Sabah FC (Azerbaijan)

This article is about the Azerbaijani professional football club. For the Malaysian professional football club, see Sabah F.C. (Malaysia).

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.

Sabah

Full name	Sabah Futbol Klubu
Nickname(s)	Bayquşlar (The Owls) Tələbələr (The Students) Qara-çəhrayılar (The Black-pinks)
Founded	8 September 2017; 7 years ago (2017-09-08)
Ground	Bank Respublika Arena
Capacity	13,000
President	Magsud Adigozalov
Manager	Valdas Dambrauskas
League	Azerbaijan Premier League
2024–25	Azerbaijan Premier League, 5th of 10
Website	sabahfc.az
Home colours Away colours
Current season

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.^[1] Sabah won their first game 1–0 in the Azerbaijan Premier League, against Keşla, on 12 August 2018, thanks to a Marko Dević goal. Sabah went on to finish their first Premier League season in 7th position, avoiding relegation.^{[citation needed]}

On 16 September 2019, Elshad Ahmadov resigned as manager, with Igor Ponomaryov taking over on an interim basis.^{[citation needed]}

On 26 November 2019, Sabah announced that Željko Sopić had been appointed manager on an 18-month contract.^[2] On 3 July 2020, Sopić resigned as manager.^[3]

On 10 July 2020, Sabah signed a two-year contract with Vicente Gómez.^[4] On 11 March 2021, Gómez left his role as Head Coach by mutual agreement, with Ramin Guliyev being placed in temporary charge.^[5] At the end of the season, Guliyev was confirmed as the club's new Head Coach on a two-year contract^[6] Guliyev resigned from his position on 21 October 2021,^[7] with Murad Musayev being appointed as the club's new Head Coach on 30 October 2021, signing a two-year contract.^[8]

On 1 February 2024, Sabah announced that Murad Musayev had left his role as Head Coach after his resignation had been accepted.^[9]

On 5 March 2024, Sabah announced the appointment of Krunoslav Rendulić as their new Head Coach, on an 18-month contract.^[10] 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.^[11][12] On 14 June 2025, Berezutski left the club by mutual consent due to personal reasons.^[13]

Domestic history

Season	League									Azerbaijan Cup	Top goalscorer		Manager	Manufacturer	Sponsor
	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P		Name	League
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		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
2021–22	1st	5th	28	12	5	11	42	34	41	Quarter-final	Joy-Lance Mickels	11	Ramin Guliyev Murad Musayev
2022–23	1st	2nd	36	25	6	5	75	24	81	Quarter-final	Joy-Lance Mickels	17	Murad Musayev
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
2024–25	1st	5th	36	10	18	8	50	46	48	Winners	Jesse Sekidika	11	Krunoslav Rendulić Vasili Berezutski

European record

As of match played 24 July 2025

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
UEFA Europa League	2	0	1	1	5	6
UEFA Conference League	9	5	0	4	14	11
Total	11	5	1	5	19	17

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2023–24	UEFA Europa Conference League	2Q	RFS	2–1	2–0	4–1
		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)
		3Q	St Patrick's Athletic	0–1	0–1	0–2
2025–26	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Celje	2–3	3–3 (a.e.t.)	5–6
	UEFA Conference League	2Q	Petrocub Hîncești		2–0

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

Stadium

Main article: Bank Respublika Arena

View of Alinja Arena

The club play their home games at the Bank Respublika Arena in Masazır, which has a capacity of 13,000.^[14]

Players

For a list of all former and current Sabah FC players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Sabah FC (Azerbaijan) players.

Current squad

As of 9 July 2025^[15]

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 2 DF  AZE Amin Seydiyev 3 DF  GLP Steve Solvet 5 DF  AZE Rahman Dashdamirov 6 MF  AZE Abdulakh Khaybulayev 7 DF  BIH Bojan Letić 8 MF  AZE Ayaz Guliyev 10 MF  AZE Anatoliy Nuriyev 11 MF  JAM Kaheem Parris 13 MF  CRO Ivan Lepinjica 17 DF  AZE Tellur Mutallimov 18 FW  SVK Pavol Šafranko 20 MF  GER Joy-Lance Mickels

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  FRA Zinédine Ould Khaled 33 MF  UZB Umarali Rakhmonaliev (loan from Rubin Kazan) 40 DF  BRA Ygor Nogueira 53 DF  BRA Andrey Santos 55 GK  AZE Nijat Mehbaliyev 70 MF  NGA Jesse Sekidika 72 GK  AZE Rustam Samigullin 80 DF  ALG Akim Zedadka 88 MF  AZE Khayal Aliyev 92 GK  KAZ Stas Pokatilov 99 FW  SRB Njegoš Kupusović

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2025.

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 — DF  AZE Abdulla Rzayev (at Turan Tovuz) — MF  AZE Rauf Rustamli (at Sumgayit)

Other players under contract

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 — DF  AZE Fakhri Mammadli — MF  AZE Seymur Mammadov — FW  AZE Jamal Jafarov

Reserve team

Sabah-2 plays in the Azerbaijan Reserve League.

Club officials

Management

Position	Staff[16][17]
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[18]
Head coach	Valdas Dambrauskas
Assistant of head coach	Valerio Zuddas Cristian Ceballos
Goalkeeping coach	Justinas Gasiūnas
Fitness coach	Domagoj Peric
Video analyst	Oleksandr Panchuk Nikita Vasyukhin

Honours

• Azerbaijan Cup (1): 2024–25

Club records

Most appearances

As of match played 31 May 2025

	Name	Years	League	Azerbaijan Cup	European	Total
1	Amin Seydiyev	2020–Present	141 (4)	11 (2)	8 (0)	160 (6)
2	Bojan Letić	2022–Present	104 (5)	8 (0)	8 (2)	120 (7)
3	Elvin Camalov	2021–2025	98 (2)	9 (0)	6 (0)	113 (2)
4	Aleksey Isayev	2020–2024	98 (11)	6 (0)	4 (1)	108 (12)
5	Anatoliy Nuriyev	2022–Present	90 (11)	10 (1)	5 (0)	105 (12)
6	Joy-Lance Mickels	2021–2023, 2024–Present	85 (38)	12 (4)	6 (2)	103 (44)
7	Jon Irazabal	2022–2025	85 (5)	6 (1)	8 (0)	99 (6)
8	Yusif Imanov	2020–Present	80 (0)	6 (0)	8 (0)	94 (0)
8	Tellur Mutallimov	2022–Present	80 (4)	11 (1)	3 (0)	94 (5)
10	Namiq Ələsgərov	2022–Present	70 (7)	5 (0)	8 (0)	83 (7)

Top goalscorers

As of match played 31 May 2025

	Name	Years	League	Azerbaijan Cup	European	Total	Ratio
1	Joy-Lance Mickels	2021–2023, 2024–Present	38 (85)	4 (12)	2 (6)	44 (103)	0.43
2	Jesse Sekidika	2023–Present	16 (67)	3 (9)	1 (4)	20 (80)	0.25
3	Davit Volkovi	2022–2024	16 (63)	2 (4)	1 (4)	19 (71)	0.27
4	Oleksiy Kashchuk	2022–2023	18 (39)	0 (2)	0 (0)	18 (41)	0.44
5	Emmanuel Apeh	2022–2024	11 (65)	4 (6)	1 (4)	16 (75)	0.21
6	Pavol Šafranko	2024–Present	9 (34)	2 (5)	2 (4)	13 (43)	0.3
7	Aleksey Isayev	2020–2024	11 (98)	0 (6)	1 (4)	12 (108)	0.11
7	Anatoliy Nuriyev	2022–Present	11 (90)	1 (10)	0 (5)	12 (105)	0.11
9	Marko Dević	2018–2019, 2020	9 (24)	0 (0)	0 (0)	9 (24)	0.38
10	Namiq Ələsgərov	2022–Present	7 (70)	0 (5)	0 (8)	7 (82)	0.08

Managerial statistics

As of match played 31 May 2025

Name	Nat.	From	To	Duration	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W	Honours	Notes
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[2]	71 days	8	3	2	3	12	11	037.50
Željko Sopić	Croatia	26 November 2019[2]	3 July 2020	230 days	11	3	2	6	12	18	027.27
Vicente Gómez	Spain	10 July 2020[19]	11 March 2021[20]	244 days	20	4	4	12	20	29	020.00
Ramin Guliyev (Interim)	Azerbaijan	11 March 2021[20]	26 May 2021[6]	76 days	9	3	4	2	9	11	033.33
Ramin Guliyev	Azerbaijan	26 May 2021[6]	21 October 2021[7]	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[8]	1 February 2024[9]	2 years, 94 days	87	48	16	23	157	88	055.17
Ruslan Qafitullin (Interim)	Azerbaijan	1 February 2024[9]	5 March 2024[10]	33 days	6	3	2	1	13	11	050.00
Krunoslav Rendulić	Croatia	5 March 2024[10]	25 November 2024[11]	1 year, 142 days	29	13	7	9	18	10	044.83
Vasili Berezutski	Russia	25 November 2024[12]	14 June 2025[13]	242 days	28	10	13	5	39	32	035.71	Azerbaijan Cup (1)

• 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).