Aghvan Papikyan (, born 8 February 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a winger. Born in Poland, he was a member of the Armenia national team.

Club career

Aghvan was a pupil of the football academy

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...

. He completed the stages of the club academy along with his older brother Volodya. In 2011, he was included in the first team. Papikyan played 8 matches in total for Łódź. In February 2013, he transferred to

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

. On 4 September 2020, less than a month after joining

FC Alashkert Football Club Alashkert (), commonly known as Alashkert, is an Armenian football club based in the capital Yerevan, founded in 1990 in Martuni and after folding in 2000 re-founded in 2011. They currently play in the Armenian Premier League. The ...

, he moved to

Ararat Yerevan Football Club Ararat Yerevan (), commonly known as Ararat Yerevan, is an Armenia, Armenian professional Association football, football club based in Yerevan that plays in the Armenian Premier League. Since 1999 the club has been owned by the Sw ...

International career

Aghvan Papikyan has played for the junior and youth teams of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. He has stated, "I play for the Armenia because that's where my roots are from and I feel Armenian." Papikyan had no desire to join the

Poland national football team The Poland national football team () represents Poland in men's international Association football, football competitions since their first match in 1921. It is governed by the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the governing body for football ...

and couldn't anyway due to citizenship issues, but said he still "feels something towards Poland". After a match between the Armenia U21 and Armenia national teams on 21 March 2013, Papikyan was among three youth players chosen by the

Football Federation of Armenia The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) (, ''Hayastani Futboli Federats’ia'') is the governing body of association football in Armenia. Its headquarters are located in Yerevan. The Federation organizes the Armenian Premier League, the Armeni ...

to join the senior team.

Personal life

Aghvan is the son of Armenian former football player and current football manager

Arsen Papikyan Arsen Borisovich Papikyan (; born 1 January 1972) is a Russian former professional football manager and a former player. He is an assistant coach with Krylia Sovetov Samara. He is of Armenian descent. Career As a player, Papikyan made his debu ...

and also has a one-year older brother Volodya who played

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

with Aghvan. His parents and brother were born in Armenia and decided to work and live to Poland, where Aghvan was born one year later. Although born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, he only obtained

Polish citizenship Polish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. Children born to at least one Polish parent acquire Polish citizenship irrespective of place of birth. Besides other things, Polish citizenship entitles the person to ...

on 2 October 2017.

Career statistics

International

Honours

FC Pyunik *

Armenian Cup The Armenian Cup () is the main football cup competition of Armenia. In its original form as the Armenian Cup, it started in 1939, when Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union. It served as a qualification tournament for the Soviet Cup, and it ...

: 2013–14 Ararat Yerevan * Armenian Cup:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Unia Skierniewice *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

(Łódź regionals): 2023–24

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Papikyan, Aghvan 1994 births Living people Footballers from Łódź Men's association football midfielders Armenian men's footballers 21st-century Armenian sportsmen Armenia men's youth international footballers Armenia men's under-21 international footballers Armenia men's international footballers Armenian expatriate men's footballers Naturalized citizens of Armenia Polish people of Armenian descent Naturalized citizens of Poland Naturalised association football players ŁKS Łódź players FC Spartak Moscow players FC Pyunik players Ulisses FC players GKS Bełchatów players Raków Częstochowa players Olimpia Grudziądz players Chojniczanka Chojnice players FC Alashkert players FC Ararat Yerevan players Wisła Puławy players Unia Skierniewice players Ekstraklasa players I liga players II liga players III liga players Armenian Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Russia