Aghvan Papikyan ( hy, Աղվան Պապիկյանը, 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 ...

who plays as a winger for

III liga III liga (Trzecia liga) is a Polish football league that sits in the fourth tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, III liga referred to a league at the third tier (now called II liga) but this was ...

club

Unia Skierniewice ''Unia'' ( en, Dreams), released on 25 May 2007, is the fifth full-length studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica, following the album ''Reckoning Night''. The first single from the album was " Paid in Full", released on 27 April 200 ...

. 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, tennis, athletics and in the past ic ...

. 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 ( hy, Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Ալաշկերտ), 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 ...

, he moved to

Ararat Yerevan Football Club Ararat Yerevan ( hy, Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Արարատ Երևան), commonly known as Ararat Yerevan, is an Armenian association football, football club based in Yerevan that plays in the Armenian Premier League. Si ...

International career

Aghvan Papikyan has played for the junior and youth teams of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

. 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 ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Asso ...

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) ( hy, Հայաստանի Ֆուտբոլի Ֆեդերացիա, ''Hayastani Futboli Federats’ia'') is the governing body of association football in Armenia. Its headquarters are located in Yerevan. The Fe ...

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 (russian: Арсен Борисович Папикян; born 1 January 1972) is a Russian former professional football manager and a former player. He is an assistant coach with PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara. He is of Armen ...

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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

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. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, 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.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Papikyan, Aghvan 1994 births Living people Footballers from Łódź Men's association football midfielders Armenian men's footballers 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 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