2002 Belarusian Premier League

Belarusian Premier League 2002 was the 12th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 12 and ended on November 8, 2002. Belshina Bobruisk were the defending champions.

Belarusian Premier League
Season2002
ChampionsBATE
RelegatedLokomotiv-96
Champions LeagueBATE
UEFA CupDinamo Minsk
Neman
Intertoto CupShakhtyor
Matches played183
Goals scored514 (2.81 per match)
Top goalscorer Valery Strypeykis (18)
Biggest home winBATE 6–0 Lokomotiv-96
Biggest away winSlavia 1–6 Belshina
Highest scoringDinamo Minsk 6–3 Zvezda-VA-BGU;
Dinamo Minsk 6–3 Slavia
← 2001
2003 →

Team changes from 2001 season

Teams finished on the last two places in 2001 – Naftan Novopolotsk and Vedrich-97 Rechytsa relegated to the First League. They were replaced by 2001 First League winners Torpedo Zhodino and the newcomers, First League runners-up Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk. Neman-Belcard Grodno changed their name back to Neman Grodno.

Overview

BATE Borisov and Neman Grodno finished the season with equal number of points and advanced to the Championship Play-Off. BATE won the play-off game and became the champions for the 2nd time. They qualified for the next season's Champions League. Neman Grodno and 2002–03 Cup winners Dinamo Minsk qualified for UEFA Cup. Due to Premiere League expansion from 14 to 16 teams starting with next season, only one lowest placed team (Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk) have relegated.

Teams and venues
Location of teams in 2002 Belarusian Premier League
Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 2001
Belshina Bobruisk Spartak, Bobruisk 3,550 1
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Dinamo, Minsk 41,040 2
BATE Borisov City Stadium, Borisov 5,500 3
Neman Grodno Neman 6,300 4
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Stroitel 5,000 5
Gomel Gomel Central, Gomel 11,800 6
Slavia Mozyr Yunost 5,500 7
Torpedo-MAZ Minsk Torpedo, Minsk 5,200 8
Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev Spartak, Mogilev 11,200 9
Molodechno-2000 Molodechno City Stadium, Molodechno 5,500 10
Dinamo Brest Brest OSK Brestskiy 10,080 11
Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk Central, Vitebsk 8,300 12
Torpedo Zhodino Torpedo Stadium (Zhodino) 3,020 First league, 1
Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk Traktor Stadium 17,600 First league, 2

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 BATE Borisov (C) 26 18 2 6 51 20 +31 56 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
2 Neman Grodno 26 17 5 4 47 20 +27 56 Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 26 15 6 5 41 23 +18 51 Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
4 Torpedo-MAZ Minsk 26 15 6 5 30 16 +14 51
5 Torpedo Zhodino 26 13 4 9 38 27 +11 43
6 Gomel 26 13 4 9 46 33 +13 43
7 Dinamo Minsk 26 12 6 8 44 28 +16 42 Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
8 Belshina Bobruisk 26 12 4 10 44 38 +6 37
9 Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev 26 10 6 10 38 37 +1 36
10 Dinamo Brest 26 8 8 10 25 26 −1 32
11 Slavia Mozyr 26 6 6 14 38 61 −23 24
12 Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk 26 4 6 16 28 48 −20 18
13 Molodechno-2000 26 3 3 20 23 59 −36 12
14 Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk (R) 26 3 0 23 20 77 −57 9 Relegation to Belarusian First League
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head. Replay for title or relegation.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. The title was decided in a championship playoff as BATE Borisov and Neman Grodno finished with equal points.

Championship play-off
BATE Borisov1 – 0Neman Grodno
Tarasenka  102' Report
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Vladimir Sukhovarov (Orsha)

Belarusian clubs in European Cups
Round Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup
First round BATE Borisov 3–0 Akademisk Boldklub 1–0 2–0
Second round 1860 München 0–5 BATE Borisov 0–1 0–4
Third round Bologna 2–0 BATE Borisov 2–0 0–0
2002–03 UEFA Cup
Qualifying round Dinamo Minsk 1–5 CSKA Sofia 1–4 0–1
Gomel 5–0 HJK Helsinki 1–0 4–0
First round Gomel 1–8 Schalke 04 1–4 0–4
2002–03 UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round Portadown 2–3 Belshina Bobruisk 0–0 2–3
Second qualifying round Maccabi Haifa 5–0 Belshina Bobruisk 4–0 1–0

Top scorers
Rank Name Team Goals
1 Valery StrypeykisBelshina Bobruisk18
2 Yury MarkhelTorpedo Zhodino17
3 Sergey NikiforenkoShakhtyor Soligorsk12
4 Viktor BorelGomel11
Gennadi BliznyukGomel11
Vadzim BoykaDinamo Brest11
Ihor ChumachenkoBATE Borisov11
Denis KarolikBelshina Bobruisk11
Dzmitry KavalyonakNeman Grodno11
Maksim TsyhalkaDinamo Minsk11

See also
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