FC Urartu
Football Club Urartu (Armenian: Ուրարտու Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ, translated Futbolayin Akumb Urartu), commonly known as Urartu, is an Armenian professional football team based in the capital Yerevan that currently plays in the Armenian Premier League. The club won the Armenian Cup five times, in 1992, 2007, 2016, 2022 and 2023. In 2013–2014, they won the Armenian Premier League for the first time in their history.
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| Full name | Football Club Urartu | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Հպարտ Առյուծներ Hpart Aryutsner (Proud Lions) | |||
| Founded | January 20, 1992 | |||
| Ground | Urartu Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 4,860[1] | |||
| Owner | Dzhevan Cheloyants | |||
| Director General | Gohar Vardanyan [2] | |||
| Manager | Dmitry Gunko | |||
| League | Armenian Premier League | |||
| 2022–23 | 1st of 10 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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In early 2016, the Russia-based Armenian businessman Dzhevan Cheloyants became a co-owner of the club after purchasing the major part of the club shares. The club was known as FC Banants until 1 August 2019, when it was officially renamed FC Urartu.
History
Kotayk
Urartu FC were founded as FC Banants by Sarkis Israelyan on 21 January 1992 in the village of Kotayk, representing the Kotayk Province. He named the club after his native village of Banants (currently known as Bayan). Between 1992 and 1995, the club was commonly referred to as Banants Kotayk.[3] During the 1992 season, the club won the first Armenian Cup. At the end of the 1995 transitional season, Banants suffered a financial crisis. The club owners decided that it was better to merge the club with FC Kotayk of Abovyan, rather than disband it. In 2001, Banants demerged from FC Kotayk, and was moved from Abovyan to the capital Yerevan.
Yerevan
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In 2001, FC Banants was relocated to Yerevan.[4][5] At the beginning of 2003, Banants merged with FC Spartak Yerevan, but was able to limit the name of the new merger to FC Banants. Spartak became Banants's youth academy and later changed the name to Banants-2. Because of the merger, Banants acquired many players from Spartak Yerevan, including Samvel Melkonyan. After the merger, Banants took a more serious approach and have finished highly in the league table ever since. The club managed to lift the Armenian Cup in 2007. Experience is making way for youth for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. The departures of most of the experienced players have left the club's future to the youth. Along with two Ukrainian players, Ugandan international, Noah Kasule, has been signed.
The club headquarters are located on Jivani Street 2 of the Malatia-Sebastia District, Yerevan.[6]
Domestic
European
- As of match played 3 August 2023
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League | 26 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 18 | 64 | –46 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | –4 |
| Total | 34 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 28 | 78 | –50 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | QR |  Hapoel Tel Aviv |
1–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Illichivets Mariupol |
0–2 | 0–2 | 0–4 |
| 2005–06 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Locomotive Tbilisi |
2–3 | 2–0 | 4–3 |
| 2Q | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
2–4 | 0–4 | 2–8 | ||
| 2006–07 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | Ameri Tbilisi |
1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 (a) |
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Young Boys |
1–1 | 0–4 | 1–5 |
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Red Bull Salzburg |
0–3 | 0–7 | 0–10 |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Široki Brijeg |
0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| 2010–11 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Anorthosis Famagusta |
0–1 | 0–3 | 0–4 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Rustavi Metalurgist |
0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| 2014–15 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q |  Santa Coloma |
3–2 | 0–1 | 3–3 (a) |
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Omonia |
0–1 | 1–4 | 1–5 |
| 2018–19 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Sarajevo |
1–2 | 0–3 | 1–5 |
| 2019–20 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Čukarički |
0–5 | 0–3 | 0–8 |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 1Q |  Maribor |
0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Zrinjski Mostar |
0–1 | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | 3–3 (3–4 p) |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 2Q |  Farul Constanța |
2–3 | 2–3 | 4–6 |
Stadium
The construction of the Urartu Stadium was launched in 2006 in the Malatia-Sebastia District of Yerevan, with the assistance of the FIFA goal programme. It was officially opened in 2008 with a capacity of 3,600 seats. Further developments were implemented later in 2011, when the playing pitch was modernized and the capacity of the stadium was increased up to 4,860 seats (2,760 at the northern stand, 1,500 at the southern stand and 600 at the western stand).
Training centre/academy
Urartu Training Centre is the club's academy base located in the Malatia-Sebastia District of Yerevan. In addition to the main stadium, the centre houses 3 full-size training pitches, mini football pitches as well as an indoor facility. The current technical director of the academy is the former Russian footballer Ilshat Faizulin.
Fans
The most active group of fans is the South West Ultras fan club, mainly composed of residents from several neighbourhoods within the Malatia-Sebastia District of Yerevan,[7] since the club is a de facto representer of the district. Members of the fan club benefit from events organized by the club and many facilities of the Banants training centre, such as the mini football pitch, the club store and other entertainments.
Honours
Current squad
- As of 5 September 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Personnel
Technical staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head Coach |  Dmitry Gunko |
| Coach | Nikolay Tyunin |
| Fitnes Coach | Aleksey Gorshkov |
| Coach Analyst |  Francisco Compañ |
| Goalkeepers Coach |  Stepan Ghazaryan |
| Doctor | Arsen Hambaryan |
| Physiotherapist | Karen Gharibyan |
| Physiotherapist | Karapet Israelyan |
| Team Manager | Davit Shahbagyan |
| Kit Manager | Harutyun Jangchyan |
| Interpreter | Areg Harutyunyan |
| Urartu-2 Coach | Igor Paderin |
Management
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Dzhevan Cheloyants |
| General Director | Gohar Vardanyan |
| Sport Director | Dmitrii Kudryashov |
| Deputy General Director for Administration and Maintenance | Georgii Gzrayan |
| Deputy General Director for PR, Information and Marketing | Lusine Harutyunyan |
| Press Officer | Gevorg Malakyan |
| Lawyer | Hamlet Petrosyan |
Urartu-2
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| Founded | 2003 | ||
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| Ground | Urartu Training Centre, Yerevan | ||
| Capacity | 600 | ||
| Owner | Dzhevan Cheloyants & Oleg Mkrtchyan | ||
| Director General | Hrach Aghabekyan | ||
| Manager | Tigran Arakelyan | ||
| League | Armenian First League | ||
| 2021–22 | 6th | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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Urartu has also the second team, Urartu-2 which plays in the Armenian First League. They play their home games at the training field with artificial turf of the Urartu Training Centre.
Managerial history
- Varuzhan Sukiasyan (1992–94)
- Poghos Galstyan (July 1, 1996 – June 30, 1998)
- Oganes Zanazanyan (2001–05)
- Ashot Barseghyan (2005–06)
- Nikolay Kiselyov (2006–07)
Jan Poštulka (2007)
Nikolay Kostov (July 1, 2007 – April 8, 2008)- Nedelcho Matushev (April 8, 2008 – June 30, 2008)
Kim Splidsboel (2008)- Armen Gyulbudaghyants (Jan 1, 2009 – Dec 1, 2009)
- Ashot Barseghyan (interim) (2009)
Stevica Kuzmanovski (Jan 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2010)- Rafael Nazaryan (Jan 1, 2011 – Jan 15, 2012)
- Volodymyr Pyatenko (Jan 17, 2013 – June 30, 2013)
Zsolt Hornyák (July 1, 2013 – May 30, 2015)- Aram Voskanyan (July 1, 2015 – Oct 11, 2015)
- Tito Ramallo (Oct 12, 2015 – Oct 3, 2016)
- Artur Voskanyan (Oct 3, 2016 – Aug 11, 2018)
- Ilshat Faizulin (Aug 12, 2018 –Nov 24, 2019)
- Aleksandr Grigoryan (Nov 25, 2019 –Mar 10, 2021)
- Robert Arzumanyan (10 March 2021–24 June 2022)[8]
- Dmitri Gunko (27 June 2022–)[9]
References
- Banants Stadium Archived 2016-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
- "РУКОВОДСТВО "БАНАНЦА"". www.fcbanants.am. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- History of Football Club Banants, from fcbanants.com, retrieved 1 May 2009.
- "History". www.yerevan.am. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
- "aw8". Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- "Clubs". www.ffa.am. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ""Banants Ultras"". www.fcbanants.am. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- "ROBERT ARZUMANYAN LEFT URARTU FC". fcurartu.am. FC Urartu. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- "DMITRY GUNKO IS THE NEW HEAD COACH OF URARTU FC". fcurartu.am. FC Urartu. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
External links
- Official website (in English, Armenian, and Russian)
- Banants at Weltfussball.de Archived 2018-10-08 at the Wayback Machine (in German)