The 2021

FC Astana Astana Football Club ( kk, Astana Futbol Kluby) is a professional football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,254-seat Astana Arena stadium. Th ...

season was the thirteenth successive season that Astana played in the

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

, the highest tier of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in Kazakhstan. The finished the season 2nd, behind

Tobol The Tobol (russian: Тобол, kk, Тобыл ''Tobyl'') is a river in Western Siberia (in Kazakhstan and Russia) and the main (left) tributary of the Irtysh. Its length is , and the area of its drainage basin is . History The Tobol River was ...

, reached the Semifinals of the

Kazakhstan Cup The Kazakhstan Cup is the main knockout cup competition in Kazakhstan football, run by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan. The tournament was initially founded in 1936 as a competition for clubs in the Kazakh SSR ; kk, Қазақ Сове� ...

and were knocked out of the

Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 times ...

at the Third Qualifying Round stage.

Season events

On 5 February, Astana sold

Pieros Sotiriou Pieros Sotiriou ( el, Πιέρος Σωτηρίου; born on January 13, 1993) is a Greek Cypriot professional footballer who plays as a striker for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan and the Cyprus national team. Sotiriou joined FC Copenhagen in ...

to Ludogorets Razgrad, whilst

Rúnar Már Sigurjónsson Rúnar Már Sigurlaugarson Sigurjónsson (born 18 June 1990) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club FC Voluntari. He started out his senior career at local team Tindastóll, after which he went on to ...

left Astana on 8 February. On 15 February, Astana announced the signing of

Varazdat Haroyan Varazdat Haroyan ( hy, Վարազդատ Հարոյան, born on 24 August 1992) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta and the Armenia national team. Club career Patani an ...

from

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna and ...

. Three days later, Astana announced the signing of Semir Smajlagić from

ND Gorica Nogometno društvo Gorica, commonly referred to as ND Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Slovenian football club based in the town of Nova Gorica. They are one of the most successful Slovenian clubs with four Slovenian PrvaLiga and three Slovenian Cu ...

after he impressed on trial. On 21 February, Astana announced the signing of Aleksandr Zarutskiy from Kaisar. Two days later, 23 February, Astana announced the return of

Roman Murtazayev Roman Valeryevich Murtazayev (russian: Роман Валерьевич Муртазаев; born 10 September 1993) is a Kazakh footballer who plays for Shakhter Karagandy and the Kazakhstan national football team. Career Club In December 2015 ...

from

. On 2 March, Astana confirmed that

Nenad Erić Nenad Erić ( sr-cyr, Ненад Ерић; born 26 May 1982) is a Serbian-born Kazakh goalkeeper who last played and captained Astana in the Kazakhstan Premier League. Career Club On 2 March 2021, Astana confirmed that Erić had left the club af ...

had left the club after 10 years, and that they had retired the #1 shirt, whilst also confirming the signing of Valeriu Ciupercă from

. On 16 March, Astana announced that they had re-signed

Islambek Kuat Islambek Yerzhanuly Kuat ( kk, Исламбек Ержанұлы Қуат, ''İslambek Erjanūly Quat''; born 12 January 1993) is a Kazakh footballer who plays for Astana and the Kazakhstan national team. Kuat scored his first goal for Kazakhsta ...

after he'd previously played for the club between 2010 and 2014. On 2 April, Astana signed

Abat Aymbetov Abat Kayratuly Aymbetov ( kk, Абат Қайратұлы Айымбетов, Abat Qairatūly Aiymbetov; born 7 August 1995) is a Kazakhstani professional footballer who plays as a forward for Kazakhstan Premier League club Astana and the Kazakh ...

on loan from Krylia Sovetov until the summer transfer window. On 7 April, Astana announced the signing of Cadete from

Atlético San Luis Club Atlético de San Luis, commonly known as Atlético San Luis, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Luis Potosí, replacing San Luis Potosí's Liga MX team San Luis FC after its relocation. San Luis was promoted to Liga MX i ...

. Between the end of April and the start of May,

Nurken Mazbaev Nurken Kaldybekuly Mazbayev ( kk, Нұркен Қалдыбекұлы Мәзбаев) is a former Kazakhstani football forward. He retired on 20 May 2008, having played 16 seasons and scoring 142 goals in Kazakhstan Premier League, which makes h ...

took temporary charge of Astana whilst

Andrey Tikhonov Andrey Valeryevich Tikhonov (russian: Андрей Валерьевич Тихонов; born 16 October 1970) is a Russian football manager and a former midfielder who was recently the manager of Kazakhstani club Astana. Tikhonov is primarily ...

recovered from illness. On 24 June, Astana announced the departure of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, with defender Eneo Bitri signing for Astana the following day, 25 June. On 13 July, Krylia Sovetov confirmed that

's loan deal with Astana had been extended until the end of the season. On 16 July, Astana announced that

had left the club after his contract was terminated by mutual agreement. On 5 November, Astana announced the departure of

as their manager by mutual consent, with

Antonio Rukavina Antonio Rukavina (, ; born 26 January 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Club career Rukavina started out at his local club Bežanija, making his senior debuts in the 2002–03 season, as they won prom ...

announcing his retirement from football on 11 November. On 21 November, Srdjan Blagojevic was announced as the clubs new head coach. On 21 December, Astana signed new contracts with Aleksandr Zarutskiy and

Abzal Beysebekov Abzal Talgatuly Beysebekov ( kk, Абзал Талғатұлы Бейсебеков, ''Abzal Talğatūly Beisebekov''; born 30 November 1992) is a Kazakh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Kazakhstan Premier League club Astana ...

until the end of 2023, and

until the end of 2024. On 30 December, Astana announced that Valeriu Ciupercă had left the club after his contract was cancelled by mutual agreement. The following day, Astana announced that Stanislav Basmanov,

Vladislav Prokopenko Vladislav Vyacheslavovich Prokopenko (russian: Владислав Вячеславович Прокопенко; born 1 July 2000) is a Kazakh football player who plays as forward for Kazakhstan Premier League club Zhenis on loan from Astana ...

, Sultan Sagnayev and Meyrambek Kalmyrza had all signed new contracts with the club.

Squad

On loan

Transfers

In

Loans in

Out

Loans out

Released

Trial

Friendlies

Competitions

Overview

Super Cup

Premier League

Results summary

Results by round

Results

League table

Kazakhstan Cup

Group stage

Knockout stages

UEFA Europa Conference League

Qualifying rounds

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

, - , colspan="16", ''Players away from Astana on loan:'' , - , colspan="16", ''Players who left Astana during the season:''

Goal scorers

Clean sheets

Disciplinary record

References

External links

Official Website

Official VK
{{DEFAULTSORT:2021 Astana season FC Astana seasons

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...