1998 Belarusian Premier League

The 1998 Belarusian Premier League was the eighth season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 12 and ended on October 31, 1998. Dinamo Minsk were the defending champions.

Belarusian Premier League
Season1998
ChampionsDnepr-Transmash Mogilev
RelegatedKommunalnik Slonim
Dinamo-93 Minsk
Champions LeagueDnepr-Transmash Mogilev
UEFA CupBelshina Bobruisk
BATE Borisov
Intertoto CupLokomotiv-96 Vitebsk
Gomel
Matches played225
Goals scored587 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorerSergey Yaromko (19)
Biggest home winBATE 6–0 Dinamo Brest;
Belshina 6–0 Naftan-Devon;
Torpedo Minsk 6–0 Kommunalnik
Biggest away winKommunalnik 0–5 Dnepr-Transmash;
Dinamo Minsk 0–5 Dinamo Brest
Highest scoringDinamo Brest 6–3 Molodechno
← 1997
1999 →

Team changes from 1997 season

Two worst teams of the last season (Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev and Shakhtyor Soligorsk) relegated to the First League. They were replaced by two best clubs of 1996 First League (FC Gomel and BATE Borisov).

In the early days of January it was announced that Transmash Mogilev ceased to exist as an independent club merged with Dnepr Mogilev (with the latter being renamed to Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev). Ataka Minsk, who suffered heavy financial troubles, let go all their senior team players and failed to confirm their participation in the new season by a deadline in early March. A week later BFF announced that Ataka Minsk were excluded from the league and that two vacant places (left by Transmash and Ataka) are being filled by Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev and Shakhtyor Soligorsk, both of whom were spared from relegation.

Before the start of the season, MPKC Mozyr changed their name to Slavia Mozyr.

Overview

Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev won their 1st champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up BATE Borisov as well as bronze medalists and 1998–99 Cup winners Belshina Bobruisk qualified for UEFA Cup. Kommunalnik Slonim finished on last, 15th place and relegated to First League. Dinamo-93 Minsk dissolved and withdrew from the championship after 15 rounds. They were excluded from the final table and their results were annulled.

Teams and venues
Location of teams in 1998 Belarusian Premier League
Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 1997
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Dinamo, Minsk 41,040 1
Belshina Bobruisk Spartak, Bobruisk 3,550 2
Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk Central, Vitebsk 8,300 3
Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev Spartak, Mogilev 11,200 4
Dinamo-93 Minsk Dinamo, Minsk 41,040 5
Slavia Mozyr Yunost, Mozyr 5,500 6
Dinamo Brest Brest Dinamo, Brest 10,080 7
Torpedo Minsk Torpedo, Minsk 5,200 8
Naftan-Devon Novopolotsk Atlant 6,500 9
Neman Grodno Neman 6,300 10
Kommunalnik Slonim Yunost, Slonim 3,000 11
Molodechno Molodechno City Stadium, Molodechno 5,500 13
Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev Torpedo, Mogilev 3,500 15
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Stroitel 5,000 16
Gomel Gomel Central, Gomel 11,800 First league, 1
BATE Borisov City Stadium, Borisov 5,500 First league, 2

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev (C) 28 21 4 3 55 12 +43 67 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 BATE Borisov 28 18 4 6 50 25 +25 58 Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Belshina Bobruisk 28 17 6 5 47 17 +30 57
4 Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk 28 14 6 8 35 24 +11 48 Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
5 Gomel 28 12 9 7 36 30 +6 45
6 Slavia Mozyr 28 12 9 7 41 36 +5 45
7 Torpedo Minsk 28 12 8 8 44 22 +22 44
8 Dinamo Minsk 28 11 6 11 39 38 +1 39
9 Dinamo Brest 28 12 2 14 40 40 0 38
10 Neman Grodno 28 8 7 13 27 44 −17 31
11 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 28 8 6 14 33 54 −21 30
12 Torpedo-Kadino Mogilev 28 7 8 13 30 40 −10 29
13 Naftan-Devon Novopolotsk 28 7 4 17 33 47 −14 25
14 Molodechno 28 4 4 20 21 51 −30 16
15 Kommunalnik Slonim (R) 28 3 5 20 14 63 −49 14 Relegation to Belarusian First League
D Dinamo-93 Minsk[lower-alpha 2] (D) 15 4 6 5 19 23 −4 18 Dissolved
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head
(C) Champion; (D) Dissolved; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Belshina Bobruisk qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round by winning the 1998–99 Belarusian Cup.
  2. Dinamo-93 Minsk withdrew after 15 rounds. All their games were annulled and the team was excluded from the final table.

Belarusian clubs in European Cups
Round Team #1 Agg. Team #1 1st leg 2nd leg
1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup
First round Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev 2–10 Debrecen 2–4 0–6
1998–99 UEFA Cup
First qualifying round Belshina Bobruisk 1–3 CSKA Sofia 0–0 1–3
1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Qualifying round Levski Sofia 9–2 Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk 8–1 1–1
1998–99 UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round Skonto Riga 2–1 Dinamo Minsk 0–0 2–1

Top scorers
Rank Name Team Goals
1 Sergey YaromkoTorpedo Minsk19
2 Valery StrypeykisNaftan-Devon Novopolotsk18
Raman VasilyukDinamo Brest18

See also
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