2004 Belarusian Premier League
| Season | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Dinamo Minsk |
| Relegated | Lokomotiv Vitebsk Belshina |
| Champions League | Dinamo Minsk |
| UEFA Cup | MTZ-RIPO Minsk BATE Borisov |
| Intertoto Cup | Neman |
| Matches played | 241 |
| Goals scored | 657 (2.73 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |  Valery Strypeykis (18) |
| Biggest home win | MTZ-RIPO 6–0 Lokomotiv Vitebsk |
| Biggest away win | Belshina 0–5 BATE; MTZ-RIPO 0–5 Torpedo Zhodino |
| Highest scoring | 5–2 – 3 games; 6–1 – 1 game |
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← 2003
2005 →
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Belarusian Premier League 2004 was the 14th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 15 and ended on November 11, 2004. Gomel were the defending champions.
Contents
Team changes from 2003 season
Two lowest placed teams in 2003 (Lokomotiv Minsk and Molodechno-2000) relegated and were replaced by two best teams from 2003 First League: newcomers MTZ-RIPO Minsk and Lokomotiv Vitebsk, who previously competed in Premiere League as KIM, Dvina and Lokomotiv-96 and is a different team from Lokomotiv Vitebsk, who relegated to First League in 1995 and after a few seasons in First and Second Leagues was disbanded in late 2000.
Overview
Dinamo Minsk won their 7th champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up BATE Borisov and 2004–05 Cup winners MTZ-RIPO Minsk qualified for UEFA Cup. 2001 champions Belshina Bobruisk finished on last place and directly relegated to the First League. Lokomotiv Vitebsk and MTZ-RIPO Minsk shared 14th and 15th places with equal number of points and had to play one-legged play-off on a neutral ground to determine who will relegate and who will stay. Lokomotiv Vitebsk lost the game and releagted to the First League. Torpedo-SKA Minsk, who finished 6th, lost financial support from their sponsor in early 2005 and, after losing almost all their main squad and not having funds to pay entrance fee for next season's Premiere League, had to relegate to Second League.
Teams and venues
| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity | Position in 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gomel | Gomel | Central, Gomel | 11,800 | 1 |
| BATE | Borisov | City Stadium, Borisov | 5,500 | 2 |
| Dinamo Minsk | Minsk | Dinamo, Minsk | 41,040 | 3 |
| Torpedo-SKA | Minsk | Torpedo, Minsk | 5,200 | 4 |
| Shakhtyor | Soligorsk | Stroitel | 5,000 | 5 |
| Torpedo | Zhodino | Torpedo, Zhodino | 3,020 | 6 |
| Neman | Grodno | Neman | 6,300 | 7 |
| Naftan | Novopolotsk | Atlant | 6,500 | 8 |
| Dnepr-Transmash | Mogilev | Spartak, Mogilev | 11,200 | 9 |
| Belshina | Bobruisk | Spartak, Bobruisk | 3,550 | 10 |
| Dinamo Brest | Brest | OSK Brestskiy | 10,080 | 11 |
| Zvezda-VA-BGU | Minsk | Traktor | 17,600 | 12 |
| Darida | Minsk Raion | Darida | 6,000 | 13 |
| Slavia | Mozyr | Yunost | 5,500 | 14 |
| Lokomotiv | Vitebsk | Central, Vitebsk | 8,300 | First league, 1 |
| MTZ-RIPO | Minsk | Traktor | 17,600 | First league, 2 |
Table
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dinamo Minsk (C) | 30 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 64 | 18 | +46 | 75 | 2005–06 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round |
| 2 | BATE Borisov | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 59 | 25 | +34 | 70 | 2005–06 UEFA Cup First qualifying round |
| 3 | Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 55 | 21 | +34 | 65 | |
| 4 | Torpedo Zhodino | 30 | 19 | 2 | 9 | 57 | 28 | +29 | 59 | |
| 5 | Gomel | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 41 | +1 | 46 | |
| 6 | Torpedo-SKA Minsk (R) | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 46 | Relegation to Second League |
| 7 | Neman Grodno | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 40 | 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup First round |
| 8 | Dinamo Brest | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 39 | |
| 9 | Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 29 | 37 | −8 | 37 | |
| 10 | Naftan Novopolotsk | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 45 | 50 | −5 | 35 | |
| 11 | Darida Minsk Raion | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 35 | |
| 12 | Slavia Mozyr | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 32 | 51 | −19 | 31 | |
| 13 | Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 56 | −25 | 29 | |
| 14 | MTZ-RIPO Minsk (O) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 56 | −24 | 27 | 2005–06 UEFA Cup First qualifying round |
| 15 | Lokomotiv Vitebsk (R) | 30 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 27 | Relegation to First League |
| 16 | Belshina Bobruisk (R) | 30 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 21 | 62 | −41 | 12 |
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Relegation play-off
| Team #1 | Result | Team #2 |
|---|---|---|
| Lokomotiv Vitebsk | 1–4 | MTZ-RIPO Minsk |
Belarusian clubs in European Cups
| Round | Team #1 | Agg. | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup | |||||
| First round | Odra Wodzisław  |
1–2 | Dinamo Minsk |
1–0 | 0–2 |
| Second round | Dinamo Minsk |
4–3 |  Smederevo |
1–2 | 3–1 (aet) |
| Third round | Lille  |
4–3 | Dinamo Minsk |
2–1 | 2–2 |
| 2004–05 UEFA Cup | |||||
| First qualifying round | Nistru Otaci  |
3–2 | Shakhtyor Soligorsk |
1–1 | 2–1 |
| BATE Borisov |
2–4 |  Dinamo Tbilisi |
2–3 | 0–1 | |
| 2004–05 UEFA Champions League | |||||
| First qualifying round | Gomel |
1–2 |  Tirana |
0–2 | 1–0 |
Top scorers
| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valery Strypeykis |
Naftan Novopolotsk | 18 |
| 2 | Raman Vasilyuk |
Dinamo Brest | 17 |
| 3 |  Aleksandr Sokolov |
Darida Minsk Raion | 16 |
| 4 | Yawhen Zuew |
Torpedo Zhodino | 15 |
| 5 |  Vitaliy Bondarev |
Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev | 14 |
| Artsyom Hancharyk |
Shakhtyor Soligorsk | 14 | |
| 7 | Oleg Strakhanovich |
BATE Borisov | 13 |
| 8 |  Edu |
Torpedo-SKA Minsk | 12 |
| Dzmitry Parfyonaw |
MTZ-RIPO Minsk | 12 | |
| Andrey Razin |
Dinamo Minsk | 12 |
