FC Vitebsk

Vitebsk sits on the Western Dvina in northern Belarus, one of the country's oldest cities, and for decades its football side has carried the city's name through a run of rebrandings that outlasted most of its rivals' history books. The club traces back to 1960, though it spent its first years as Krasnoye Znamya, then became Dvina, then Vityaz, then KIM, then Dvina again, then Lokomotiv-96 and Lokomotiv, before settling on FC Vitebsk in 2007.

The one trophy the club can point to outright came in 1998, when it won the Belarusian Cup. Everything else has been the runner-up's share: a second-place finish in the Belarusian Cup in 2019, another second place in the Belarusian Football Federation Association Cup in 2007. In between, promotion arrived in 2003, when Vitebsk won the First League and climbed back among the country's top sides.

Matches are played at the Vitebsk Central Sports Complex, known locally as TsSK Vitebsky, which holds 8,144 seated spectators. The club plays in blue and white, and its supporters are known as the Visseblyane.

Vitebsk's derby runs against Vitsyebsk's near neighbours in the Belarusian top flight, the kind of regional fixture where league position matters less than local pride, and where a side that has spent long stretches chasing rather than winning finds its sharpest edge.