Football Club Pyunik (), commonly known as Pyunik (), is an Armenian 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 the Kentron neighbourhood of

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 ...

. Pyunik is mostly 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, 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 ...

, has always played 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 ...

, becoming the most successful team of Armenia in number of official titles, with 34 won to date. Pyunik is also known to be one of the most popular football clubs in Armenia, along with

Urartu Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

, Shirak and Ararat. Pyunik has always had a fierce rivalry with Ararat, as both clubs are considered to be the most successful clubs 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 ...

, the latter due to its

Soviet 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 ...

accomplishments. Both clubs are also the two most popular in the country and favorites within the

Armenian Diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

. Pyunik also shares a rivalry with

which began when Urartu relocated from

Abovyan Abovyan or Abovian ( ) is a town and urban municipal community in Armenia within the Kotayk Province. It is located northeast of Yerevan and southeast of the province centre Hrazdan. As of the 2022 census, the population of the town was 46,434 ...

in 2001, and became the third largest team in the city. The Pyunik-

rivalry is seen as one of the biggest clashes in Armenian football. Pyunik's home stadium is the

Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium (), also known as the Republican Stadium (), is an all-seater stadium, all-seater multi-use stadium located on 65 Vardanants Street, in the Armenian capital Yerevan. The stadium was built between 1933 and 1935. ...

, which is also home to the Armenia national football team. The youth academy has produced many Armenian internationals such as

Henrikh Mkhitaryan Henrikh Mkhitaryan ( ; born 21 January 1989) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Inter Milan. Mkhitaryan won four Armenian Premier League titles with Pyunik, and joined Metalurh Donetsk in 2009; he moved ...

, Robert Arzumanyan,

Karlen Mkrtchyan Karlen Mkrtchyan (; born 25 November 1988) is an Armenian former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Pyunik Karlen Mkrtchyan is a graduate the Armenian football club school FC Pyunik, Pyunik Yer ...

, Edgar Manucharyan, Varazdat Haroyan and

Gevorg Ghazaryan Gevorg Ghazaryan (; born 5 April 1988) is an Armenian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Ghazaryan has participated in 73 international matches, scoring 14 goals since his debut on 14 January 2007 ...

, many who have played or are playing for top European clubs.

International History

Internationally, Pyunik has yet to win an international title, with the closest result being a bronze place finish in the 2006 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup. Pyunik's domestic success usually qualifies the team for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds.

History

Pyunik was founded in 1992 by Armenian football legend Khoren Oganesian and originally named Homenetmen Yerevan.(2005) Encyclopedia of Football Head. "George - Hirair LTD", page 63. The club won the first Armenian Premier League competition held in 1992 which it shared with Shirak since both teams were tied on points. In 1995, Homenetmen Yerevan was renamed FC Pyunik (Armenian for "Phoenix"). Following the change of name, Pyunik went on to win the 1995–96 Armenian Premier League and end the season with a 59-match unbeaten streak. In 1996, Pyunik played its first international cup match, a

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 match against Finnish club

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

which Pyunik won 3–1. Pyunik also won the 1996-97 Armenian Premier League securing itself another chance at qualifying for an international cup playoffs the following year. In 1997, Pyunik played its first

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 ...

qualifying match against Hungarian side

MTK Budapest FC Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre Budapest Futball Club or shortly MTK is a professional Association football, football club based in Józsefváros, Budapest, Hungary. The club currently plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The club's colours are blue ...

yet failed to qualify for the playoffs following a 6–3 defeat on aggregate. 1998 proved to be a crucial year for the club following the loss of its main source of funding and the subsequent departure of its main players. Pyunik finished 6th that season and withdrew from football altogether. Pyunik secured a comeback to professional football following its absorption of FC Armenicum, a newly promoted team to the

. The club's new management sought to bring more experience to the club and reinforced the squad with foreign players from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The reinforcements brought positive results and Pyunik went on to win the 2001 Armenian Premier League and

2002 Armenian Cup The 2002 Armenian Cup was the 11th edition of the Armenian Cup, a football competition. In 2002, the tournament had 16 participants, out of which 2 were reserve teams. Results First round The first legs were played on 30 and 31 March 2002. The ...

. 2002 saw Pyunik advance to the second round of the

qualifying round after beating Finnish champions Tampere United 6–0 on aggregate. From 2002 forwards, Pyunik went on to win the

a record of 10 times in a row, from 2001 to 2010. On 8 January 2020, former

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 ...

international goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was announced as the club's new manager. Just over 7-months later, 13 July 2020, Berezovsky left the club by mutual consent. On 20 July 2020, Artak Oseyan was announced as Pyunik's new manager, but left his role as head coach on 13 December 2020. On 7 January 2021, Yegishe Melikyan was announced as Pyunik's new manager. In the 2022/23 season, after victories over

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

and

Dudelange Dudelange (; ; ) is a commune with town status in southern Luxembourg. It is the fourth-most populous commune, with 22,043 inhabitants. Dudelange is situated close to the border with France. The commune also includes the smaller town of Bude ...

, Pyunik became the first ever Armenian club to reach the third round of Champions League qualifying, where they played against former European Champions

Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

, losing 7–0 on aggregate. Subsequently, Pyunik dropped into the play-off round of the

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 ...

, where they played against the Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol. After two scoreless draws, Pyunik lost on penalties, thus dropping into the group stages of the Conference League, the first ever group stage appearance in a European competition for the club. After a defeat away against

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

on the first matchday, Pyunik faced Slovan Bratislava in their first home match in Yerevan, which they won thanks to goals from Artak Dashyan and Yusuf Otubanjo. This result meant that they became the first ever Armenian team to win a game in UEFA group stage competitions. On 31 December 2024, Pyunik released a statement stating that ownership of the club had passed from Artur Soghomonyan to Anton Farber.

Domestic history

*Due to the 1995 season being a transitional season, there was no official winner of championship. *Championship was decided by a decision game.

European history

Kit and badge

Throughout the seasons, Pyunik has predominantly worn blue and white jerseys, with a few exceptions including Pyunik's first jerseys which were orange. Puma is the club's current kit supplier since 2019. On 3 August 2020, Pyunik announced that

Joma Joma Sport, S.A. is a Spanish sports clothing and shoes brand. History Joma was founded in 1965 by Fructuoso López to produce shoes for general use. The brand name comes from the given name of Fructuoso's first born son (José Manuel). In 196 ...

would be supplying the team's kit for the 2020–21 season.

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Badge

The club has had five different designs for its badge during its history, with the first three designs being significantly different from each other. Following the club's reappearance in 2001, Pyunik introduced its iconic logo design which included a bold letter P placed on top of a football. The club kept this design for 13 years before introducing a double-headed golden phoenix crest in 2014. This change resulted unpopular among the fans and Pyunik introduced a new badge in 2019, this time returning to its original round shape with a predominantly blue logo and a red phoenix in the center. File:FC Pyunik crest.svg, 2014–18 File:FC Pyunik_logo.svg, 2019–present

Stadium

Pyunik used several locations throughout its history. Between 1992 and 1998, Pyunik played at Hrazdan Stadium, Armenia's largest stadium with a capacity for 54,208 spectators. In 2001, following the renovations works done at the Republican Stadium two years before, Pyunik relocated and played all its home matches there until 2013, with a brief interruption in 2008, when the club was forced to play at Pyunik Stadium; its training ground, due to renovation works at the Republican Stadium. Between 2013 and 2017, the Yerevan Football Academy served as a home venue for all domestic competitions, while still using the Republican Stadium for international fixtures. At the beginning of 2017–18 Armenian Premier League season, Pyunik used the Republican Stadium as a home venue during the first half of the season, and eventually returning to their own Pyunik Stadium during the second half. The Republican Stadium is also the home of the Armenia national football team, and is sometimes used by other

n teams for their international cup fixtures. The club is currently planning on building an all-seater 5,000 capacity stadium by 2022.

List of stadiums used by the club

* Hrazdan Stadium: 1992–98 *

: 2001–08 * Pyunik Stadium: 2008 *

: 2008–13 *

Yerevan Football Academy Stadium The Yerevan Football Academy Stadium, officially the FFA Technical Center-Academy Stadium (), commonly known as the Yerevan Football Academy Stadium or the Avan Academy Stadium, is an all-seater football stadium in Yerevan, Armenia. It is located ...

: 2013–17 *

/ Pyunik Stadium: 2017–18 *

: 2018–present

Supporters

Pyunik's supporter base is traditionally regarded as part of

's higher class, in contrast with the supposedly more lower-class base of cross-town arch rival FC Urartu. Because of the club's history and recent success, the fanbase has grown not only in Yerevan, but in other provinces of

and within the

as well. Pyunik is considered to be one of the most popular clubs in

, and has one of the biggest

Ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are known for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tendency ...

fanbases in Armenia, called Sector 18, named after the sector they occupy at the

Rivalries

Pyunik's rivalry with Ararat originates with the creation of the club itself. Pyunik's founder Khoren Oganesian, is considered an Ararat club idol, due to his achievements at the club during the Soviet period, winning the 1975 Soviet Cup. Pyunik's success in recent history has led the club's image to surpass that of Ararat, which has led to arguments over which club has had a bigger impact on

n football. The other rivalry, between Pyunik and

is also known as the clash of

neighborhoods, since Pyunik is located in the wealthier Kentron neighborhood, whereas

is located in the lower-class Malatia-Sebastia neighborhood. The rivalry between both teams originates from Urartu's relocation from

in 2001, competing with and eventually becoming one of the largest teams in the city. Both teams' youth academies also compete with each other as they are considered to be two of the best in the country.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Technical staff

Institutional

Executive board

Arthur Soghomonyan is the current owner and President of Pyunik since 2017. * Vice-president: Robert Gasparyan * 2nd Vice-president: Aleksandr Tarkhanov * Executive Director: Tigran Martirosyan

Staff

* Development: Aleksandr Tarkhanov * Youth Academy: Albert Sargsyan * Sporting director: Samvel Arustamyan * Chief scout: Robert Arzumanyan * Press Secretary: Shushanik Hakobyan * Marketing and Public Relations: Vera Martirosyan * Officer: Vardan Tsaturyan

Honours

**Champions (16):

, 1995–96, 1996–97,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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 ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, 2014–15, 2021–22, 2023–24 (record) **''Runners-up'' (2): 2018–19, 2022–23 *

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 ...

**Winners (8): 1995–96,

, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 (record) **''Runners-up'' (3): 1996–97

, 2016–17 * Armenian Super Cup **Winners (10):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

(record) **''Runners-up'' (6): 1996, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Other sports sections

Football reserves and academy

The reserve is currently coached by Yuri Tarkhanov and competes 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 youth academy is managed by Albert Sargsyan. Notable players from the youth academy include