FC BATE Borisov

FC BATE Borisov (, ; , FK BATE Borisov) is a Belarusian football team playing in the city of Borisov. They compete in the Belarusian Premier League and are the reigning champions. BATE are the only Belarusian team to have qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League (2008–09) and for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League (2009–10 and 2010–11). Their home stadium is the Borisov City Stadium.

History

BATE is an acronym of Borisov Works of Automobile and Tractor Electric Equipment. The club was founded in 1973 and re-established in 1996. Since 1996, BATE have won the Belarusian Premier League seven times and competed in UEFA competitions.

In 2001, BATE reached the first round of the UEFA Cup, their first appearance in the competition beyond the qualifying rounds. 2008 saw BATE beat Valur, R.S.C. Anderlecht and Levski Sofia to become the first Belarusian team to qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. In a group also featuring Juventus, Real Madrid and Zenit St. Petersburg, BATE finished at the bottom with three points, having drawn against Zenit in Russia, and both games with Juventus. BATE were drawn in Group I of the inaugural Europa League in 2009–10, along with Portuguese club Benfica, English team & Greek side AEK Athens, but were eliminated in the group stage. In the same competition in 2010–11 they play in Group E along with AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands and two teams...
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