Harutyun Vardanyan ( hy, Հարություն Վարդանյան, born 5 December 1970 in

Gyumri Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the 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 century, when the city w ...

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

) is a former

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who played defender for the

Armenia national football team The Armenia national football team ( hy, Հայաստանի ֆուտբոլի ազգային հավաքական, ''Hayastani futboli azgayin havak'akan'') represents Armenia in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation of ...

and for Armenian, Swiss and German clubs. He spent most of his club career in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

, playing for

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, Young Boys,

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

, and

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

. Vardanyan was also a key defender for the Armenia national football team, having played 62 international matches. He scored 1 goal since his debut in an away

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

on 15 May 1994. Vardanyan was the most diverse player of Armenia in the national team captaincy. He possessed uncompromising universalism, could play in any position in the defense and had a decent transfer. He also had the disadvantage of underachievement. Vardanyan could not keep up with the fast forward, but because of his experience could take a correct position, which are crossed by this lack roots.

Club career

Harutyun Vardanyan was born in Leninakan (now

), but began his career as a football player in

Lori Vanadzor Lori may refer to: *Lori (given name) * Lori Province, Armenia * Lori Fortress, a fortress in Armenia * Lori Berd, a village in Armenia * Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget, a historical Armenian kingdom from c. 980 to 1240, sometimes known as the Kingdom ...

. In 1989, he returned to Leninakan, where he played for the local Shirak Gyumri. It is for this club Vardanyan played the most seasons and matches in the history of the club. As part of Shirak, Vardanyan won the

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League ( hy, VBET Հայաստանի Պրեմիեր Լիգա, known as the VBET Armenian Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the compet ...

three times and the

Armenian Supercup The Armenian Supercup is a match that is played between the Armenian Premier League Champion and Armenian Cup The VBET Armenian Cup ( hy, Հայաստանի Անկախության Գավաթ) is the main football (soccer), football cup competitio ...

once. In 1997, he was voted the Armenian Footballer of the Year. This season was the last in his career for his native club, for which he spent 9 years playing. That year, he signed a contract with

Lausanne Sports FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...

, where he played for a season. He then moved to Cologne, where he played for

Fortuna Köln Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until a ...

. Vardanyan stayed at Fortuna Köln for two seasons, then returned to Switzerland and played for Young Boys Berne. In 2003, he moved to the Servette Geneva. As part of Geneva, Vardanyan won bronze medals of the

. This success was the only 10-year-old Swiss career Vardanyan. After the end of the season, he moved to Aarau, where he continued to play for the club of the same name,

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss football club based in Aarau. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local br ...

. In early February 2005, Vardanyan was injured in a test match between Aarau and FC Seoul, which left him out of football for six months. In 2006, he moved to the club's first league

FC Biel-Bienne Fussballclub Biel-Bienne is a Swiss association football club based in Biel/Bienne. The currently play in the 2. Liga Interregional. Honours Swiss championship *Champions: 1946–47 *Runners-up: 1947–48, 1959–60 Swiss Cup *Runner ...

, in which he ended his playing career. In total, Vardanyan had 524 matches at an official level, scoring 68 goals.

International career

Vardanyan's first match for the

happened on 15 May 1994 in an away game, the second game for Armenia in its history; against the national team of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The only goal for the national team Vardanyan had was a goal against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

in a home game on 6 September 1997. On 29 August 2005, in part to match against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

for the first time after a long break caused by trauma, figured Vardanyan. However, not having played any first-or second-in games, Vardanyan was included in a list of players for the next qualifying match for the

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South Americ ...

match against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

, though expressed his desire not to play for. Thus, he last played for the national team on 17 November 2004 in a

match against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Legal incident

In April 2007, Harutyun Vardanyan was placed in pre-trial detention by Swiss police for cases involving fines. Causes and circumstances of these penalties in the Swiss media had not been reported. Jean-Marc Hofstetter, President of FC Biel Bienne, for which at the time Vardanyan played for, was surprised by the event. In the end, it turned out that Vardanyan was arrested because he gave 4 people a ride in his Mercedes. Three did not have the right to enter the territory of Switzerland and the 4th came to watch the game of football club Biel-Bienne advocated by Vardanyan. However, the latter in no way influenced the police. Vardanyan was supported by the players, coaches and club management.

Personal life

Vardanyan and his family moved from Switzerland to the town of

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Military installations The French Air and Space Force operates the ''Constantin Rozan ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in 2010. He is the owner and the operator of a small café on one of the central squares in the French town.

National team statistics

Honours

Club

Shirak Gyumri *

(3):

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

(1): 1996 *

Runner-up (3): 1993, 1995–96,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Armenian Cup The VBET Armenian Cup ( hy, Հայաստանի Անկախության Գավաթ) is the main football (soccer), football cup competition of Armenia. In its original form as the Armenian Cup, it started in 1939, when Armenia was a republic of the ...

Runner-up (2): 1993, 1994

Individual

* Armenian Footballer of the Year: 1997

References

External links

*
klisf.info
*
legioner.kulichki.comfootballgraph.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vardanyan, Harutyun 1970 births Living people Footballers from Gyumri Soviet Armenians Soviet footballers Armenian footballers Armenia international footballers Armenian expatriate footballers FC Shirak players SC Fortuna Köln players FC Lausanne-Sport players BSC Young Boys players Servette FC players FC Aarau players FC Biel-Bienne players Armenian Premier League players Swiss Super League players Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Germany Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Association football defenders