Kapaz PFK

Kapaz PFK (Azerbaijani: Kəpəz Peşəkar Futbol Klubu, pronounced [kæpæz]), is an Azerbaijani football club based in Ganja, that currently plays in the Azerbaijan First Division.

Kapaz PFK
Full nameKapaz Professional Football Club
Nickname(s)"Dağlılar" (The Mountaineers)
"Yenilməz Armada"(Undefeatable Armada)
"Qərblilər" (The Westerners)
"Sarı-Göylər" (The Yellow-Blues)
Founded1959 (1959)
GroundGanja City Stadium, Ganja, Azerbaijan
Capacity25,000
ManagerYashar Vahabzade
LeagueAzerbaijan First Division
2019–208th
WebsiteClub website

History

Soviet era (1959–1991)

Kapaz PFC was founded in 1959 as Toxucu and played in the Soviet First League. However, the team were promoted to the Soviet Top League in 1968 after finishing first in the Soviet First League the previous season.[1] The club has been known as Taraggi and Toxucu during its history, however it became famous in more modern times as Kapaz when it was renamed in 1982.[2][3]

Post-Soviet era (1993–1999)

In 1991, the club was once again renamed as Kapaz after Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union and won the Azerbaijan Premier League title three times.[4] At the end of the 1997-98 season, Kapaz finished the season unbeaten. Out of 28 games, the club's final record for the 1997–1998 league campaign stood at 22 wins, 4 draws and 0 losses. To date this has not been matched by any team in a single season in an Azerbaijani league division.[5]

Azerbaijan's longest league winning run belongs to Kapaz PFC.

Kapaz PFC remain the only team to win the league undefeated and, for ten months until 23 September 1998, opponents could not even take a point off them. Two of the 22 matches were technical victories awarded to Käpäz.[6]

Financial struggles (2002–present)

Kapaz, one of the most prominent football clubs in Azerbaijan, entered financial difficulties during the late 2000s. Since 2002, the club has found themselves slipping further and further down the table, which has been influenced by financial difficulties.[7][8] The financial collapse of Kapaz resulted in a great deal of discussion within Azerbaijani football.[9] Major Azerbaijani companies, reportedly "concerned at the current uncertainty about the club's future and its backers" declined to provide Kapaz with the corporate banking facilities it needed.[10][11]

In 2005, the club's new owners decided to rename the club Ganja despite facing criticism from the club's fans.[12][13] In 2007, the club was excluded from Azerbaijan Premier League due to financial struggles. However, after help from the AFFA and local communities, the club participated in the Azerbaijan First Division during the 2009-10 season.[14][15] In 2010 they became champions of the Azerbaijan First Division finishing the season with 47 points and promoted to the Azerbaijan Premier League.[15] In 2011, it was decided that the club's name will be changed back to its old name of Kapaz PFC.[16][17]

In April 2013, Kapaz were relegated to the Azerbaijan First Division. The ended the season in 12th place in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the club's lowest ever league finish.[18][19] The club's financial situation didn't improve, which caused a lot of players to leave the club.[20]

On 18 November 2017, Shahin Diniyev resigned as manager[21] with Yunis Hüseynov being appointed as his replacement 2 days later on 20 November 2017.[22]

League and cup history
Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Domestic Cup
1992 1st 5th 36 23 8 5 98 29 54 1/8 Finals
1993 1st 4th 18 13 4 1 48 13 30 First round
1993–94 1st 3rd 30 20 7 3 74 25 47 Winners
1994–95 1st 1st 24 19 4 1 71 19 42 Semi-finals
1995–96 1st 3rd 20 9 5 6 34 21 32 Quarter-finals
1996–97 1st 5th 30 18 4 8 59 26 58 Winners
1997–98 1st 1st 26 22 4 0 67 10 70 Winners
1998–99 1st 1st 36 26 5 5 94 24 83 Quarter-finals
1999–00 1st 2nd 22 14 2 6 46 24 44 Winners
2000–01 1st 8th 20 8 1 11 34 29 25 Quarter-finals
2001–02 1st 5th 32 14 5 13 51 50 47 Semi-finals
2003–04 1st 11th 26 6 5 15 22 45 23 Quarter-finals
2004–05 1st 9th 34 11 9 14 37 37 42 1/8 Finals
2005–06 1st 10th 26 7 7 12 35 46 28 1/8 Finals
2009–10 2nd 1st 22 4 5 3 51 15 47 1/8 Finals
2010–11 1st 9th 32 8 12 12 33 37 36 1/8 Finals
2011–12 1st 10th 32 9 5 18 35 55 32 Quarter-finals
2012–13 1st 12th 32 5 4 23 22 64 19 1/8 Finals
2013–14 2nd 13th 30 7 4 19 29 37 25 Second round
2014–15 2nd 9th 30 10 8 12 37 37 38 Did not enter
2015–16 1st 5th 36 15 11 10 48 40 56 Second round
2016–17 1st 5th 28 9 9 10 24 27 36 Quarter-finals
2017–18 1st 8th 28 3 5 20 18 47 14 Quarter-finals
2018–19 2nd 11th 26 5 7 14 21 40 22 First round
2019–20 2nd 8 12 5 3 4 14 13 18 First round

European history
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
1995–96 UEFA Cup PR Austria Wien 0–4 1–5 1–9
1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1Q Dinaburg Daugavpils 0–1 0–1 0–2
1998–99 UEFA Champions League 1Q ŁKS Łódź 1–3 1–4 2–7
1999–00 UEFA Champions League 1Q Sloga Jugomagnat 2–1 0–1 2–2
2000–01 UEFA Cup 1Q Antalyaspor 0–2 0–5 0–7
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 1Q Dacia Chișinău 0–0 1–0 1–0
2Q Admira Wacker 0–2 0–1 0–3

Supporters
Khamsa Supporters Club

The club have one of the biggest number of supporters in Azerbaijan alongside Qarabagh FK and Khazar Lankaran.[23] Amongst all Azerbaijani professional football clubs, Kapaz PFC have the highest average fan attendance at their home games. According to official statistics for the first half of 2015-16 season, Kapaz PFC ranked first in fan attendance at nearly 15,000 fans per home game. This was almost triple that of their nearest rival.[24][25]

The 2015-16 seasons attendance record was set in Ganja, as 20,400 Kapaz fans attended home game against Qarabag FC on February 14, 2016[26] The fanbase is large and generally loyal and like most major Azerbaijani football clubs, Kapaz have a number of domestic supporters' clubs, including the Khamsa Supporters Club, which works closely with the club and maintains a more independent line.[27][28] The club's most popular celebrity supporters are the likes of Olympic wrestling champion Toghrul Asgarov.[29]

Shirt sponsors and kit manufacturers
Years Manufacturer Sponsor
2010 – 2013 Adidas Nakhchivan Automobile Plant
2013 – 2016 Gəncə 4000
2016 – 2017 Umbro
2017 – 2018 Nike
2018 – present Givova

Players

For a list of all former and current Kapaz PFC players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Kapaz PFC players. Azerbaijani teams are limited to nine players without Azerbaijani citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country.

Current squad
As of 1 November 2020

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  AZE Elmaddin Sultanov
4 DF  AZE Garakhan Aliyev
5 MF  AZE Elmar Rahimov
7 MF  AZE Ruslan Suleymanov
8 DF  AZE Zahid Mardanov
9 FW  AZE Tural Gurbatov
10 MF  AZE Ali Samadov (captain)
11 MF  AZE Eljan Rahimov
13 DF  AZE Sadig Shafiyev
14 MF  AZE Nijat Mammadov
15 DF  AZE Nodar Mammadov
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF  AZE Umid Samadov
18 DF  AZE Royal Ahmadov
19 MF  AZE Farid Mammadov
20 MF  AZE Orkhan Abdullayev
21 DF  AZE Novruz Mammadov
22 GK  AZE Parvin Zeynalov
24 MF  AZE Nijat Farajli
27 FW  AZE Ibrahim Jamalov
80 MF  AZE Nijat Verdiyev
97 FW  AZE Emil Gasimov

Managers

Managers in Soviet League

Managers in modern history

Honours
Winners (3): 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99
Winners (4): 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–00
Winners (1): 2009–10

Regional
Winners (1): 1967

References
  1. "Кяпаз Гянджа on Wildstat.ru" (in Russian). wildstat.ru. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  2. Полностью сформировался состав вновь возвратившегося в футбол азербайджанского клуба "Гянджа" (in Russian)
  3. "Azerbaycan çempionatlarının rekordçusu "KEPEZ"in möhteşem tarixi" (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  4. "Футбольный клуб "Кяпяз" предпочел называться "Гянджой"". Day.az. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  5. "Годы независимости. Успехи Нефтчи, Кяпаза, Шамкира, и французский позор". Azerisport.com. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  6. "Europe's longest domestic winning streaks". Archived from the original on 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  7. "Mehman Allahverdiyev: "İsgəndər Cavadov Gəncəyə lazım deyil"". xemsefans.com (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  8. "Gəncə futbol ictimaiyyəti İsgəndər Cavadova qarşı çıxdı! (BƏYANAT)". Sportinfo.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  9. Четыре причины, по которым Кяпаз не возродился. Day.az (in Russian).
  10. Товуз и Гянджа – две потери азербайджанского футбола. Azerisport.com (in Russian). Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  11. Fataliyev, Rustam. "Почему в Гяндже "умер" футбол?". Zerkalo.az. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  12. Nihat. ""Gəncə", yoxsa "Kəpəz"?" (in Azerbaijani). futbol plus newspaper. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  13. "Мехман Аллахвердиев: "Все достижения гянджинцев связаны с именем именно этой команды – "Кяпаз"". sport24.az. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  14. Magsad. "Футбольный клуб "Гянджа" вновь будет участвовать в чемпионате Азербайджана". Day.az.
  15. “Gəncə”nin növbəti mövsüm I divizionda çıxış etməsi dəqiqləşdi Archived 2009-11-01 at the Wayback Machine (in Azerbaijani)
  16. "Гянджа сменила название". Azerisport.com. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  17. "Gəncə klublarının adı dəyişdirildi". Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  18. Четыре причины, по которым Кяпаз не возродился. Azerisport.com (in Russian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  19. "10 по 4". Azerifootball.com (in Russian). Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  20. ""Kəpəz" BİABIRÇI durumda: futbolçular yuyunmağa su, yeməyə çörək tapmırlar". rekord.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  21. "Şahin Diniyev istefa verdi". kapazpfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Kapaz PFK. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  22. "Yunis Hüseynov baş məşqçi təyin edildi". kapazpfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Kapaz PFK. 20 November 2017.
  23. Ali, Ulvi. "Gəncənin ənənəsi, Lənkəranın çılğın azarkeşi var (ARAŞDIRMA)". penalti.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  24. "Peşəkar Futbol Liqası". www.pfl.az. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  25. Azerisport.com. "Кяпаз – неоспоримый лидер". Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  26. Vital, Elan. "Premyer Liqada yeni rekord". Komanda.az. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  27. ""Xəmsə" rəhbərindən ŞOK ittihamlar". Apasport.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  28. "Xəmsə" fan-klubu: "İskəndər Cavadovu kuratorluqdan azad edin!"". Korner.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  29. "Toğrul Əsgərov azarkeşlik etdiyi klubumuzun adını açıqladı". awf-az.org (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
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