AZAL PFC
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AZAL PFC
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| Full name | AZAL Peşəkar Futbol Klubu | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Təyyarəçilər (The Pilots) | ||
| Founded | 1996 | ||
| Ground | AZAL Arena, Baku (Capacity: 3,000) |
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| President |  Zaur Akhundov |
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| Manager | Vagif Sadygov |
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| League | Azerbaijan Premier League | ||
| 2011–12 | 7th | ||
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 Current season |
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AZAL PFC (Azerbaijani: AZAL Peşəkar Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Şüvəlan, Baku. The club competes in the Azerbaijan Premier League.
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Contents
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History
The club were established in 1996 as a futsal club under the name of AMMK. It participated in national futsal league from the season 1996/97 till 2003/04.[1][2] AMMK also represented Azerbaijan in UEFA Futsal Cup 2003/04 season.
AMMK became professional football team in 2004 and joined the Azerbaijan First Division. They came 1st in their first season and changed their name into Olimpik Baku for a next season.
The first Azerbaijan Premier League season was not much successful for Olimpik Baku. Croatian manager Stjepan Čordaš worked just for a couple of month and was sacked after poor results. His place was taken by Serbian Petar Kurčubić, but he was also unable to achieve good results, and Olimpik Baku finished 12th. At that time, Olimpik was called 'The Club from Balkans', as there were a lot of players from Balkan countries such as Marko Mitrović, Srdjan Baljak, Rašo Babić, Saša Kovačević, Tomislav Višević and others.[3]
Abdullayev era (2006–2009)
In June 2006, Asgar Abdullayev was appointed as a new head coach of Olimpik. He still remains as the most successful manager in clubs' history. Led by Abdullayev, Olimpik improved its results, ranked 6th in 2007 and 2nd in 2008. Olimpik came very closed to win 2007-08 Azerbaijan Premier League, but the team was beaten by FK Qarabağ at last round game, although they only had to play a draw.[4]
Olimpik's debut in European competitions was also not successful as they were eliminated in the 1st qualifying round of 2008-09 UEFA Cup by Serbian side FK Vojvodina. Roman Akhalkatsi became the first goalscorer of Olimpik in the European club tournaments.[5]
The last round failure broke the team mentally. Coaching staff has updated the team, but the changes have not been successful. Olimpik finished the following season at 6th place, which was regarded as a failure.
Recent years (2009–present)
In 2009, the club moved from center to Shuvalan settlement and was renamed into Olimpik-Shuvalan PFC Baku.[6][7] In November 2009, Asgar Abdullayev completed his mission and he was changed by former Azerbaijani football star Nazim Suleymanov.[8] At his debut season Suleymanov took the team over the Azerbaijan Cup quarter-final for a first time in its history. The club once again was renamed in 2010, this time to AZAL PFC due to sponsorship reasons from airline company Azerbaijan Airlines.[9][10] In September 2010, the club management announced the construction of new AZAL Arena in Shuvalan.
The 2010-11 Azerbaijan Premier League season was a great for AZAL. The team finished 4th and entered UEFA Europa League 2011-12 season. Although the club was renamed into AZAL in 2010, it represented as Olimpik-Shuvalan in UEFA Europa League competitions due to UEFA's sponsorship regulations.[11] Before the home game against FC Minsk, Suleymanov said that he would resign in case of defeat.[12] AZAL lost FC Minsk 2-3 in aggregate, and Suleymanov announced his resignation after second match in Minsk.[13]
In July, club president Vaqif Gasymov invited Elkhan Abdullayev to AZAL and he signed a one-year contract. He started with a brilliance victory over Simurq PFC (3:0), but resigned after 11 games, when AZAL came down to 11th position.[14] The club sponsors made a decision to replace him by Rafig Mirzayev, Abdullayev's former assistant. Mirzayev started as a caretaker, winning 3 games consecutively and taking the team up to 7th place. In December 2011, Mirzayev signed a half-year contract with AZAL.[15]
Stadium
| AZAL Arena | |
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UEFA  |
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| Location | Baku, Azerbaijan |
| Built | February 17, 2011 |
| Owner | AZAL PFC |
| Surface | Artificial |
| Capacity | 3,000 |
| Field dimensions | 105x68 cm |
| Tenants | |
| AZAL PFC | |
AZAL Arena is a typical football stadium in Shuvelan settlement of Baku, Azerbaijan. It is currently the home stadium of AZAL PFC. The stadium holds 3,000 people and opened in 2011.
On 17 February 2011, UEFA approved this stadium to be used for international football matches and gave 2 stars for stadium category.[16][17]
In April 2011, AZAL played its first match at AZAL Arena against FK Baku and won 1:0. Belarusian striker Gennady Bliznyuk scored a first goal ever at this stadium.[18]
During 2004–2011 years AZAL had played its home games at Shafa Stadium
League and domestic cup history
| Season | Div. | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Domestic Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-05 | 2nd | 1 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 9 | 33 | 1/16 Finals |
| 2005–06 | 1st | 12 | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 27 | 23 | 1/8 Finals |
| 2006–07 | 1st | 6 | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 28 | 17 | 41 | 1/8 Finals |
| 2007–08 | 1st | 2 | 26 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 29 | 7 | 58 | Quarter Finals |
| 2008–09 | 1st | 6 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 32 | 18 | 44 | Quarter Finals |
| 2009–10 | 1st | 7 | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 47 | 29 | 61 | Semi-Finals |
| 2010–11 | 1st | 4 | 32 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 28 | 49 | Semi-Finals |
| 2011–12 | 1st | 7 | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 44 | 44 | 44 | Quarterfinals |
European cup history
As of June 30, 2011.
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | Q1 |  |
Vojvodina | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | Q1 |  |
Minsk | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
- Q = Qualifying
Current squad
- As of 27 May 2012
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable former players
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Presidential history
AZAL PFC was founded by former futsal player, currently FIFA licensed Football agent Kamil Mammadov. In 2005, he sold the club to Silk Way Airlines. Since the AZAL PFC has had just two presidents: former general officer Rasul Rasulov and the club's former vice-president Vaqif Gasymov. At the end of 2011, after Gasymov's resign Silk Way Airlines company chairman Zaur Akhundov became the AZAL PFC new president.
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Managers
- Shakir Garibov (06.2004 – 05.2005)
Stepan Čordaš (06.2005 – 08.2005)- Jameladdin Aliyev (08.2005) (as caretaker)
- Petar Kurčubić (08.2005 – 05.2006)
- Asgar Abdullayev (06.2006 – 11.2009)
- Nazim Suleymanov (11.2009 – 07.2011)
- Elkhan Abdullayev (07.2011 – 11.2011)
- Rafig Mirzayev (11.2011 – 04.2012)
- Mais Azimov (04.2012) (as caretaker)]
- Vagif Sadygov (04.2012 - present)
References
- ^ Futsalplanet
- ^ Futsalplanet
- ^ Marko Mitroviç: “Çox şadam ki, Azərbaycanda futbol oynamışam”
- ^ Главный тренер футбольного клуба «Олимпик»: «До сих пор не могу понять, как мы упустили чемпионство» (Russian)
- ^ Азербайджанский "Олимпик" уступил "Войводине" (Russian)
- ^ “Olimpik” club to be renamed
- ^ ФК "Олимпик" переименован (Russian)
- ^ Nazim Süleymanov “Olimpik-Şüvəlan” futbol klubunun baş məşqçisi oldu
- ^ "Olimpik-Şüvəlan" adını dəyişib, AZAL oldu (Azerbaijani)
- ^ АЗАЛ в премьер-лиге (Russian)
- ^ "АЗАЛ заявит на Лигу Европы игрока сборной Албании". http://extratime.az/article.php?aid=25799. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Nazim Süleymanov: "AZAL "Minsk"i keçə bilməsə, istefaya getməyə hazıram"". http://www.gun.az/sport/6224. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Nazim Suleymanov AZAL-ın baş məşqçiliyindən istefa verdi". http://anspress.com/index.php?a=2&lng=az&nid=108648. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
- ^ "Elxan Abdullyev: "AZAL-da bəzi "viruslar" var"". http://www.rekord.az/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6645:elxan-abdullyev-azal-da-bzi-viruslar-var&catid=29:muesahib&Itemid=32. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ "AZAL-a yeni baş məşqçi təyin edildi". http://anspress.com/index.php?a=2&lng=az&nid=132448. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ^ "AZAL artıq yeni stadionunda matç keçirə bilər". http://www.premyerliqa.az/?goal=news&id=670. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ "АЗАЛ разрешили проводить еврокубки на домашнем стадионе". http://www.azerisport.com/football/20110216124117111.html. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ "Unibank Premyer Liqası > Mövsüm > 2010-2011 > Protokollar". http://pfl.az/content.php?lang=az&page=182&nid=1808.
External links
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