Belarusian First League

Belarusian First League
Founded	1992; 32 years ago
Country	Belarus
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	17 (for 2023)
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Belarusian Premier League
Relegation to	Belarusian Second League
Current champions	Naftan Novopolotsk (1st title) ; (2022)
	Current: 2024 Belarusian First League

The Belarusian First League (Belarusian: Першая ліга чэмпіянату Беларусі па футболе, romanized: Pershaya liha chempiyanatu Byelarusi pa futbole) is the second tier of professional football in Belarus. It was created in 1992, following the Belarusian independence.

History and format

The typical format of the league involves 16 clubs playing a double round-robin tournament over 30 matchdays (with the exception of shortened 1992 and 1995 seasons, which were a single round-robin tournaments). On several occasions the number of participating teams was smaller (15 or 14), due to last minute withdrawals and no teams available for replacement. In most of the seasons, two best teams are getting promoted to Belarusian Premier League, while two worst teams are relegated to the Belarusian Second League.

First League in 2023

In 2023, the Belarusian First League will consist of the following 17 teams:

Team	Location	Position in 2022
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk	Dzerzhinsk	Premier League, 14
Vitebsk	Vitebsk	Premier League, 15
Dnepr Mogilev	Mogilev	Premier League, 16
Shakhtyor Petrikov	Petrikov	3
Maxline Vitebsk	Vitebsk	4
Ostrovets	Ostrovets	5
Lokomotiv Gomel	Gomel	6
Volna Pinsk	Pinsk	7
Molodechno	Molodechno	8
Orsha	Orsha	9
Lida	Lida	10
Slonim-2017	Slonim	11
Osipovichi	Osipovichi	12
Baranovichi	Baranovichi	13
Niva Dolbizno	Dolbizno [be]	Second League, 1
Zhodino-Yuzhnoye	Zhodino	Second League, 5
Bumprom Gomel	Gomel	Second League, 10

Winners and promoted teams

Teams in bold were promoted to Premier League at the end of the season.

Season	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
1992	Dinamo-2 Minsk	Shinnik Bobruisk	Kommunalnik Pinsk
1992–93	Shinnik Bobruisk	Polesye Mozyr	Selmash Mogilev
1993–94	Obuvschik Lida	Polesye Mozyr	Kommunalnik Pinsk
1994–95	MPKC Mozyr	Ataka-Aura Minsk	Kommunalnik Pinsk
1995	Naftan-Devon Novopolotsk	Kommunalnik Pinsk¹	Fomalgaut Borisov
1996	Transmash Mogilev	Kommunalnik Slonim	Khimik Svetlogorsk
1997	Gomel	BATE Borisov	Lida
1998	Lida	Svisloch-Krovlya Osipovichi	Pinsk-900
1999	Kommunalnik Slonim	Vedrich-97 Rechitsa	Dinamo-Yuni Minsk
2000	Molodechno	Luninets	Neman Mosty
2001	Torpedo Zhodino	Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk	Darida Minsk Raion
2002	Darida Minsk Raion	Naftan Novopolotsk	Lokomotiv Minsk
2003	Lokomotiv Vitebsk	MTZ-RIPO Minsk	Smorgon
2004	Lokomotiv Minsk	Vedrich-97 Rechitsa²	Smorgon
2005	Belshina Bobruisk	Lokomotiv Vitebsk	Smorgon
2006	Minsk	Smorgon	Khimik Svetlogorsk
2007	Savit Mogilev	Granit Mikashevichi	Lokomotiv Minsk
2008	Minsk	Khimik Svetlogorsk	Belshina Bobruisk
2009	Belshina Bobruisk	Volna Pinsk	DSK Gomel
2010	Gomel	SKVICH Minsk¹	DSK Gomel
2011	Slavia Mozyr	Partizan Minsk³	Gorodeya
2012	Dnepr Mogilev	Gorodeya¹	Vitebsk
2013	Slutsk	Gorodeya¹	Vitebsk
2014	Granit Mikashevichi	Slavia Mozyr	Vitebsk
2015	Isloch Minsk Raion	Gorodeya	Krumkachy Minsk
2016	Gomel	Dnepr Mogilev	Gomelzheldortrans
2017	Luch Minsk	Smolevichi-STI	Torpedo Minsk
2018	Slavia Mozyr	Energetik-BGU Minsk	Belshina Bobruisk
2019	Belshina Bobruisk	Smolevichi	Rukh Brest
2020	Sputnik Rechitsa	Gomel	Krumkachy Minsk (Smorgon⁴)
2021	Arsenal Dzerzhinsk	Belshina Bobruisk	Dnepr Mogilev
2022	Naftan	Smorgon	Rogachev
2023	Arsenal Dzerzhinsk	Dnepr Mogilev	Vitebsk

¹ Team lost promotion/relegation play-off
² Team was eligible for promotion but was denied Premier League license
³ Team won promotion/relegation play-off but disbanded after the season
⁴ Smorgon promoted from the 6th place

External links