# 1997–98 Azerbaijan Top League

The 1997–98 Azerbaijan Top League was the seventh season of the Azerbaijan Top League, since their independence from the USSR in August 1991, and was contested by 15 clubs. Kapaz won their second title and Qarabağ and the Azerbaijan U-18 team were relegated. Khazri Buzovna pulled out of the league and dissolved after 8 games, as did Kur Nur at the end of the season.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Venue | Capacity |
| Azerbaijan U-18 | | |
| Bakılı Baku | Shafa Stadium (IV field) | 8,152 |
| Bakı Fahlasi | Ismat Gayibov Stadium | 5,000 |
| Dinamo Baku | Tofik Bakhramov Stadium | 29,858 |
| Kapaz | Ganja City Stadium | 26,120 |
| Khazri Buzovna | | |
| Khazar Sumgayit | | |
| Kur Nur | Yashar Mammadzade Stadium | 5,000 |
| MOIK Baku | Shafa Stadium (IV field) | 8,152 |
| Neftchi Baku | Tofik Bakhramov Stadium | 29,858 |
| Qarabağ Ağdam | Guzanli Olympic Stadium$^1$ | 15,000 |
| Qarabağ Bärdä | Barda City Stadium | 10,000 |
| Shamkir | | |
| Turan Tovuz | Tovuz City Stadium | 10,000 |
| Viləş Masallı | Anatoliy Banishevskiy Stadium | 8,000 |
$^1$Qarabağ played their home matches at Surakhani Stadium in Baku before moving to their current stadium on 3 May 2009.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kapaz (C) | 26 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 67 | 10 | +57 | 70 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Dinamo Baku | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 48 | 20 | +28 | 54 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Shamkir | 26 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 44 | 10 | +34 | 54 | |
| 4 | Qarabağ Ağdam | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 43 | 22 | +21 | 49 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 5 | Bakı Fahlasi | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 49 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
| 6 | Neftchi Baku | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 43 | 23 | +20 | 43 | |
| 7 | MOIK Baku | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 39 | 29 | +10 | 43 | |
| 8 | Viləş Masallı | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 35 | |
| 9 | Turan Tovuz | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 45 | −19 | 31 | |
| 10 | Bakili Baku | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 35 | 43 | −8 | 28 | |
| 11 | Kur Nur | 26 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 26 | 36 | −10 | 27 | Team withdrew at the end of the season |
| 12 | Khazar Sumgayit | 26 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 15 | 54 | −39 | 14 | |
| 13 | Azerbaijan U-18 (R) | 26 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 16 | 60 | −44 | 9 | Relegation to Azerbaijan First Division |
| 14 | Qarabağ Bärdä (R) | 26 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 65 | −55 | 5 | Relegation to Azerbaijan First Division |
| 15 | Khazri Buzovna (R) | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 25 | −19 | 3 | Team withdrew |
* ↑ Khazri Buzovna withdrew after the eighth round of fixtures and dissolved

## Results

| Home \ Away | U18 | BFA | BKL | DIN | KAP | KHS | KNU | MOI | NEF | QAR | QBÄ | SHA | TUR | MAS |
| Azerbaijan U-18 | | 2–4 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Bakı Fahlasi | 2–1 | | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| Bakılı | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 2–6 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 5–0 |
| Dinamo Baku | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Kapaz | 6–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | | 4–1 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 6–1 |
| Khazar Sumgayit | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Kur Nur | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 3–0 |
| MOIK Baku | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Neftçi Baku | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Qarabağ | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Qarabağ Bärdä | 1–2 | 2–6 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | – | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 |
| Şəmkir | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 7–0 | 1–1 |
| Turan | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 |
| Viləş FK | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Match rated as walkover due to the withdrawal of Khazar Sumgayit.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Match rated as walkover due to the withdrawal of Qarabağ Bärdä
* 1 2 3 4 Walkover.
* ↑ Match counted as a defeat for both clubs.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nazim Aliyev | Dinamo Baku / Khazar Sumgayit | 23 |
| 2 | Badri Kvaratskhelia | Kapaz | 20 |
| 3 | Farrukh Ismayilov | Dinamo | 14 |
| 3 | Vadim Vasilyev | Bakı Fahlasi | 14 |
| 5 | Samir Aliyev | Bakili / MOIK | 13 |
| 6 | Yalçın Bağırov | Qarabağ / Dinamo | 10 |
| 6 | Vüqar Qəmbərov | Bakili | 10 |
| 6 | Mushfig Huseynov | Qarabağ | 10 |
| 9 | Gurban Gurbanov | Neftchi | 9 |
| 10 | Ceyhun Tanrıverdiyev | MOIK / Kapaz | 8 |