24 Oct 2026
Saturday
Process
12 Edition

The Belshina Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

69 days out for Vladislav Davydov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Belshina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Danila Slesarchuk says Belshina went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Daniil Kutsepalov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Maxim Druchik gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Stanislav Lomako falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

When it matters, Vladislav Bolotnikov plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

Back issues
11 Edition

The Belshina Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Vladislav Davydov out for 76 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Belshina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Belshina

Daniil Kutsepalov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Belshina training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Golub is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Belshina promote Ihar Savitski from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ihar Savitski has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Mikalai Makas steps up from the Belshina academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mikalai Makas has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

The dugout

Ilya Vikhrov gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ilya Vikhrov is on it.

In brief

10 Edition

The Belshina Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Vladislav Davydov breaks a bone — 83 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Nikita Solonovich has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Belshina they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Words exchanged at Belshina

Daniil Kutsepalov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Boardroom

Belshina agree a free transfer for Artem Vlasov

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Boardroom

Wages eat 208% of everything Belshina earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Belshina

13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Vladislav Solanovich gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vladislav Solanovich is on it.

Squad

Words at Belshina training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stanislav Lomako is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

No place for Nikita Patsenko in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nikita Patsenko has his answer from Belshina; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

9 Edition

The Belshina Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

90 days out for Vladislav Davydov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Belshina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A falling-out at Belshina

Daniil Kutsepalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Stanislav Lomako falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

The Danila Slesarchuk talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Belshina know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Kirill Malykh gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kirill Malykh is on it.

The dugout

The manager makes Maxim Druchik a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Belshina. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

8 Edition

The Belshina Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

97 days out for Vladislav Davydov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Belshina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Nikita Patsenko says Belshina went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Pavel Prishivalko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Belshina agree a free transfer for Yaroslav Chistyakov

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Squad

Words at Belshina training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Golub is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Danila Slesarchuk

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

The Nikita Golub question follows Belshina around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Golub’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

When it matters, Vladislav Bolotnikov plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Squad

Ruslan Belov wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Belshina will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

In brief

7 Edition

The Belshina Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Vladislav Davydov breaks a bone — 104 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Boardroom

Belshina close the window on a squad of their own making

22 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Boardroom

Belshina beat the market to Yan Pikuza from Isloch

Isloch will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Yan Pikuza has pre-agreed a move to Belshina, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Squad

Nikita Golub falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Belshina promote Yan Kendysh from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yan Kendysh has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

One of our own: Kirill Volodko joins the Belshina first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kirill Volodko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Talks stall between Belshina and Danila Slesarchuk

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

Alexey Matlakh in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Maxim Druchik knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Druchik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

6 Edition

The Belshina Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Vladislav Davydov out for 111 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Belshina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nikita Solonovich

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Solonovich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Belshina the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Belshina

Daniil Kutsepalov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Belshina walk away from Ilya Bogdanovich

$270.0K was the most the club would pay and Smorgon were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Boardroom

Belshina agree a free transfer for Alexey Chernodarov

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Market

Belshina and Daniil Kutsepalov are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Squad

13 new faces, and Belshina are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Market

Belshina buy the years ahead of Ivan Gavrilov

He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Semen Shestilovskiy

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Semen Shestilovskiy has come out of that comparison in the side, and Belshina have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

5 Edition

The Belshina Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

118 days out for Vladislav Davydov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Belshina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Belshina out of the cup

BATE ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Squad

A muscle injury and 15 days out for Danila Slesarchuk

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Belshina will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Transfer targets

Denis Gnedoy turns down Belshina

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Transfer targets

Belshina make their move for Ilya Bogdanovich

$200.0K on the table at Smorgon. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

A falling-out at Belshina

Daniil Kutsepalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

No deal for Abena Ottou Felix Christanval at that price

Belshina offered $60.0K; Minsk said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Boardroom

Great Agbo will join Belshina for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Great Agbo has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Belshina have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Transfer targets

Belshina rebuffed over Alexandr Dzhigero

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Mozyr have kept their man, and Belshina go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

In brief

4 Edition

The Belshina Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Vladislav Davydov breaks a bone — 125 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 125 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Belshina march on in the cup

Neman are out and Belshina go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Market

Belshina say no — this time

The offer from Avangard for Nikita Golub was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Match

Belshina cannot stop winning

6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

Nikita Sokolovskiy runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Abu Sufyan Waddu at 20 — 7.87

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abu Sufyan Waddu did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Kirill Pogrebnyak, 34, rolls back the years — 7.90

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Transfer targets

Gleb Kosteley turns down Belshina

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Belshina count the cost of losing Arseniy Achapovskiy

14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

In brief

3 Edition

The Belshina Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

132 days out for Vladislav Davydov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Belshina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Abu Sufyan Waddu sends Belshina through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Abu Sufyan Waddu obliged against Lida. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Belshina.

Player ratings

Abu Sufyan Waddu scores twice — 8.64

Two goals and a mark of 8.64 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Nikita Solonovich has said yes to Lokomotiv Gomel

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Belshina have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

A move Maxim Druchik would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Maxim Druchik is living that version at Belshina, and it tends to show in the first month.

Match

Belshina make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Belshina have 4 straight wins of it.

Player ratings

Nikita Golub scored one and made one — 7.98

Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.98, and 2 involvements.

Squad

Tempers go at Belshina

Daniil Kutsepalov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Belshina walk away from Ilya Sedro

$90.0K was the most the club would pay and Dinamo Brest were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

In brief

2 Edition

The Belshina Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Nikita Golub turns Irtysh down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Player ratings

Arseniy Achapovskiy beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Yuriy Kozlov yet — 8.07

At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.07 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Transfer targets

Belshina bid $90.0K for Ilya Sedro

The offer went to Dinamo Brest this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

A falling-out at Belshina

Daniil Kutsepalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Belshina training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Golub is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Belshina promote Vitaliy Laptev from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vitaliy Laptev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Aliaksandr Klimovich steps up from the Belshina academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aliaksandr Klimovich has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Aliaksandr Noyok steps up from the Belshina academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aliaksandr Noyok has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

1 Edition

The Belshina Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Age has not caught Yuriy Kozlov yet — 8.33

At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.33 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Vladislav Solanovich signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vladislav Solanovich and Belshina agree another 3 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Belshina

Pavel Prishivalko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Nikita Golub beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A row about effort at Belshina

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Solanovich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Arseniy Achapovskiy

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Belshina see off Lokomotiv Gomel

Three points for Belshina, 2‑0 the final word against Lokomotiv Gomel in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Vladislav Solanovich at his very best

Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Belshina.

Squad

This league is too small for Kirill Pogrebnyak

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Belshina will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

In brief