Zira Football Club (Azerbaijani: Zirə Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani professional football club based in Zirə, Baku. The club competes in the Azerbaijan Premier League.

Zira FK
Full nameZirə Futbol Klubu
Nickname(s)Qartallar (The Eagles)
Founded28 July 2014; 10 years ago (2014-07-28)
GroundZira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium
Capacity1,500
PresidentTaleh Nasibov[1]
ManagerRashad Sadygov
LeagueAzerbaijan Premier League
2023–242nd
Websitehttp://www.fczire.az/
Current season

History

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The club was established in 2014 and immediately joined the Azerbaijan First Division.[2]

Despite finishing 2nd in its inaugural season in the Azerbaijan Premier League,[3] the club wasn't allowed to compete in the UEFA Europa League.[4]

On 27 December 2016, Adil Shukurov had his contract as manager terminated by mutual consent, with Aykhan Abbasov taking over as manager until the end of the 2016–17 season.[5]

Aykhan Abbasov resigned as manager on 29 August 2018,[6] with Samir Abbasov being announced as his replacement the same day.[7]

On 8 October 2019, Abbasov left Zira by mutual consent,[8] with Zaur Hashimov being appointed as manager until the end of the season the following day.[9]

On 17 July 2020, Rashad Sadygov was announced as Zira's new manager on a three-year contract.[10]

Domestic history

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Season League Azerbaijan Cup Top goalscorer Manager Kit Manufacturer Sponsor
Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Name League
2014–15 2nd 5th 30 19 6 5 61 19 63 Quarterfinal   Bahram Shahguliyev Kappa Santral Electric
2015–16 1st 2nd 36 17 11 8 42 31 62 Quarterfinal   Nelson Bonilla 14   Adil Shukurov
2016–17 1st 4th 28 10 9 9 29 26 39 Quarterfinal   César Meza Colli 4   Adil Shukurov
  Aykhan Abbasov
Umbro
2017–18 1st 4th 28 12 8 8 36 30 44 Quarterfinal   Richard Gadze 7   Aykhan Abbasov Joma
2018–19 1st 5th 28 8 7 13 30 40 31 Semifinal   Julio Rodríguez 8   Aykhan Abbasov
  Samir Abbasov
2019–20 1st 4th 20 6 5 9 25 37 23 Semifinal   Julio Rodríguez
  Nijat Suleymanov
4   Samir Abbasov
  Zaur Hashimov
2020–21 1st 4th 28 8 14 6 28 28 38 Semifinal   Davit Volkovi 8   Rashad Sadygov
2021–22 1st 3rd 28 13 8 7 33 27 47 Runners-up   Davit Volkovi 11
2022–23 1st 5th 36 13 11 12 45 46 50 Quarterfinal   Hamidou Keyta 8
2023–24 1st 2nd 36 16 10 10 33 22 58 Runners-up   Qismət Alıyev 6

European history

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Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1QR   Differdange 03 2–0 2–1 4–1
2QR   Astra Giurgiu 0–0 1–3 1–3
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR   Maccabi Tel Aviv 0–3 0–0 0–3
2024–25 UEFA Europa League 1QR   Sheriff Tiraspol 1–2 (a.e.t.) 1−0 2–2 (4–5 p)
UEFA Conference League 2QR   DAC Dunajská Streda 4–0 2–1 6–1
3QR   Osijek 2–2 (a.e.t.) 1–1 3–3 (2–1 p)
POR   Omonia 1–0 0–6 1–6
Notes
  • 1QR: First qualifying round
  • 2QR: Second qualifying round
  • 3QR: Third qualifying round
  • POR: Play-off round

Stadium

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Zira's home ground is the Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium, which has a capacity of 1,500.

Players

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Current squad

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As of 3 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF   RWA Ange Mutsinzi
4 DF   BRA Ruan Renato
5 DF   CIV Stephane Acka
6 MF   UKR Eldar Kuliyev
7 DF   AZE Magsad Isayev
8 MF   AZE Ismayil Ibrahimli (loan from Qarabağ)
10 MF   GEO Giorgi Papunashvili
11 FW   AZE Rustam Akhmedzade (loan from Qarabağ)
13 GK   AZE Aydın Bayramov
14 DF   AZE Elchin Alijanov
15 MF   CIV Pierre Zebli
16 DF   AZE Fuad Bayramov
17 MF   FRA Iron Gomis
18 MF   BRA Martins Júnior
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF   GUI Salifou Soumah
21 MF   AZE Hajiagha Hajili
22 MF   AZE Ildar Alekperov
23 FW   BRA Raphael Utzig
24 MF   NGA Yusuf Lawal
27 FW   BRA Filipe Pachtmann
28 MF   NGA Abbas Ibrahim
29 MF   AZE Ceyhun Nuriyev
32 MF   AZE Qismət Alıyev (captain)
41 GK   AZE Anar Nazirov
70 MF   NIG Issa Djibrilla
90 FW   GEO Davit Volkovi
97 GK   POR Tiago Silva

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2024 and Transfers winter 2023–24.

Coaching staff

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Position Name
Head coach   Rashad Sadygov
Assistant coach   Eltun Yagublu
  Vagif Pashayev
  Borce Hristov
  Nariman Huseynov
  Vugar Mammad
Goalkeeping coach   Farhad Valiyev

Club records

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Top goalscorers

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As of match played 1 September 2024
Name Years League Azerbaijan Cup Continental Total
1   Davit Volkovi 2020–2022
2024–Present
23 (62) 2 (10) 4 (8) 29 (80)
2   Nelson Bonilla 2015–2016 14 (29) 3 (2) 0 (0) 17 (31)
3   Julio Rodríguez 2019 12 (23) 3 (5) 0 (0) 15 (28)
3   Richard Gadze 2017–2018
2019-2020
13 (46) 0 (4) 2 (4) 15 (54)
3   Hamidou Keyta 2022–2023 13 (46) 2 (6) 0 (2) 15 (54)
6   Aghabala Ramazanov 2020–2022 12 (47) 1 (4) - (-) 13 (51)
7   Ragim Sadykhov 2022–2024 10 (70) 2 (9) 0 (2) 12 (81)
7   Qismət Alıyev 2020–Present 10 (121) 0 (17) 2 (10) 12 (148)
9   Raphael Utzig 2024–Present 3 (19) 3 (5) 5 (8) 11 (32)
10   Milan Đurić 2016–2018 8 (47) 1 (5) 0 (4) 9 (56)

Most appearances

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As of match played 1 September 2024
Name Years League Azerbaijan Cup Continental Total
1   Ilkin Muradov 2015–2024 134 (3) 22 (2) 2 (0) 158 (5)
2   Qismət Alıyev 2020–Present 121 (10) 17 (0) 10 (2) 148 (12)
3   Dimitrios Chantakias 2020–2024 108 (6) 17 (1) 2 (0) 127 (7)
4   Tamkin Khalilzade 2015–2018
2021–2022
103 (8) 12 (0) 4 (0) 119 (8)
5   Hajiagha Hajili 2020–Present 90 (0) 13 (0) 9 (0) 112 (0)
6   Adil Naghiyev 2015
2015–2019
96 (6) 7 (2) 2 (0) 105 (8)
7   Vugar Mustafayev 2016–2019 79 (1) 9 (0) 3 (0) 91 (1)
8   Victor Igbekoyi 2015–2018 81 (5) 5 (0) 3 (0) 89 (5)
9   Anar Nazirov 2015–2019 83 (0) 1 (0) 4 (0) 88 (0)
10   Jovan Krneta 2015–2018 76 (6) 6 (0) 3 (0) 85 (6)

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 2 June 2024
Name Nat. From To P W D L GS GA %W Honours Notes
Bahram Shahguliyev   Azerbaijan 28 July 2014 July 2015 31 19 6 6 61 20 061.29
Adil Shukurov   Azerbaijan July 2015 27 December 2016[5] 56 24 14 18 60 58 042.86
Aykhan Abbasov   Azerbaijan 27 December 2016[5] 29 August 2018[6] 51 22 16 13 66 52 043.14
Samir Abbasov   Azerbaijan 29 August 2018[7] 8 October 2019[8] 37 12 10 15 41 50 032.43
Zaur Hashimov   Azerbaijan 9 October 2019[9] 30 June 2020 16 6 6 4 24 28 037.50
Rashad Sadygov   Azerbaijan 17 July 2020[10] 152 64 48 40 178 142 042.11
  • Notes:

P – Total of played matches W – Won matches D – Drawn matches L – Lost matches GS – Goal scored GA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won

Nationality is indicated by the corresponding FIFA country code(s).

References

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  1. ^ "Taleh Nəsibov "Zirə" PFK-nın prezidenti təyin edilib". www.fczire.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Bəhram Şahquliyev indi də "Zirə"nin baş məşqçisi oldu". rekord.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  3. ^ ""Qartallar" gümüş medalı təmin etdi". fczire.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  4. ^ "AFFA-nın Lisenziya Komissiyasının qərarları". affa.az (in Azerbaijani). Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Zirə də baş məşqçi dəyişikliyi". fczire.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 27 December 2016. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Ayxan Abbasov "Zirə"dən ayrıldı". fczire.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 29 August 2018. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b ""Zirə"nin yeni baş məşqçi bəlli oldu". fczire.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 29 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Görüş zamanı "Zirə"nin cari mövsümdə göstərdiyi oyun və əldə olunan nəticələr müzakirə olunub". fczire.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Bu gün klub rəhbərliyi ilə mütəxəssis arasında görüş keçirilib və razılıq əldə olunub". fczire.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b ""Zirə" PFK – nın baş məşqçisinin adı məlum olub. Komandanın yeni baş məşqçisi Rəşad Sadıqov olacaq". fczire.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
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