FC Vitebsk (, ) is a Belarusian professional football club based in Vitebsk. The club plays in the Belarusian Premier League, the top division in Belarusian football. Their home stadium is Vitebsky Central Sport Complex.
History The club was founded in 1960 as Krasnoye Znamya Vitebsk (Red Flag Vitebsk). They began playing in Soviet Class B (second-tier league) the same year. After three seasons, they relegated to the third tier. Vitebsk team would spend almost all of their subsequent Soviet-era seasons playing at the third level (Soviet Second League), with the exception of 1970 and 1990, when the team dropped to 4th level. The club went through several name changes. In 1963, they were renamed Dvina Vitebsk after local river. In 1985, the club was renamed Vityaz Vitebsk and in 1989 it was renamed KIM Vitebsk (both names relate to local industry companies).
In 1992 KIM joined Belarusian Premier League. During the 90s KIM (later renamed Dvina Vitebsk again in 1994 and Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk in 1996) was one of the league top teams. They were league runners-up in 1992–93 and 1994–95, finished third in 1993–94 and 1997 and also won the Belarusian Cup in 1998. Since the 2000s, the club's results declined. They have relegated to the First League several times and promoted back and were never able to fight the title in later years. In 2003, they shortened their name to Lokomotiv Vitebsk and in 2006 to the current version, FC Vitebsk.
Name changes 1960: founded as Krasnoye Znamya Vitebsk 1963: renamed Dvina Vitebsk 1985: renamed Vityaz Vitebsk 1989: renamed KIM Vitebsk 1994: renamed Dvina Vitebsk 1996: renamed Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk 2003: renamed Lokomotiv Vitebsk 2006: renamed Vitebsk
Honours Belarusian Premier League Runners-up (2): 1992–93, 1994–95 3rd place (2): 1993–94, 1997 Belarusian Cup Winners (1): 1998 Runners-up (1): 2018–19
Current squad As of 25 August 2026
League and cup history Soviet Union era SeasonGoalsPointsDomestic CupNotes 1960 2nd 12 30 7 7 16 26–44 21 1961 2nd 8 30 12 8 10 44–46 32 Round of 128 1962 2nd 15 32 9 6 17 24–40 24 Round of 64 Relegated 1963 3rd 10 30 11 5 14 31–37 27 Round of 1024 1964 3rd 14 30 8 8 14 16–29 24 Round of 2048 Zone 1 (Ukraine) 1965 3rd 6 30 8 14 8 29–28 30 Round of 1024 1966 3rd 17 32 5 7 20 14–44 17 Round of 4096 1967 3rd 17 34 7 10 17 17–43 24 1968 3rd 7 38 19 8 11 39–31 46 Round of 4096 1969 3rd 14 32 9 10 13 30–34 28 Round of 161 Relegated2 1970 4th 11 32 10 8 14 27–36 28 Promoted3 1971 3rd 16 38 7 14 17 21–42 35 1972 3rd 15 38 12 8 18 31–35 44 1973 3rd 13 32 4 16 12 18–36 194 1974 3rd 20 40 6 13 21 20–47 25 1975 3rd 16 34 6 7 21 20–57 19 1976 3rd 15 38 11 11 16 42–38 33 1977 3rd 14 40 11 12 17 29–38 34 1978 3rd 15 46 13 15 18 43–43 41 1979 3rd 12 46 15 21 10 49–38 51 1980 3rd 9 32 5 10 17 23–47 20 1981 3rd 9 40 8 12 20 38–60 28 1982 3rd 16 30 5 6 19 13–44 16 1983 3rd 10 32 9 11 12 28–42 29 1984 3rd 18 34 7 6 21 27–60 20 1985 3rd 14 30 7 6 17 32–49 20 1986 3rd 16 30 2 6 22 19–57 10 1987 3rd 17 34 6 8 20 28–51 20 1988 3rd 17 34 3 12 19 16–57 18 1989 3rd 13 42 17 8 17 41–47 42 Relegated5 1990 4th 2 32 20 6 6 59–31 46 Promoted 1991 3rd 20 42 11 8 23 43–55 30
1 Separate cup for 3rd level teams, different for each zone. 2 Relegated due to Class B (the league where Dvina was playing) changing its status from 3rd to 4th level in 1970, and the top two levels were reorganized into three with fewer teams. 3 Promoted due to 3rd level (Class A Second Group, renamed to Second League since next season) expansion from 3 to 6 territorial zones (from 66 to 124 teams) in 1971 and dismissal of 4th level. 4 In 1973 every draw was followed by a penalty shoot-out, with a winner gaining 1 point and loser gaining 0. 5 Despite finishing 13th from the 22 teams in 1989, KIM relegated as the Second League (3rd level) was reduced from 9 zones (195 teams) to 3 zones (66 teams) and the Second Lower League with 9 zones was introduced as a 4th level.
Belarus era
SeasonGoalsPointsDomestic CupNotes 1992 1st 6 15 7 3 5 21–14 17 Round of 16 1992–93 1st 2 32 18 11 3 55–21 47 Semifinals 1993–94 1st 3 30 17 9 4 32–14 43 Round of 16 1994–95 1st 2 30 16 13 1 46–15 45 Round of 32 1995 1st 7 15 5 5 5 12–12 20 Round of 32 1996 1st 5 30 13 10 7 48–27 49 1997 1st 3 30 18 5 7 46–30 59 Quarterfinals 1998 1st 4 28 14 6 8 35–24 48 Winners 1999 1st 11 30 9 7 14 40–45 34 Round of 16 2000 1st 11 30 8 7 15 34–50 31 Quarterfinals 2001 1st 12 26 4 7 15 18–51 19 Round of 16 2002 1st 14 26 3 0 23 20–77 9 Round of 32 Relegated 2003 2nd 1 311 23 4 4 59–22 73 Quarterfinals Promoted 2004 1st 15 312 8 3 20 35–58 27 Quarterfinals Relegated 2005 2nd 2 30 21 7 2 76–23 70 Round of 32 Promoted 2006 1st 6 26 9 11 6 21–18 38 Round of 32 2007 1st 8 26 9 8 9 25–28 35 Round of 16 2008 1st 5 30 14 9 7 39–26 51 Round of 16 2009 1st 10 26 10 2 14 26–37 32 Quarterfinals 2010 1st 9 33 7 11 15 31–52 32 Round of 32 2011 1st 11 33 8 8 17 29–46 32 Round of 16 Relegated3 2012 2nd 3 28 19 2 7 57–30 59 Round of 32 2013 2nd 3 30 16 7 7 40–29 55 Round of 32 2014 2nd 3 30 15 5 10 44–30 50 Round of 32 Promoted4 2015 1st 13 26 4 9 13 21–47 21 Round of 8 2016 1st 6 30 12 6 12 30–26 42 Round of 8 2017 1st 8 30 12 7 11 35–38 43 Round of 16 2018 1st 4 30 19 5 6 47–20 62 Round of 16 2019 1st 13 30 8 7 15 24–39 31 Runners-up 2020 1st 12 30 8 12 10 30–38 36 Round of 16 2021 1st 7 30 9 10 11 37–41 37 Quarter-finals 2022 1st – Semi-finals
1 Including additional game (2–1 win) against MTZ-RIPO Minsk for the 1st place as both teams finished with equal points. 2 Including additional game (1–4 loss) against MTZ-RIPO Minsk for the 14th place as both teams finished with equal points. 3 Lost relegation play-off to Partizan Minsk (0–2 away, 2–1 home) 4 Won promotion play-off against Dnepr Mogilev (2–0 home, 1–1 away)
European record Vitebsk played in European Cups under their former name Lokomotiv-96.
Season Competition Round Club 1st leg 2nd leg 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QR Levski Sofia 1–8 (A) 1–1 (H) 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1R Varteks 1–2 (H) 2–2 (A) 2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1QR KuPS 0–2 (A) 1–1 (H)
Managers Pyotr Vasilevsky (1989–91) Georgy Kondratyev (2003–04) Andrey Chernyshov (2006–07) Yury Konoplev (2007–08) Alyaksandr Khatskevich (2008–09) Yury Konoplev (2009–10) Sergei Borovsky (2010–11) Yury Konoplev (2012–14) Sergey Vekhtev (2014–15) Sergey Yasinsky (2015–20)
See also FC Vitebsk-2
References
External links