 | |||
| Full name | Astana futbol kluby Астана футбол клубы Astana Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Sary-Kökter, Жёлто-синие (The Yellow-and-Blues)[1] Astanalyqtar, Астанчане (The Astanans) Qalalyqtar, Горожане (The Citizens) | ||
| Founded | 2009; 17 years ago (2009) asLokomotiv Astana[2] | ||
| Stadium | Astana Arena | ||
| Capacity | 30,254[3] | ||
| Owner | Samruk-Kazyna | ||
| General manager | Arslan Bespayev[4] | ||
| Manager | Diogo Moleza | ||
| League | Premier League | ||
| 2025 | Premier League, 2nd of 13 | ||
| Website | fcastana | ||
 Current season | |||
Astana Football Club (Kazakh:Астана футбол клубы, Astana Futbol Kluby) is a professionalfootball club based inAstana. They play in theKazakhstan Premier League, the highest level ofKazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,000-seatAstana Arena stadium. The club colours, reflected in their badge and kit, are sky blue and yellow. Founded asLokomotiv Astana in 2009, the club changed its name to Astana in 2011.[5]
The club has won a record sevenleague titles, threeKazakhstan Cups and sixKazakhstan Super Cups.
On 27 December 2008, football clubs fromAlmatyMegasport andAlma-Ata announced they would merge to found a new club.[6] The club was named "FCLokomotiv Astana" as the National Railway CompanyKazakhstan Temir Zholy became a general sponsor.[6] Kazakhstan Temir Zholy in cooperation with City Council of Astana decided to move the club to thenew building stadium in the capital of Kazakhstan.[6]Vakhid Masudov became the first head coach in the club's history.[7] The club has benefited from a high salary role which has enabled them to attract players of status to the club.Andrey Tikhonov andYegor Titov first of all came from theRussian Football Premier League.[8] Several more followed such asPatrick Ovie andBaffour Gyan.Maksim Shatskikh later arrived fromDynamo Kyiv in theUkrainian Premier League which was again a very high-profile capture for the club.[9] The majority of their other players have arrived from other clubs of theKazakhstan Premier League, mostly on free transfers from the clubs which were absorbed to make the club and several which went into bankruptcy.
On 8 March 2009, Lokomotiv played in the league's inaugural match againstKazakhmys inSatbayev. In March 2009, Vakhid Masudov was replaced by Vladimir Gulyamkhaidarov.[10] However, only two days after his appointment he was replaced by Russian specialistSergei Yuran.[10] The club earned silver medals in their first season of play. On 14 November 2010,Holger Fach guided Astana to their firstKazakhstan Cup success.[11] However, they were ineligible for a UEFA license since they had not yet existed for at least three years.[12] So they were not able to start in the2011–12 UEFA Europa League. On 2 March 2011, Astana beatTobol 2–1 and won theKazakhstan Super Cup for the first time.[13] In 2012,Miroslav Beránek led Astana to win their second Kazakhstan Cup.[14] In July 2013, the club made a debut in Europe playing in the first qualifying round of theUEFA Europa League againstBotev Plovdiv. Astana lost both matches, 0–1 at home and 0–5 away.[15][16] On 4 July 2013, Astana officially joined to newly createdAstana Presidential Sports Club, the organization supported by the Sovereign Wealth FundSamruk-Kazyna to combine the main sports teams in Astana.[17][18]
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On 22 June 2014, the club announced that former Botev Plovdiv managerStanimir Stoilov was appointed as new head coach.[19] In 2014–15 European campaign, Astana played four ties in the UEFA Europa League qualifying stages. In the first round they beatPyunik 6–1 on aggregate, then raised more than a few eyebrows in the second round, beatingHapoel Tel Aviv 3–1 on aggregate thanks to a convincing home leg win.[20] The third qualifying round saw Astana cruise pastAIK, with a 4–1 aggregate score. In the play-off round, Astana was defeated byVillarreal.[21] On 1 November 2014, Astana became Kazakhstan Premier League champions for the first time in their history, securing the championship with a 3–0 home win againstKaisar.[22]
On 1 March 2015, Astana won the2015 Kazakhstan Super Cup, beatingKairat 3–2 in apenalty shoot-out after the match ended with the score 0–0. On 26 August 2015, the club became the first team from Kazakhstan to reach thegroup stage of the UEFA Champions League, after beatingAPOEL 2–1 on aggregate in the play-off round.[23][24] They were drawn inGroup C alongsideBenfica,Atlético Madrid andGalatasaray,[25] where they managed to obtain four points in six games after four draws and two losses.[26] On 8 November 2015, Astana clinched their second Kazakhstan Premier League title beatingAktobe 1–0 at home in the last tour game.[27] On 9 December 2015, the club extended their contract with Stanimir Stoilov for the next two years.[28]
In the2016 season, Astana was eliminated from UEFA Champions League after two stages, being defeated byCeltic in the third qualifying round 3–2 on aggregate. However, the club qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage, beatingBATE in the play-off round. On 26 October 2016, Astana won their third straight championship under Stoilov's rule. On 19 November 2016, the club won the2016 Kazakhstan Cup, defeating Kairat 1–0. Their 2017 Champions League bid was stopped short once again byCeltic, this time in the playoff round. Following an embarrassing 5–0 rout in Glasgow, they failed to reach the group stages in an 8–4 defeat on aggregate. However, Astana reached another milestone by reaching the knockout phase of the2017–18 UEFA Europa League after finishing second in the group phase. Astana extended further its domestic dominance by winning fourth consecutive title in the2017 season.[29] On 8 January 2018, Stoilov signed a new contract with Astana,[30] but left the club on 1 March 2018 to take over the vacantKazakhstan national football team's manager position.[31]
On the same day as Stoilov was announced as the new manager of Kazakhstan, 1 March 2018,Grigori Babayan was announced as the Astana's interim manager.[32] On 1 June 2018, Astana announcedRoman Hryhorchuk as the club's new manager.[33] On 17 August 2018, Hryhorchuk left Astana on compassionate leave with Grigori Babayan again stepping in as Caretaker Manager.[34] Astana announced on 3 January 2019 that Hryhorchuk would return to lead the team after missing the second half of the 2018 season due to family reasons.[35]On 14 January 2019,Paul Ashworth was announced as the new executive director of FC Astana.[36]Hryhorchuk left Astana by mutual consent on 13 January 2020.[37] The following day, 14 January 2020,Michal Bílek was announced as the new head coach of Astana.[38]
On 18 February 2020, Astana revealed a new logo to commemorate 10-years of the club.[39]
On 26 August 2020, with Astana 2nd in the league and having just been knocked out of theUEFA Champions League, Michal Bílek was sacked as manager, with Executive DirectorPaul Ashworth taking over in a caretaker capacity.[40] Ashworth his role as caretaker manager and executive director by mutual consent on 7 October 2020.[41] Two days later, 9 October,David Loria was announced as the clubs new executive director.[42] On 16 October 2020, former captainAndrey Tikhonov was appointed as the clubs new manager.[43]
On 5 November 2021, Astana announced the departure ofAndrey Tikhonov as their manager,[44] with Srđan Blagojević being announced as the clubs new head coach on 21 November 2021.[45] On 13 September 2022, Blagojević left Astana by mutual consent to become Head Coach ofDebreceni, withGrigori Babayan returning to the club as their new Head Coach.[46][47]Astana qualified for theUEFA Europa Conference League group stage in the 2023–24 season and finished 3rd in their group.
Astana's current home venue isAstana Arena. The stadium has been Astana's home since the mid of the 2009 season, when the club moved from theKazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium.[48] The stadium holds 30,254 and has a retractable roof. The inaugural match at the new stadium was a 2–1 win over theKazakhstan national under-21 football team in afriendly match. It is also serves as a national stadium for theKazakhstan national football team.
The team's original crest was implemented in 2009 consisting of the team's name, Football Club Lokomotiv Astana, on a blue round frame and a blue coloured letter "L" in the center, meaningrailway track. As the result of renaming in 2011, the club adopted a new crest. The crest consisted of the team's name with uppercase letters on an image of the ball. This was accompanied by the words "football club" in Kazakh and Russian languages on the top and bottom of the crest. On 23 January 2013, the club presented a new crest, which replicated the style and colours of the Lokomotiv Astana crest. The crest consisted an image of the ball in ashanyrak style and two Kazakh national patterns on each side.[49] The present club crest was introduced on 10 March 2014, and incorporated theAstana Presidential Club crest's style and colours as well asBC Astana,Astana Pro Team andAstana Dakar Team.[50] The crest consists of the team's name, Astana Football Club, under a flying ball.
Blue and white were initially the club's primary colours, the team's nickname was the "Blue-and-White". Blue was used to accent the home jersey while white was the main colour of the team's away kit. During the 2012 season, Astana wore yellow and blue striped shirts and blue shorts as home kit and wholly blue away kit. In 2013, they retrieved original colours used from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, the club joined toAstana Presidential Club and adopted its colours. The present club colours are sky blue and yellow. Astana's current shirt sponsor is Sovereign Wealth FundSamruk-Kazyna.[51] The club's first kit sponsorship was from national railway companyKazakhstan Temir Zholy who sponsored the club for a total of 4 years before ending the deal in 2013. The team's kit supplier wasAdidas who have supplied the club kits since their inception.[51]
In March 2023, Astana announcedChery as their new sponsor, whilst also confirming their switch toNike.[52]
The club announced the return of their old crest after competing in their Europa Conference League group.
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–2014 | Adidas | Kazakhstan Temir Zholy |
| 2014–22 | Samruk-Kazyna | |
| 2023– | Nike |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For recent transfers, seeList of Kazakhstan football transfers winter 2025–26.
| No. | Player | Nationality | Position | Astana debut | Last match | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nenad Erić |  Kazakhstan | Goalkeeper | 12 March 2011 | 27 November 2020 | [54][55] |
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Sayan Khamitzhanov |
| General Manager | Gazinur Alimov |
| Executive Director | Baglan Yergeshev |
| CEO'S Counselor | Sayan Khamitzhanov |
| Sports Director |  Igor Pavlyuk |
| Finance director |  Luibov Krainova |
Last updated: 18 January 2022
Source:fcastana.kz
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager | Grigori Babayan |
| Assistant Manager | Aleksandr Moskalenko |
| Assistant Manager |  Said Ibraimov |
| First Team Goalkeeping Coach |  Milan Stojkovic |
| First Team Fitness Coach | Arkadiy Bakulin |
| First Team Analyst | Amal Ayazov |
Last updated: 22 January 2022
Source:FC Astana
The following managers won at least one trophy when in charge of Astana:
| Season | Rank | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Cup | LC | CL | EL | ECL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2 | 26 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 54 | 24 | 30 | 60 | 2R | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | 4 | 32 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 28 | 13 | 50 | Won | ||||
| 2011 | 32 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 50 | 37 | 13 | 33 | 2R | |||||
| 2012 | 5 | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 46 | Won | ||||
| 2013 | 2 | 32 | 19 | 5 | 8 | 56 | 28 | 28 | 38 | QF | 1QR | |||
| 2014 | 1 | 32 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 63 | 26 | 37 | 45 | SF | PO | |||
| 2015 | 32 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 55 | 26 | 39 | 46 | Runner-up | GS | — | |||
| 2016 | 32 | 23 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 21 | 26 | 73 | Won | 3QR | GS | |||
| 2017 | 33 | 25 | 4 | 4 | 74 | 21 | 51 | 76 | R16 | PO | R32 | |||
| 2018 | 33 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 68 | 22 | 40 | 77 | 3QR | GS | ||||
| 2019 | 33 | 22 | 3 | 8 | 67 | 28 | 39 | 69 | 1QR | GS | ||||
| 2020 | 3 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 32 | 21 | 11 | 36 | — | 2QR | |||
| 2021 | 2 | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 53 | 25 | 28 | 57 | SF | — | 3QR | ||
| 2022 | 1 | 26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 65 | 24 | 41 | 53 | 2QR | ||||
| 2023 | 2 | 26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 24 | 12 | 53 | 2QR | 3QR | GS | ||
| 2024 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 39 | 19 | 20 | 46 | QF | Won | — | |||
| 2025 | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 66 | 30 | 36 | 57 | QF | — | — | 3QR | ||
Rank = Rank in theKazakhstan Premier League; P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Cup =Kazakhstan Cup; LC =Kazakhstan League Cup; CL =UEFA Champions League; EL =UEFA Europa League; ECL =UEFA Europa Conference League.
in = Still in competition; — = Not attended; 1R = 1st round; 2R = 2nd round; 3R = 3rd round; 1QR = 1st qualifying round; 2QR = 2nd qualifying round; 3QR = 3rd qualifying round; PO = Play-off round; GS = Group stage; R32 = Round of 32; R16 = Round of 16; QF = Quarter-finals; SF = Semi-finals; F = Final.
As of match played 18 July 2025
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 35 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 40 | 53 | −13 |
| UEFA Europa League | 49 | 18 | 9 | 22 | 67 | 80 | –13 |
| UEFA Conference League | 40 | 14 | 9 | 17 | 49 | 55 | –6 |
| Total | 124 | 44 | 29 | 51 | 156 | 188 | –32 |
1QR = First qualifying round; 2QR = Second qualifying round; 3QR = Third qualifying round; PO = Play-off round; GS = Group stage; LP = League phase; R32 = Round of 32.
Correct as of 21 May 2025.[62]
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 132 |  Paços de Ferreira | 12.453 |
| 133 | Rio Ave | 12.453 |
| 134 | Astana | 12.000 |
| 135 |  Rijeka | 12.000 |
| 136 |  Žalgiris | 12.000 |
Players played over 50 competitive, professional matches only. Appearances as substitute (goals in parentheses) included in total.
| Name | Years | League | Cup | League Cup | Super Cup | Europe | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abzal Beisebekov | 2009, 2012–present | 315 (15) | 38 (1) | 4 (0) | 10 (0) | 77 (4) | 444 (20) |
| 2 | Nenad Erić | 2011–2020 | 227 (0) | 16 (0) | 0 (0) | 7 (0) | 68 (0) | 318 (0) |
| 3 | Marin Tomasov | 2017, 2018–Present | 209 (95) | 13 (3) | 4 (1) | 6 (3) | 67 (20) | 299 (122) |
| 4 | Dmitry Shomko | 2011, 2014–2020, 2025 | 207 (7) | 9 (0) | 0 (0) | 7 (0) | 68 (5) | 291 (12) |
| 5 | Yevgeny Postnikov | 2014–2021 | 149 (2) | 10 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (0) | 58 (3) | 223 (5) |
| 6 |  Marin Aničić | 2014–2019 | 148 (5) | 7 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (0) | 52 (6) | 212 (11) |
| 7 | Tanat Nusserbayev | 2011–2016 | 152 (46) | 18 (5) | 0 (0) | 3 (0) | 24 (3) | 197 (54) |
| 8 | Serikzhan Muzhikov | 2014, 2015–2019 | 122 (16) | 10 (1) | 0 (0) | 3 (0) | 54 (2) | 189 (19) |
| 9 |  Max Ebong | 2020–2025 | 126 (10) | 13 (1) | 3 (0) | 4 (0) | 32 (0) | 178 (11) |
| 10 |  Patrick Twumasi | 2013, 2014, 2015–2018 | 123 (48) | 9 (6) | 0 (0) | 4 (0) | 35 (15) | 171 (69) |
| Name | Years | League | Cup | League Cup | Super Cup | Europe | Total | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marin Tomasov | 2017, 2018–Present | 95 (209) | 3 (13) | 1 (4) | 3 (6) | 20 (67) | 122 (299) | 0.41 |
| 2 | Patrick Twumasi | 2013, 2014, 2015–2018 | 48 (123) | 6 (9) | 0 (0) | 0 (4) | 15 (35) | 69 (171) | 0.4 |
| 2 | Tanat Nusserbayev | 2011–2016 | 46 (152) | 5 (18) | 0 (0) | 0 (3) | 3 (24) | 54 (197) | 0.27 |
| 4 |  Junior Kabananga | 2015–2018, 2018–2019 | 31 (77) | 3 (5) | 0 (0) | 2 (2) | 6 (44) | 42 (128) | 0.33 |
| 5 |  Foxi Kéthévoama | 2012, 2013–2015 | 26 (109) | 5 (13) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 2 (22) | 34 (146) | 0.23 |
| 6 | Roman Murtazayev | 2017–2019, 2021 | 25 (110) | 0 (3) | 0 (0) | 0 (4) | 5 (36) | 30 (152) | 0.2 |
| 7 | Abat Aymbetov | 2021–2024 | 23 (58) | 4 (14) | 0 (0) | 0 (1) | 2 (18) | 29 (91) | 0.32 |
| 8 |  Geoffrey Chinedu | 2024–2026 | 18 (36) | 0 (1) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) | 6 (14) | 27 (54) | 0.5 |
| 9 |  Igor Bugaiov | 2010–2011 | 18 (57) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) | 2 (1) | - (-) | 26 (64) | 0.41 |
| 10 |  Nazmi Gripshi | 2024–Present | 22 (38) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 2 (13) | 25 (53) | 0.47 |
| Name | Years | League | Cup | League Cup | Super Cup | Europe | Total | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nenad Erić | 2011–2020 | 96 (227) | 7 (16) | - (-) | 5 (7) | 21 (68) | 129 (318) | 0.41 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Mokin | 2016-2019 | 24 (44) | 2 (6) | - (-) | 0 (0) | 1 (7) | 27 (57) | 0.47 |
| 2 | Josip Čondrić | 2023–Present | 20 (44) | 0 (3) | 1 (3) | 0 (1) | 6 (25) | 27 (76) | 0.36 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Zarutskiy | 2021–2024 | 11 (33) | 8 (16) | 0 (0) | 0 (2) | 0 (3) | 19 (54) | 0.35 |
| 5 | Roman Gerus | 2010 | 12 (23) | 1 (1) | - (-) | - (-) | - (-) | 13 (24) | 0.54 |
| 6 | Dmytro Nepohodov | 2019-2021 | 10 (24) | 0 (3) | - (-) | 1 (2) | 1 (5) | 12 (34) | 0.35 |
| 7 | Mukhammedzhan Seysen | 2024–Present | 6 (17) | 0 (1) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) | 1 (5) | 10 (26) | 0.38 |
| 8 | Aleksei Belkin | 2010-2012 | 5 (14) | 4 (4) | - (-) | 0 (1) | - (-) | 9 (19) | 0.47 |
| 8 | Vladimir Loginovsky | 2013-2015 | 8 (20) | 1 (4) | - (-) | 0 (0) | 0 (3) | 9 (27) | 0.33 |
| 10 | Roman Nesterenko | 2009 | 6 (15) | 1 (3) | - (-) | - (-) | - (-) | 7 (18) | 0.39 |
Real Sociedad (2013–present)[63]
Galatasaray S.K. (2014–present)[64]
(in Kazakh and Russian)
