Khazar Lankaran FK ( tly, Xəzər Lankon Futboli Klub, script=Latn, az, Xəzər Lənkəran Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani

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 ...

club based in

Lankaran Lankaran ( az, Lənkəran, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a di ...

that last played in the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

during the 2015–16 season. Since the summer of 2016 the club has concentrated on youth football. It played in the

for twelve-seasons, winning the title once, and the

Azerbaijan Cup The Azerbaijan Cup is a major association football competition in Azerbaijan. In its original form, it started in 1936, when Azerbaijan was a republic of the Soviet Union and it was not disputed by Azerbaijani teams in the Soviet league pyramid. ...

three times. Khazar were also a member of the

European Club Association The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was fo ...

, an organization that replaced the previous

G-14 The G-14 was an organisation of European football clubs that existed between 1998 and 2008. It consisted of 14 European top class teams initially, later expanded to 18. It was disbanded in 2008 and was replaced by the European Club Association ...

which consists of major football clubs in Europe.

History

Early years (2004–2012)

The club was founded in 2004 by Azerbaijani entrepreneur Mubariz Mansimov and dubbed by the local media as ''"Caucasian Chelsea"'' because of its strong financial position. Under Agaselim Mirjavadov club won Premier League title during the 2006–07 season and the

twice. Khazar also won the

CIS Cup The Commonwealth of Independent States Cup (russian: Кубок чемпионов Содружества, Кубок Содружества, Кубок чемпионов содружества стран СНГ и Балтии) is a defunct ann ...

in 2008, defeating

Pakhtakor Tashkent (The cotton grower) uz, Sherlar(The Lions) uz, Xalq jamoasi(People's team) , founded = , ground = Pakhtakor Central Stadium , capacity = 35,000 , owner = , chairman = Bobur Shodiev , chrtitle = President , manager ...

in the final. After Fabian Veldwijk's appointment, a string of Romanian players and footballers were signed from

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

, but the club did not find success in European cup competition. On 4 December 2013, Khazar announced that Veldwijk had been sacked by the club due to a run of poor performances.

Recent years (2014––2016)

In July 2014, the club under Yunis Huseynov earned their first win in European competition by beating Nõmme Kalju. In March 2015, former

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

striker John Toshack was appointed as new manager after signing two-year deal with the club. In 2015–16 season, Khazar finished in 12th place, the club's lowest finishing position to date. Khazar Lankaran once again featured in European competitions during the 2015–16 season, featuring in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

, where they were knocked out 3–0 on aggregate after suffering their heaviest European defeat ever, losing 8–0 to Maccabi Haifa. Following the Professional Football League of Azerbaijan's decision to deny Khazar a licence for the 2016–17 season, the club announced their withdrawal from professional football.

League and cup history

European history

''As of 17 July 2013.''

Crest and colours

The club's crest includes stockless

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek � ...

with a football ball. The badge shaped like traditional

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

with white-green background elements.

Shirt sponsors and kit manufacturers

Khazar's traditional kit is composed of white shirts, green shorts and white socks. The club's kits are manufactured by Puma and sponsored by Palmali, a multinational shipping company in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Stadium

Khazar Lankaran's home ground is

Lankaran City Stadium Khazar Lankaran Central Stadium ( az, Xəzər Lənkəran Mərkəzi Stadionu) is a multi-use stadium in Lankaran, Azerbaijan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FK Khazar Lankaran. The stadium holds 15,00 ...

. It has a capacity of 15,000 and is the third largest stadium in Azerbaijan. The stadium also known as ''Fırtınalar meydanı'' (Arena of Storms), named after club's local supporters ''Fırtına'' fan group. On 17 July 2009,

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

approved stadium for the usage during international football matches. The stadium hosted its first senior international match on 5 September 2009, between

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

Supporters

Khazar is one of the best supported clubs in

, having the highest attendance after FC Kapaz in the Caucasus region. Supporters of Khazar Lankaran are drawn from all over the Southern Region and beyond, with supporters' clubs all across the world. The club's supporters are also known as the ''Fırtına''(Storm) the first established independent fan club in Azernaijan. Fan club's first president Ravan Bashirov also been appointed as vice- president of Khazar Lankaran FC. .

Rivalry with Neftchi Baku

There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in the

, and this is particularly the case in

, where the game between Khazar Lankaran and Neftchi Baku is known as ''Böyük Oyun'' (The Great Game).

Honours

National

: ''Winners (1)'': 2006–07 *

: ''Winners (3)'': 2006–07, 2007–08,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

* Azerbaijan Supercup : ''Winners (1):''

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Regional

: ''Winners (1)'':

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Individual records

Lists of the players with the most caps and top goalscorers for the club, as of 30 August 2014 (players in bold signifies current Khazar player).

Zaur Ramazanov Zaur Ramazanov (born 27 July 1976) is a retired Azerbaijani international footballer who played as a striker. Career Club Ramazanov was top scorer in Azerbaijan Premier League season 2004–05, 2006–07. International Ramazanov made 14 a ...

is the club's all-time top scorer with 33 goals in 69 games. Raxid Emirquliyev

Notable managers

The following managers have all won at least one trophy when in charge of FK Khazar Lankaran:

In popular culture

A number of television programmes have included references to Khazar Lankaran over the past few decades. In the sitcom Aramizda Galsin, the character Jasarat is a Khazar supporter. Khazar have also featured on several occasions in

meykhana Meykhana ( az, Meyxana) is a distinctive Azerbaijani literary and folk rap tradition, consisting of an unaccompanied song performed by one or more people improvising on a particular subject. Meykhana is distinct from spoken word poetry in that ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khazar Lankaran FK Khazar Lenkoran Lankaran Association football clubs established in 2004 2004 establishments in Azerbaijan Defunct football clubs in Azerbaijan Association football clubs disestablished in 2016 2016 disestablishments in Azerbaijan