Nebitçi Football Team () is a Turkmen 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 ...

club based in

Balkanabat Balkanabat (), formerly Nebit-Dag and Neftedag, is the administrative centre of Balkan Province, the largest province in Turkmenistan. It lies at the foot of the Balkan Daglary mountain range. Balkanabat is about 450 km west of Ashgabat a ...

. They compete in top division of Turkmen football, the

Ýokary Liga The Turkmenistan Higher League, also called Türkmenistan Ýokary Liga ( Turkmen: ''Ýokary liga futbol klublarynyň arasyndaky futbol boýunça Türkmenistanyň çempionaty''), is the top division of professional football in Turkmenistan, operat ...

. Their home stadium is Balkanabat Stadium which can hold 10,000 people.

Former names

* 1947 – May 2010: Nebitçi * May 2010 – September 2018: Balkan * September 2018 – present: Nebitçi

History

Soviet Championship

Participated in two Soviet Championships (1990–1991): Second League (1990–1991), best result: 10th place in 1991.

Turkmenistan

In May 2010 the club changed its name to Balkan Balkanabat from Nebitçi Balkanabat by the decision of Turkmenistan Football Federation. The 2011 season began successfully for FC Balkan, demonstrating the team's readiness to compete for the title. Throughout the season, no other team managed to catch up with the nearly flawless performance of the "oil workers." However, their performance in the Turkmenistan Cup was less impressive, as the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals, losing to Lebap over two legs. On June 25, 2011 Balkan faced the vice-champion, Ashgabat's FC Altyn Asyr, at the Nusaý Stadium in Ashgabat for the Turkmenistan Super Cup. The "oil workers" emerged victorious with a 4:2 win. In the

AFC President's Cup The AFC Challenge League (previously known as the AFC President's Cup, abbreviated as ACGL) is an annual third-tier continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. The competition is played among clubs from n ...

, FC Balkan reached the final stage but was knocked out of the tournament in a tense encounter with

Taiwan Power Company The Taiwan Power Company (), also known by the short name Taipower (), is a state-owned electric power industry providing electricity to Taiwan and its off-shore islands. History Taipower was established on 1 May 1946. Its origins can be trace ...

. Despite this setback, FC Balkan triumphed in the 2011 Ýokary Liga. In the 2012 season changes occurred in the coaching staff of Balkan. The former head coach, Aleksandr Klimenko, left to take charge of the Namangan-based Navbahor team. He was succeeded by Amanmurat Meredov. Additionally, 49-year-old Turkish specialist Semih Yuvakuran, a former defender for Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, and the Turkish national team, was invited to join as the team's technical director. On April 30, 2012, Balkan arrived in Dushanbe to participate in the qualification tournament of the

2012 AFC President's Cup The 2012 AFC President's Cup was the eighth edition of the AFC President's Cup, a association football, football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "emerging countries" in Asia. Teams from 11 member as ...

. In their first group match, they lost 1–2 to Palestine's Al-Amari. According to head coach Amanmurat Meredov, refereeing errors influenced the outcome of the game. In the second match, Balkan was eliminated from the tournament after a 1–2 defeat to Tajikistan's Istiqlol. Despite these setbacks, Balkan triumphed in the 2012 Ýokary Liga. Under head coach Ali Gurbani, the team also won the 2012 Turkmenistan Cup. In 2013

Rahim Kurbanmamedov Rahim (''Raḥīm'' , also anglicized as Raheem) is an Arabic word meaning "Merciful", from the root '' R-Ḥ-M.'' Al-Rahim (the Merciful) is one of the attributes of God according to Islam. It is a male given name, sometimes a hypocorism for Abdu ...

was appointed head coach. In May 2013 the players Balkan FK came in the final of the

2013, scoring three wins in the qualifying tournament in Group "C". Games were held in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

, in the first match, Balkan FK beat

Hilal Al-Quds Hilal Al-Quds Club () is a Palestinian sports and cultural club. Its professional football section was established in 1972 within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The club's motto is "Development, training and rehabilitation of Jerusalemit ...

(3–2), the second Beoung Ket Rubber (2–0) and third

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

(5–0). In the final stage, that took place in Malaysia, Balkan FK players won Three Star Club (6–0) and Erchim (4–0), thus gaining 6 points reached the final of the 2013 AFC President's Cup. They won the 2013 edition of the AFC President's Cup when they beat KRL of Pakistan in the final 1–0. In 2015 the team was headed by Ali Gurbani. By the end of the season, the club won silver medals in the 2015 Turkmenistan Championship. Striker Murat Ýakşiýew became the league's top scorer, netting 31 goals. At the beginning of 2016 Turkmen specialist Aleksandr Klimenko took charge of the team. In February 2016 Balkan faced Syria's Al-Wahda on neutral ground and was eliminated from the 2016 AFC Cup. By the end of the season, the club secured second place in the 2016 Ýokary Liga. From September 2018 it again received the name Nebitchi. In the 2023 season the footballers of FС Nebitchi secured the 3rd place in the Turkmenistan Championship. FС Nebitchi accumulated 43 points in 24 matches. The team's top scorer was Magtymberdi Berenow, who netted 10 goals. This success for the team was guided by head coach Hojaahmet Arazow, supported by assistant coach Ýagmyrmyrat Annamyradow and goalkeeping coach Rejepberdi Bagaberdiýew. In December 2024 a grand opening ceremony for the new office building of the FС Nebitchi took place in

. The event was attended by football veterans from the

Balkan Region Balkan Region () is the westernmost of the five regions of Turkmenistan. Clockwise from north it borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (north); two provinces of Turkmenistan (east), Iran (south), and the Caspian Sea (west). The capital city is Balkana ...

and representatives of the

Football Federation of Turkmenistan The Football Federation of Turkmenistan (; TFF) is the governing body of football and futsal in Turkmenistan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions History The Federation was founded in 1992 and in 1994 was ad ...

Domestic

Continental

Current squad

Managers

* Tachmurad Agamuradov (1991–93) * Amanmyrat Meredow (2004–08) *

Rejepmyrat Agabaýew Rejepmyrat Agabaýew (born 1 August 1973) is a professional Turkmenistani 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. Unq ...

(2009) * Aleksandr Klimenko (2010–11) * Amanmyrat Meredow (2011–12) * Ali Gurbani (2012) * Semih Yuvakuran (2012) * Rahym Kurbanmämmedow (2013–2014) * Ali Gurbani (2015) * Aleksandr Klimenko (2016) * Hojaahmet Arazow (2018) * Amanmyrat Meredow (2019–2020) * Amangylyç Koçumow (2020–2022) * Hojaahmet Arazow (2023–2024) * Aleksandr Klimenko (2025–)

Club officials

Management

Current technical staff

Current technical staff of the team are as follows:

Honours

Domestic

**Champions (4): 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012 *

Turkmenistan Cup The Turkmenistan Cup () is an annual knockout competition in men's domestic football in Turkmenistan. The Football Federation of Turkmenistan is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1993. T ...

**Winners (4): 2003, 2004, 2010, 2012 * Turkmenistan Super Cup **Winners (3): 2006, 2011, 2012

Continental (Regional)

**Winners (1):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

Balkan FK Match Centre
(archived December 2, 2013)
Balkan FK
i
futbol24

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balkan Football clubs in Turkmenistan 1960 establishments in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic AFC Challenge League winning clubs