1997 Belarusian First League

Belarusian First League
Season	1997
Champions	Gomel
Promoted	Gomel; BATE Borisov
Relegated	Lokomotiv Vitebsk; Stroitel Starye Dorogi
Matches played	240
Goals scored	677 (2.82 per match)
Biggest home win	BATE 10–0 Stroitel
Biggest away win	Bereza 1–7 BATE
Highest scoring	BATE 10–0 Stroitel
	← 1996 1998 →

1997 Belarusian First League was the seventh season of 2nd level football championship in Belarus. It started in April and ended in November 1997.

Team changes from 1996 season

Two best teams of 1996 Belarusian First League (Transmash Mogilev and Kommunalnik Slonim) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. They were replaced by two lowest-placed teams of 1996 Premier League (Obuvshchik Lida and Vedrich Rechitsa).

No teams relegated to lower level by league position due to required league expansion back to 16 clubs. Three clubs were initially promoted from the Second League (BATE Borisov and Veino Mogilev Raion as the winners of their respective groups, and Dnepr Rogachev as a winner of additional play-offs between group runners-up).

FC Kobrin withdrew from the league to amateur level during off-season due to financial troubles and were replaced by Beloozyorsk (who previously lost promotion play-offs against Dnepr Rogachev).

Before the start of the season Obuvshchik Lida were renamed to FC Lida, Vedrich Rechitsa updated their name to Vedrich-97 Rechitsa, Kommunalnik Pinsk were renamed to Pinsk-900, Khimik Svetlogorsk to Kommunalnik Svetlogorsk, Stroitel Bereza to FC Bereza and newcomers FC Beloozyorsk to Belenergostroy Beloozyorsk.

Overview

Two best teams of the season (Gomel and BATE Borisov) were promoted to the Premier League. Two lowest placed teams (Lokomotiv Vitebsk and Stroitel Starye Dorogi were relegated to the Second League.

Teams and locations

Location of teams in 1997 Belarusian First League

Team	Location	Position in 1996
Lida	Lida	Premier League, 15
Vedrich-97	Rechitsa	Premier League, 16
Kommunalnik	Svetlogorsk	3
Gomel	Gomel	4
Pinsk-900	Pinsk	5
Dinamo-Juni	Minsk	6
Torpedo	Zhodino	7
Orsha	Orsha	8
Lokomotiv	Vitebsk	9
Kardan-Flyers	Grodno	10
Bereza	Bereza	11
Stroitel	Starye Dorogi	13
BATE	Borisov	Second League, Group A, 1
Veino	Mogilev Raion	Second League, Group B, 1
Belenergostroy	Beloozyorsk	Second League, Group A, 2
Dnepr	Rogachev	Second League, Group B, 2

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Gomel (P)	30	27	1	2	83	9	+74	82	Promotion to Belarusian Premier League
2	BATE Borisov (P)	30	25	3	2	92	15	+77	78	Promotion to Belarusian Premier League
3	Lida	30	20	5	5	59	24	+35	65
4	Bereza	30	15	6	9	36	34	+2	51
5	Torpedo Zhodino	30	14	8	8	37	25	+12	50
6	Vedrich-97 Rechitsa	30	13	7	10	44	43	+1	46
7	Kommunalnik Svetlogorsk	30	13	6	11	43	42	+1	45
8	Pinsk-900	30	12	8	10	43	36	+7	44
9	Dinamo-Juni Minsk	30	12	7	11	45	42	+3	43
10	Kardan-Flyers Grodno	30	9	7	14	36	50	−14	34
11	Veino Mogilev Raion	30	9	4	17	27	53	−26	31
12	Belenergostroy Beloozyorsk	30	6	9	15	37	58	−21	27
13	Dnepr Rogachev	30	6	8	16	30	63	−33	26
14	Orsha	30	7	3	20	34	61	−27	24
15	Lokomotiv Vitebsk (R)	30	5	7	18	17	50	−33	22	Relegation to Belarusian Second League
16	Stroitel Starye Dorogi (R)	30	0	5	25	14	81	−67	5	Relegation to Belarusian Second League

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head (points, matches won, goal difference, goals scored); 4th goal difference; 5th goals scored
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Top goalscorers

Rank	Goalscorer	Team	Goals
1	Mikalay Ryndzyuk	BATE Borisov	30
2	Ihar Fralow	Gomel	19
3	Andrey Yusipets	Gomel	18
4	Vitaly Shimko	BATE Borisov	14
5	Zviad Burdzenidze	Lida	13
5	Alyaksandr Davidovich	Kardan-Flyers Grodno	13

External links

RSSSF