2020–21 Armenian Premier League

The 2020–21 Armenian Premier League season is the 29th since its establishment.

Armenian Premier League

Season	2020–21
Dates	14 August 2020 - 27 May 2021
Champions	Alashkert
Champions League	Alashkert
Europa Conference League	Ararat Noah Urartu
Matches played	88
Goals scored	190 (2.16 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jonel Désiré Yusuf Otubanjo (8 goals each)
Biggest home win	Ararat-Armenia 7–0 Shirak (17 October 2020)
Biggest away win	Urartu 0–3 Noah (22 September 2020) Shirak 0–3 Ararat (26 September 2020) Shirak 0–3 Urartu (22 November 2020) Van 0–3 Pyunik (14 April 2021)
Highest scoring	Ararat-Armenia 7–0 Shirak (17 October 2020)
Longest winning run	4 matches Alashkert
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches Ararat
Longest winless run	10 matches Shirak
Longest losing run	5 matches Shirak
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 4 May 2021.

Season events

On 30 July, it was announced that FC Van had been giving a license to compete in the Armenian Premier League, with the season commencing on 14 August 2020.^[1]

On 29 September, the season was suspended indefinitely due to the escalating 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.^[2] On 13 October, the FFA announced that the season would resume on 17 October.^[3]

On 3 November, Gandzasar Kapan announced that they were withdrawing from the League and Armenian Cup due to the ongoing financial constraints relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia and the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.^[4][5]

On 16 March, Lori walked off at the start of their match against Ararat Yerevan in protest of their Matchday 1 fixture being awarded to Urartu after Lori where unable to field a team due to COVID-19.^[6][7] Lori later submitted their resignation from the Premier League on 5 April.^[8]

Teams

Yerevan

Gandzasar

Lori

Shirak

Van

Yerevan teams:
Alashkert
Ararat
Ararat-Armenia
Noah
Urartu
Pyunik

Locations of the 2020–21 Armenian Premier League teams

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Alashkert	Yerevan (Shengavit)	Alashkert Stadium	6,850
Ararat	Yerevan (Kentron)	Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium	14,403
Ararat-Armenia	Yerevan (Avan)	Yerevan Football Academy Stadium	1,428
Gandzasar	Yerevan (Avan)	Yerevan Football Academy Stadium1	1,428
Lori	Vanadzor	Vanadzor Football Academy2	880
Noah	Yerevan (Shengavit)	Alashkert Stadium3	6,850
Pyunik	Yerevan (Kentron)	Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium	14,403
Shirak	Gyumri	Gyumri City Stadium	4,000
Urartu5	Yerevan (Malatia-Sebastia)	Urartu Stadium	4,860
Van	Charentsavan	Charentsavan City Stadium	5,000

• ¹Gandzasar played their home games at the Yerevan Football Academy Stadium in Yerevan, due to the rebuilding of their regular venue Gandzasar Stadium, Kapan.
• ²Lori played at the main training pitch of the Vanadzor Football Academy due to the rebuilding of their regular venue Vanadzor City Stadium, Vanadzor.
• ³Noah played at the Alashkert Stadium, Yerevan, instead of their regular venue Mika Stadium, Yerevan.

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Alashkert	Abraham Khashmanyan	Artak Grigoryan	Joma	Bagratour, Huawei
Ararat	Vardan Bichakhchyan		Nike	AWI International
Ararat-Armenia	David Campaña		Joma	Tashir Group
Gandzasar	Armen Petrosyan	Gevorg Nranyan	Adidas	ZCMC
Lori	Albert Solomonov		Puma	TotoGaming
Noah	Dmitri Gunko		Adidas
Pyunik	Artak Oseyan		Joma[9]	TotoGaming
Shirak		Aghvan Davoyan	Fourteen	Mogo[10]
Urartu	Aleksandr Grigoryan		Jako
Van	Konstantin Zaytsev		Legea

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Ararat Yerevan	Igor Kolyvanov	Contract expired		Pre-season	Vardan Bichakhchyan	23 July 2020[11]
Shirak	Vardan Bichakhchyan
Noah	Vadim Boreț		5 November 2020		Dmitri Gunko	5 November 2020[12]
Pyunik	Roman Berezovsky	Mutual consent	13 July 2020[13]		Artak Oseyan	20 July 2020[14]
Ararat-Armenia	Vardan Minasyan	Contract expired	17 July 2020[15]		David Campaña	22 July 2020[16]
Van	Karen Barseghyan	To vice president	31 July 2020[17]		Sevada Arzumanyan	31 July 2020[17]
Lori	Armen Sanamyan (Caretaker)	Signed by Sevan	4 August 2020[18]		Albert Solomonov	5 August 2020[19]
Pyunik	Artak Oseyan	Mutual termination	13 December 2020[20]	9th	Yegishe Melikyan	7 January 2021[21]
Alashkert	Yegishe Melikyan	Mutual termination	5 January 2021[22]	3rd	Abraham Khashmanyan	7 January 2021[23]
Van	Sevada Arzumanyan		2 February 2021	7th	Konstantin Zaytsev	2 February 2021[24]
Ararat-Armenia	David Campaña	Mutual Consent	5 March 2021[25]	4th	Armen Adamyan	5 March 2021[26]
Urartu	Aleksandr Grigoryan	Mutual termination	9 March 2021[27]	6th	Tigran Yesayan (Caretaker)	9 March[27]
Alashkert	Abraham Khashmanyan	Mutual termination	20 May 2021[28]	4th	Aleksandr Grigoryan	20 May 2021[28]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Alashkert (C)	24	13	7	4	25	15	+10	46	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Noah	24	12	5	7	35	20	+15	41	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3	Urartu	24	12	5	7	28	19	+9	41
4	Ararat[a]	24	11	7	6	34	18	+16	40
5	Ararat-Armenia	24	10	8	6	32	17	+15	38
6	Van	24	9	4	11	25	30	−5	31
7	Pyunik	24	6	7	11	20	18	+2	25
8	Lori[b]	24	7	2	15	16	44	−28	23
9	Shirak (R)	24	2	7	15	19	53	−34	13	Relegation to First League
10	Gandzasar (R, D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Club disqualified[c]

Source: FFA Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-off (only if deciding champion); 3) Matches won; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head matches won; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Head-to-head away goals scored; 9) Goal difference; 10) Goals scored.^[29]
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Ararat qualified for Europa Conference League first qualifying round as winners of 2020–21 Armenian Cup.
2. Round 19–27 matches involving Lori were all declared 3–0 forfeits in favor of the remaining 8 teams.
3. Gandzasar were excluded from the league On 3 November, Gandzasar Kapan announced that they were withdrawing from the League and Armenian Cup due to the ongoing financial constraints relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia and the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Fixtures and results

Round 1–18 Home \ Away ALA ARA AAR LOR NOA PYU SHI URA VAN Alashkert — 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 2–1 Ararat 0–1 — 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–0 4–0 2–0 1–1 Ararat-Armenia 1–2 0–0 — 1–2 3–1 2–1 7–0 0–1 3–0 Lori 0–1 1–0 0–1 — 2–0 1–0 3–2 1–1 0–1 Noah 1–2 2–1 0–0 3–1 — 0–1 2–2 1–1 4–0 Pyunik 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 — 0–2 0–0 0–0 Shirak 1–1 0–3 2–2 0–1 0–3 0–2 — 0–3 0–0 Urartu 1–2 2–0 1–2 3–0 0–3 0–1 1–0 — 2–0 Van 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 3–1 3–1 — Source: Soccerway Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Round 19–27 Home \ Away ALA ARA AAR LOR NOA PYU SHI URA VAN Alashkert 1–0 3–0 1–0 1–0 Ararat 0–0 3–0 2–3 5–2 Ararat-Armenia 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–3 Lori[a] 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 Noah 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–2 Pyunik 1–2 0–0 3–0 0–1 Shirak 0–0 1–5 1–1 1–2 Urartu 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 Van 3–1 1–1 3–0 0–3 Source: Soccerway Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. Notes: Round 19–27 matches involving Lori were all declared 3–0 forfeits in favor of the remaining 8 teams.

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Wilfried Eza for Van against Gandzasar Kapan (15 August 2020)

Top scorers

As of match(es) played 4 May 2021^[30]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jonel Désiré	Urartu	8
	Yusuf Otubanjo	Ararat-Armenia
3	Uroš Nenadović	Ararat Yerevan	7
4	Vladimir Azarov	Noah	6
	Wilfried Eza	Van
	Mory Kone	Ararat Yerevan
7	David Davidyan	Alashkert	5
8	Wbeymar	Ararat-Armenia	4
	Mailson Lima	Ararat-Armenia
10	Claudir	Lori	3
	Aleksandar Glišić	Alashkert
	Aleksandre Karapetian	Ararat-Armenia
	Pavel Kireyenko	Noah
	Rokas Krusnauskas	Gandzasar
	Edgar Movsesyan	Van
	Alex Oliveira	Noah
	Artem Simonyan	Noah
	Igor Stanojević	Shirak

Clean sheets

As of match played 5 March 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Vsevolod Yermakov	Ararat Yerevan	8
2	Valerio Vimercati	Noah	5
3	Ognjen Čančarević	Alashkert	4
	Stefan Čupić	Ararat-Armenia
	Arsen Beglaryan	Urartu
	Samur Agamagomedov	Van
7	Dmitry Abakumov	Ararat-Armenia	3
	Stanislav Buchnev	Pyunik
9	Henri Avagyan	Van	2
10	Artem Gomelko	Lori	1
	Anatoliy Ayvazov	Urartu
	Nemanja Šćekić	Lori
	Herman Penkov	Pyunik
	Gevorg Kasparov	Shirak
	Spasoje Stefanović	Shirak