Qarabag FK is a symbol of endurance, national identity and sporting evolution.
From humble roots in Soviet-era Azerbaijan to challenging European heavyweights on the biggest stage.
The Qarabag FK journey is a story of transformation that began in the early 1950s in Aghdam, a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Initially founded as Mehsul after the completion of the city’s stadium in 1951, the side competed sporadically in regional championships before being renamed several times, eventually becoming Qarabag FK.
After winning their first title in 1993, the first club from outside the capital, Baku to win Azerbaijan’s top flight, history intervened dramatically when the Nagorno-Karabakh War, an ethnic and territorial conflict between the ethnic majority Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, supported by Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan with support from Turkey, engulfed the region.
For Qarabag, the consequences were monumental, as the city of Aghdam was effectively abandoned and the stadium, Imarat, was destroyed.
With the club’s future uncertain, the club was forced to flee Aghdam and settle in Baku. This displacement forged a collective identity; Qarabag is often called ‘Qacqın Klub’ (the refugee club), with the iconic Karabakh horse on its coat of arms, a symbol of pride and resilience. The coastal city of Baku is located about 375 kilometers east of Aghdam.
As for where this historic match will take place, it will not take place at Qarabag’s regular stadium, the Azersun Arena, but at the iconic Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, which served as the home ground for the Azerbaijani national football team until they moved to the Baku Olympic Stadium, where Chelsea and Arsenal met in the 2019 Europa League final.
The Tofiq Bahramov has a capacity of 31,200 people and is used by Azerbaijani clubs in the final rounds of European competitions.
The stadium was built in 1951, although construction began before World War II, the work was completed by German prisoners of war.
Over the years, the stadium has been given the names of Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin before being named in honor of famous football referee Tofiq Bahramov after his death in 1993 (in England, Bahramov is perhaps better known as a linesman, having played such an important role in awarding England’s controversial third goal in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany).
In the decades following independence, Qarabag rose from that great upheaval to become the benchmark of Azerbaijani football.
Today they hold a record number of Azerbaijani Premier League titles, with twelve championships to their name, a remarkable eleven of those in the last twelve years, the only dent in that impeccable record coming in the 2020/21 season, when Neftci Baku led them to the title by just two points.
This string of domestic triumphs coincided with the tenure of head coach Gurban Gurbanov, whose longevity and impact are unprecedented.
Due to their domestic dominance, Qarabag FK have regularly competed in European competition, taking part in multiple Europa League campaigns and making history in the Champions League when they became the first Azerbaijani club to reach the group stage of the Champions League in the 2017–18 season, attracting global attention as they took on Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and AS Roma.
This season they finished 22nd in the Swiss league, winning three of their eight matches, the most notable of which was a 3–2 win over Benfica in Lisbon, their first ever victory in a Champions League group stage match.
As for Wednesday night, I think it is crucial that we don’t leave Baku with too much to do in the second leg at St James’ Park. Chelsea drew against Baku in the Swiss League and came from behind at half-time to level the score at 2-2. So that should serve as a warning about Azerbaijan’s credibility. Although Liverpool put six past Qarabag without reply in the final game of the Swiss League, it seems to me that Newcastle United should have more than enough over two legs to see them out of the way.
Achieving a third consecutive away win (in three different competitions) would of course be very special.
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