Since 1996, FC BATE Borisov have transformed from a club in Belarusian football’s third
tier into one of Eastern Europe’s most prominent clubs.
They have become regulars in the Champions League group stage and they are currently
on the longest current streak of consecutive league title in European football, winning
every season since 2006.
This is how the club have embarked on their magical journey, guided by visionary club
president Anatoli Kapski, who passed away in September.
In 1973, a tractor electrics factory in the city of Borisov decided to form a worker’s
football team.
They named their side in recognition of their work: Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics,
with BATE subsequently adopted as an acronym.
Initially, they were very successful and won the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic league
three times, in 1974, 1976 and 1979, as well as the 1976 Soviet Belarus Cup.
However, the club disbanded in 1984 when the factory was financially impacted by the economic
problems of the Soviet Union.
FC Berezina, FC Avtomobilist, FC Iskra and FC Fomalgaout represented Borisov in the following
years but none could generate a sufficient foothold to challenge at the top level of
Belorussian football.
It was not until 1996 when the club were revived, led by successful businessman Anatoli Kapski.
One of the owners of the electrics factory, Kapski – who was then aged just 30 – became
president of the club and launched a project to transform them into one of the leading
clubs in post-independence Belarus.
A passionate football fan, Kapski was recognised as possessing the financial capability necessary
for the further development of the club.
BATE won back-to-back promotions and by 1998 they were in the Belorussian top flight.
Their first campaign at the top level brought a highly credible runners-up finish and the
following season, they landed their first league title.
Few expected their success to be maintained.
After all, with a population under 150,000 – Borisov, which lies 74 km northeast of
the capital Minsk, is only the ninth biggest city in the nation.
Traditionally, Dinamo Minsk (owned by the Belarusian oligarch Yury Chyzh) had been the
nation’s most successful club – winning six of the first seven league titles since
independence, having previously become the first and only Belarusian side team to compete
in the Soviet top division, competing against leading clubs from Russia and Ukraine.
Another significant Belarusian outfit, Dynamo Brest, are the only club in the division to
average over 5,000 fans per match.
However, a second title for BATE followed in 2002 and the club have only finished outside
the top two on two occasions – third in 2001 and fourth, four years later.
From 2006 onwards, the club’s success has been remarkable.
They have won 12 successive league titles in a row and counting.
In 2008, BATE became the first Belarusian team to qualify for the Champions League group
stages and have replicated their achievements on a further four occasions.
In their first season in Europe’s premier club competition, they drew twice with Juventus
while were only narrowly defeated by Real Madrid.
Two seasons later, they were eliminated from the Europa League by Paris Saint-Germain on
away goals only.
In 2011, BATE held Milan before their finest hour the following season – humbling Bayern
Munich, who would go on to win that year’s competition, 3-1 in Belarus.
During these years (2007-2013) the team was coached by former defender Viktor Goncharenko.
Appointed aged just 30, Goncharenko had retired from playing five years earlier due to injuries
while he received widespread praise for his success with BATE.
Goncharenko fitted BATE’s model of continuity and rejuvenation.
President Anatoli Kapski said of the club’s success: “About half of the first team came
through our youth academy.
Every year some homegrown players emerge and we count on them.”
“We will not go crazy.
We have plans to develop the club's infrastructure.
Certainly, we may go for some transfers that would be considered big for Belarus, but we
will not bring stars here that would look down on our young team.”
BATE did not focus on signing star players.
Their iconic figure was former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb, an icon
in his native Belarus, who had five separate spells at the club.
Kapski was an unusual presidential figure in Eastern European football, uninterested
in interfering in first-team affairs and refusing to rock the club’s steady progression despite
reaching the bright lights of the Champions League group stage.
Instead, Kapski focused on developing the club’s growth and financial footing.
In 2014, the 13,000-seater Borisov Arena opened at a cost of €40 million.
Previously, BATE had been forced to play all their European fixtures at the Dinamo Arena
in Minsk because their old stadium did not meet UEFA standards.
It allowed club football’s most illustrious club competition to be played in the small
Belarusian city for the first time.
A famous victory soon followed, as BATE defeated Athletic Club Bilbao 2-1 in the 2014/15 group
stage.
It was all overseen by president Kapsy, a man who experienced health problems his entire
life.
He contracted pneumonia as a baby and as a child he was hospitalised for two years after
fragmenting a hip.
He was diagnosed with cancer aged 20 and suffered a relapse in 1999.
In 2013, Kapsy had to undergo a complicated heart operation, leaving him in a coma for
three days.
His cancer later returned, and on 22 September 2018, he passed away, aged just 52.
His remarkable ability to translate his success in business to the football pitch was admirable,
particularly in the context of continual health complications.
He created and led a club who have set a spectacular example of how a well-organised and hardworking
team with a constrained budget can achieve unparalleled success on a national and international
stage.
Unlike other stories of domestic dominance, the club did not benefit from state support
or institutionalised luxuries.
Under Kapsy, BATE evolved from a team of tractor manufacturers into Champions League regulars.