FC Ararat Yerevan

Ararat Yerevan

Full name	Football Club Ararat Yerevan
Nickname(s)	White Eagles
Founded	10 May 1935 (1935-05-10)
Ground	Alashkert Stadium, Yerevan
Capacity	6,850
Owner	Vartan Sirmakes and Hrach Kaprielian
President	Hrach Kaprielian[1]
Manager	Abraham Khashmanyan
League	Armenian Premier League
2017–18	6th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Football Club Ararat Yerevan (Armenian: Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Արարատ Երևան), commonly known as Ararat Yerevan, is an Armenian football club based in Yerevan, capital and largest city^[2] Currently, they play at the Armenian Premier League.

Since 1999, the club is owned by the Switzerland-based American-Armenian businessmen Vartan Sirmakes and Hrach Kaprielian.

History

In 1935, a football team was established in Yerevan by Spartak sports society. The first time the team participated in the competitions of the national level. The first trophy of the club was the Armenian SSR Cup in 1940. In the next four years football was not played because of World War II.

In 1944, games of USSR Cup were resumed, and Spartak participated. A match was set up with their main rivals, fellow FC Dinamo Tbilisi. However, the match was not played through the fault of Yerevan.^[3][4] In 1947, the team becomes silver medalist in the second league of the Transcaucasian region. The team finished just one point behind the ODL from Tbilisi. In this championship, Spartak, in a home match against Tbilisi Wings of the Soviets, showed the best result at the time, beating them by the score 7:1.^[5][6] In Season 1948 Spartak was to start in the first group (the Premier League at the time), but after 30 games along with 15 other clubs had been withdrawn. All 16 clubs have continued to participate in the league below. Spartak have spent the next season in the second group, improved their performance and won the competition in the South Zone. The team won 13 matches out of 18. However, the first place in the zonal group did not guarantee promotion. According to the regulations of the USSR Championship, the winners of zones in the second league should have played each other in the final stage. At this stage, 6 teams participated. Games between the teams went into a circle. After 5 games Spartak has settled on the third place, which ensured the club a place in the first group.^[7][8]

Hrazdan Stadium, the home ground of Ararat Yerevan between 1971 and 2015

In 1949 at Spartak participated for the first time in the Soviet Top League. The team performed poorly, finishing 12th. In the first two rounds the team lost, but in the 3rd round victory was recorded in a home game against the Air Force (Moscow).^[9] To beat the team was able representatives of the second half of the table, and twice on the road. There were three major defeats: the double-0–6 from Moscow Lokomotiv and CDKA, and once 1–6 – from Tbilisi "Dynamo". However, despite the poor performance, the club remained in the top league for next season, as the latter two dropped out of the club, ranked 17th and 18th place in the standings.^[10][11] Cup battles ended at the first stage, against the Dynamo "from Stalinabad.^[12] In 1950 season, Spartak began to act more liberated. The first lesion was detected only in the fourth round of the Leningrad "Zenit". The team scored 31 points with team-mates from Kiev, but on goal difference in the Class "B" sunk Spartak. In the Soviet Cup team started with a 1/128 final. Having weak rivals in 1/16-oy stumbled on rivals in the face Dynamo Kiev. In the hard game, which was held in Kiev, Spartak celebrated victory 3–2. In 1/8 final meeting with "Dynamo," Moscow and lost with a score of 0–7.^[13]

Between 1960–63 and later in 1966–91, the team participated in the Soviet Top League. In 1973, Ararat won the Top League as well as the Soviet Cup. In 1971 and 1976 (spring) seasons, they were runner-up at the top league, and in 1975 they won the Soviet Cup for the 2nd time.

In total the team participated in 33 Soviet Top League seasons, playing 1,026 matches, of which they won 352, drew 280, lost 394, scored 1,150 goals and conceded 1,306. By 1975 the team participated in the lottery three European Cups. In the last USSR Championship in 1991, the team was finished in seventh place.

Soviet championships

FC Ararat logo during the Soviet era

By 1945–47, Ararat swept the Armenian SSR League and by 1949 had won promotion into the Soviet Top League. The team played in the Top League in 1949–50, 1960–63, and 1965–91. In 1971, Ararat finished second in the Top League. In 1973, they won the Top League and the Soviet Cup (in a memorable final game against Dynamo Kyiv). They won the cup again in 1975. In 1971 and 1976 Spring (there were two Soviet championships in 1976 — Spring and Fall) they were the league runners-up. In 1974–75 Ararat competed in the European Cup, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to defending and eventual champions Bayern Munich 2–1 on aggregate (0–2 in Munich and 1–0 in Yerevan). Since their debut in the European tournaments in 1972, they have won 16 of their 36 matches with 4 draws.

Ararat in 1973 final	Ararat in 1975 final

European history

^[17]

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate 1972–73 UEFA Cup 1R EPA Larnaca 1–0 1–0 2–0 2R Grasshopper Zürich 4–2 3–1 7–3 3R Kaiserslautern 2–0 0–2 2–2 (4–5 p) 1974–75 UEFA European Cup 1R Viking Stavanger 4–2 2–0 6–2 2R Cork Celtic 5–0 2–1 7–1 QF Bayern Munich 1–0 0–2 1–2 1975–76 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R Anorthosis Famagusta 9–0 1–1 10–1 2R West Ham United 1–1 1–3 2–4 1994–95 UEFA Cup PR CSKA Sofia 0–0 0–3 0–3 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Q GKS Katowice 2–0 0–2 2–2 (5–4 p) 1R Dynamo Moscow 0–1 1–3 1–4 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Q Dinamo Batumi 0–2 3–0[18] 3–2 1R Copenhagen 0–2 0–3 0–5 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup Q Bacău 1–0 1–0 2–0 1R Sint-Truiden 0–2 1–3 1–5 2000–01 UEFA Cup Q Košice 2–3 1–1 3–4 2001–02 UEFA Cup Q Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–2 0–3 0–5 2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1R Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2–0 1–4 3–4 2008–09 UEFA Cup 1Q Bellinzona 0–1 1–3 1–4

Competition GP W D L GF GA UEFA Champions League 6 5 0 1 14 5 UEFA Europa League 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Cup 14 6 2 7 15 5 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 12 4 1 5 19 17 UEFA Intertoto Cup 6 3 0 3 6 9 Total 38 18 3 16 54 36 Biggest Win in UEFA Competition: 17 September 1975, Ararat 9–0 Anorthosis, in Yerevan Biggest Defeat in UEFA Competition: 23 June 2007, Shakhtyor 4–1 Ararat, in Soligorsk Club Appearances in UEFA Competition: 12 Player with Most UEFA Appearances: Aleksei Abramian and Norik Mesropian – 16 appearances Top Scorer in UEFA Club Competitions: Eduard Markarov – 12 goals

Youth academy

Dzoraghbyur Training Centre

Ararat Yerevan run their own youth training academy in the village of Dzoraghbyur at the eastern outskirts of the capital Yerevan. Occupying an area of 48,000 m², the centre was opened by the club in 2007. It is home to natural-grass as well as artificial-turf training pitches, in addition to an indoor training centre.

Honours

• Soviet Top League/Armenian Premier League (2):

1973, 1993

• Soviet First League (1):

1965

• Soviet Cup/Armenian Cup (7):

1973, 1975, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2008

• Armenian Supercup (1):

2008

• IFA Shield (1):

1978

Current squad

As of 2 October 2018^[19]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Mikhail Petrushchenkov 4 DF Vahe Chopuryan * 4 DF Volodya Samsonyan 5 DF Vardan Arzoyan 6 MF Ruslan Avagyan * 7 MF Gor Poghosyan 8 MF Anthony Trajkoski 10 MF Garegin Kirakosyan 11 FW Orbeli Hambardzumyan 12 GK Edvard Hovhannisyan 14 MF Dmitri Ostrovski 15 MF Sergey Mkrtchyan 17 MF Zaven Badoyan

No. Position Player 19 DF Magomed Abidinov 19 FW Sargis Metoyan 20 DF Rafael Safaryan (captain) 21 FW Andranik Kocharyan 22 GK Poghos Ayvazyan 23 MF Roni 27 MF Armen Derdzyan * 77 MF David Azin DF Rostislav Golovach MF Pape Demba Dieye MF Ebot Derrick Ayuk Oru MF Fyodor Stukalov

"*"plays also for the reserves squad

Ararat Yerevan-2

Ararat Yerevan-2

Nickname(s)	White Eagles
Founded	2007 (2007)
Ground	Dzoraghbyur Training Centre, Dzoraghbyur
Owner	Vartan Sirmakes & Hrach Kaprielian
President	Hiraç Yagan
Manager	Georgi Andriasyan
League	Armenian First League
2016–17	3rd
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Ararat Yerevan's reserve squad play as Ararat Yerevan-2 in the Armenian First League. They currently play their home games at the training field with artificial turf of the Dzoraghbyur Training Centre in Dzoraghbyur village near Yerevan.^[20]

Current squad

As of 19 August 2017

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Anushavan Tarverdyan 2 DF Yuri Maghakyan 4 DF Vahe Chopuryan * 6 MF Artur Stepanyan 7 DF Narek Papoyan (vice-captain) 9 FW Albert Zohrabyan 10 FW Mikayel Arustamyan 14 MF Armen Derdzyan (captain)*

No. Position Player 15 DF Vladimir Mkoyan 17 MF Ruslan Avagyan * 18 MF Andranik Hovhannisyan 19 MF Arman Zeynalyan * 21 MF Narek Sargsyan 22 MF Edmond Muradyan

"*"plays also for the main squad

Personnel

Technical staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Abraham Khashmanyan
Assistant Coach	Albert Safaryan
2nd Assistant Coach	Ara Nigoyan
Goalkeepers Coach	Edik Yeritsyan
Masseur	Karen Mkrtchyan
Ararat Yerevan-2 Coach	Georgi Andriasyan

Management

Position	Name
President	Hrach Kaprielian
Executive Officer	Tigran Gharabaghtsyan
Sporting Director	Arthur Minasyan
Press Secretary	Grigor Grigoryan

Managerial history

Name Nat From To Vramshapuh Merangulyan 1935 1938 Suren Atanesyan March 1939 Oct 1939 Yuri Yesenin March 1940 Oct 1944 Viktor Andreev March 1945 Oct 1945 Mikhail Sushkov March 1946 Oct 1946 Viktor Grechishnikov March 1947 Oct 1947 Hayk Andreasyan March 1948 9 June 1949 Boris Apukhtin June 1949 July 1949 Viktor Filipov July 1949 Oct 1949 Gleb Ryabikov March 1950 7 June 1951 Ilya Evranov 8 June 1951 Dec 1951 Hayk Andreasyan March 1952 Oct 1954 Abraham Dangulov March 1955 Oct 1956 Hayk Andreasyan March 1957 Oct 1957 Boris Smyslov March 1958 Oct 1960 Hayk Andreasyan March 1961 July 1961 Anatoliy Akimov Aug 1961 July 1962 Arutyun Kegeyan Aug 1962 Dec 1962 Hayk Andreasyan Jan 1963 28 September 1963 Alexander Abramov 2 October 1963 Dec 1963 Georgiy Zharkov March 1964 Oct 1964 Artyom Falyan 1 March 1965 2 January 1968 Eduard Grigoryan March 1968 Oct 1968 Oleksandr Ponomarov March 1969 Oct 1970 Nikolay Glebov March 1971 Oct 1972 Nikita Simonyan 1 January 1973 31 December 1974 Victor Maslov March 1975 Oct 1975 Eduard Markarov March 1976 Oct 1977

Name Nat From To Nikolay Gulyayev March 1978 July 1978 Leonid Zakharov Aug 1978 Oct 1978 Yozhef Betsa March 1979 Oct 1981 Arkady Andreasyan March 1982 Oct 1983 Nikita Simonyan 1 January 1984 30 June 1985 Leonid Zakharov June 1985 June 1986 Arkady Andreasyan July 1986 June 1989 Nikolay Kazaryan July 1989 Oct 1989 Armen Sarkisyan March 1990 Oct 1994 Samvel Darbinyan March 1995 Oct 1995 Arkady Andreasyan Jan 1996 Nov 2003 Sevada Arzumanyan Nov 2003 Nov 2004 Abraham Khashmanyan Nov 2004 June 2006 Varuzhan Sukiasyan June 2006 July 2007 Dušan Mijić July 2007 March 2008 Varuzhan Sukiasyan March 2008 31 December 2008 Ashot Kirakosyan Dec 2008 March 2009 Arkady Andreasyan March 2009 Jan 2010 Tigran Yesayan Jan 2010 Dec 2010 Arkady Andreasyan Jan 2011 Feb 2012 Albert Safaryan Feb 2012 July 2012 Abraham Khashmanyan July 2012 26 April 2014 Dušan Mijić 4 July 2014 26 September 2014 Samvel Darbinyan 26 September 2014 1 December 2014 Suren Chakhalyan 13 December 2014 14 April 2015 Varuzhan Sukiasyan 28 April 2015 August 2016 Arkady Andreasyan August 2016 5 August 2017 Albert Safaryan 6 August 2017 30 July 2018 Armen Stepanyan 30 July 2018 30 September 2018 Abraham Khashmanyan 1 October 2018 present

See also

The Invincibles (football)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FC Ararat Yerevan.

External links

• Official website