The 2003 Belarusian Premier League was the 13th season of top-tier football in Belarus. The first round was postponed from April 11–12 to later dates due to heavy snowfall. The season finally started on April 18 and ended on November 9, 2003. BATE Borisov were the defending champions.
Team changes from 2002 season Due to Premiere League expansion from 14 to 16 teams, one lowest placed team in 2002 Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk was replaced by three best teams from 2002 First League: Darida Minsk Raion, Naftan Novopolotsk and Lokomotiv Minsk. Torpedo-MAZ Minsk changed their name to Torpedo-SKA Minsk. Darida originally was registered in Minsk suburb Zhdanovichi, while playing their games in Kuntsevschina district in Minsk. The team was renamed to Darida-TDZh Zhdanovichi (due to sponsorship from shopping center Zhdanovichi) for a few weeks in early 2003. However, after shopping center cancelled their sponsorship, team's name was changed back to Darida and official location became Minsk Raion, while team's office and stadium locations remained the same.
Overview Gomel won their 1st champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up BATE Borisov and 2003–04 Cup winners Shakhtyor Soligorsk qualified for UEFA Cup. Teams finished on the last two places (Lokomotiv Minsk and Molodechno-2000) relegated to the First League.
Teams and venues
TeamLocationVenueCapacityPosition in 2002BATEBorisovCity Stadium (Borisov)5,5001NemanGrodnoNeman Stadium15,0002ShakhtyorSoligorskStroitel Stadium5,0003Torpedo-SKAMinskTorpedo Stadium (Minsk)5,2004TorpedoZhodinoTorpedo Stadium (Zhodino)5,0005GomelGomelLuch Stadium5,0006Dinamo MinskMinskDinamo Stadium40,0007BelshinaBobruiskSpartak Stadium (Bobruisk)4,6008Dnepr-TransmashMogilevSpartak Stadium (Mogilev)6,7759Dinamo BrestBrestOSK Brestskiy3,00010SlaviaMozyrYunost Stadium5,25011Zvezda-VA-BGUMinskTraktor Stadium17,00012Molodechno-2000MolodechnoCity Stadium (Molodechno)5,65013DaridaMinsk RaionDarida Stadium3,000First league, 1NaftanNovopolotskAtlant Stadium6,500First league, 2LokomotivMinskLokomotiv Stadium860First league, 3
Table
Results
Belarusian clubs in European Cups RoundTeam #1Agg.Team #21st leg2nd leg2003 UEFA Intertoto CupFirst roundShakhtyor Soligorsk 8–1 Omagh Town1–07–1Second roundShakhtyor Soligorsk 3–5 Cibalia Vinkovci1–12–42003–04 UEFA CupQualifying roundBrøndby 5–0 Dinamo Minsk3–02–0Neman Grodno 1–1 (a) Steaua București1–10–02003–04 UEFA Champions LeagueFirst qualifying roundBATE Borisov 1–3 Bohemians1–00–3
Top scorers RankNameTeamGoals 1 Gennadi Bliznyuk Gomel 18 Sergei Kornilenko Dinamo Minsk 18 3 Anatoly Tikhonchik Shakhtyor Soligorsk 17 4 Pavel Byahanski BATE Borisov 16 Yury Markhel Torpedo Zhodino 16 6 Oleksandr Pyschur Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev 13 7 Aleksey Denisenya Belshina Bobruisk 12 8 Aleksandr Borisik Belshina Bobruisk 11 9 Suliko Kakabadze Naftan Novopolotsk 10 Syarhey Kozak Torpedo-SKA Minsk 10 Syarhey Nikiforenka Shakhtyor Soligorsk 10
See also 2003 Belarusian First League 2002–03 Belarusian Cup 2003–04 Belarusian Cup
External links RSSSF