Azerbaijan First League

Azerbaijan First League
Founded	1992; 31 years ago
Country	Azerbaijan
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	2
Relegation to	Azerbaijan Second League
Domestic cup(s)	Azerbaijan Cup
Current champions	Araz-Naxçıvan (2nd title) ; (2022–23)
TV partners	CBC Sport
Website	PFL
	Current: 2022–23 Azerbaijan First Division

The Azerbaijan First League (Azerbaijani: I Liqa) is the second highest professional division in Azerbaijani professional football. The league is run by AFFA. No teams are promoted to Premier Division.

History[edit]

Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all Azerbaijan clubs of the former Soviet Premier Division and Soviet First Division conformed a single Azerbaijan Premier League, which meant that the new second tier of Azerbaijan football would remain regionalized. For the first two seasons three regional groups conformed the second tier, until in 1994 the single table in use today began to be used.

Competition format[edit]

The First League currently consists of 14 teams. All teams play each other two times.^[1]

Media coverage[edit]

CBC Sport currently own all the rights to broadcast the season's games on terrestrial TV.^[2]^[3]^[4] In Azerbaijan, the First League games is also available on CBC Sport.

Winners[edit]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
1992	ANS Pivani Bakı FK	Kür Samux	Pambıqçı (Neftçala)
1993	Xəzri Buzovna	Avtomobilçi Yevlax	Polad Sumqayıt
1993–94	Zabrat, Azneftyağ FK	Metallurq Sumgayit, OİK-Göyəzən (Qazax)	OIK, Pambıqçı (Neftçala)
1994–95	Şəmkir	OIK	Kürmük (Qax)
1995–96	Xəzər Sumqayıt	Çinar Polis Akademiyası	Fərid
1996–97	Çinar (Göyçay)	Araz FK	Kürmük (Qax)
1997–98	Şahdağ Quba
1998–99	[Inter Baku]
1999–00	Şahdağ Quba	Şəfa-2	HHQ-Şahin (Bakı)
2000–01	OIK	Ümid Bakı	Şahdağ Qusar
2001–02	Lokomotiv İmişli	Xəzər Sumqayıt	Bakılı
2002–03	Due to conflict between almost all clubs and the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan, no league championship was held.^[5]
2003–04	Gənclərbirliyi	Göyəzən Qazax	Karat Bakı
2004–05	AMMK	Energetik	FKXəzər-Lənkəran-2
2005–06	Gilan	FKXəzər-Lənkəran-2	Simurq
2006–07	Masally	Standard Baku	Göyəzən Qazax
2007–08	Bakılı	MOIK	NBC Salyan
2008–09	ABN Bərdə	Şahdağ Qusar	Anşad-Petrol
2009–10	Gəncə	MOIK	Bakılı
2010–11	Abşeron	Rəvan	Bakılı
2011–12	Qaradağ	Karvan	Neftchala
2012–13	Ağsu	Qaradağ	Neftchala
2013–14	Araz Naxçıvan	Neftchala	Qaradağ
2014–15	Neftchala	Ağsu	Rəvan
2015–16	Neftchala	Qaradağ	Ağsu
2016–17	Turan Tovuz	Səbail	Ağsu
2017–18	Khazar Baku	Qaradağ Lökbatan	Shuvalan
2018–19	MOIK Baku	Sumgayit-2	Neftçi-2
2019–20	Turan Tovuz	Sabail-2	Zagatala
2020–21	Neftçi-2	Zagatala	Turan Tovuz
2021-22	Qaradağ Lökbatan FK	Shamakhi FK	Qarabağ FK-2
2022-23	Araz-Naxçıvan	Neftçi-2	Turan-2

Performance by club[edit]

Club	Winners	Winning Years	Runner-up	Runner-up Years	Third place	Third place Years
MOIK	2	2000–01, 2018–19	3	1994–95, 2007–08, 2009–10	1	1993–94
Qaradağ Lökbatan	2	2011–12, 2021–22	3	2012–13, 2015–16, 2017–18	1	2013–14
Neftchala	2	2014–15, 2015–16	1	2013–14	5	1992, 1993–94, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13
Turan Tovuz	2	2016–17, 2019–20			1	2020–21
Araz Naxçıvan	2	2013–14, 2022-23
Xəzər Sumqayıt	1	1995–96	2	1993–94, 2001–02	1	1993
Bakılı	1	2007–08	1	1996–97	3	2001–02, 2009–10, 2010–11
Ağsu	1	2012–13	1	2014–15	2	2015–16, 2016–17
Şahdağ Qusar	1	1997–98	1	2008–09	1	2000–01
Neftçi-2	1	2020–21			1	2018–19
Shuvalan FK	1	2004–05			1	2017–18
Khazar Baku	1	2017–18
Nicat Maştağa	1	1992
Zabrat	1	1993–94
Shamkir	1	1994–95
Shahdagh Guba	1	1999–00
Lokomotiv Imishli	1	2001–02
Gənclərbirliyi	1	2003–04
Gilan	1	2005–06
ABN Bərdə	1	2008–09
Kapaz	1	2009–10
Masally	1	2006–07
Absheron	1	2010–11
Azneftyağ	1	1993–94
Xəzri Buzovna	1	1993
Çinar Göyçay	1	1996–97
Göyəzən Qazax FK			2	1993–94, 2003–04	1	2006–07
Zagatala			1	2020–21	1	2019–20
Xəzər-Lənkəran-2			1	2005–06	1	2004–05
Rəvan			1	2010–11	1	2014–15
Səbail			1	2016–17
Səbail-2			1	2019–20
Avtomobilçi Yevlax			1	1993
Çinar Polis Akademiyasi			1	1995–96
Kür Samux			1	1992
Şəfa-2			1	1999–00
Ümid Bakı			1	2000–01
Energetik			1	2004–05
Karvan			1	2011–12
Standard Baku			1	2006–07
Kürmük Qax					2	1994–95, 1996–97
Simurq					1	2005–06
Farid Baku					1	1995–96
Karat Bakı					1	2003–04
HHQ Şahin					1	1999–00
NBC Salyan					1	2007–08

Records[edit]

Club records[edit]

As of 14 November 2013

Most consecutive wins: Absheron, 23, 2010-11^[6]
Most points in a season: Absheron, 72 points, 2010-11^[6]
Most unbeaten run: Absheron, 26 games, 2010-11^[6]

References[edit]

^ "I Divizionda 14 komanda iştirak edəcək" (in Azerbaijani). 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
^ "Телехозяин" азербайджанского чемпионата Archived February 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
^ Снова АзТВ (in Russian)
^ Заключено соглашение, дающее право эксклюзивного показа матчей чемпионата и Кубка Азербайджана по футболу (in Russian)
^ Azerbaijan 2002/03 Archived March 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b ^c "Azərbaycan çempionunun rekordları". apasport.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2011.

External links[edit]

(in Azerbaijani) AFFA
(in Azerbaijani) PFL
Azerbaijan First Division seasons (Footballfacts.ru)

[1] "I Divizionda 14 komanda iştirak edəcək" (in Azerbaijani). 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.

[2] "Телехозяин" азербайджанского чемпионата Archived February 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)

[3] Снова АзТВ (in Russian)

[4] Заключено соглашение, дающее право эксклюзивного показа матчей чемпионата и Кубка Азербайджана по футболу (in Russian)

[5] Azerbaijan 2002/03 Archived March 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine

[divstat1-6] "Azərbaycan çempionunun rekordları". apasport.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2011.

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[6]

v t e Football in Azerbaijan
League competitions	Premier League First League Second League Regional League AFFA Amateur League Women's League (defunct) Azerbaijani football league system
Cup competitions	Azerbaijan Cup Azerbaijan Supercup
Seasons	2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
National teams	Men (Results) Women U-17 Futsal U-23 U-21 U-20 U-19 U-18 U-17 Beach
Lists and categories	Clubs Venues Foreign Premier League Players
Awards	Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year
Others	List of football clubs in Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Football Academy Championship of the Azerbaijan SSR
Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan

v t e Azerbaijan First Division
2018–19 teams	Kapaz-2 Şamaxı-2 Neftçi-2 Qarabağ-2 Qaradağ Sabah-2 Sabail-2 Sumgayit-2 Turan Zira-2
Seasons	1992 1993 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24