FC Alma-Ata ( kk, Алматы футбол клубы, ''Alamty Fýtbol Klýby'') was a Kazakh

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 ...

club based in Almaty between 2000 and 2008.

History

In 2000 the club was formed as ''FC Tsesna'' in Almaty. Tsesna played in the

Kazakhstan First Division The Kazakhstan First Division is the second division of football in Kazakhstan. The League is controlled by the Football Union of Kazakhstan and feeds into the Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қа ...

for the first time in 2003, finishing second and earning themselves promotion to 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 ...

. Following their promotion, the club's management changed the club's name to ''FC Alma-Ata'', finishing their debut season in 18th position under the management of

Edgar Gess Edgar Yakovlevich Gess (russian: Эдгар Яковлевич Гесс; german: Edgar Hess; born 14 March 1954) is a Tajikistani- German football coach and a former Soviet player. He is the current head coach of the FK Andijan football club. I ...

. The following season, first under Igor Romanov, and then Antonius Joore, the club improved and finished 13th. The 2006 was the club's best season, again with Antonius Joore as their manager, the club finished 5th in the league and won 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� ...

for the first time. As a result of their Cup win, they qualified for the

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. The final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England on 14 May 2008 between Rangers of Scotland and Zenit Saint ...

for the first time. In July 2007 Alma-Ata appointed

Arno Pijpers Arnoldus Dick Pijpers (born 21 April 1959) is a Dutch football manager, who was the manager of Estonian top tier club Flora in 2018. He worked for the Royal Dutch Football Association as a youth coach, before taking up a dual role in being the ...

as a consultant, whilst he continued his Kazakhstan National Team duties, in preparation for their debut

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

matches against Slovakian side ViOn Zlaté Moravce. Alma-Ata were defeat by ViOn Zlaté Moravce 4–2 over the two legs, whilst finishing 6th in the league and reaching the Last 32 of the Cup. The 2008 season was the club's last season, as after finishing 8th in the League and as Cup runners-up, Alma-Ata declared themselves bankrupt and ceased operations, with the majority of the club's staff joining

FC Megasport Football Club Megasport ( kk, «Мегаспорт» футбол клубы, ''«Megasport» Fýtbol Klýby'') were a Kazakh professional football club based in Almaty. The club was founded in 2005. They were members of Kazakhstan Premier Leag ...

before forming FC Lokomotiv Astana.

Names

*2000 : Founded as ''Tsesna'' *2004 : Renamed ''Alma-Ata''

Domestic history

Continental history

Honours

;Kazakhstan Cup (1): 2006

References