overkill
Player Valuation: £20m
The only league still playing football with the current global pandemic, so if you want to watch live football the Belarusian Highest league is the only place you can see it. Due to repeatedly ending up in Belarus on Football Manager journeyman games I've had a keen interest in Belarusian Football for about 5 years now, and have adopted a favourite team (FC Gomel) however they were relegated last season so I cant watch their games live now, getting live top division Belarusian football is hard enough, second division just isnt televised. Highlights on their you tube is best I can get for now.
Below I'll cover a few questions you may have if you intend on watching some Belarusian football
HOW DO I WATCH IT LIVE
There are three ways I know of, two of them are free (sort of) and one you could pay for.
Method 1 - Bet 365 - You need to upload £10 onto your account, leave it on your account so the stream will work. This will give you access to every game. Issue is the screen is small and sound is poor. You can zoom in a little with your browser. Bet 365 is not designed to be a full football watching experience, so its not enjoyable to watch this way. It is free though if you dont spend the £10 and withdraw it when your finished.
Method 2 - Online streaming, you'll have to PM me if you want know more or google it and find somewhere. I'm not sure I can post streaming sites on these forums so I wont.
Method 3 - Premium IPTV - if you have a premium IPTV sub, you might have channels included that broadcast the games, Ukrainian and Russian sports channels have now got broadcasting rights, as well as India & Israel. A search through your foreign sports channels around match time you'l likely find one of the games.
Bonus Method - You tube, some of the clubs live stream their games, I watched Torpedo Zhodino beat Belshina live on their you tube channel. Most clubs dont do this though.
HOW DO I WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Subscribe to the Belarusian Football Federation you tube channel, they upload highlights of every game fairly soon after the match ends, you might need to get used to Russian Crylllic to navigate the site faster even if you just memorise what the team names look like in Russian that be enough. Thats all I did until I took an interest in learning the language.
Most teams have individual you tube channels, subscribe to the ones your interested in, they show highlights and other videos. Talk in the comments if you have any questions, most of them speak English and are quite happy to talk to you and give you their insights on their club and information about Belarusian football. I have included links to all the clubs you tube channels in my write up on the teams.
WHATS THE STANDARD OF FOOTBALL LIKE
Decent, around the same standard as most other European Leagues that are not top leagues, some of the stadiums can look a bit lower league but the standard of football is fine and you get some exciting games. The Minsk derby at the weekend was a great game ending in a 3-2 home win for FC Minsk, the game had it all, goals, passion, controversy.
WHO ARE THE TEAMS
There are 16 teams in the highest league, bottom 3 are relegated, Champions are entered into champions league playoff and 3rd and 4th enter Europa League play offs. 4th could get a Europa League spot depending on who wins the Belarusian Cup.
FC Minsk - Big club as they are located in the capital city, have yo-yo'd a little in recent history between the first league and Highest league. Been in the highest league since 2009. They finish mid table with a few peak seasons they make 3 or 4th. They played in the Europa League in the 2011/2012 and 2013/2014 seasons, in the latter they made the playoff loosing to Standard Liege. FC Minsk finished 9th last season. Club You Tube Channel
Energetik-BGU - Another team based in Minsk, they were promoted to the highest league in 2018, most their history has been spent in the 2nd & third tear of Belarus. They finished 12th last season just about surviving. They achieved a shock win over BATE on the opening day of the season, beating them 3-1 with two goals from Uzbek international Jasurbek Yakhshibev. Hes a player to watch out for a tricky attacking wide player. (no club you tube)
FC Shakhtyor - Quite a successful team from Soligorsk, they have been in the top league since it was founded in 1992. They won the league 2005 and are current Belarusian Cup holders, so they should be in Europa League when it restarts. They often finish in the top 3 so have played in Europe a lot. Best year was making the play off round loosing to PSV in 2015. Shakhtyor finished 3rd last season. Club You Tube Channel
FC Isloch - A fairly new club that was only founded in 2007, they do not have a stadium of their own and rent from either FC or Dinamo Minsk. This season they are playing at the Dinamo stadium, which is a bizarre choice as they only attract around 700 fans but that stadium holds 22,000, were has the FC Minsk stadium is smaller and would be more fitting to the crowds. It could be the preference of playing on grass turf (Dinamo Stadium) vs Artificial turf (FC Minsk Stadium). In 2015 they won promotion to the highest league and have been solid if unspectacular. Club best finish last season of 5th. club you tube channel
Fc Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino - Based in Zhodino they have been in the highest league since 2002, and often finish in an around the top 6, in 2016 the won the Belarusian Cup. They made the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa league loosing out to Rapid Vienna. Last season they finished 6th and have started this season very well with back to back wins. club you tube channel
Dyanmo Brest - Current champions, they flew to the title last season with only 1 defeat all season, having won the Belarusian cup 3 times & the Belarusian Super cup 3 times they are one of Belarus most successful teams and one of the favourites for the title this season. There history goes back to before Belarusian football existed when they were playing in the Soviet leagues, when the Belarusian league was created in 1992 they joined and have been in the highest league since. Normally a mid table team until last seasons title win. They will be in this years 1st Qualifying round of the champions league. club you tube channel
FC Slutsk - Based in Slutsk,( around 60km south of Minsk) They gained promotion to the highest league in 2014 and have treaded water since, never in danger of relegation but not looking like they will challenge either. They finished 11th last season 4 points clear of the relegation zone. (no club you tube)
FC Neman Grodno - Based in Grodno a city near the Polish border, due to this the city is heavily influenced by Polish culture more sore than anywhere else in the country due to a lot of Polish living in the region. The club is named after the Neman river which flows through Grodno. They are one of the older clubs in Belarus founded in 1964 and played in the Soviet leagues until 1992 when they joined the Belarusian highest league and have maintained their place in it. They won the Belarusian cup in 1993 other than that its mostly mid table finishes. Pretty much the Everton FC of the Belarus.
I watched them beat Vitebsk on Sunday, they were very impressive in 2-0 win looked very solid and played some good football. Club You Tube
FC Rukh Brest - Promoted via the play offs from a 3rd place finish last season, this team were founded only 4 years ago in 2016. They were originally founded as a feeder club for Dyanmo Brest, but after back to promotions to the highest league they are now an independent club, currently playing at the Yunost Stadium since breaking from Dyanmo. They pulled of an upset beating Dyanmo Minsk 1-0 away, however there still fancied for relegation. Club You Tube Channel
FC Slavia Mozyr - Based in Mozyr, near Gomel. One of the few clubs to have a couple league titles having success in 1996 and 2000, as well as two Belarusian cup wins. Today they are not the side they once were, being relegated a few times and gaining promotion back in 2014 and maintaining mid table finishes, last season they finished 8th. They play at a stadium also called the Yunost Stadium, same name as FC Rukh Brest's stadium but different stadium on the other side of the country. (No club youtube channel)
FC Vitebsk - Another ex-soviet league team founded in 1960 and based in northern Belarus in Vitebsk, joining the Belarusian league in 1992 and spending most years in the highest league with a couple of relegation. Finished 13th last season surviving by 1 point. (no you tube channel)
FC Smolevichi - Founded in 2009, based in the Oblast area south of Minsk. They joined the Belarusian football league in the third tier, and eventually have gained promotion tro the highest league last season with a second place finish. In 2016 they were the feeder club for BATE but terminated the agreement. This season they managed to hold champions Brest to 1-1 draw. (no you tube channel)
FC Dinamo Minsk - Ancient club by this leagues standards, founded in 1927, they are the only club from Belarus to have competed in the top Soviet league and won the title in 1982. The club has the biggest fan base in Belarus with the biggest crowds and ultra's. They are strong rivals with BATE. 7 times winner of the Belarusian highest league and 3 times winner of the Belarusian cup makes them the second most successful team behind BATE. They finished 4th last season and due Shakhtyor winning the cup they wont be in the Europa League. Dinamo have started the season poorly with losses to newly promoted Rukh Brest and neighbours FC Minsk. Club You Tube Channel
FC BATE Borisov - Likely the only team most will have heard of in Belarus, based in Barysaw a city to the North East of Minsk they are the most successful team in Belarus having won the Belarusian highest league a total of 15 times, the Belarusian Cup 3 times and the Belarusian Super Cup 7 times. In Europe BATE have made the group stage of the champions league 5 times, and the group stage of the Europa league 3 times (playing Everton in the group stages). This season they have been dreadful due and were on the slide last season. Last season was the first time in 13 years they didn't win the title finishing 2nd to champions Dyanmo Brest. Club You Tube Channel
FC Belshina - Newly promoted as champions, based in Bobruisk, the team has some winning pedigree in Belarus, winning the Belarusian Highest league in 2001 and the Belarusian cup 3 times. They have struggled with a couple relegation and will be looking to survive this season. Club you Tube Channel
FC Gorodeya - Based in Haradzeya a small village in Nyasvizh region of Minsk. They were founded in 2004 as a futsal club (this is smaller version of football played on indoor hard courts, similar to five a side.) In 2007 they entered the Belarusian lower leagues and made its debut in the Belarusian highest league in 2015. A solid finish last season of 7th place is an over achievement for such a small club. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Gorodeya go down. Club You Tube Channel
HOW THE SEASON WILL GO
Very interesting to see how this season will go, both BATE and Dynamo Minsk have been awful so far, were has FC Minsk have started well along with Isloch & current champions Brest. The season look to be fairly open with around 4-5 teams in with an shout of the title due to the fall of BATE.
WHEN ARE THE NEXT GAMES
Games are played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at various times throughout the day, 12pm, 2pm and 5pm kick offs. The next games are on Friday at 3pm and 5pm. This weekends fixtures are as follows
Belshina V Goradeya (Friday 3pm kick off)
Dyanmo Minsk V Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino (Friday 5pm kick off)
FC Shakhtyor V Neman Grodno (Saturday 13:30 kick off)
BATE V Rukh Brest (Saturday 15:30 kick off)
Dyanmo Brest V Slavia Mozyr (Saturday 17:30 Kick off)
Engergetik-BGU V FC Minsk (Sunday 12pm kick off
Vitebsk V FC Smolevichi (Sunday 2pm kick off)
FC Isloch v FC Slutsk (Sunday 4pm kick off)
My recommend games to watch are Dyanmo Minsk V Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino, be interesting to see if Dyanmo Minsk can get a win on the board or if Torpedo can carry on with their strong start.
I'd also pick out Energetik-BGU V FC Minsk, two teams that have started well and are playing some good football, be interesting to see who comes out on top here.
Below I'll cover a few questions you may have if you intend on watching some Belarusian football
HOW DO I WATCH IT LIVE
There are three ways I know of, two of them are free (sort of) and one you could pay for.
Method 1 - Bet 365 - You need to upload £10 onto your account, leave it on your account so the stream will work. This will give you access to every game. Issue is the screen is small and sound is poor. You can zoom in a little with your browser. Bet 365 is not designed to be a full football watching experience, so its not enjoyable to watch this way. It is free though if you dont spend the £10 and withdraw it when your finished.
Method 2 - Online streaming, you'll have to PM me if you want know more or google it and find somewhere. I'm not sure I can post streaming sites on these forums so I wont.
Method 3 - Premium IPTV - if you have a premium IPTV sub, you might have channels included that broadcast the games, Ukrainian and Russian sports channels have now got broadcasting rights, as well as India & Israel. A search through your foreign sports channels around match time you'l likely find one of the games.
Bonus Method - You tube, some of the clubs live stream their games, I watched Torpedo Zhodino beat Belshina live on their you tube channel. Most clubs dont do this though.
HOW DO I WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Subscribe to the Belarusian Football Federation you tube channel, they upload highlights of every game fairly soon after the match ends, you might need to get used to Russian Crylllic to navigate the site faster even if you just memorise what the team names look like in Russian that be enough. Thats all I did until I took an interest in learning the language.
Most teams have individual you tube channels, subscribe to the ones your interested in, they show highlights and other videos. Talk in the comments if you have any questions, most of them speak English and are quite happy to talk to you and give you their insights on their club and information about Belarusian football. I have included links to all the clubs you tube channels in my write up on the teams.
WHATS THE STANDARD OF FOOTBALL LIKE
Decent, around the same standard as most other European Leagues that are not top leagues, some of the stadiums can look a bit lower league but the standard of football is fine and you get some exciting games. The Minsk derby at the weekend was a great game ending in a 3-2 home win for FC Minsk, the game had it all, goals, passion, controversy.
WHO ARE THE TEAMS
There are 16 teams in the highest league, bottom 3 are relegated, Champions are entered into champions league playoff and 3rd and 4th enter Europa League play offs. 4th could get a Europa League spot depending on who wins the Belarusian Cup.
FC Minsk - Big club as they are located in the capital city, have yo-yo'd a little in recent history between the first league and Highest league. Been in the highest league since 2009. They finish mid table with a few peak seasons they make 3 or 4th. They played in the Europa League in the 2011/2012 and 2013/2014 seasons, in the latter they made the playoff loosing to Standard Liege. FC Minsk finished 9th last season. Club You Tube Channel
Energetik-BGU - Another team based in Minsk, they were promoted to the highest league in 2018, most their history has been spent in the 2nd & third tear of Belarus. They finished 12th last season just about surviving. They achieved a shock win over BATE on the opening day of the season, beating them 3-1 with two goals from Uzbek international Jasurbek Yakhshibev. Hes a player to watch out for a tricky attacking wide player. (no club you tube)
FC Shakhtyor - Quite a successful team from Soligorsk, they have been in the top league since it was founded in 1992. They won the league 2005 and are current Belarusian Cup holders, so they should be in Europa League when it restarts. They often finish in the top 3 so have played in Europe a lot. Best year was making the play off round loosing to PSV in 2015. Shakhtyor finished 3rd last season. Club You Tube Channel
FC Isloch - A fairly new club that was only founded in 2007, they do not have a stadium of their own and rent from either FC or Dinamo Minsk. This season they are playing at the Dinamo stadium, which is a bizarre choice as they only attract around 700 fans but that stadium holds 22,000, were has the FC Minsk stadium is smaller and would be more fitting to the crowds. It could be the preference of playing on grass turf (Dinamo Stadium) vs Artificial turf (FC Minsk Stadium). In 2015 they won promotion to the highest league and have been solid if unspectacular. Club best finish last season of 5th. club you tube channel
Fc Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino - Based in Zhodino they have been in the highest league since 2002, and often finish in an around the top 6, in 2016 the won the Belarusian Cup. They made the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa league loosing out to Rapid Vienna. Last season they finished 6th and have started this season very well with back to back wins. club you tube channel
Dyanmo Brest - Current champions, they flew to the title last season with only 1 defeat all season, having won the Belarusian cup 3 times & the Belarusian Super cup 3 times they are one of Belarus most successful teams and one of the favourites for the title this season. There history goes back to before Belarusian football existed when they were playing in the Soviet leagues, when the Belarusian league was created in 1992 they joined and have been in the highest league since. Normally a mid table team until last seasons title win. They will be in this years 1st Qualifying round of the champions league. club you tube channel
FC Slutsk - Based in Slutsk,( around 60km south of Minsk) They gained promotion to the highest league in 2014 and have treaded water since, never in danger of relegation but not looking like they will challenge either. They finished 11th last season 4 points clear of the relegation zone. (no club you tube)
FC Neman Grodno - Based in Grodno a city near the Polish border, due to this the city is heavily influenced by Polish culture more sore than anywhere else in the country due to a lot of Polish living in the region. The club is named after the Neman river which flows through Grodno. They are one of the older clubs in Belarus founded in 1964 and played in the Soviet leagues until 1992 when they joined the Belarusian highest league and have maintained their place in it. They won the Belarusian cup in 1993 other than that its mostly mid table finishes. Pretty much the Everton FC of the Belarus.
I watched them beat Vitebsk on Sunday, they were very impressive in 2-0 win looked very solid and played some good football. Club You Tube
FC Rukh Brest - Promoted via the play offs from a 3rd place finish last season, this team were founded only 4 years ago in 2016. They were originally founded as a feeder club for Dyanmo Brest, but after back to promotions to the highest league they are now an independent club, currently playing at the Yunost Stadium since breaking from Dyanmo. They pulled of an upset beating Dyanmo Minsk 1-0 away, however there still fancied for relegation. Club You Tube Channel
FC Slavia Mozyr - Based in Mozyr, near Gomel. One of the few clubs to have a couple league titles having success in 1996 and 2000, as well as two Belarusian cup wins. Today they are not the side they once were, being relegated a few times and gaining promotion back in 2014 and maintaining mid table finishes, last season they finished 8th. They play at a stadium also called the Yunost Stadium, same name as FC Rukh Brest's stadium but different stadium on the other side of the country. (No club youtube channel)
FC Vitebsk - Another ex-soviet league team founded in 1960 and based in northern Belarus in Vitebsk, joining the Belarusian league in 1992 and spending most years in the highest league with a couple of relegation. Finished 13th last season surviving by 1 point. (no you tube channel)
FC Smolevichi - Founded in 2009, based in the Oblast area south of Minsk. They joined the Belarusian football league in the third tier, and eventually have gained promotion tro the highest league last season with a second place finish. In 2016 they were the feeder club for BATE but terminated the agreement. This season they managed to hold champions Brest to 1-1 draw. (no you tube channel)
FC Dinamo Minsk - Ancient club by this leagues standards, founded in 1927, they are the only club from Belarus to have competed in the top Soviet league and won the title in 1982. The club has the biggest fan base in Belarus with the biggest crowds and ultra's. They are strong rivals with BATE. 7 times winner of the Belarusian highest league and 3 times winner of the Belarusian cup makes them the second most successful team behind BATE. They finished 4th last season and due Shakhtyor winning the cup they wont be in the Europa League. Dinamo have started the season poorly with losses to newly promoted Rukh Brest and neighbours FC Minsk. Club You Tube Channel
FC BATE Borisov - Likely the only team most will have heard of in Belarus, based in Barysaw a city to the North East of Minsk they are the most successful team in Belarus having won the Belarusian highest league a total of 15 times, the Belarusian Cup 3 times and the Belarusian Super Cup 7 times. In Europe BATE have made the group stage of the champions league 5 times, and the group stage of the Europa league 3 times (playing Everton in the group stages). This season they have been dreadful due and were on the slide last season. Last season was the first time in 13 years they didn't win the title finishing 2nd to champions Dyanmo Brest. Club You Tube Channel
FC Belshina - Newly promoted as champions, based in Bobruisk, the team has some winning pedigree in Belarus, winning the Belarusian Highest league in 2001 and the Belarusian cup 3 times. They have struggled with a couple relegation and will be looking to survive this season. Club you Tube Channel
FC Gorodeya - Based in Haradzeya a small village in Nyasvizh region of Minsk. They were founded in 2004 as a futsal club (this is smaller version of football played on indoor hard courts, similar to five a side.) In 2007 they entered the Belarusian lower leagues and made its debut in the Belarusian highest league in 2015. A solid finish last season of 7th place is an over achievement for such a small club. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Gorodeya go down. Club You Tube Channel
HOW THE SEASON WILL GO
Very interesting to see how this season will go, both BATE and Dynamo Minsk have been awful so far, were has FC Minsk have started well along with Isloch & current champions Brest. The season look to be fairly open with around 4-5 teams in with an shout of the title due to the fall of BATE.
WHEN ARE THE NEXT GAMES
Games are played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at various times throughout the day, 12pm, 2pm and 5pm kick offs. The next games are on Friday at 3pm and 5pm. This weekends fixtures are as follows
Belshina V Goradeya (Friday 3pm kick off)
Dyanmo Minsk V Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino (Friday 5pm kick off)
FC Shakhtyor V Neman Grodno (Saturday 13:30 kick off)
BATE V Rukh Brest (Saturday 15:30 kick off)
Dyanmo Brest V Slavia Mozyr (Saturday 17:30 Kick off)
Engergetik-BGU V FC Minsk (Sunday 12pm kick off
Vitebsk V FC Smolevichi (Sunday 2pm kick off)
FC Isloch v FC Slutsk (Sunday 4pm kick off)
My recommend games to watch are Dyanmo Minsk V Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino, be interesting to see if Dyanmo Minsk can get a win on the board or if Torpedo can carry on with their strong start.
I'd also pick out Energetik-BGU V FC Minsk, two teams that have started well and are playing some good football, be interesting to see who comes out on top here.
