The 2004 Belarusian Premier League 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.
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 relegated 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
TeamLocationVenueCapacityPosition in 2003GomelGomelCentral Stadium10,6001BATEBorisovCity Stadium (Borisov)5,5002Dinamo MinskMinskDinamo Stadium40,0003Torpedo-SKAMinskTorpedo Stadium (Minsk)5,2004ShakhtyorSoligorskStroitel Stadium3,0005TorpedoZhodinoTorpedo Stadium (Zhodino)2,0206NemanGrodnoNeman Stadium6,3007NaftanNovopolotskAtlant Stadium5,3008Dnepr-TransmashMogilevSpartak Stadium (Mogilev)6,8009BelshinaBobruiskSpartak Stadium (Bobruisk)3,00010Dinamo BrestBrestOSK Brestskiy3,00011Zvezda-VA-BGUMinskTraktor Stadium17,60012DaridaMinsk RaionDarida Stadium3,00013SlaviaMozyrYunost Stadium5,30014LokomotivVitebskVitebsky CSK8,100First league, 1MTZ-RIPOMinskTraktor Stadium17,600First league, 2
Table
Relegation play-off
Results
Belarusian clubs in European Cups RoundTeam #1Agg.Team #21st leg2nd leg2004 UEFA Intertoto CupFirst roundOdra Wodzisław 1–2 Dinamo Minsk1–00–2Second roundDinamo Minsk 4–3 Smederevo1–23–1 (aet)Third roundLille 4–3 Dinamo Minsk2–12–22004–05 UEFA CupFirst qualifying roundNistru Otaci 3–2 Shakhtyor Soligorsk1–12–1BATE Borisov 2–4 Dinamo Tbilisi2–30–12004–05 UEFA Champions LeagueFirst qualifying roundGomel 1–2 Tirana0–21–0
Top scorers RankNameTeamGoals 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
See also 2004 Belarusian First League 2003–04 Belarusian Cup 2004–05 Belarusian Cup
External links RSSSF