FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino

"Torpedo-BelAZ (Belorussian Tarpedo-BelAZ) is a Belarusian soccer club from the town of Zhodino. It was founded in 1961 under the name of Raketa. The team received the name Torpedo in 1969. It participated in the Championship and Cup of the Belarusian SSR, as well as the USSR Cup among the KFC. Since 1992 - member of the championships of Belarus.

Former titles

"Rocket" (1961-1967)

"Avtozavodets (1967-1969)

"Torpedo" (1969-1988)

"BelAZ (1989-1992)

"Torpedo (1993-2011)

"Torpedo-BelAZ (since 2011)

Achievements

BSSR / Belarusian Championships

Gold medal icon.svg Champion - (4): 1970, 1971, 1980, 1981

Silver medal icon.svg Silver medalist - (2): 1972, 1985

Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze medalist - (3): 1975, 1982, 2020

Gold medal icon.svg First league winner: 2001

BSSR Cup

Gold medal icon.svg Winner - (9): 1969, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2016

Silver medal icon.svg Finalist - (3): 1970, 1984, 2010

Belarus Super Cup

Silver medal icon.svg Finalist: 2011, 2017

Partiipated in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds: 2010/2011, 2015/2016, 2016/2017

The highest achievement in the championships of Belarus - 3rd place: 2019/2020

Championships of the Republic of Belarus

In 1992 the first sovereign championship of the Republic of Belarus started. The Zhodzinski team together with the best Belarusian teams were included in the highest league of 16 teams. The games were held in one round. Five wins allowed "BelAZ" to take thirteenth place.

The second national championship was held in the "autumn-spring" system. With only two victories, only four draws and horrible goal-difference 17-68, "BelAZ" finished 16th and missed out on the first league.

The 1993-94 season was not a great start in the First League. Eight wins in 28 games with a negative goal difference, and only 8th place.

Next season, in spite of 11 wins and positive goal difference 37-35, already 10th place was taken by the Avtozavodskin.

The fifth championship, in connection with the return to the "spring-fall" system, was held in one round. Of the fifteen competitors, only four performed worse than the Zhodin team - 11th place with 15 points.

The year 1996 brought a bit more excitement. Seventh place with a positive balance of goals 24-20.

The next two seasons were very similar to one another with the same result: 5th place. In 1997, 14 wins and 8 draws with an average efficiency of 1.25 per game were enough for that. But in 1998 they scored 5 points more (55) and their efficiency went up sharply - 1.93 goals per game.

The ninth and tenth championships played by Torpedo can also be called twins. Almost identical scores (44 and 45, respectively) and, as a consequence, the identical result - 7th place.

The start of the 21st century turned out to be lucky for the Zhodins. With only four losses they confidently took first place in the first league with a superb goal difference: 56-13. This year Yakov Shapiro became the head of "Torpedo", which leads the team to the highest league.

Return of "Autozavodtsy" to the elite division in 2002 brought them a high 5th place.

In the 13th championship Torpedo players scored 6 points more than in the previous one, but this result (49 points) allowed them to take only 6th place.

The next season, "Torpedo" scored 19 wins (a record!) and only twice played in a draw, scored a record 59 points in 30 games, but remained one step away from the podium. A sudden death of Jacob Shapiro in the middle of the championship had a significant impact on the performance of "Avtozavodtsy". The team was headed by his assistant Yury Maleev.

The 2005 season was even more intriguing. For 25 rounds the team was in the top three, but its defeat in the last game against MTZ-RIPO, again, left it only in the 4th place. The result - 14 wins, 5 draws and 7 losses - was 47 points.

In the 2006 season the club had some problems, as a result the team was in the relegation zone for a long time. But changes in the coaching staff (Oleg Kubarev was appointed the head coach) and mobilization of the players allowed to correct the situation and Torpedo finished in 11th place with 30 points (7 wins, 9 draws, 10 losses).

2007 was the year of Torpedo's rise. A great selection of players, even financing and desperate support from the fans did their part - the club from Zhodino fought until the last game to make it into the top three. Unfortunately, they were one step away from the podium again - fourth place with 43 points (11 wins, 10 draws, 5 losses).

In 2008 the Ryazan team suffered another setback. The team takes only 13th place out of 16 teams.

The next year the situation becomes even. The Torpedo team finishes in eighth place, but now has 14 teams in the top league.

Year 2010 is perhaps the most controversial in the history of the club. "Torpedo" loses in a crushing defeat to Borisov BATE in the final of the Cup of the country with a score of 5:0, but as a finalist, gets into the Europa League, where in the first qualifying round passes Icelandic "Falkirk", and in the second in the total of two meetings lost to the Serbian OFK. However, decent by Belarusian standards first European Cup experience is spoiled by poor performance in the championship - the torpedo team finished last but one out of 12 participants in the national championship. Fortunately, in the transition games they managed to defeat SKVIC and stay in the top flight. This season at the helm of the team two professionals were changing - Aleksandr Brazevich starts the season, Sergey Gurenko ends it.

In 2011 - a new change, this time for the better. JSC "BelAZ" becomes one of the founders of the club and acquires a controlling stake, as a result the financial condition of "Torpedo" strongly improved. Or rather, now "Torpedo-BELAZ" - the main founder and the general sponsor - is also the title. The championship ended on a positive note - in sixth place, and the restructuring of the squad began at once - a course was taken to rejuvenate the team.

However, 2012 comes out extremely unsuccessful - the team's new, essentially, lineup fails to live up to expectations. In the course of the season two coaching resignations followed (Sergey Gurenko was replaced by Vadim Brazovsky, and him, in turn, by Igor Kriushenko), "Torpedo-BELAZ" finished in last place and only in the transition matches won the right to stay in the high league.

In 2013, with the new coaching staff of Igor Kriushenko and a renewed roster, "Torpedo-BELAZ" is quite confident in the tournament distance and finishes in fifth place.

In 2014 the team managed to repeat its best achievement in the championships of Belarus - fourth place. Only additional indicators do not allow the team to rise to the podium.

The year 2015 was a difficult one for the Torpedo team. Thanks to last year's fourth place the team for the second time in its history gets the right to play in the League of Europe, but in the first round can not pass the Albanian "Kukesi" (0:2, 0:0) and dropped out of the draw. Things do not go well in the league as well - the season's result is only seventh place.

In 2016, the team enters with a much-renovated squad - only a few of last year's squad remains. Nevertheless, in a short time the coaching staff manages to set up a team game and here is the triumph - "Torpedo-BELAZ" under the guidance of Igor Kriushenko wins its first Cup of Belarus in the sovereign history, and with it the right to play in European competitions. In the Europa League the team also performs well - passes Hungarian "Debrecen", at home played in a draw with the Austrian "Rapid" and only in Vienna suffered a defeat, after which they end their way in the Europa League 2016/17. The team ends the championship in fifth place.

In the middle of the 2017 season, Torpedo-BELAZ loses its head coach - Igor Kriushenko is in charge of the national team. The team is headed by Oleg Kubarev. At the end of the championship, "Avtozavodtsy" is quite a bit short to repeat the best result - they share with Brest "Dynamo" 4-5 places, but the Brest team is higher on additional indicators.

Championship 2018 "Torpedo-BELAZ" again finish in fifth place.

In the off-season the team is taken by Vadim Skripchenko, but even before the end of the championship follows the coaching resignation. In Zhodino comes Yuri Puntus. The result of the championship in 2019 is the sixth place.

In 2020, "Torpedo-BELAZ" under the leadership of Yury Puntus wins the first medals of the national championship in its history, taking third place in the championship.