Stepan Atayan

Stepan Atayan (Russian: Степан Атаян; born 13 July 1966) is a retired Uzbek international football player who played as a midfielder and was awarded in 1993 as one of the three Best Footballers of the Year. He is currently the assistant manager at Proodeftiki in Greece.

Stepan Atayan

Personal information
Date of birth	(1966-07-13) 13 July 1966 (age 59)
Place of birth	Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Proodeftiki (assistant manager)
Youth career
1976–1984	Neftchi Baku PFK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1991	Köpetdag Aşgabat	93	(6)
1991	Sogdiana Jizzakh	8	(0)
1992	Temiryulchi Qoqon	25	(3)
1993–1997	Neftchi Farg'ona	93	(30)
1997–1999	Proodeftiki
1999–2000	Chalkidona	7	(1)
2000–2001	Atromitos	8	(0)
International career
1995–1996	Uzbekistan	9	(0)
Managerial career
2024	Proodeftiki
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Atayan began playing football in the Soviet Second League with Neftchi Baku PFK and Köpetdag Aşgabat. He joined Uzbek League side Neftchi Farg'ona in 1991. Atayan left Uzbekistan and moved to Greece in 1995. He continued his career with Proodeftiki, playing 4 seasons in the Greek Super League for the club.^[1] He joined Chalkidona F.C. in 1999, where he won 2 cups. He finished his football career in Atromitos F.C. in 2001.

International

He was on the Uzbekistani squad at the 1994 Asian Games^[2] and made his full debut for Uzbekistan on 18 July 1995 at Merdeka Cup against Hungary won 3:2 by Hungary. Atayan made 9 appearances for the Uzbekistan national football team, including three appearances at the 1996 AFC Asian Cup finals in the United Arab Emirates.^[3]

Coaching career

After finishing his football career, Atayan continued with a coaching career. He possesses both the AFC coaching diploma and the UEFA category B coaching license diploma in Greece. He began coaching professionally youth football academy U13, U15, U17, U19. Afterwards, he coached in various football teams including Copa Renti SC owned by Nikos Karoulias in 2001–2004, Fostiras F.C. in 2004–2005, Kallithea F.C. B League in 2011–2012, Proodeftiki in 2012–2013.

Personal life

He got married in 1988, had a daughter (Diana) in 1990 and a son (Arsen) in 1994.

Honours

Club

Neftchi Farg'ona

• Uzbek League (3): 1992, 1993, 1994
• Uzbek Cup (2): 1994, 1996

Individual

• Uzbekistan Footballer of the Year 3rd: 1993