season on loan with Arsenal last season.
The new boss has also recruited 20 year old defender Egor Pogostnov and 18 year old attacked Dmitri Radikovskiy from his former club who join on loan.
BATE BORISOV
BATE finished in fifth place last season which equalled their lowest ever position since they were promoted to the top level in 1998.
Igor Kriushenko is the new Manager who returns to the club he managed from 2005 to 2007. He was also the Belarus National Team boss from 2017 to 2019 and has managed at Dynamo Brest, Dynamo Minsk as well as Periskabo 1973 (Indonesia) and Shurtan Guzar in Uzbekistan.
Three players have been brought in from FC Gomel - Midfielders Aleksandr Anufriev, Ilya Aleksievich and Andrey Potapenko. Anufriev and Potapenko are both players who came through the BATE academy but never made a first team appearance with Aleksievich a former BATE player between 2013 to 2015.
BATE appear not to be the powerhouse they used to be and may well finish around 5th or 6th again this season.
DYNAMO BREST
Alexsandr Brazevich has been brought in to the club after his successful campaign with Arsenal Dzerzhinsk. Midfielder Vladislav Lyakh has followed Brazevich from his former club where the former Dynamo Minsk had been for the last two seasons.
Midfielder Matvey Dukso, 20, has moved from Smorgon where he made 28 Premier League appearances last season.
Dukso is amongsr a number of young players who have been recruited - Maksim Karasab (20) have joined from FC Minsk along with Artem Turich (19) and German Barkovskiy (21) from EnergetiK-BGU.
DYNAMO MINSK
Last season's champions will be playing in the First Qualifying Round of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League later in the year.
Manager Vadim Skripchenko has signed 22 year old Nigerian forward Raymond Adeola from Russian second tier side Rodina Moscow - He knows the league well having played for Gomel in 2021 and 2022 as well as on loan last season.
Defender Vadim Pigas, 22, has joined after three stand out seasons with Isloch.
Belaus u21 International Ilya Chernyak, 21, who has joined from Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Casipy is a name to look out for to.
DNEPR MOGILEV
DNEPR return to the top level after just one season away. The club were a regular Premier League team from 1992 and famously won the title in 1998. After merging with Luch Minsk in 2019 to form Dynapro Mogilev with that team being dissolved in 2020. DNEPR were reformed and started from the Second League in 2020. Their return to the Premier League in 2022 was a season to forget as they finished rock bottom with just 3 wins in 30 games played.
Former Smorgon, Naftan, Lida, Gomel, Belshina Bobruisk boss Vyacheslav Gerashchenko has been in his second spell in charge of the club since December 2022 and took them to runner's up position in the First League last season. He was previously in charge from 2011 to 2013.
New signing Sergey Glebko, 31, who has been with Slutsk since 2021 will bring some much needed top level experience to the midfield area.
Only the most ardent of Reading and Crystal Palace fans will have knowledge of Ibrahim Kargbo Jr. He played academy football for both The Royals and The Eagles before playing in Belgium for Roeselare and Lierse Kempenzonen in 2018 and 2019. He was born in Sierra Leone but has been capped by Belgium at u18 and u19 level. He then moved to Dynamo Kyiv speing time on loan with Olimpic Doentsk, Celje (Slovenia) and Doxa Katokopias (Cyrpus). He then moved to Celje on permemnant basis and played in Croatia for NK Solin last season.
20 year old Cote d'Ivoire midfielder Boni Amian has joined from Russian club Khimki.
Kazakhstan forward Danil Ankudinov, 20, has also joined. He has played in Moldova for Sheriff Tiraspol and on loan in Armenia for Van and Lithuania for Dziugas Telsiai.
FC GOMEL
Andrey Gorovtsov has been manager since last August when he moved from First League side Lokomotiv Gomel following the departure of Vladimir Nevinskiy.
Since they spent one season in the second tier in 2020 they have finished 4th, 7th and 6th to re-establish themselves as one of the bigger teams in Belarus.
Former Energetik-BGU striker Illya Grishchenko has returned to Belarus after spending the 2023 season with FK Sevastopol who are based in Crimea but play in the Russian Fourth Tier.
ISLOCH
Dmitry Komarovskiy has been in charge for the last two seasons after being Assistant and a former player from 2016 to 2021. It's been a very respectable 5th and 6th place finish for The Wolves under Komarovskiy in his first job as a Manager.
Three players have moved across from City rival's Dynamo Minsk - Defender Kiril Rodionov (who was on loan with Isloch last season) along with Defender Ivan Khovalko (age 20) and Midfielder Yuri Kravchenko (age 19).
Ghanian defender Fard Ibrahim is a fan's favourite at the club having been with them since 2022.
FC MINSK
Since their formation in 2006 FC Minsk have played in the top tier for all but two seasons as well as lifting the Belarusian Cup in 2013. The finished in 6th place last season with former Dynamo Minsk boss Artyon Chelyadinskiy taking the post of Manager for this season following the departure of Sergey Yaromko who has taken the job as the new Belarus U21 coach.
Chelyadinskiy's most recent job was as an Academy Coach with Dynamo Minsk and represented clubs in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan during his playing career.
As usual FC have a squad of mainly young players with goalkeeper Denis Shpakovskiy (21), striker Maksym Shevchenko (21) and defender Aleksandr Mikhalenko (22) joining from Dynamo Minsk.
Shevchenko scored 9 goals in 27 First League games on loan at Baranovichi who finished 6th last season so could be amongst the goals this in a better standard team - The question is can he make the jump up to the top tier?
NAFTAN NOVOPOLOTSK
It was a good season for Naftan on their return to the Premier League last season as they finished in 12th place well above the drop zone.
However, Had Shakhtyor, Energetik and Belshina not been deducted points they would of finished second from bottom and been involved in the relegation/promotion play off.
Former Belshina Bobruisk boss Albert Ryback who is most well known for his playing career as a goalkeeper with Neman Grodno was appointed in May 2023 following Yuri Puntus moving to First League side Maxline Vitebsk.
It could be another struggle this season for Naftan who have lost games 6-0 and 4-0 (Neman), 8-0 (Dynamo Brest), 2-1 (Maxline) as well as drawing versus Isloch, Gomel and DNEPR in their pre-season campaign.
Ryback has been very busy in pre-season making a large number of signings as follows-
Mikhail Kolyadko (Midfielder, 35) joins from Belshina Bobruisk.
Aleksey Kharitonovich (Goalkeeper, 28) joins from Belshina Bobruisk.
Egor Shedko (Attacker, 20) joins from Dynamo Minsk.
Marat Kalinchenko (Midfielder, 25) joins from Zhodino Yuzhnoe.
Egor Kress (Midfielder, 20) joins from Slavia Mozyr.
Alexsandr Naumovich (Goalkeeper, 22) joins on loan from Gomel.
Roman Papaeyha (Attacker, 24) joins from Neman Grodno.
Anton Suchkov (Midfielder, 21) joins on loan from Neman Grodno.
Vladimir Marukhin (Midfielder, 20) joins on loan from Russian club Neftekhimik.
Arsen Dzhioev (Attacker, 21) joins from Russian club Znamya Truda.
Ivan Tikhonov (Midfielder, 20) joins from Dynamo Minsk.
Aleksandr Kuchinskiy (Midfielder, 27) joins from Lokomotiv Gomel.
Kingu Yallet (Defender, 26) joins from DR Congo club DC Motema Pembe.
Andrey Lebedev (Defender, 33) counts FC Minsk and Vitebsk as former clubs.
Dmitry Say (Goalkeeper, 27) joins from Slonim.
Nikita Nekrasov (Midfielder, 23) joins from BATE Borisov.
Khetag Badoev (Defender, 23) joins from Russian club Veles.
Shedko scored 7 goals in 31 first League games for Lokomotiv Gomel last season and has played for Belarus at u17 and u19 level.
Kalinchenko scored 14 goals in 25 first league games for Zhodino Yuzhnoe last season.
Tikhonov was on loan with Lokomotiv Gomel last season.
Will all the new signings gell togther as a team? Nafatan will need to win more than the 6 in 28 games they won last season in order to avoid the drop zone!
NEMAN GRODNO
Last season's runner's up ran champion's Dynamo Minsk very close and have had a good pre-season. They will be back in the UEFA Europa Conference League for the 23/24 campaign - they beat Vaduz (Liechtenstein) and Balzan (Malta) last season before losing to Slovenian club Celje in the Third Qualifying Round.
Igor Kovalevich has been in charge since 2016 and was previously in charge of the Belarus u21 team as well as Naftan between 2007 to 2012.
He has made some signings to strengthen his squad this season with the experienced midfielder Igor Costrov, 36, joining from Slavia Mozyr.
Former Isloch Midfielder Ruslan Lisakovich, 21, has returend to Belarus having spent the past two years with Russian Second Tier side Dynamo Makhachkala. He has been capped by Belarus as full and u21 level so is very impressive signing.
They have also recruited Cameroon striker Leonard Gweth who is 21 years old who has played for Jong KAA Gent in Belgium and Baltijos FA in Lithuania.
SHAKTYOR SOLIGORSK
Due to a match fixing scandal Shakhtyor were stripped of the 2022 league title, deducted 30 points last season and will start this season on -20.
Stanislav Suvorov has been appointed as Manager following the departure of Aleksey Baga.
Suvorov is a former Manager of First League side Shakhtyor Petrikov in the 2022 season who are classed as a 'farm side' for Soligorsk.
Many of their current squad have moved up from Shakhtyor Petrikov including all six of their attackers listed in their squad at present. They are 17, 19, 18, 19, 18 and 19 years of age.
With their points deduction it'll be an interesting campaign for Shakhtyor.
SLAVIA MOZYR
Former Shakhtyor manager Ivan Bionchik guided Slavia to a 7th place position last season.
Attacker Aleksandr Butko, 27, has joined from Torpedo Belaz Zhodino. He scored 12 goals in 14 games on loan for First League side Lokomotiv Gomel so may well be a name to look out for.
SLUTSK
Many fans around the world adopted Slutsk as their Belarusian team during the pandemic and lockdown.
Following much loved boss Aleksandr Brazevich's departure in 2022 Aleksandr Gurinovich took over for last season and Slutsk finished in 8th which was only the third time in their history they have finished 8th or above.
20 year old midfielder Maksim Omelyanchuk has signed from Energetik-BGU and despite his young age brings with him the experience of playing 62 Premier League games. Defender Vladislav Karpenya, 22, has also signed from Energetik.
An interesting signing in Kazakhstan International striker Oralhan Omitaev has joined from Atyrau. The 25 year old has 5 full caps to his name but has never been lethal in front of goal scoring 15 goals in 140 Kazakhstan Premier League games during his career.
SMORGON
The Bears returned to the Premier League for the 2023 and many fan expected them to be relegated once more as they did in 2021 when they finished rock bottom. They won 7 of their 28 games but like Naftan would of been closer to the drop zone without the teams who had points deductions.
Latvian Igor Slesarcuks has been brought in a Manager for the 2024 season - He has previously been in charge of First League sides Slonim and Osipovichi as well as been Assistant as Dymamo Minsk, FC Minsk, Torpedo Zhodino and Salvia Mozyr.
This is first appointment as a Manager in the Belarusian Premier League and it'll be interesting to see how he does with Smorgon.
TORPEDO BELAZ ZHODINO
Former Smolevichi Manager and BATE Borisov Assistant Manager Dmitry Molosh has been in charge of Torpedo since December 2021. In that time they have finished in 8th, 8th and 3rd position in the Premier League as well as winning the 2023 Belarusian Cup. An already decent squad has been improved with some impressive signings.
Belarusian International striker Denis Laptev has signed from BATE Borisov where he spent the 2023 season. He has made 297 Premier League appearances during his career scoring 119 goals.
Defender Danila Nechayev has also moved from BATE who is also a full Belarus International.
Attacker Andrei Cobet, 27, has been a stand out performer for Slavia Mozyr for the past two seasons. He is a full Moldovan International.
Attacker Illya Vasilevich has also made the move from BATE Borisov. He has been capped up to u21 level for Belarus and has also played for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine.
Maksim Skavysh, 34, has moved from Shakhtyor Soligorsk. The Belarusian International has won the Premier Leauge on multiple occasions and moves back to Torpedo for a third spell.
Torpedo drew 13 of their 28 league games during the 2023 season and only lost 3 - They will be one of the front runners this season with the signings they have made.
VITEBSK
Vitesbsk return to the top tier after just one season. Aleksandr Pavlov, 39, has been Manager since November 2022. As a player he was a full International and won the Premier League multiple times with BATE Borisov.
There hasn't been much transfer activity with Midfielder Dmitri Girs moving from Slutsk and centre- back Wepa Jumayew moving from Energetik-BGU.
Finally, A quick mention to the Second League side formerly known as Tractor Minsk who will now be named "Automotive-Factory Tractor" if my translation is correct?
They have also changed their club badge which has to go down as one the best I've seen of late... What do you think?
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