# Sabah FC (Azerbaijan)

Sabah Football Club (Azerbaijani: Sabah Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani professional football club based in Masazır. The team plays in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top tier of Azerbaijani football.

## History

Sabah were formed on 8 September 2017, joining the Azerbaijan First Division for the 2017–18 season, in which they finished 5th. After the four teams above them in the league failed or declined promotion, Sabah were granted a license to participate in Azerbaijan Premier League on 12 May 2018. Sabah's first game in the Azerbaijan Premier League was against Keşla on 12 August 2018, a game they won 1–0 thanks to a Marko Dević goal. Sabah went on to finish their first Premier League season in 7th position, avoiding relegation.
On 16 September 2019, Elshad Ahmadov resigned as manager, with Igor Ponomaryov taking over on an interim basis.
On 26 November 2019, Sabah announced that Željko Sopić had been appointed manager on an 18-month contract. On 3 July 2020, Sopić resigned as manager.
On 10 July 2020, Sabah signed 2 year contract with Vicente Gómez. On 11 March 2021, Gómez left his role as Head Coach by mutual agreement, with Ramin Guliyev being placed in temporary charge. At the end of the season, Guliyev was confirmed as the club's new Head Coach on a two-year contract Guliyev resigned from his position on 21 October 2021, with Murad Musayev being appointed as the club's new Head Coach on 30 October 2021, signing a two-year contract.
On 1 February 2024, Sabah announced that Murad Musayev had left his role as Head Coach after his resignation had been accepted.
On 5 March 2024, Sabah announced the appointment of Krunoslav Rendulić as their new Head Coach, on an 18-month contract. Rendulić left Sabah on 25 November 2024 by mutual agreement, with Vasili Berezutski being appointed as his replacement on the same day to a two-and-a-half year contract.

### Domestic history

| Season | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | Azerbaijan Cup | Top goalscorer | Top goalscorer | Manager | Manufacturer | Sponsor |
| Season | Div. | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Azerbaijan Cup | Name | League | Manager | Manufacturer | Sponsor |
| 2017–18 | 2nd | 5th | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 41 | 33 | 40 | Second round | | | Arif Asadov | Joma | |
| 2018–19 | 1st | 7th | 28 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 20 | 41 | 27 | Quarter-final | Marko Dević | 8 | Elshad Ahmadov | Macron | |
| 2019–20 | 1st | 6th | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 27 | 21 | Quarter-final | Ulysse Diallo Amadou Diallo Hendrick Ekstein | 3 | Elshad Ahmadov Igor Ponomaryov (interim) Željko Sopić | Macron | Bank Respublika |
| 2020–21 | 1st | 5th | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 28 | 38 | 29 | Round of 16 | Ramil Sheydayev | 6 | Vicente Gómez Ramin Guliyev (interim) | Nike | Bank Respublika |
| 2021–22 | 1st | 5th | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 42 | 34 | 41 | Quarter-final | Joy-Lance Mickels | 11 | Ramin Guliyev Murad Musayev | Nike | Bank Respublika |
| 2022–23 | 1st | 2nd | 36 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 75 | 24 | 81 | Quarter-final | Joy-Lance Mickels | 17 | Murad Musayev | Nike | Bank Respublika |
| 2023–24 | 1st | 3rd | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 50 | 40 | 58 | Quarter-final | Davit Volkovi Anatoliy Nuriyev | 6 | Murad Musayev Ruslan Qafitullin (interim) Krunoslav Rendulić | Nike | Bank Respublika |
| 2024–25 | 1st | | | | | | | | | Quarter-final | | | Krunoslav Rendulić Vasili Berezutski | Nike | Bank Respublika |

### European record

    As of match played 8 August 2024
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 10 |
| Total | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 10 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 2Q | RFS | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 3Q | Partizan | 2–0 | 0–2 (a.e.t.) | 2–2 (4–5 p) |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | 2Q | Maccabi Haifa | 3–6 (a.e.t.) | 3–0 | 6–6 (3–2 p) |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | 3Q | St Patrick's Athletic | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |

## Colours and badge

Sabah's badge features rays of sunshine encased in a shield.
The team's main colours are black-pink, with their kit being made by Spanish clothing company Joma during their first season, and Macron from the start of the 2018–19 season.

## Shirt sponsor and kit manufacturer

| Years | Manufacturer | Sponsor |
| 2017–2018 | Joma | none |
| 2018–2020 | Macron | Bank Respublika |
| 2020– | Nike | Bank Respublika |

## Stadium

The club play their home games at the Bank Respublika Arena in Masazır, which has a capacity of 13,000.

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 28 January 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AZE | Yusif İmanov |
| 2 | DF | AZE | Amin Seydiyev |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Jon Irazabal |
| 4 | DF | MAR | Sofian Chakla |
| 5 | DF | AZE | Rahman Dashdamirov |
| 6 | MF | AZE | Abdulakh Khaybulayev |
| 7 | DF | BIH | Bojan Letić |
| 8 | MF | AZE | Ayaz Guliyev |
| 9 | MF | AZE | Anatoliy Nuriyev |
| 10 | MF | AZE | Namiq Ələsgərov |
| 11 | MF | JAM | Kaheem Parris |
| 12 | MF | LUX | Vincent Thill |
| 13 | MF | CRO | Ivan Lepinjica |
| 15 | MF | AZE | Seymur Mammadov |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | DF | AZE | Tellur Mutallimov |
| 18 | FW | SVK | Pavol Šafranko |
| 20 | MF | GER | Joy-Lance Mickels |
| 22 | DF | AZE | Abdulla Rzayev |
| 33 | MF | UZB | Umarali Rakhmonaliev (loan from Rubin Kazan) |
| 40 | DF | BRA | Ygor Nogueira |
| 55 | GK | AZE | Nijat Mehbaliyev |
| 70 | MF | NGA | Jesse Sekidika |
| 77 | MF | AZE | Shakir Seyidov |
| 88 | MF | AZE | Khayal Aliyev |
| 92 | GK | KAZ | Stas Pokatilov |
| 94 | GK | AZE | Ravan Mirzammadov |
| 99 | FW | SRB | Njegoš Kupusović |
For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2024.

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | AZE | Rustam Samigullin (at Neftçi) |
| — | DF | AZE | Fakhri Mammadli (at Shamakhi) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | AZE | Rauf Rustamli (at Shamakhi) |
| — | FW | AZE | Jamal Jafarov (at Kapaz) |

### Reserve team

Sabah-2 plays in the Azerbaijan First Division from 2018.

## Club officials
### Management

| Position | Staff |
| Founder | Yagub Huseynov |
| President | Magsud Adigozalov |
| Supervisory Board Member | Yagub Huseynov Firudin Gurbanov Igor Ponomaryov Rahman Hajiyev Rauf Khalilov |
| Chief executive officer | Ramin Hasanov |
| General Manager | Nasimi Musayev |
| Director of sport | Igor Ponomaryov |
| Press secretary | Elnur Hamidov |

### Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Vasili Berezutski |
| Assistant of head coach | Dmitry A. Smirnov Aleksandr Nagorny |
| Goalkeeping coach | Aleksey Antonyuk |
| Fitness coach | Domagoj Peric |
| Video analyst | Oleksandr Panchuk Nikita Vasyukhin |

## Club records
### Most appearances

    As of match played 15 March 2025
| | Name | Years | League | Azerbaijan Cup | European | Total |
| 1 | Amin Seydiyev | 2020–Present | 141 (4) | 11 (2) | 8 (0) | 160 (6) |
| 2 | Elvin Camalov | 2021–2025 | 98 (2) | 9 (0) | 6 (0) | 113 (2) |
| 2 | Bojan Letić | 2022–Present | 98 (4) | 7 (0) | 8 (2) | 113 (6) |
| 4 | Aleksey Isayev | 2020–2024 | 98 (11) | 6 (0) | 4 (1) | 108 (12) |
| 5 | Joy-Lance Mickels | 2021–2023, 2024–Present | 83 (37) | 9 (4) | 6 (2) | 98 (43) |
| 6 | Yusif Imanov | 2020–Present | 80 (0) | 6 (0) | 8 (0) | 94 (0) |
| 7 | Anatoliy Nuriyev | 2022–Present | 81 (10) | 7 (1) | 5 (0) | 93 (11) |
| 8 | Jon Irazabal | 2022–Present | 78 (5) | 3 (1) | 7 (0) | 88 (6) |
| 9 | Tellur Mutallimov | 2022–Present | 71 (3) | 8 (0) | 3 (0) | 82 (3) |
| 10 | Namiq Ələsgərov | 2022–Present | 66 (7) | 4 (0) | 8 (0) | 78 (7) |

### Top goalscorers

    As of match played 15 March 2025
| | Name | Years | League | Azerbaijan Cup | European | Total | Ratio |
| 1 | Joy-Lance Mickels | 2021–2023, 2024–Present | 37 (83) | 4 (9) | 2 (6) | 43 (98) | 0.44 |
| 2 | Davit Volkovi | 2022–Present | 16 (63) | 2 (4) | 1 (4) | 19 (71) | 0.27 |
| 3 | Oleksiy Kashchuk | 2022–2023 | 18 (39) | 0 (2) | 0 (0) | 18 (41) | 0.44 |
| 3 | Jesse Sekidika | 2023–Present | 15 (58) | 2 (6) | 1 (4) | 18 (68) | 0.26 |
| 5 | Emmanuel Apeh | 2022–2024 | 11 (65) | 4 (6) | 1 (4) | 16 (75) | 0.21 |
| 6 | Aleksey Isayev | 2020–2024 | 11 (98) | 0 (6) | 1 (4) | 12 (108) | 0.11 |
| 7 | Anatoliy Nuriyev | 2022–Present | 10 (81) | 1 (7) | 0 (5) | 11 (93) | 0.12 |
| 8 | Marko Dević | 2018–2019, 2020 | 9 (24) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 9 (24) | 0.38 |
| 9 | Pavol Šafranko | 2024–Present | 7 (26) | 0 (3) | 2 (4) | 9 (33) | 0.27 |
| 10 | Namiq Ələsgərov | 2022–Present | 7 (66) | 0 (4) | 0 (8) | 7 (78) | 0.09 |

### Managerial statistics

    As of match played 15 March 2025
| Name | Nat. | From | To | Duration | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | %W | Honours |
| Arif Asadov | Azerbaijan | 8 September 2017 | 1 July 2018 | 296 days | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 36 | 039.29 | (Promotion) |
| Elshad Ahmadov | Azerbaijan | 1 July 2018 | 16 September 2019 | 1 year, 77 days | 35 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 25 | 47 | 022.86 | |
| Igor Ponomaryov (Interim) | Azerbaijan | 16 September 2019 | 26 November 2019 | 71 days | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 037.50 | |
| Željko Sopić | Croatia | 26 November 2019 | 3 July 2020 | 230 days | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 027.27 | |
| Vicente Gómez | Spain | 10 July 2020 | 11 March 2021 | 244 days | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 29 | 020.00 | |
| Ramin Guliyev (Interim) | Azerbaijan | 11 March 2021 | 26 May 2021 | 76 days | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 033.33 | |
| Ramin Guliyev | Azerbaijan | 26 May 2021 | 21 October 2021 | 224 days | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 000.00 | |
| Ilkin Huseynov (Interim) | Azerbaijan | 21 October 2021 | 30 October 2021 | 9 days | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| Murad Musayev | Russia | 30 October 2021 | 1 February 2024 | 2 years, 94 days | 87 | 48 | 16 | 23 | 157 | 88 | 055.17 | |
| Ruslan Qafitullin (Interim) | Azerbaijan | 1 February 2024 | 5 March 2024 | 33 days | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 050.00 | |
| Krunoslav Rendulić | Croatia | 5 March 2024 | 25 November 2024 | 1 year, 12 days | 29 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 10 | 044.83 | |
| Vasili Berezutski | Russia | 25 November 2024 | | 112 days | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 025.00 | |
* Notes:
P – Total of played matches W – Won matches D – Drawn matches L – Lost matches GS – Goal scored GA – Goals against %W – Percentage of matches won
Nationality is indicated by the corresponding FIFA country code(s).