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Sabah FK (Azerbaijan)

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This article is about the Azerbaijani professional football club. For the Malaysian professional football club, see Sabah F.C. (Malaysia).

Sabah
Full nameSabah Futbol Klubu
NicknamesBayquşlar (The Owls)
Tələbələr (The Students)
Qara-çəhrayılar (The Black-pinks)
Founded8 September 2017; 8 years ago (2017-09-08)
GroundBank Respublika Arena
Capacity8.969
PresidentMagsud Adigozalov
ManagerValdas Dambrauskas
LeagueAzerbaijan Premier League
2025–261st of 12 (champions)
Websitesabahfc.az
Current season

Sabah Futbol Klubu (pronounced [sɑbɑh]), commonly known as Sabah FK, Sabah FC, or simply Sabah, is a professional football club based in Masazir, Azerbaijan. The team plays in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top tier of Azerbaijani football league system. Its home ground is the Bank Respublika Arena in Masazir.

History

[edit]

Sabah were formed on 8 September 2017, joining the Azerbaijan First Division for the 2017–18 season, in which they finished 5th. After the four teams above them in the league failed or declined promotion, Sabah were granted a license to participate in Azerbaijan Premier League on 12 May 2018.[1] Sabah won their first game 1–0 in the Azerbaijan Premier League, against Keşlə FK (currently known as Şamaxı FK), on 12 August 2018, thanks to a Marko Dević goal. Sabah went on to finish their first Premier League season in 7th position, avoiding relegation.[2]

On 16 September 2019, Elshad Ahmadov resigned as manager, with Igor Ponomaryov taking over on an interim basis.[3]

On 26 November 2019, Sabah announced that Željko Sopić had been appointed manager on an 18-month contract.[4] On 3 July 2020, Sopić resigned as manager.[5]

On 10 July 2020, Sabah signed a two-year contract with Vicente Gómez.[6] On 11 March 2021, Gómez left his role as Head Coach by mutual agreement, with Ramin Guliyev being placed in temporary charge.[7] At the end of the season, Guliyev was confirmed as the club's new head coach on a two-year contract[8] Guliyev resigned from his position on 21 October 2021,[9] with Murad Musayev being appointed as the club's new head coach on 30 October 2021, signing a two-year contract.[10]

On 1 February 2024, Sabah announced that Murad Musayev had left his role as head coach after his resignation had been accepted.[11]

On 5 March 2024, Sabah announced the appointment of Krunoslav Rendulić as their new head coach, on an 18-month contract.[12] Rendulić left Sabah on 25 November 2024 by mutual agreement, with Vasili Berezutski being appointed as his replacement on the same day to a two-and-a-half year contract.[13][14] On 14 June 2025, Berezutski left the club by mutual consent due to personal reasons.[15] On 20 June 2025, Sabah announced the appointment of Lithuanian Valdas Dambrauskas as the new head coach, signing a three-year contract.[16]

On 30 April 2026, Sabah secured the Premier League title for the first time in their history after Qarabağ lost 2–1 against Neftçi. On 13 May 2026, Sabah defeated Zira 2–1 to win the 2025–26 Azerbaijan Cup.[17]

Domestic history

[edit]
Season League Azerbaijan Cup Top goalscorer Manager
Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Name League
2017–18 2nd 5th 27 11 7 9 41 33 40 Second round Azerbaijan Arif Asadov
2018–19 1st 7th 28 7 6 15 20 41 27 Quarter-final Ukraine Marko Dević 8 Azerbaijan Elshad Ahmadov
2019–20 1st 6th 20 5 6 9 19 27 21 Quarter-final Mali Ulysse Diallo
Guinea Amadou Diallo
South Africa Hendrick Ekstein 		3 Azerbaijan Elshad Ahmadov
Azerbaijan Igor Ponomaryov (interim)
Croatia Željko Sopić
2020–21 1st 5th 28 7 8 13 28 38 29 Round of 16 Azerbaijan Ramil Sheydayev 6 Spain Vicente Gómez
Azerbaijan Ramin Guliyev (interim)
2021–22 1st 5th 28 12 5 11 42 34 41 Quarter-final Germany Joy-Lance Mickels[a] 11 Azerbaijan Ramin Guliyev
Russia Murad Musayev
2022–23 1st 2nd 36 25 6 5 75 24 81 Quarter-final Germany Joy-Lance Mickels[a] 17 Russia Murad Musayev
2023–24 1st 3rd 36 17 7 12 50 40 58 Quarter-final Georgia (country) Davit Volkovi
Azerbaijan Anatoliy Nuriyev 		6 Russia Murad Musayev
Azerbaijan Ruslan Qafitullin (interim)
Croatia Krunoslav Rendulić
2024–25 1st 5th 36 10 18 8 50 46 48 Winners NigeriaJesse Sekidika 11 Croatia Krunoslav Rendulić
Russia Vasili Berezutski
2025–26 1st 1st 33 24 6 3 75 25 78 Winners Rwanda Joy-Lance Mickels[a] 19 Lithuania Valdas Dambrauskas
  1. ^ a b c Joy-Lance Mickels was born in Germany, but qualified to represent Rwanda, making his debut in 2026.

European record

[edit]
As of match played 14 August 2025
Competition Pld W D L GF GA
UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League 2 0 1 1 5 6
UEFA Conference League 12 6 0 6 18 15
Total 14 6 1 7 23 21
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League 2Q Latvia RFS 2–1 2–0 4–1
3Q Serbia Partizan 2–0 0–2 (a.e.t.) 2–2 (4–5 p)
2024–25 UEFA Conference League 2Q Israel Maccabi Haifa 3–6 (a.e.t.) 3–0 6–6 (3–2 p)
3Q Republic of Ireland St Patrick's Athletic 0–1 0–1 0–2
2025–26 UEFA Europa League 1Q Slovenia Celje 2–3 3–3 (a.e.t.) 5–6
UEFA Conference League 2Q Moldova Petrocub Hîncești 4–1 2–0 6–1
3Q Bulgaria Levski Sofia 0–2 0–1 0–3
2026–27 UEFA Champions League 1Q Wales The New Saints

Colours and badge

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Sabah's badge features rays of sunshine encased in a shield.

The team's main colours are black-pink, with their kit being made by Spanish clothing company Joma during their first season, and Macron from the start of the 2018–19 season.

Shirt sponsor and kit manufacturer

[edit]
Years Manufacturer Sponsor
2017–2018 Joma none
2018–2020 Macron Bank Respublika
2020– Nike

Stadium

[edit]
Main article: Bank Respublika Arena
View of Alinja Arena

The club play their home games at the Bank Respublika Arena in Masazır, which has a capacity of 8.969.[18]

Players

[edit]
For a list of all former and current Sabah FC players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Sabah FK (Azerbaijan) players.

Current squad

[edit]
As of 18 June 2026[19]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF  GLP Steve Solvet
4 DF  RSA Aden McCarthy
5 DF  AZE Rahman Dashdamirov
6 MF  AZE Abdulakh Khaybulayev
7 MF  UZB Umarali Rakhmonaliev
8 FW  FRA Younes Lachaab
9 MF  AZE Khayal Aliyev
10 MF  AZE Aleksey Isayev
11 MF  JAM Kaheem Parris
13 MF  CRO Ivan Lepinjica
16 MF  AZE Rauf Rustamli
17 DF  AZE Tellur Mutallimov
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW  FRA Aaron Malouda
20 FW  RWA Joy-Lance Mickels
21 MF  SRB Veljko Simić
22 MF  FRA Zinédine Ould Khaled
27 DF  POL Tymoteusz Puchacz
33 DF  BRA Erivaldo Almeida
40 DF  BRA Ygor Nogueira
80 DF  ALG Akim Zedadka
88 MF  POR Rodrigo Fernandes
92 GK  KAZ Stas Pokatilov
94 GK  AZE Ravan Mirzammadov
99 FW  GAB Orphé Mbina

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2026.

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  BRA Andrey Santos (at Iberia)
— DF  AZE Abdulla Rzayev (at Turan Tovuz)

Reserve team

[edit]

Sabah-2 plays in the Azerbaijan Reserve League.

Club officials

[edit]

Management

[edit]
Position Staff[20][21]
Founder Azerbaijan Yagub Huseynov
President Azerbaijan Magsud Adigozalov
Supervisory Board Member Azerbaijan Yagub Huseynov
Azerbaijan Firudin Gurbanov
Azerbaijan Igor Ponomaryov
Azerbaijan Rahman Hajiyev
Azerbaijan Rauf Khalilov
Chief executive officer Azerbaijan Ramin Hasanov
General Manager Azerbaijan Nasimi Musayev
Director of sport Azerbaijan Igor Ponomaryov
Press secretary Azerbaijan Elnur Hamidov

Coaching staff

[edit]
Position Name[22]
Head coach Lithuania Valdas Dambrauskas
Assistant head coach Italy Valerio Zuddas
Goalkeeping coach Lithuania Justinas Gasiūnas
Fitness coach Croatia Domagoj Peric
Video analyst Ukraine Oleksandr Panchuk
Russia Nikita Vasyukhin

Honours

[edit]

Club records

[edit]

Most appearances

[edit]
As of match played 22 May 2026
Name Years League Azerbaijan Cup European Total
1 Azerbaijan Amin Seydiyev 2020–Present 161 (4) 14 (2) 10 (0) 185 (6)
2 Rwanda Joy-Lance Mickels 2021–2023, 2024–Present 110 (57) 17 (7) 12 (8) 139 (72)
3 Azerbaijan Aleksey Isayev 2020–2024, 2025–Present 119 (14) 12 (0) 4 (1) 135 (15)
4 Bosnia and Herzegovina Bojan Letić 2022–2026 104 (5) 8 (0) 13 (2) 125 (7)
5 Azerbaijan Anatoliy Nuriyev 2022–2026 98 (11) 10 (1) 10 (0) 118 (12)
6 Azerbaijan Elvin Camalov 2021–2025 98 (2) 9 (0) 6 (0) 113 (2)
7 Nigeria Jesse Sekidika 2023–2026 86 (17) 11 (3) 10 (1) 107 (21)
8 Azerbaijan Tellur Mutallimov 2022–Present 87 (4) 12 (1) 3 (0) 102 (5)
9 Jamaica Kaheem Parris 2023–2024, 2024–Present 80 (12) 12 (2) 8 (2) 100 (16)
10 Malaysia Jon Irazabal 2022–2025 85 (5) 6 (1) 8 (0) 99 (6)

Top goalscorers

[edit]
As of match played 22 May 2026
Name Years League Azerbaijan Cup European Total Ratio
1 Rwanda Joy-Lance Mickels 2021–2023, 2024–Present 57 (110) 7 (17) 8 (12) 72 (139) 0.52
2 Nigeria Jesse Sekidika 2023–2026 17 (86) 3 (11) 1 (10) 21 (107) 0.2
3 Georgia (country) Davit Volkovi 2022–2024 16 (63) 2 (4) 1 (4) 19 (71) 0.27
4 Ukraine Oleksiy Kashchuk 2022–2023 18 (39) 0 (2) 0 (0) 18 (41) 0.44
Slovakia Pavol Šafranko 2024–Present 10 (39) 2 (5) 6 (10) 18 (54) 0.33
6 Nigeria Emmanuel Apeh 2022–2024 11 (65) 4 (6) 1 (4) 16 (75) 0.21
Jamaica Kaheem Parris 2023–2024, 2024–Present 12 (80) 2 (12) 2 (8) 16 (100) 0.16
8 Azerbaijan Aleksey Isayev 2020–2024, 2025–Present 14 (119) 0 (12) 1 (4) 15 (135) 0.11
9 Azerbaijan Anatoliy Nuriyev 2022–2026 11 (98) 1 (10) 0 (10) 12 (118) 0.1
Serbia Veljko Simić 2025–Present 11 (28) 1 (6) 0 (8) 12 (34) 0.35

Managerial statistics

[edit]
As of match played 22 May 2026
Name Nat. From To Duration P W D L GS GA %W Honours Notes
Arif Asadov  Azerbaijan 8 September 2017 1 July 2018 296 days 28 11 7 10 41 36 039.29 (Promotion)
Elshad Ahmadov  Azerbaijan 1 July 2018 16 September 2019 1 year, 77 days 35 8 8 19 25 47 022.86
Igor Ponomaryov (Interim)  Azerbaijan 16 September 2019 26 November 2019[4] 71 days 8 3 2 3 12 11 037.50
Željko Sopić  Croatia 26 November 2019[4] 3 July 2020 230 days 11 3 2 6 12 18 027.27
Vicente Gómez  Spain 10 July 2020[23] 11 March 2021[24] 244 days 20 4 4 12 20 29 020.00
Ramin Guliyev (Interim)  Azerbaijan 11 March 2021[24] 26 May 2021[8] 76 days 9 3 4 2 9 11 033.33
Ramin Guliyev  Azerbaijan 26 May 2021[8] 21 October 2021[9] 224 days 7 0 1 6 3 12 000.00
Ilkin Huseynov (Interim)  Azerbaijan 21 October 2021 30 October 2021 9 days 1 1 0 0 3 0 100.00
Murad Musayev  Russia 30 October 2021[10] 1 February 2024[11] 2 years, 94 days 87 48 16 23 157 88 055.17
Ruslan Qafitullin (Interim)  Azerbaijan 1 February 2024[11] 5 March 2024[12] 33 days 6 3 2 1 13 11 050.00
Krunoslav Rendulić  Croatia 5 March 2024[12] 25 November 2024[13] 2 years, 113 days 29 13 7 9 18 10 044.83
Vasili Berezutski  Russia 25 November 2024[14] 14 June 2025[15] 201 days 28 10 13 5 39 32 035.71 Azerbaijan Cup (1)
Valdas Dambrauskas  Lithuania 1 July 2025 360 days 45 29 10 6 97 43 064.44 Azerbaijan Premier League (1)
Azerbaijan Cup (1)
  • 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. ^ "SABAH HAQQINDA". sabahfc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  2. ^ FC, Sabah. "Club History". sabahfc.az. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  3. ^ "İqor Ponomaryov "Sabah"ın müvəqqəti baş məşqçisi təyin olunub". Report.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  4. ^ a b c ""SABAH" FK-DA YENİ BAŞ MƏŞQÇİ". sabahfc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. 26 November 2019. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  5. ^ "SABAH FC PARTED WAYS WITH ZELJKO SOPIC". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. 3 July 2020. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  6. ^ "SABAH FC OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCE VICENTE GOMEZ AS NEW HEAD COACH". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  7. ^ "VİSENTE QOMESLƏ YOLLAR AYRILDI". sabahfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. 11 March 2021. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "BAŞ MƏŞQÇİMİZ RAMİN QULİYEVLƏ YENİ MÜQAVİLƏ BAĞLADIQ". sabahfc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. 26 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  9. ^ a b "RAMİN QULİYEVLƏ YOLLAR AYRILDI". sabahfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC (Azerbaijan). 21 October 2021. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b "MURAD MUSAYEV "SABAH"IN BAŞ MƏŞQÇİSİ TƏYİN EDİLDİ". sabahfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC (Azerbaijan). 30 October 2021. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "Komandamızın baş məşqçisi Murad Musayev və klub rəhbərliyi arasında görüş keçirilib". facebook.com/sabahfc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC Facebook. 1 February 2024. Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  12. ^ a b c ""Sabah"da yeni baş məşqçi təyinatı rəsmiləşib". facebook.com/sabahfc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC Facebook. 5 March 2024. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  13. ^ a b ""Sabah" FK baş məşqçi Krunoslav Renduliçlə yollarını ayırıb". instagram.com/sabahfc/?hl=en (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC Instagram. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Xoş gəldin, Vasili Berezutski!". instagram.com/sabahfc/?hl=en (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC Instagram. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  15. ^ a b Sabah FC. "Vasili Berezutski ilə əməkdaşlığın dayandırılması barədə". sabahfc.az. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  16. ^ FC, Sabah. "Xoş gəldin, Valdas Dambrauskas!". sabahfc.az. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  17. ^ Гурбанов, Хидаят (13 May 2026). ""Сабах" стал обладателем Кубка Азербайджана, обыграв в финале "Зиря"". Report.az (in Russian). Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  18. ^ "ƏLİNCƏ ARENA". sabahfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Əsas komanda". Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  20. ^ "DIRECTORY". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  21. ^ "SUPERVISORY BOARD". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  22. ^ "ƏSAS KOMANDA". sabahfc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. Retrieved 15 May 2019.[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ "YENİ BAŞ MƏŞQÇİMİZ – VİSENTE QOMES!". sabahfc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  24. ^ a b "VİSENTE QOMESLƏ YOLLAR AYRILDI". sabahfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. 11 March 2021. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
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