| Founded | 1992; 33 years ago (1992) |
|---|---|
| Country |  Belarus |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of clubs | 18 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Belarusian Premier League |
| Relegation to | Belarusian Second League |
| Current champions | Molodechno (1st title) (2024) |
| Current: 2024 Belarusian First League | |
The Belarusian First League (Belarusian: Першая ліга чэмпіянату Беларусі па футболе, romanized: Pershaya liha chempiyanatu Byelarusi pa futbole) is the second tier of professional football in Belarus. It was created in 1992, following the Belarusian independence.
History and format
The typical format of the league involves 16 clubs playing a double round-robin tournament over 30 matchdays (with the exception of shortened 1992 and 1995 seasons, which were a single round-robin tournaments). On several occasions the number of participating teams was smaller (15 or 14), due to last minute withdrawals and no teams available for replacement. In most of the seasons, two best teams are getting promoted to Belarusian Premier League, while two worst teams are relegated to the Belarusian Second League.
First League in 2024
In 2024, the Belarusian First League will consist of the following 18 teams:
| Team | Location | Position in 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Energetik-BGU Minsk | Minsk | 14 (Premier League) |
| Belshina Bobruisk | Bobruisk | 15 (Premier League) |
| Lokomotiv Gomel | Gomel | 4 |
| Maxline Vitebsk | Vitebsk | 5 |
| Baranovichi | Baranovichi | 6 |
| Volna Pinsk | Pinsk | 8 |
| Niva Dolbizno | Dolbizno [be] | 9 |
| Lida | Lida | 10 |
| Molodechno | Molodechno | 11 |
| Ostrovets | Ostrovets | 12 |
| Bumprom Gomel | Gomel | 13 |
| Orsha | Orsha | 14 |
| Slonim-2017 | Slonim | 15 |
| Shakhtyor-2 Soligorsk | Soligorsk | 16 (First League) / 11 (Reserves League) |
| Dinamo-2 Minsk | Minsk | 1 (Reserves League) |
| BATE-2 Borisov | Borisov | 2 (Reserves League) |
| Torpedo-BelAZ-2 Zhodino | Zhodino | 3 (Reserves League) |
| ABFF U-17 | Minsk | n/a |
Winners and promoted teams
Teams in bold were promoted to Premier League at the end of the season.
- Team lost promotion/relegation play-off
- Team was eligible for promotion but was denied Premier League license
- Team won promotion/relegation play-off but disbanded after the season
- Smorgon promoted from the 6th place
External links
| 2024 Belarusian First League clubs | |
|---|---|
| Belarusian First League seasons | |
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| Football in Belarus | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football Federation of Belarus | |||||
| National teams | |||||
| League system |
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| Domestic cups | |||||