Azerbaijan Premier League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Countries | Azerbaijan |
|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Relegation to | Azerbaijan First Division |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Azerbaijan Cup |
| International cup(s) | Champions League Europa League |
| Current champions | FK Baku (2008-09) |
| Most championships | Neftchi Baku (5 titles) |
| Website | http://www.pfl.az |
 2009-10 season |
|
The Azerbaijan Premier League (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is the top division of Azerbaijan football. There are 12 teams in the competition. At the end of the season two teams get relegated to the Azerbaijan First Division and get replaced with the two top First Division teams.
The Azerbaijan Premier League was organized in 2007 and succeeded the Top Division (Azerbaijani: Yuksak Liga), the difference being that the Top Division was run by the Professional Football League of Azerbaijan, and the creation of the Premier League gave the clubs a greater degree of independence. The Top Division had existed from 1992 to 2007. It is sponsored by Unibank, the bank in Azerbaijan, and therefore officially known as Unibank Premyer Liqası.
FK Baku are the current Azerbaijan Premier League champions.[1][2]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The first Goal Project by FIFA
After a number of delays, work on the technical centre in Baku was finally completed in spring 2003, with the costs covered by Goal, the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme and UEFA. The government donated the land on which the centre has been built. The centre has two artificial turf pitches, a hotel, a building with dressing rooms, seminar rooms and meeting rooms. It adjoins the Shafa Stadium, which was built just a few years ago and today plays host to the majority of Azerbaijans international matches. The facilities in the centre are already proving to be extremely popular. Courses, meetings and conferences organised as part of the various youth development programmes take place there each week. With its stadium (and incorporated association headquarters), the nearby leased restaurant, and the training/accommodation facilities, the technical centre in Baku is now the hub of football development work in Azerbaijan.
[edit] Second Goal project by FIFA
Now that the first Goal project for an urgently needed sports centre in Baku has been completed, on 17 February 2005 the Goal Bureau approved the construction of association headquarters in Baku. Modern equipment will enable the administration to operate more efficiently and, now that it no longer has to pay rent, the association will be able to invest more in development projects.
[edit] The 1990s
The league were dominated by teams like Neftchi Baku, FK Gäncä and FK Shamkir. However, financial struggles had bad impact on local clubs and most teams such as Khazri Buzovna, FK Shamkir, FK Vilash Masalli and Shafa Baku went bust due increasing debts.
[edit] The 2000s
As Premyer Liqa entered a new century, the Neftchi Baku found themselves facing new challengers. They were challenged by a re-emerging Khazar Lankaran and FK Baku in both competitions. Under the management of Agaselim Mirjavadov, Khazar Lankaran finished as Azerbaijan Cup winners in 2006 and 2007, while becoming league champions in 2006 despite losing the title to Neftchi in 2004 during Championship play-off. FK Qarabağ was the first ever team from Azerbaijan to reach UEFA Europa League play off-round during the season 2009-10. Few gave chances for qualification to the next round, although the Aghdam side caused quite a stir against favorites Rosenborg BK, FC Honka and FC Twente.
[edit] Competition
Each team in the league plays each opponent twice, one home and once away, for a total of 26 matches. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. If the teams are level on points, the tie-breakers are the number of wins, then the goal difference, followed by several others. If the teams are tied for the first position, the tie-breakers are the number of wins, then head-to-head results. If the teams tied for the first place cannot be separated by these tie-breakers, the championship play-off is ordered.
The champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League, the second-placed team qualifies for the UEFA Cup, and the third-placed team for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Two bottom team are relegated to the First Division.
The league typically runs from August to May.
[edit] Sponsorship
Talks began with UniBank and a deal was confirmed shortly afterwards. A three-year deal came into effect from 24 September 2009.[3][4]
- 2009–2012: Unibank Premyer Liqası[5]
[edit] Media coverage
[edit] Television
AzTV currently own all the rights to broadcast the 2009-10 season's games on terrestrial TV.[6][7][8] In Azerbaijan, the Premier League is also available on Idman Azerbaycan TV.
[edit] UEFA Rankings
UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2008-09 European football season (Previous year rank in italics) [9]
- 39
(39) 
Liechtensteiner League - 40
(38) 
Macedonian League - 41
(42) 
Azeri League - 42 (41)
Estonian League - 43 (41)
Albanian League
[edit] Players
Azerbaijan Premier League clubs have almost complete freedom to sign whatever number and category of players they wish. There is no team or individual salary cap, no squad size limit, no age restrictions other than those applied by general employment law, no restrictions on the overall number of foreign players, and few restrictions on individual foreign players — all players with EU nationality, including those able to claim an EU passport through a parent or grandparent, are eligible to play, and top players from outside the EU are able to obtain Azerbaijani work permits.
[edit] Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nazim Aliyev |
183 |
| 2 | Mushfig Huseynov |
125 |
| 3 | Rovshan Ahmadov |
116 |
| 4 | Gurban Gurbanov |
115 |
| 5 | Samir Alakbarov |
115 |
| 6 | Alay Bahramov |
108 |
| 7 | Musa Gurbanov |
94 |
| 8 | Khagani Mammadov |
93 |
| 9 | Kanan Karimov |
93 |
| 10 | Vadim Vasilyev |
93 |
| As of 5 February 2009[10] | ||
Nazim Aliyev is is an all time topscorer of the Azerbaijan Premier League, having scored 39 goals in 1992 season.[10]
[edit] Azerbaijan Premier League transfer records
- Highest transfer fee paid: Oktay Derelioğlu, from Akçaabat Sebatspor to Khazar Lankaran, €200,000, 9 December 2004[11]
[edit] Records
- As of 30 August 2009.
- Most titles: PFC Neftchi, 5
- All time top scorer: Nazim Aliyev (183 goals)[12]
- Top scorer in one season: 1992 Nazim Aliyev (39 goals)
- Most league titles won: Mahmud Qurbanov, he has won Azerbaijani championship record 10 times.[13]
- Oldest player: Nadir Shukurov, for FK Karvan vs FK Mughan, 42 years, 19 April 2009[14]
[edit] Notable Foreign Managers
Anatoly Konjkov- Anatoliy Demyanenko
- Viktor Pasulko
Vlastimil Petržela
Rasim Kara- Naci Şensoy
- Bulent Korkmaz
- Gjoko Hadžievski
Kakhaber Tskhadadze
[edit] Azerbaijan Premier League members for 2009–10
Azerbaijan Premier League 2009–10 is the eighteenth season of top-tier football in Azerbaijan. FK Baku are the defending champions.
[edit] Stadia
| Stadium | Capacity | Club | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tofig Bakhramov Stadium | 29,858 | FK Baku | Biggest club stadium in Azerbaijan. First Azerbaijani Stadium to have floodlights. |
| Ismet Gaibov Stadium | 4,000 | Neftchi Baku | |
| Tovuz City Stadium | 6,394 | Turan Tovuz | |
| Zaqatala City Stadium | 3,500 | FK Simurq | |
| Lankaran City Stadium | 15,000 | Khazar Lankaran | The third biggest stadium in Azerbaijan. |
| Gabala City Stadium | 4,000 | FK Qäbälä | Capacity planned to increase to 15,000 by 2010/11 |
| Guzanli Olympic Stadium | 4,300 | FK Qarabağ | |
| Yevlakh Stadium | 5,000 | FK Karvan | |
| Mehdi Huseynzade Stadium | 26,000 | Standard Sumgayit | The second biggest stadium in Azerbaijan. |
| Shafa Stadium | 8,152 | Inter Baku | First Purpose Built All Seater Stadium in Azerbaijan. |
| Shafa Stadium | 8,152 | Olimpik Baku | |
| Salyany Olympic Stadium | 3,000 | FK Mughan |
[edit] Soviet time champions
|
[edit] Champions and top scorers
[edit] Performance by club
| Club | Winners | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|
| Neftchi Baku PFC |
|
1992, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2005 |
| FK Gäncä |
|
1995, 1998, 1999 |
| FK Shamkir |
|
2000, 2001 |
| FK Baku |
|
2006, 2009 |
| FK Khazar Lankaran |
|
2007 |
| FK Qarabağ |
|
1993 |
| PFC Turan Tovuz |
|
1994 |
| FC Inter Baku |
|
2008 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Bakı claim Azerbaijani honours". uefa.com. 2009-05-17. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=830637.html. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ "««Баку» стал чемпионом Азербайджана". News.A-Z.Az. 2009-05-17. http://news.a-z.az/sport/1800-baku-stal-chempionom-azerbajdzhana.html. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ Unibank стал главным спонсором профессиональной футбольной лиги (Azerbaijani)
- ^ Азербайджанский «Unibank» стал официальным спонсором Премьер-лиги (Azerbaijani)
- ^ "Unibank has become general sponsor of Professional Football League". Azerbaijan Business Center. 24 September 2009. http://abc.az/eng/news/corporate/38603.html. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
- ^ "Телехозяин" азербайджанского чемпионата (Russian)
- ^ Снова АзТВ (Russian)
- ^ Заключено соглашение, дающее право эксклюзивного показа матчей чемпионата и Кубка Азербайджана по футболу (Russian)
- ^ "UEFA Country Ranking 2008". Bert Kassies. http://kassiesa.com/uefabackup/data/method3/crank2008.html. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
- ^ a b Ekspress Newspaper (Azerbaijani)
- ^ "Azeri title race hotting up". uefa.com. 2004-12-09. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=266573.html=. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ^ Express newspaper (Azerbaijani)
- ^ Махмуд Гурбанов: Это словно первое чемпионство (Russian)
- ^ "NBC is renamed". AFFA. 31 October 2008. http://www.affa.az/index.php?r=1&id=2892&lang=en. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
