Football Club Ararat Yerevan (), commonly known as Ararat Yerevan, is an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

that plays in the

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

. Since 1999 the club has been owned by the Swiss-Armenian businessman Vartan Sirmakes. The badge shows a white eagle standing on a football and is a reference to the club nickname. The badge also displays the name of Ararat in both Latin (Ararat) and Armenian (ԱՐԱՐԱՏ) text.

History

In 1935, a football team was established in

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1944, games of USSR Cup were resumed, and Spartak participated. A match was set up with their main rivals, fellow

FC Dinamo Tbilisi FC Dinamo Tbilisi ( ka, დინამო თბილისი, ) is a Georgian professional football club based in Tbilisi that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top flight of Georgian football. Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the most prom ...

. However, the match was not played through the fault of Yerevan. 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. 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. Hrazdan Stadium 2013

In 1949 at Spartak participated for the first time in the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

. 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 An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

(

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

). 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 Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...

". 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. Cup battles ended at the first stage, against the

"from Stalinabad. In 1950 season, Spartak began to act more liberated. The first lesion was detected only in the fourth round of the

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

" 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 The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (),, , , (Moldovan Cyrillic: Купа УРСС), , , . was the premier football cup competition in the Soviet Union conducted by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The 1991–92 season of the tournam ...

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 "

," Moscow and lost with a score of 0–7. Between 1960–63 and later in 1966–91, the team participated in the

. In 1973, Ararat won the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

as well as the

. In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

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

By 1945–47, Ararat swept the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

League and by 1949 had won promotion into the

. 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

and the

(in a memorable final game against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

). They won the cup again in 1975. In 1971 and 1976 Spring (there were two Soviet championships in 1976 — Spring and Autumn) they were the league runners-up. In 1974–75 Ararat competed in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to defending and eventual champions Bayern Munich 2–1 on aggregate (0–2 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and 1–0 in

). Since their debut in the European tournaments in 1972, they have won 16 of their 36 matches with 4 draws.

Modern history

Since the 1991 dissolution of Soviet Union, Ararat has attained the Armenian Championship only once in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and won four silver prizes (1997, 1999, 2000 and 2008) and one bronze prize (1994). In addition, the club has won the

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 ...

five times (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2008) and were finalists in 2001 and 2007. They also were very close to taking the Armenian title in 2007, however the unexpected resignation of head coach Varuzhan Sukiasyan changed the atmosphere on the team and the club ended up in fourth place. In March 2008, former coach Varuzhan Sukiasyan returned to take charge of the team again. After failing to take the title from Pyunik in 2008, Varuzhan Sukiasyan left the club. The club headquarters are located on Agatangeghos Street 2, Yerevan. The club's Dzoraghbyur Training Centre is located in the Dzoraghbyur village of

Kotayk Province Kotayk (, ), is a provinces of Armenia, province (''Administrative divisions of Armenia, marz'') of Armenia. It is located at the central part of the country. Its capital is Hrazdan and the largest city is Abovyan. It is named after the Kotayk c ...

, at the eastern outskirts of Yerevan. In August 2016, Arkady Andreasyan became the head coach. However, in August 2017, Albert Safaryan was appointed as a head coach, while Arkady Andreasyan became the club's sports director. As of 2018–2019 season, Abraham Khashmanyan is the head coach of the team. On 16 July 2018, Ararat Yerevan released a statement against the naming of Ararat-Armenia. On 29 July 2019, Sergei Bulatov resigned citing family circumstances, with Sergei Boyko being appointed as interim-manager the same day. On 16 September 2019, Boyko resigned with Gagik Simonyan being placed in interim charge. On 6 January 2020, Igor Kolyvanov was announced as the new manager of Ararat Yerevan. On 1 June 2022, Edgar Torosyan left his role as Head Coach after his contract expired, with Aram Voskanyan being announced as his replacement the same day.

Domestic history

*Due to the 1995 season being a transitional season, there was no official winner of championship. *Ararat Yerevan were expelled before start of the season..

Ararat in Europe

*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

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

(1): ::

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

(1): ::

* Soviet First League (1): ::1965 *

(2): ::1973, 1975 *

(6): ::

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, 2020–21 * Armenian Supercup (1): ::2009 *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

(1): ::1978 (shared) *

::Quarter-finalist: 1974–75 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

::1/8 finalist: 1975–76 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

::1/8 finalist: 1972–73

Current squad

Out on loan

Ararat Yerevan-2

Ararat Yerevan's reserve squad play as Ararat Yerevan-2 in the

Armenian First League The Armenian First League () is currently the second level association football, football competition in Armenia after the Armenian Premier League. The competition exists mostly out of reserve teams of several Premier League clubs; however, other ...

. They currently play their home games at the training field with artificial turf of the Dzoraghbyur Training Centre in Dzoraghbyur village near Yerevan. Also FC Ararat-2 Yerevan played in 1990 Soviet Second League B and

1991 Soviet Second League 1991 Soviet Second League was the last edition of the Soviet Second League competition. There were three groups (known as zones) with 66 teams in total (22 in each group). Competitions in the last year "1990 Baltic League, Baltic League" were not h ...

Personnel

Technical staff

Management

Managerial history

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ararat Yerevan Football clubs in Yerevan Association football clubs established in 1935 1935 establishments in Armenia Soviet Top League clubs