2021 Belarusian Premier League

The 2021 Belarusian Premier League was the 31st season of top-tier football in Belarus. Shakhtyor Soligorsk were the defending champions, having won their second league title last year. Shakhtyor Soligorsk won their third Belarusian Premier League title.

Belarusian Premier League

Season	2021
Dates	12 March – 28 November 2021
Champions	Shakhtyor Soligorsk
Relegated	Sputnik Smorgon
Champions League	Shakhtyor Soligorsk
Conference League	BATE Borisov Gomel Dinamo Minsk
Matches played	232
Goals scored	630 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dembo Darboe (19 goals)
Biggest home win	Rukh Brest 7–1 Isloch Minsk Raion (13 August 2021) Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino 7–1 Smorgon (2 October 2021)
Biggest away win	Slavia Mozyr 0–6 Minsk (24 October 2021)
Highest scoring	Rukh Brest 7–1 Isloch Minsk Raion (13 August 2021) Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino 7–1 Smorgon (2 October 2021)
Longest winning run	13 matches Shakhtyor Soligorsk
Longest unbeaten run	17 matches Shakhtyor Soligorsk
Longest winless run	14 matches Smorgon
Longest losing run	6 matches Sputnik Rechitsa
← 2020 2022 → All statistics correct as of 20 November 2021.

Teams

 

 

Minsk

 

BATE

 

Dinamo Brest
Rukh

 

Neman

 

Shakhtyor

 

     Torpedo-BelAZ

 

Slutsk

 

Slavia

 

Vitebsk

 

Gomel

 

Sputnik

 

Smorgon

 

Minsk clubs:
Dinamo Minsk
Energetik-BGU
Isloch
Minsk

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the 2021 Belarusian Premier League teams

The bottom two teams from the 2020 season (Belshina Bobruisk and Smolevichi) were relegated to the First League (both relegated after one-year in the top flight). They were replaced by Sputnik Rechitsa (promoted to the top-flight for the first time in their history) and Gomel (promoted after a one-year absence), champions and runners-up of the 2020 Belarusian First League respectively.

In the winter 2020/21, Gorodeya (who finished 13th last year) dissolved and left a Premier League spot vacant. Smorgon (6th-placed team of last year's First League season, promoted after an eleven-year absence) were admitted to fill the vacancy, after Krumkachy Minsk (First League 3rd-placed team) were denied Premier League license, and another two clubs (Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and Lokomotiv Gomel) rejected the opportunity due to insufficient financing.

Team	Location	Venue	Capacity	Position in 2020
BATE	Borisov	Borisov Arena^[1]	13,121	2nd
Gomel	Gomel	Central Stadium (Gomel)^[2]	14,307	2nd (First League)
Dinamo Brest	Brest	OSK Brestsky	10,060	4th
Dinamo Minsk	Minsk	Dinamo Stadium^[3]	22,324	6th
Energetik-BGU	Minsk	City Stadium (Borisov)^[4]	5,402	10th
Isloch	Minsk Raion	City Stadium (Molodechno)^[5]	4,800	7th
Minsk	Minsk	Traktor Stadium^[6]	17,600	11th
Neman	Grodno	Neman Stadium	8,479	5th
Rukh	Brest	OSK Brestsky^[7]	10,060	8th
Shakhtyor	Soligorsk	Stroitel Stadium^[8]	4,200	1st
Slavia	Mozyr	Yunost Stadium (Mozyr)	5,133	9th
Slutsk	Slutsk	City Stadium (Slutsk)^[9]	1,896	14th
Smorgon	Smorgon	Yunost Stadium (Smorgon)	2,625	6th (First League)
Sputnik	Rechitsa	Central Stadium (Rechitsa)^[10]	3,550	1st (First League)
Torpedo-BelAZ	Zhodino	Torpedo Stadium	6,524	3rd
Vitebsk	Vitebsk	Vitebsky CSK	8,200	12th

1. Three games played at City Stadium in Borisov and one game at FC Minsk Stadium in Minsk.
2. Two games played at SDYuShOR-8 Stadium in Gomel.
3. One game played at FC Minsk Stadium in Minsk.
4. Energetik-BGU spent the season at City Stadium in Borisov due to league's requirement to play on natural grass pitch in the summer. In addition, four games played at RCOP-BGU Stadium in Minsk.
5. Isloch spent the season at City Stadium in Molodechno due to league's requirement to play on natural grass pitch in the summer. In addition, four games played at FC Minsk Stadium in Minsk.
6. Three games played at FC Minsk Stadium.
7. One game played at Yunost Stadium in Brest.
8. Five games played at Shakhtyor Stadium in Soligorsk.
9. Three games played at Slutsk College stadium.
10. Before their withdrawal from the league, Sputnik played three games at Central Stadium in Rechitsa, three games at SDYuShOR-8 Stadium in Gomel, one game at Central Stadium in Gomel and one game at Spartak Stadium in Mogilev.

Personnel

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor (Chest)
BATE Borisov	Vitaly Zhukovsky	Pavel Nyakhaychyk	Adidas	Minsk Tractor Works
Dynamo Brest	Syarhey Kavalchuk	Edhar Alyakhnovich	Saller	RUPP-Granit
Dinamo Minsk	Artsyom Chelyadzinski (caretaker)	Igor Shitov	Saller	None
Energetik-BGU	Vladimir Belyavskiy	Yevgeniy Yudchits	Adidas	Belenergo
Gomel	Ivan Bionchik	Ruslan Yudenkov	Joma	Belorusneft
Isloch Minsk Raion	Artsyom Radzkow	Dzmitry Kamarowski	Joma	Hyundai
Minsk	Fyodor Shcherbachenko	Syarhey Vyeramko	Macron	Minsk Tractor Works
Neman Grodno	Igor Kovalevich	Valery Zhukowski	Saller	None
Rukh Brest	Kirill Alshevsky	Artsyom Rakhmanaw	Joma	Belgosstrakh
Shakhtyor Soligorsk	Roman Hryhorchuk	Alyaksandr Hutar	Jako	Belaruskali
Slavia Mozyr	Mihail Martsinovich	Mikhail Baranovsky	Joma	Mozyr Oil Refinery
Slutsk	Aleksandr Brazevich	Ilya Branovets	Hummel	Slutsk Sugar Refinery
Smorgon	Vyacheslav Geraschenko	Artur Valikayev	Masita	Maxline
Sputnik Rechitsa	Viktor Kumykov	Ihar Yasinski	Macron	Stroidiapazon
Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	Yuri Puntus	Andrey Khachaturyan	Adidas	BelAZ
Vitebsk	Yevgeniy Chernukhin	Artsyom Skitaw	Macron	None

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
FC Dinamo Minsk	Leonid Kuchuk^[1]	Resigned	28 May 2021	4th	Artsyom Chelyadzinski (caretaker) ^[2]	3 June 2021
FC Sputnik Rechitsa	Vyacheslav Levchuk^[3]	Mutual Consent	4 June 2021	16th	Viktor Kumykov^[4]	4 June 2021

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Shakhtyor Soligorsk (C)	30	24	3	3	62	18	+44	75	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	BATE Borisov	30	19	8	3	61	27	+34	65	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
3	Dinamo Minsk	30	19	5	6	55	20	+35	62	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
4	Gomel^[a]	30	17	8	5	57	23	+34	59	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
5	Rukh Brest (W)	30	16	10	4	52	28	+24	58	Withdrawal from the league^[5]
6	Dynamo Brest	30	8	14	8	32	32	0	38
7	Vitebsk	30	9	10	11	37	41	−4	37
8	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	30	10	6	14	38	43	−5	36
9	Slutsk	30	9	8	13	36	44	−8	35
10	Isloch Minsk Raion	30	9	7	14	38	47	−9	34
11	Neman Grodno	30	9	7	14	36	36	0	34
12	Minsk	30	8	9	13	32	52	−20	33
13	Energetik-BGU Minsk	30	8	9	13	35	42	−7	33
14	Slavia Mozyr (O)	30	8	8	14	42	50	−8	32	Qualification to relegation play-offs
15	Smorgon (R)	30	4	9	17	26	66	−40	21	Relegation to the Belarusian First League
16	Sputnik Rechitsa (D, R)	30	2	1	27	12	82	−70	7	Withdrawal from the league^[5]

Source: football.by
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Matches won; 7) Goals scored.
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated; (W) Withdrawn
Notes:

1. Gomel qualified for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round as the 2021–22 Belarusian Cup winners.

Results

Each team plays home-and-away once against every other team for a total of 30 matches played each.

Home \ Away	BAT	DBR	DMI	ENE	GOM	ISL	FCM	NEM	RUH	SHA	SLA	SLU	SMR	SPU	TZH	VIT
BATE Borisov	—	0–2	1–1	2–1	3–2	2–2	1–0	3–0	3–2	1–0	3–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	4–0
Dynamo Brest	0–0	—	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–3	1–1	0–3	0–3	0–0	2–2	3–0	3–2	0–0
Dinamo Minsk	0–2	2–0	—	2–0	1–2	2–1	2–0	2–0	0–1	1–2	4–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	3–0	3–1
Energetik-BGU Minsk	1–1	0–0	0–1	—	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–2	2–3	1–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	2–2
Gomel	2–2	0–0	2–0	4–0	—	2–0	5–0	2–0	0–0	2–3	3–0	4–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	4–1
Isloch Minsk Raion	1–4	1–1	1–3	0–4	1–2	—	1–1	2–0	0–1	0–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	0–0	0–1
Minsk	2–2	1–0	1–3	2–1	0–0	1–0	—	0–5	2–2	0–3	0–6	2–1	2–2	3–0	0–2	3–3
Neman Grodno	0–2	0–2	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–2	0–2	—	0–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	5–0	2–2	3–1	0–0
Rukh Brest	2–2	3–2	1–3	0–0	1–1	7–1	1–0	2–0	—	1–0	2–1	1–0	5–0	2–0	3–0	2–0
Shakhtyor Soligorsk	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–1	4–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	—	4–1	1–1	3–0	3–0	3–1	2–0
Slavia Mozyr	3–1	1–1	0–0	2–3	2–4	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	—	3–1	1–1	3–0	0–1	0–2
Slutsk	3–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–4	2–1	2–2	1–1	3–0	1–4	2–1	—	2–1	3–2	2–0	1–2
Smorgon	1–3	1–1	0–5	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	—	2–0	1–3	2–0
Sputnik Rechitsa	0–3	0–4	0–5	0–3	0–3	1–5	0–1	0–3	0–3	1–2	0–2	0–3	0–3	—	0–3	4–3
Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	0–3	0–2	1–2	0–1	0–1	3–3	2–1	1–1	3–3	0–1	2–0	0–1	7–1	2–0	—	1–0
Vitebsk	0–0	3–1	0–0	3–2	0–0	0–4	3–1	2–0	0–0	1–2	2–2	0–0	5–0	3–0	0–1	—

Source: Football Federation of Belarus (in Russian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

The 14th-place finisher of this season (Slavia Mozyr) played a two-legged relegation play-off against the third-placed team of the 2021 Belarusian First League (Krumkachy Minsk) for a spot in the 2022 Premier League.

Leg 1

2 December 2021

14:30 GMT+3

Slavia Mozyr	1–0	Krumkachy Minsk
Narh   90+2'

Yunost Stadium, Mazyr

Leg 2

5 December 2021

14:00 GMT+3

Krumkachy Minsk	0–0	Slavia Mozyr

SOK Alimpijski, Minsk

Statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 20 November 2021^[6]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Dembo Darboe	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	19
2	Andrey Solovey	Gomel	17
3	Maksim Skavysh	BATE Borisov	13
4	Stanislav Bilenkyi	Dynamo Brest	11
5	Ablaye Mbengue	Dinamo Minsk	10
6	Steven Alfred	Slutsk	9
	Dzyanis Laptsew	Rukh Brest
	Ruslan Teverov	Vitebsk
9	Dmitry Gomza	Gomel	8
	Dzmitry Kamarowski	Isloch
	Francis Narh	Slavia Mozyr

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Dzyanis Laptsew	Rukh Brest	Smorgon	5–0 (H)^[7]	18 April 2021
Dembo Darboe	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	Rukh Brest	4‒1 (H)^[8]	25 April 2021
Ablaye Mbengue	Dinamo Minsk	Slavia Mozyr	4–0 (H)^[9]	4 July 2021
Andrey Solovey	Gomel	Slutsk	4–1 (A)^[10]	18 September 2021

Disciplinary

Most yellow cards: (8)

•   Júlio César (Vitebsk)
•   Giorgi Kantaria (Neman Grodno)
•   Alimardon Shukurov (Neman Grodno)
•   Vladislav Yatskevich (Smorgon)
•   Igor Tymonyuk (Slavia Mozyr)

Most red cards: (2)

•   Júlio César (Vitebsk)
•   Sulley Muniru (Minsk)
•   Alyaksey Hawrylovich (Neman Grodno)

Awards

Weekly awards

Player of the Week

Player of The Week
Week	Player	Club	Reference
1	Syarhey Kislyak	Dinamo Minsk	^[11]
2	Dzmitry Kamarowski	Isloch	^[12]
3	Shokhboz Umarov	BATE Borisov	^[13]
4	Andrey Solovey	Gomel	^[14]
5	Dzyanis Laptsew	Rukh Brest	^[15]
6	Dembo Darboe	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	^[16]
7	Alyaksandr Sachywka	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	^[17]
8	Júlio César	Vitebsk	^[18]
9	Denis Gruzhevskiy	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	^[19]
10	Ruslan Yudenkov	Gomel	^[20]
11	Andrey Solovey	Gomel	^[21]

Goal of the Week

Goal of The Week
Week	Player	Club	Reference
1	Shokhboz Umarov	BATE Borisov	^[22]
2	Alyaksandr Sachywka	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	^[23]
3	Artsyom Vaskow	Gomel	^[24]
4	Nikola Antić	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	^[25]
5	Aleksandr Shestyuk	Dynamo Brest	^[26]
6	Mikita Nyakrasaw	Gomel	^[27]
7	Stanislav Bilenkyi	Dynamo Brest	^[28]
8	Vadim Pobudey	Gomel	^[29]
9	Pavel Sedko	Dynamo Brest	^[30]
10	Ruslan Yudenkov	Gomel	^[31]
11	Shokhboz Umarov	BATE Borisov	^[32]

Monthly awards

Player of the Month

Player of The Month
Month	Player	Club	Reference
April	Dembo Darboe	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	^[33]

Goal of the Month

Goal of The Month
Month	Player	Club	Reference
April	Aleksandr Shestyuk	Dynamo Brest	^[34]

Manager of the Month

Manager of The Month
Month	Player	Club	Reference
April	Roman Hryhorchuk	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	^[35]

References

1. "Kuchuk resigned from the post of head coach of Minsk "Dynamo"". by.tribuna.com. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
2. "Челядинский назначен исполняющим обязанности главного тренера минского "Динамо"". by.tribuna.com. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
3. "Левчук официально покинул "Спутник"". football.by. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
4. "Кумыков официально назначен на должность главного тренера "Спутника"". by.tribuna.com. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
5. ""Спутник" объявил о прекращении участия в чемпионате Беларуси".
6. Flashscore
7. "Rukh vs Smorgon". Retrieved 18 April 2021.
8. "Shakhter vs Rukh". Retrieved 26 April 2021.
9. "Dinamo-Minsk vs Slavia-Mozyr". Retrieved 4 July 2021.
10. "Slutsk vs Gomel". Retrieved 18 September 2021.
11. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 1. Sergei Kislyak" (in Russian). 16 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
12. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 2. Dmitri Komarovski" (in Russian). 23 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
13. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 3. Shokhboz Umarov" (in Russian). 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
14. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 4. Andrey Solovey" (in Russian). 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
15. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 5. Denis Laptev" (in Russian). 20 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
16. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 6. Dembo Darbo" (in Russian). 27 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
17. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 7. Aleksandr Sachivko" (in Russian). 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
18. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 8" (in Russian). 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
19. "Лепшы гулец 9 тура "Беларусбанк - Вышэйшай лігі". Дзяніс Гружэўскі" (in Russian). 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
20. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 10. Ruslan Yudenkov" (in Russian). 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
21. "The best player of "Belarus Premier League" Matchday 11. Andrey Solovey" (in Russian). 1 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
22. "Best goal of Matchday 1. Shakhboz Umarov" (in Russian). 18 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
23. "Best goal of Matchday 2. Aleksandr Sachivko" (in Russian). 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
24. "Best goal of Matchday 3. Artem Vaskov" (in Russian). 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
25. "Лепшы гол 4 тура. Мікола Анціч" (in Russian). 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
26. "Best goal of Matchday 5. Aleksandr Shestuk" (in Russian). 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
27. "Лепшы гол 6 тура. Мікіта Някрасаў" (in Russian). 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
28. "Лепшы гол 7 тура. Станіслаў Беленькі" (in Russian). 5 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
29. "Лепшы гол 8 тура. Вадзім Пабудзей" (in Russian). 13 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
30. "Best goal of Matchday 9. Pavel Sed'ko" (in Russian). 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
31. "Лепшы гол 10 тура. Руслан Юдзянкоў" (in Russian). 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
32. "Best goal of Matchday 11. Shokhboz Umarov" (in Russian). 3 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
33. "The best player of Belarus Premier league. April. Dembo Darbo" (in Russian). 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
34. "Best goal of April. Aleksandr Shestyuk" (in Russian). 7 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
35. "Manager of the month. April. Roman Grigorchuk" (in Russian). 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

External links

• Official website (in Russian)