FC Ararat Yerevan (Armenian: Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Արարատ Երևան), is an Armenian football club, based in Yerevan. Currently, the club plays in the Armenian Premier League, and is one of the most popular teams in Armenia.
The current owners of the club are the Switzerland-based Armenian businessmen Vartan Sirmakes and Hrach Kaprielian.
History
In 1935 a football team was established in Yerevan by Spartak sports society. The first time the team participated in the competitions of the national level. The first trophy of the club was the Cup of the Armenian SSR in 1940. In the next 4 years soccer was not played because of World War II.
In 1944 games of USSR Cup were resumed, and Spartak participated. A match was set up with their main rivals, fellow FC Dinamo Tbilisi. However, the match was not played through the fault of Yerevan.[1][2] In 1947 the team becomes silver medalist in the second league of the Transcaucasian region. The team finished just one point behind the ODL from Tbilisi. In this championship, Spartak, in a home match against Tbilisi Wings of the Soviets, showed the best result at the time, beating them by the score 7:1.[3][4] In Season 1948 Spartak was to start in the first group (the Premier League at the time), but after 30 games along with 15 other clubs had been withdrawn. All 16 clubs have continued to participate in the league below. Spartak have spent the next season in the second group, improved their performance and won the competition in the South Zone. The team won 13 matches out of 18. However, the first place in the zonal group did not guarantee promotion. According to the regulations of the USSR Championship, the winners of zones in the second league should have played each other in the final stage. At this stage, 6 teams participated. Games between the teams went into a circle. After 5 games Spartak has settled on the third place, which ensured the club a place in the first group.[5][6]
In 1949 at Spartak participated for the first time in the Major League Soviet Union. The team performed poorly, finishing 12th. In the first two rounds the team lost, but in the 3rd round victory was recorded in a home game against the Air Force (Moscow).[7] To beat the team was able representatives of the second half of the table, and twice on the road. There were 3 major defeat: the double-0:6 from Moscow Lokomotiv and CDKA, and once 1:6 - from Tbilisi "Dynamo". However, despite the poor performance, the club remained in the top league for next season, as the latter two dropped out of the club, ranked 17th and 18th place in the standings.[8][9] Cup battles ended at the first stage, against the Dynamo "from Stalinabad.[10] In 1950 season, Spartak began to act more liberated. The first lesion was detected only in the fourth round of the Leningrad "Zenith". The team scored 31 points with team-mates from Kiev, but on goal difference in the Class "B" sunk Spartak. In the USSR Cup team started with a 1 / 128 final. Having weak rivals in 1/16-oy stumbled on rivals in the face Dynamo Kiev. In the hard game, which was held in Kiev, Spartak celebrated victory 3:2. In 1 / 8 final meeting with "Dynamo," Moscow and lost with a score of 0:7.[11]
In 1960-1963 1966-1991 s team participated in the major leagues championship Soviet Union. In 1973 "Ararat" won the USSR Cup. In 1971 1976 (Spring) years became a silver medalist championship, and in 1975 again won the USSR Cup.
In total the team participated in 33 Soviet Top League seasons, playing 1,026 matches, of which they won 352, drew 280, lost 394, scored 1,150 goals and conceded 1,306. By 1975 the team participated in the lottery three European Cups. In the last USSR Championship in 1991, the team finished in seventh place.
Soviet championships
FC Ararat logo during the Soviet era.
By 1945-1947, Ararat swept the Armenian SSR League and by 1949 had won promotion into the Soviet Top League. The team played in the Top League in 1949-1950, 1960–1963, and 1965-1991. In 1971, Ararat finished second in the Top League. In 1973 they won the Top League and the Soviet Cup (in a memorable final game against Dynamo Kyiv). They won the cup again in 1975. In 1971 and 1976 Spring (there were two Soviet championships in 1976 — Spring and Fall) they were the league runners-up.
In 1974-75 Ararat competed in the European Cup, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to defending and eventual champions Bayern Munich 2-1 on aggregate (0-2 in Munich and 1-0 in Yerevan). Since their debut in the European tournaments in 1972, they have won 16 of their 36 matches with 4 draws.
| Ararat in 1973 final |
Ararat in 1975 final |
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Modern history
Since the 1991 dissolution of Soviet Union, Ararat has attained the Armenian Championship only once in 1993 and won four silver prizes (1997, 1999, 2000 and 2008) and one bronze prize (1994). In addition, the club has won the Armenian Cup five times (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2008) and were finalists in 2001 and 2007. They also were very close to taking the Armenian title in 2007, however the unexpected resignation of head coach Varuzhan Sukiasyan changed the atmosphere on the team and the club ended up in fourth place. In March 2008, former coach Varuzhan Sukiasyan returned to take charge of the team again. After failing to take the title from Pyunik in 2008, Varuzhan Sukiasyan left the club.
The club headquarters are located on Agatangeghos street 2, Yerevan.[12]The club's Dzoraghbyur Training Centre is located in the Dzoraghbyur village of Kotayk Province, at the eastern outskirts of Yerevan.
Honours
- 1973, 1993
- 1973, 1975, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2008
- 2008
- 1978
- 1965
Other notable achievements
- Soviet Top League runner-up: 1971, 1976
- Soviet Cup runner-up: 1954, 1976
- European Cup quarterfinalist: 1974-1975
- European Cup Winners' Cup 1/16 finalist: 1975-1976
- UEFA Cup 1/16 finalist: 1972-1973
Ararat in Europe
[13]
Results
UEFA club competition record
Club records in UEFA competitions
- Biggest Win in UEFA Competition: 17/09/1975, Ararat 9-0 Anorthosis, in Yerevan
- Biggest Defeat in UEFA Competition: 23/06/2007, Shakhtyor 4-1 Ararat, in Soligorsk
- Club Appearances in UEFA Competition: 12
- Player with Most UEFA Appearances:
Aleksei Abramian and Norik Mesropian - 16 appearances
- Top Scorer in UEFA Club Competitions: Eduard Markarov - 12 goals
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Managers
| Name |
Nat |
From |
To |
| Vramshapuh Merangulyan |
 |
1935 |
1938 |
| Suren Atanesyan |
|
March 1939 |
Oct 1939 |
| Yuri Yesenin |
 |
March 1940 |
Oct 1944 |
| Viktor Andreev |
|
March 1945 |
Oct 1945 |
| Mikhail Suchkov |
|
March 1946 |
Oct 1946 |
| Viktor Grechishnikov |
|
March 1947 |
Oct 1947 |
| Hayk Andreasyan |
|
March 1948 |
Oct 1948 |
| Boris Spukhtin |
|
March 1949 |
July 1949 |
| Viktor Filipov |
|
July 1949 |
Oct 1949 |
| Gleb Ryabikov |
|
March 1950 |
Oct 1951 |
| Ilya Evranov |
|
March 1952 |
Oct 1952 |
| Hayk Andreasyan |
|
March 1953 |
Oct 1954 |
| Abraham Dangulov |
|
March 1955 |
Oct 1956 |
| Hayk Andreasyan |
|
March 1957 |
Oct 1957 |
| Boris Smyslov |
|
March 1958 |
Oct 1960 |
| Hayk Andreasyan |
|
March 1961 |
Oct 1961 |
| Anatoliy Akimov |
|
March 1962 |
Oct 1962 |
| Alexander Abramov |
|
March 1963 |
Oct 1963 |
| Georgiy Zharkov |
|
March 1964 |
Oct 1964 |
| Artiom Falyan |
|
March 1965 |
Oct 1967 |
| Eduard Grigoryan |
|
March 1968 |
Oct 1968 |
| Aleksandr Ponomarev |
 |
March 1969 |
Oct 1970 |
| Nikolay Glebov |
|
March 1971 |
Oct 1972 |
| Nikita Simonyan |
|
Jan 1, 1973 |
Dec 31, 1974 |
|
| Name |
Nat |
From |
To |
| Viktor Maslov |
|
March 1975 |
Oct 1975 |
| Eduard Markarov |
|
March 1976 |
Oct 1977 |
| Nikolay Gulyaev |
|
March 1978 |
July 1978 |
| Leonid Zakharov |
|
July 1978 |
Oct 1978 |
| Iosif Betsa |
|
March 1979 |
Oct 1981 |
| Arkady Andreasyan |
|
March 1982 |
Oct 1983 |
| Nikita Simonyan |
|
Jan 1, 1984 |
June 30, 1985 |
| Leonid Zakharov |
|
June 1985 |
June 1986 |
| Arkady Andreasyan |
|
June 1986 |
June 1989 |
| Nikolay Kazaryan |
|
June 1989 |
Oct 1989 |
| Armen Sarkisyan |
 |
March 1990 |
Oct 1994 |
| Samvel Darbinyan |
|
March 1995 |
Oct 1995 |
| Arkady Andreasyan |
|
Jan 1996 |
Nov 2003 |
| Sevada Arzumanyan |
|
Nov 2003 |
Nov 2004 |
| Abraham Khashmanyan |
|
Nov 2004 |
June 2006 |
| Varuzhan Sukiasyan |
|
June 2006 |
July 2007 |
| Dušan Mijić |
 |
July 2007 |
March 2008 |
| Varuzhan Sukiasyan |
|
March 2008 |
Dec 31, 2008 |
| Ashot Kirakosyan |
|
Dec 2008 |
March 2009 |
| Arkadi Andreasyan |
|
March 2009 |
Jan 2010 |
| Tigran Yesayan |
|
Jan 2010 |
Dec 2010 |
| Arkadi Andreasyan |
|
Jan 2011 |
Feb 2012 |
| Albert Safaryan |
|
Feb 2012 |
July 2012 |
| Abraham Khashmanyan |
|
July 2012 |
April 26, 2014 |
| Dušan Mijić |
 |
July 4, 2014 |
September 26, 2014 |
| Samvel Darbinyan |
|
September 26, 2014 |
December 1, 2014 |
| Suren Chakhalyan |
|
December 13, 2014 |
April 14, 2015 |
|
References
External links
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