FC Partizan Minsk ( be, ФК Партызан Мінск) was a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian football club based in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

History

The club was founded as MTZ-RIPO Minsk in 2002 as a merger of two

teams from the Second League ( Traktor Minsk, a club with a 55-year history, and Trudovye Rezervy-RIPO Minsk, a football academy-based team which only spent one season in the Second League). The merge allowed the new team to have its own football school to recruit young players from as well as financial supply from the

Minsk Tractor Works Minsk Tractor Works ( be, Мінскі трактарны завод, Minski traktarny zavod; russian: Минский тракторный завод; MTZ) is a Belarusian agricultural machinery manufacturer with headquarters in Minsk, Belarus. M ...

, the main sponsor of Traktor Minsk. MTZ-RIPO Minsk started playing in the Second League in 2002. In their first season the team finished first, and then did the same in the First League in 2003. Since 2004, they played in

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League or the Vyšejšaja Liha or the Vysheyshaya Liga ( be, Вышэйшая ліга, russian: Высшая лига, "Top League") is the top division of professional football in Belarus, and is organized by the Belaru ...

. At the end of 2004 the club was acquired by a Russian- Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov and became a part of his football holding alongside

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

club Hearts and Lithuanian A Lyga club

FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. History Banga Kaunas (1960–1993) Originally the team was founded in 1960 as Banga Kaunas and played its first three years ...

. During 2005–2010 many foreign players owned by FBK Kaunas or Hearts had successful loan spells in MTZ-RIPO. Before the start of the 2010 season, the club announced a name change. On 27 January 2010, the new name was revealed to be Partizan Minsk. Partizan finished the 2010 season at bottom of the table and were relegated. In the following season in the Belarusian First League, they finished second and had to face

FC Vitebsk FC Vitebsk ( be, ФК Віцебск, FK Viciebsk, russian: ФК Витебск) is a Belarusian football club based in Vitebsk. The club plays in the Belarusian Premier League, the top division in Belarusian football. Their home stadium is Vit ...

in a two-legged play-off, which they won 3–2 on aggregate to secure a place in the

2012 Belarusian Premier League The 2012 Belarusian Premier League was the 22nd season of top-tier football in Belarus. It began on 24 March 2012 and ended on 25 November 2012. BATE Borisov were the defending champions, having won their 8th league title last year. Teams Dnep ...

. In early 2012, the club was mostly abandoned by Romanov (who withdrew his financial support, having some legal troubles himself) and had to release all players. Partizan withdrew from the Premier League, leaving it with only 11 teams. The team spent the 2012 season playing at the amateur level in Minsk Championship. In 2013, they renamed to Partizan-MTZ Minsk and joined the Second League, before renaming back to Partizan Minsk in 2014. Midway through 2014, season the club announced its withdrawal from the league and was folded.

Honours

** ''3rd place (2):''

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

Belarusian Cup The Belarusian Cup () is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in Belarus. The tournament is organized by the Football Federation of Belarus. Belarusian Cup was established in 1992. Each year the winnin ...

** ''Winners (2):''

Supporters

The club had a fierce rivalry with Dinamo Minsk. The support across the two Minsk clubs was drawn across political lines, with Dinamo fans being strongly

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, autho ...

and Partizan fans being strongly

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

. Partizan fans were known for their

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

, anti-government,

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

, and pro-LGBT rights stances. As a result of their political views, they had a strong friendship with fans of

Arsenal Kiev Football Club Arsenal Kyiv () is a Ukrainian football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to compete in city competitions. The club claims to be a successor of Kyiv Arsenal fac ...

and

SV Babelsberg SV Babelsberg 03 is a German association football club based in Potsdam- Babelsberg, on the outskirts of Berlin. The team was founded as ''Sport-Club Jugendkraft 1903'' and again as ''SG Karl-Marx Babelsberg'' in 1948 as successor to the pre-wa ...

Former managers

* Andrei Zygmantovich *

Eduard Malofeev Eduard Vassilievich Malofeyev ( rus, Эдуа́рд Васи́льевич Малофе́ев, p=məlɐˈfʲeɪf, be, Эдуард Васілевіч Малафееў ''Eduard Malafyeyew''; born 2 June 1942 in Kolomna) is a Soviet and Belarusi ...

Yuri Puntus Yury Iosifovich Puntus ( be, Юрый Іосіфавіч Пунтус; russian: Юрий Иосифович Пунтус; born 8 October 1960) is a Soviet football player and a Belarusian football coach. He quit playing football in 1987 because o ...

* Alexandr Piskarev

League and Cup history

*¹ Including additional game (1–2 loss) against Lokomotiv Vitebsk for the 1st place. *² Including additional game (4–1 win) against Lokomotiv Vitebsk for the 14th place.

MTZ-RIPO in Europe

References

External links

Official WebsiteFC MTZ-RIPO at National Football Teams.comFC MTZ-RIPO at Football-Lineups.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Partizan Minsk Association football clubs established in 2002 Defunct football clubs in Belarus Football clubs in Minsk 2002 establishments in Belarus Association football clubs disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Belarus