Shamakhi FK

Shamakhi FK (Azerbaijani: Şamaxı Futbol Klubu, pronounced [ʃɑmɑˈxɯ]) is an Azerbaijani professional football club based in Shamakhi, that currently competes in the Azerbaijan First League. The club has won the Premier League title twice.^[1]

Shamakhi FK

Full name	Şamaxı Futbol Klubu
Nickname(s)	Şirlər (The Lions)
Founded	1997; 27 years ago (1997), as Khazar University
Ground	Shamakhi City Stadium
Capacity	2,200
Chairman of the Board	Elchin Usub
Manager	Aykhan Abbasov
League	Azerbaijan First League
2023–24	1st (promoted)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

History

Early years (1997–2004)

The club has been functioning since 1997, initially as an amateur side that shared its name with Khazar University, the first private university in Azerbaijan, which founded the club. In 1999, Khazar University began to play in the Azerbaijan Premier League, finishing eleventh.^[2] In subsequent years, Inter finished in 7th place (2000/01 season) and 3rd place (2003–04 season).

In the 2003–04 season, the team finished in fourth place, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the first time. In the first round of the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, they defeated Bregenz of Austria 3:0 on a forfeiture in the first leg, and 2:1 in the second leg.^[3] In the second round, they played Tampere United of Finland, losing the first leg 0:3; winning the return leg, played in Baku, 1:0; but going out on aggregate 1:3.^[4]

The Double and Tskhadadze years (2004–2014)

UEFA Champions League 2008–2009 Qualifying match in Skopje, Macedonia; FK Rabotnicki (Macedonia) – Inter Baku (Azerbaijan) 1–1

In the summer of 2004, all rights of the Khazar University club were transferred to the newly created Inter Baku Professional Football Club, and the team participated in the 13th championship of the Azerbaijani Premier League under the name of Inter Baku. Later in 2004, certain structural changes were made in the club's management, and Inter Baku was renamed the Inter Professional Club, finishing the 2004–2005 season in seventh place. Inter's progression up the standings continued in the 14th iteration of the Azerbaijan Premier League when Inter finished in fourth place.

The club finished fourth again in 2006–07, and first in 2007–08. Following its championship season, Inter qualified for its first-ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2008 and advanced to the second qualifying round by defeating Rabotnički of the Republic of Macedonia on away goals.^[5]

2009 saw Inter Baku retain the Azerbaijan Premier League title, securing it for the second time in the club's history. The club's Champions League campaign was less successful – barely losing to Lech Poznań away on penalties.^[6] In 2011, Inter Baku also managed to win the CIS Cup after defeating Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the final.^[7][8]

In 2012, the club recorded an Azerbaijani record for the biggest win in a European competition by beating Narva Trans 5–0 in Estonia.^[9] The club had started the 2013–14 season with a three-game losing streak, setting a record for worst start to a season in its history.^[10] However, the team managed to clinch second spot in the league.^[11]

Downturn and financial difficulties of Inter Baku (2015–2017)

During the 2015–16 season, Inter started experiencing financial difficulties at the same time with its main sponsor, The International Bank of Azerbaijan. In December 2015, the club's president, Georgi Nikolov was replaced by Rashad Gasimov. On 31 March 2016, Inter Baku were banned from participating in the next UEFA club competition that they would qualify for in the next three seasons, covering the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.^[12]

The situation continued during the 2016–17 season as Inter struggled to pay salaries to its players and make new transfers. Despite that, Inter was able to claim the bronze medal in the national championship and reach the semi-finals stage in the Cup. At the end of the season, IBA announced that it would no longer sponsor the club, and this led to new changes in the administration. Zaur Akhundov, former director of the National Futzal Federation, was appointed as the head of the supervisory board and Ramish Maliyev became the new executive director of the club. Despite the rumors about the liquidation, Inter was able to find sponsorship for the 2017–18 season and play in the Europe League, where it eliminated Serbian Mladost Lučani in the first qualifying round before getting eliminated by Fola Esch in the second round.

Keshla FK (2017–2022)

On 28 October 2017, Inter Baku PIK officially changed its name to Keshla FK.^[13] The club also replaced its logo and jersey colors. In its first match, Keshla lost 0–2 against Kapaz. The next day, the team's manager Zaur Svanadze was replaced by Ramiz Mammadov.^[14] On 25 December 2017, Keshla announced that Ramiz Mammadov had become the club's Sporting Director, with Yuriy Maksymov coming in as the club's new manager.^[15] On 17 July 2018, Maksymov was sacked as manager,^[16] with Mladen Milinković being appointed as the new manager on 25 July 2018.^[17] On 29 October 2018, Milinković was sacked as manager,^[18] with Tarlan Ahmadov being appointed as his replacement on 30 October 2018.^[19] On 8 August 2020, Ahmadov left Keşla.^[20]

On 16 August 2020, Keşla announced Yunis Huseynov being appointed as the new manager.^[21] On 24 January 2021, Huseynov resigned as manager,^[22] with Sanan Gurbanov being appointed as the club's new manager on 25 January 2021.^[23]

Shamakhi FK (2022–present)

On 6 April 2022, the Azerbaijan Premier League approved the name change of Keşla FK to Shamakhi FK.^[24]

Domestic history

Season	League									Azerbaijan Cup	Top goalscorer
	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P		Name	League
1999-00	1st	11th	22	5	3	14	19	41	18	1/8 Finals	Samir Alakbarov	7
2000–01	1st	7th	20	9	2	9	26	38	29	1/8 Finals	R. Nasibov	8
2003–04	1st	4th	26	15	6	5	43	16	51	1/8 Finals	A. Sokhadze	6
2004–05	1st	7th	34	19	9	6	44	24	66	Runner-up	Elshan Mammadov	10
2005–06	1st	4th	26	14	8	4	35	14	50	Quarter-finals	Lucky Idahor	6
2006–07	1st	4th	24	13	6	5	36	12	45	Semi-finals	Samir Aliyev	6
2007–08	1st	1st	26	18	4	4	55	18	58	Runner-up	Khagani Mammadov	19
2008–09	1st	2nd	26	18	7	1	54	16	61	Runner-up	Walter Guglielmone	17
2009–10	1st	1st	32	22	12	8	58	37	78	Semi-finals	Robertas Poškus	12
2010–11	1st	5th	32	13	10	9	29	24	49	Runner-up	Robertas Poškus	5
2011–12	1st	3rd	32	16	8	8	29	21	56	Semi-finals	Bachana Tskhadadze	7
2012–13	1st	3rd	32	16	9	7	38	22	57	Quarter-finals	Bachana Tskhadadze	8
2013–14	1st	2nd	36	20	7	9	60	37	67	Quarter-finals	Vagif Javadov	16
2014–15	1st	2nd	32	17	12	3	55	20	63	Semi-finals	Mikel Álvaro	9
2015–16	1st	4th	36	16	11	9	39	28	59	Semi-finals	Nizami Hajiyev Mirsahib Abbasov	6
2016–17	1st	3rd	28	11	10	7	39	33	43	Semi-finals	Rauf Aliyev	11
2017–18	1st	6th	28	8	7	13	29	39	31	Winner	Pardis Fardjad-Azad Adrian Scarlatache Slavik Alkhasov	4
2018–19	1st	8th	28	6	5	17	29	45	23	Quarter-finals	Amil Yunanov Jonathan Ayité	5
2019–20	1st	3rd	20	8	6	6	27	21	30	Quarter-finals	Lorenzo Frutos	6
2020–21	1st	6th	28	5	11	12	25	40	26	Winner	Azer Salahli	5
2021–22	1st	7th	28	5	7	16	25	49	22	Quarter-finals	Felipe Santos	6
2022–23	1st	10th	36	4	13	19	26	52	25	Semi-finals	Amil Yunanov	7

European history

As of match played 29 July 2021

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
UEFA Champions League	6	1	3	2	3	5
UEFA Europa League	27	12	8	7	37	29
UEFA Europa Conference League	2	0	0	2	2	7
UEFA Intertoto Cup	4	3	0	1	6	4
Total	39	16	11	12	48	45

Games of Shamakhi in UEFA competitions
Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2004	Intertoto Cup	R1	Bregenz	2–1	3–0	5–1
		R2	Tampere United	1–0	0–3	1–3
2008–09	Champions League	1Q	Rabotnički	0–0	1–1	1–1(a)
		2Q	Partizan	1–1	0–2	1–3
2009–10	Europa League	2Q	Spartak Trnava	1–2	1–3	2–5
2010–11	Champions League	2Q	Lech Poznań	0–1	1–0	1–1 (8–9 p)
2012–13	Europa League	1Q	Narva Trans	5–0	2–0	7–0
		2Q	Asteras Tripoli	1–1	1–1	2–2 (2–4 p)
2013–14	Europa League	1Q	IFK Mariehamn	1–1	2–0	3–1
		2Q	Tromsø	1–0	0–2	1–2
2014–15	Europa League	1Q	Tiraspol	3–1	3–2	6–3
		2Q	IF Elfsborg	0–1	1–0	1–1 (3–4 p)
2015–16	Europa League	1Q	Laçi	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		2Q	FH	2–2	2–1	4–3
		3Q	Athletic Bilbao	0–0	0–2	0–2
2017–18	Europa League	1Q	Mladost Lučani	2–0	3–0	5–0
		2Q	Fola Esch	1–0	1–4	2–4
2018–19	Europa League	1Q	Balzan	2–1	1–4	3–5
2020–21	Europa League	1Q	Laçi	0–0 (4–5 p)	—	—
2021–22	Europa Conference League	2Q	Sochi	2–4	0–3	2–7

Stadium

Shamakhi City Stadium

Shamakhi's home ground is Shamakhi City Stadium, which has a capacity of 2,200.^[25]

Shirt sponsor and kit manufacturer

Years	Manufacturer	Sponsor
2004–2011	Adidas	IBA
2011–2015	Umbro
2015–2017	Joma
2017–2022		Samaya LTD
2022–2023		none
2023–2024	Kirpi Tekstil
2024–	Joma

Players

For all former and current Shamakhi FK players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Shamakhi FK 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 28 July 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 1 GK  POR Ricardo Fernandes 4 DF  AZE Adil Naghiyev 5 DF  AZE Arsen Agjabayov 6 MF  AZE Rauf Rustamli 7 MF  GEO Giorgi Kantaria 8 MF  AZE Ilkin Muradov 9 FW  ALB Belajdi Pusi 10 MF  AZE Emin Zamanov 11 FW  BEL Jonathan Benteke 13 MF  AZE Ramin Ahmadov 17 MF  AZE Rafael Maharramli 19 MF  AZE Fakhri Mammadli 20 FW  GER Leroy-Jacques Mickels

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 FW  AZE Gurban Safarov 23 MF  AZE Rovshan Shahmuradov 24 DF  AZE Edgar Alikhanov 32 DF  MNE Vasilije Radenović 56 MF  AZE Samir Aghayev 60 MF  AZE Sabayil Bagirov 62 GK  AZE Abdulla Seydahmadov 66 DF  SRB Vasilije Bakić 80 DF  AZE Zahid Mardanov 82 DF  AZE Rufat Abbasov 85 GK  AZE Kamal Bayramov 93 MF  FRA Brahim Konaté

For recent transfers, see List of Azerbaijan football transfers summer 2024.

Club officials

Management

Position	Staff
Chairman of the Board	Elchin Usub
General Manager	Kamran Ismayılov
Press secretary	Yusif Huseynov

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Aykhan Abbasov
Assistant coach	Elnur Chodarov Khayal Garayev Vusal Garayev Jeyhun Rzayev
Goalkeeping coach	Kamil Gafarov

|}

Records

Top goalscorers

As of match played 22 May 2022

Bachana Tskhadadze is the clubs top goal scorer in history.

	Name	Years	League	Azerbaijan Cup	Europe	Total
1	Bachana Tskhadadze	2011–2015	36 (116)	10 (20)	6 (11)	47 (147)
2	Nizami Hajiyev	2007–2008 2010–2013 2014–2017	28 (139)	4 (22)	4 (16)	36 (177)
3	Walter Guglielmone	2007–2009	28 (44)	4 (?)	1 (3)	33 (47+)
4	Khagani Mammadov	2007–2009	22 (35)	3 (?)	0 (5)	25 (40+)
5	Robertas Poškus	2009–2011	17 (49)	3 (5+)	0 (2)	20 (46+)
5	César Meza	2013–2015, 2016 2018, 2019–2021	10 (86)	8 (18)	2 (2)	20 (106)
5	Vagif Javadov	2013–2014 2018–2020	17 (52)	2 (7)	1 (5)	20 (64)
8	Rauf Aliyev	2016–2017	12 (36)	3 (5)	2 (10)	17 (51)
9	Ģirts Karlsons	2009–2015	10 (63)	5 (7+)	1 (2)	16 (72+)
10	Petar Zlatinov	2008–2013	14 (107)	0 (9+)	1 (10)	15 (126+)

Volodimir Levin is the club's most capped player.

Top Ten Players With Most Appearances

Player		Period	Caps	Goals
1	Volodimir Levin	2004–13	204	11
2	Asif Mammadov	2008–10; 2011–2015	118	7
3	Bachana Tskhadadze	2010–2015	117	47
4	Giorgi Lomaia	2009–2016	108	0
5	Arif Dashdemirov	2010–2015	98	5
6	Petar Zlatinov	2008–13	97	10
7	Ilia Kandelaki	2010–13	75	3
8	Elmar Bakhshiev	2004–07	74	1
9	Ģirts Karlsons	2009–12	73	36
10	Bronislav Červenka	2007–12	72	5

Notable managers

Information correct as of match played 23 February 2019. Only competitive matches are counted.

Name	Nat.	From	To	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W	Honours	Notes
Ismail Aliyev	Azerbaijan	1997	1998	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Samir Alakbarov	Azerbaijan	1999	2000	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Boyukagha Aghayev	Azerbaijan	2001	2004	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A		[26]
Anatoly Konjkov	Ukraine	2004	2006	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A		[27]
Oleg Smolyaninov	Russia	2006	2006	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A		[28]
Valentyn Khodukin	Ukraine	2006	Jun 2009	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Azerbaijan Premier League	[28]
Kakhaber Tskhadadze	Georgia	Jul 2009	Jun 2015	220	111	63	46	301	166	050.45	Azerbaijan Premier League CIS Cup	[29]
Zaur Svanadze	Georgia	Jun 2015	29 October 2017	94	37	28	29	112	109	039.36
Ramiz Mammadov	Azerbaijan	29 October 2017	25 December 2017	7	3	0	4	2	10	042.86
Yuriy Maksymov	Ukraine	25 December 2017	17 July 2018	17	8	6	3	23	15	047.06	Azerbaijan Cup
Mladen Milinković	Serbia	25 July 2018[17]	29 October 2018[18]	8	1	2	5	7	12	012.50
Tarlan Ahmadov	Azerbaijan	30 October 2018[19]	8 August 2020[20]	23	6	5	12	15	19	026.09
Yunis Huseynov	Azerbaijan	16 August 2020[21]	24 January 2021[22]	15	3	5	7	13	21	020.00
Sanan Gurbanov	Azerbaijan	24 January 2021[23]		0	0	0	0	0	0	!—

• 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).

Honours

National

• Azerbaijan League
  • Winners (2): 2007–08, 2009–10
• Azerbaijan Cup
  • Winners (2): 2017–18, 2020–21

Regional

• CIS Cup
  • Winners (1): 2011

References

1. "14 мгновений финала". Azerifootball.com. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
2. "Arts, Sports & Events". Official Khazar University website. 2006. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
3. "UEFA Intertoto Cup History Season 2004 First Round". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
4. "UEFA Intertoto Cup History Season 2004 Second Round". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
5. "Ventspils and Sheriff arrest losses". UEFA.com. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
6. Kurowski, Dariusz. "Lech through after 22-penalty shoot-out". UEFA. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
7. "Кубок Содружества у "Интера"!". Championat.ru. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
8. "Azerbaijani football club Inter wins CIS Cup on penalties". Trend.az. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
9. "Интер" победил, "Пюник" проиграл. UEFA (in Russian). uefa.com. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
10. ""İnter"dən 3-cü məğlubiyyət, "Qarabağ" yenidən zirvədə – YENİLƏNİB". Apasport.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 18 August 2013.
11. Чемпионы тоже плачут. Azerisport.com (in Russian). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
12. "CFCB adjudicatory chamber orders". uefa.org. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
13. "Peşəkar Futbol Liqasının məlumatı". pfl.az/ (in Azerbaijani). PFL. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
14. "Keşlə FK-nın məlumatı". keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keshla FK. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
15. "Müşahidə Şurasının iclası keçirildi". inter.az (in Azerbaijani). Keshla FK. 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
16. "Юрия Максимова назвали неадекватным и выгнали из "Кешли"". segodnya.ua (in Russian). Сегодня. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
17. "Главным тренером ФК Кешля стал Милинкович". azerifootball.com (in Russian). Azerifootball. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
18. "Keşlə FK-nın məlumatı". www.keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
19. "Keşlə FK-ya yeni baş məşqçi təyin olundu". www.keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
20. ""Keşlə" FK-nın məlumatı". keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 8 August 2020.
21. ""Keşlə" Futbol Klubunun məlumatı". keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 16 August 2020.
22. "Yunis Hüseynov istefa verib". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
23. "Sənan Qurbanov "Keşlə"də!". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
24. "Peşəkar Futbol Liqasının məlumatı". pfl.az (in Azerbaijani). Azerbaijan Premier League. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
25. "İlham Əliyev və birinci xanım Mehriban Əliyeva Şamaxı şəhər stadionunun açılışında iştirak ediblər". President.az (in Azerbaijani). 1 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
26. Беюкага АГАЕВ:"Мы находимся в ожидании чего-то нового". extratime.az (in Russian). Retrieved 10 January 2014.
27. "Бывший тренер футбольного клуба "Интер" Анатолий Коньков будет прооперирован". Day.az (in Russian). Retrieved 10 January 2014.
28. Ibrahimov, Erkin. Ходукин возглавил "Интер". uefa.com (in Russian). UEFA. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
29. "Sxadadze 250-ə yaxınlaşdı". rekord.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 2 November 2014.

External links

• Official Inter Baku website (archived)
• Inter Baku at Weltfussball.de (archived)
• Inter Baku at Soccerway
• Dynamicsport.eu