The 2013 Belarusian First League is the 23rd season of 2nd level football in Belarus. It started in April and finished in November 2013.
Team changes from 2012 season The winners of last season (Dnepr Mogilev) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. No teams relegated directly from the Premier League as it was expanded from 11 to 12 teams.
The runners-up of last season (Gorodeya) lost the promotion/relegation play-off to Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino (11th-placed Premier League team) and both clubs stayed in their respective leagues.
One team that finished at the bottom of 2012 season table (Rudensk) relegated to the Second League. To compensate for Premier League and First League club withdrawals from last year, they were replaced by three best teams of 2012 Second League (Smolevichi-STI, Slonim and Isloch Minsk Raion) and the league was expanded from 15 to 16 clubs.
DSK Gomel withdrew from the league and disbanded due to lack of financing. They were replaced by Minsk-2, who finished 5th in last year's Second League. Gomelzheldortrans, Second League 4th team, declined invitation due to insufficient financing.
Teams summary
TeamLocationPosition in 2012GorodeyaGorodeya2VitebskVitebsk3SKVICHMinsk4SlutskSlutsk5GranitMikashevichi6Vedrich-97Rechitsa7VolnaPinsk8Bereza-2010Bereza9SmorgonSmorgon10LidaLida11PolotskPolotsk12KhimikSvetlogorsk13Smolevichi-STISmolevichiSecond League, 1SlonimSlonimSecond League, 2Isloch Minsk RaionMinsk RaionSecond League, 3Minsk-2MinskSecond League, 5
League table
Promotion play-offs The 11th placed team of 2013 Premier League Dnepr Mogilev played a two-legged relegation play-off against the runners-up of 2013 Belarusian First League Gorodeya for one spot in the 2014 Premier League and won the series 3–1 on aggregate.
Results
Top goalscorers RankGoalscorerTeamGoals1 Syarhey KrotSmorgon172 Dzmitry KavalyonakGranit Mikashevichi / Lida153 Dzmitry LebedzewGorodeya124 Ilya PukhovGorodeya11 Denis TrapashkoSmolevichi-STI11 Updated to games played on 23 November 2013 Source: football.by
See also 2013 Belarusian Premier League 2012–13 Belarusian Cup 2013–14 Belarusian Cup
External links Official site