Football Club Shirak (), commonly known as Shirak, 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

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

. Shirak is known for its 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 ...

team which is one of the oldest football clubs in Armenia, having been created in 1958. The club is the only team that participated in all seasons of 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 its creation in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

until

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. Shirak is one of the more successful clubs in Armenia, having won a total of 11 domestic titles including four

titles, two

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 ...

, and five Armenian Super Cup. Shirak has yet to qualify for an international tournament playoff round, yet frequently plays

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualifying matches. Shirak's home stadium is the 4,500 seater Gyumri City Stadium, the oldest venue in

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 ...

. Shirak's youth academy has also produced successful players, including Artur Petrosyan and Harutyun Vardanyan.

History

Shirak was founded in

in 1958, when

was still a part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The club was originally named ''Shirak Leninakan,'' the latter being the name for

during the

. From its creation to the fall of the Soviet Union, Shirak played all its matches in the Soviet third division First League. Following the fall of the

and the renaming of Leninakan, Shirak changed its name to ''Shirak Kumayri,'' and was placed in the

with head coach Andranik Adamyan in charge. 1992 was the first

season played in history, which ended with Shirak and Pyunik tied at the top with 37 points each. After failing to agree on a tie-breaking match, it was decided to award the title to both teams. Thus, Shirak managed to win the league in the first domestic league in Armenian history. Shirak once again changed its name in late 1992 after the name Kumayri was changed for ''Gyumri.'' Therefore 1993 was the first appearance as ''Shirak Gyumri'' in the

. After finishing second in the

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 ...

league season, Shirak qualified to the

final for the first time, yet failed to claim the title after losing 3–1 to Ararat. Shirak went on to win the

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 ...

and

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 ...

seasons, however was not given the

title due to it being a transitional spring season. The next four seasons were not successful for the club, however Shirak managed to claim the league title again in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, with striker Arayik Adamyan scoring 16 goals. The league title would end up being the last title Shirak would win until the 2011–12 Armenian Cup. Shirak would eventually go on to win the 2012–13 Armenian Premier League and the 2016–17 Armenian Cup final.

Domestic history since 1992

European

Kit and badge

For most of the club's history, the team's colours were orange and black, inspired by the dominant colours present in

's architecture, specifically the Holy Saviour's Church, located in the city. As of 2019, Shirak has reached an agreement with

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

sportswear company Fourteen to provide all match and training apparel.

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Badge

The club's current badge design was inspired by

's seal, with the main feature being the lion and cross which were present on the flag of the

Bagratuni dynasty The Bagratuni or Bagratid dynasty (, ) was an Armenian royal dynasty which ruled the medieval Kingdom of Armenia from until 1045. Originating as vassals of the Kingdom of Armenia of antiquity, they rose to become the most prominent Armenian n ...

, which ruled

Bagratid Armenia Bagratid Armenia was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I of the Bagratuni dynasty in the early 880s following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule. With each of t ...

during the Middle Ages.

Stadium

Shirak's home stadium has always been the Gyumri City Stadium, built in 1924 and currently the oldest football stadium in the country. Following renovation works in 1999, the stadium became an all-seater stadium with a capacity for 2,844. The stadium pitch and facilities were upgraded in 2012 to meet all

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

stadium regulations, allowing Shirak to play its

and

qualifying matches at home. The stadium capacity was once again increased, this time to the current 4,500 capacity following a second round of renovations in 2019. These renovations included new seating in the south end of the stadium.

List of stadiums used by the club

* Gyumri City Stadium: 1958–

Supporters

Shirak's fans are known as the Black Panthers, in honor of the panther that appears on the flag of the Bagratid dynasty. Shirak's supporters are also considered to be one of the best in Armenian football, with high match attendance and active supporters during matches. Supporters have rioted against club management when the club failed to reach desired results in the past.

Rivalries

Shirak's main rival is considered to be Gandzasar. This rivalry grew as both teams were the only teams in the league that weren't from

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 ...

, and thus competed to be the best team from the provinces.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Technical staff

Institutional

Executive board

Arman Sahakyan has been the President of Shirak since he purchased the club in 2010.

Staff

* Technical director: Georgi Matevosyan * Sporting director: Andranik Adamyan * Press Secretary: Arman Maloyan * Administrator: Suren Simonyan

Honours

Domestic

League

**Champions (4):

, 2012–13

Cup

**Winners (2): 2011–12, 2016–17 * Armenian Super Cup **Winners (6):

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 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Other sports sections

Football reserves and academy

Shirak's youth academy has produced several notable players throughout its history. Artur Petrosyan is the most prominent academy product, having a successful career in

and European football. Shirak's reserves compete 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 ...

, the second division in Armenian football. The reserves are currently coached by Tigran Davtyan and also play their matches at the Gyumri City Stadium.

Futsal

On 8 September 2017, prior to the beginning of the 2017–18

Armenian Futsal Premier League The Premier League () is the premier futsal league in Armenia. It was founded in 1998. The Premier League, which is played under UEFA rules and is organized by the Football Federation of Armenia, currently consists of 5 teams. 2017-18 teams Curre ...

season, Shirak Sports Club took over the ''Gyumri Futsal'' club, who were a founding member of the domestic futsal championship in Armenia which began in 1998. As a result, the futsal team was re-branded as Shirak SC Futsal.

Basketball

On 19 September 2017, Shirak announced the creation of a basketball team that would compete in the newly created Armenia Basketball League A.

References

External links

Official website
{{Armenian Premier League Shirak Association football clubs established in 1958 1958 establishments in Armenia