 | ||||
| Full name | Football Club Kairat «Қайрат» футбол клубы "Qairat" futbol kluby | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Halyq komandasy ('Team of the Nation') | |||
| Founded | 1954; 71 years ago (1954) asLokomotiv Alma-Ata[1] | |||
| Ground | Central Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 23,804[2] | |||
| Chairman | Kairat Boranbayev | |||
| Manager | Rafael Urazbakhtin[3] | |||
| League | Kazakhstan Premier League | |||
| 2025 | Kazakhstan Premier League, 1st of 14 | |||
| Website | fckairat | |||
 Current season | ||||
Football Club Kairat (Kazakh:«Қайрат» футбол клубы,romanized: «Qairat» futbol kluby) is a professionalfootball club based inAlmaty, which plays in theKazakhstan Premier League, the highest level ofKazakh football. Founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, they became Urozhay in 1955 and Kairat in 1956.[1] The club's home ground is theCentral Stadium which has a capacity of 23,804 seats. The club's home kit colours are yellow and black striped shirts, black shorts and black socks.
Kairat was the leading Kazakh club during the Soviet period and the only representative of theKazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in theSoviet Top League.[4] For this, Kairat became nicknamedThe Nation's Team, and remains widely supported all over the country.[5] All in all, the club spent 24 seasons in the Soviet highest level. They also wonSoviet First League titles twice, in 1976 and 1983. During this period, Kairat was a part of theVoluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union.
In modern history, Kairat won fourleague titles, eightKazakhstan Cups and twoKazakhstan Super Cups. The club's strongest rivalry isFC Astana, among fans their matches are considered as the Two Capitals Derby.[6]
The club was founded in 1954 asLokomotiv Alma-Ata on the basis of the football clubDinamo Alma-Ata.[7] Heretofore, Dinamo was developed byNikolai Starostin, who is mostly known as "the father of Soviet football" and founder of theSpartak Moscow.[8][9] His assistant Arkady Khokhman became the first head coach of the club.[1][10] Lokomotiv joined Zone I of theClass B, the second tier of Soviet football. In their debut season, they finished 4th with 11 wins, 7 draws and 4 defeats.[11] In 1955, they were reformed asUrozhay Sports Society, which united sportsmen of agricultural sphere. In 1955, Urozhay competed in Zone II of the Class B, finishing season in 10th place.[12] On 1 June 1956, the Council of Ministers of theKazakh SSR signed a decree about merger of the Urozhay Sports Society and Republican Sports Society of Collective Farmers to found newRepublican Rural Voluntary Sports Society.[7] Thereafter, Kazakh sports governing body proposed to adopt new name in recognition of the merger. Suggested names included Yeginshi (Cultivator), Tulpar (Phoenix), Onim (Harvest), Altyn Dan (Golden Grain), Kuresshi (Fighter), Dala Burkiti (Steppe Eagle) and Zhastar (The Youth).[1] On 18 June 1956,plenary session of the Council of Ministers unanimously voted forKairat (Power), the name missing in proposals, apparently promoted by then the leader of Kazakh SSRDinmukhamed Kunayev.[1] In July 1956, Pyotr Zenkin appointed as a new head coach.[13] Under Zenkin, Kairat spent four consecutive seasons in the Class B, showing average results on final tables.[14][15][16][17]
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On 21 December 1959, Soviet sports governing body adopted a resolution on expansion ofSoviet Top League teams number from 12 to 22.[18] TenSoviet republics were able to enter by one team without competition, permission which was aimed to make league status more "All-Union".[18] Kazakh side gave a spot to Kairat, who had strong lobbying from the country administration. On 10 April 1960, they played their first competitive match in the league against Admiralteyets Leningrad, with a score of 0–0.[19] On 13 May 1960, Kairat registered their first Top League victory defeatingDinamo Minsk 2–1 in away match.[20] During the season, tactical scheme of Kairat caused a lot of discussion among football specialists.[1] Team manager Nikolay Glebov adopted 4–2–4 and 4–3–3formations, so-called Brazilian schemes, previously not used by Soviet teams.[1][21] As a result, team playing style became strictly defensive.[1][21] For this, Soviet press and fans nicknamed team defense "Kairat Concrete", an epithet which was associated with the club during the next decades.[22] In spite of this, weaknesses in the offensive part and a poor goal scoring rate led only to 18th place in their inaugural season in the top level.[23]
Kairat stayed at the top level for another three seasons. In 1963, Kairat did their best result in theSoviet Cup, reaching semi-final againstShakhtar Stalino.[24] For this accomplishment, all team members were equated theMaster of Sport of the USSR rank.[25] After failure season in1964, they relegated to theSoviet First League.[26] On 25 November 1965, they played the decisive match againstArarat Yerevan for only spot in the Top League.[27] Kairat lost the game 1–2.[27] However, this day teams managers took a telegram fromFootball Federation of USSR about decision on promotion of both clubs, an information hidden from players until the end of the match.[27] In March 1968, the team toured Pakistan where they played four test matches, all ending in victory.[28][29][30][31]
Kairat dropped once again to the First League at the end of the1969 season under the management of Andrey Chen Ir Son. Chen Ir Son was replaced byAleksandr Sevidov. He steered Kairat back to the Top League, finishing as runners-up in the 1970 Soviet First League season.[32] Next season, Sevidov left the team to headDynamo Kiev.
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The1971 season was highly successful for the club. Under Viktor Korolkov rule, Kairat finished 8th in the Top League, a significant increase compared to previous seasons.[33] On 12 November 1971, Kairat won theEuropean Railworks Cup, defeatingRapid Bucharest 2–1 in the final.[34] This achievement made Kairat the first Soviet team to win a European tournament.[34] In subsequent two seasons, the club kept its registry in the Top League. In1974, underArtyom Falyan Kairat finished the season in 15th place and they were relegated once more. Next year, new head coachVsevolod Bobrov could not get a promotion, finishing season 4th. In 1976, under the dual management of Timur Segizbayev and Stanislav Kaminskiy, the club won the Soviet First League and returned to top level.[35] The deuce of head coaches managed the team for the next two years. In the1977-1978 Top League seasons, Kairat finished 8th and 12th respectively. In the1979 season, Karat headed by the deuce of Segizbayev andIgor Volchok led the club to 13th place in the league.
In 1980, Igor Volchok, already as a sole head coach, built up the team dominantly consisted of young players.[36][37] Among them wereYevstafi Pekhlevanidi,Vakhid Masudov,Anton Shokh,Sergei Volgin,Sergei Ledovskikh andKurban Berdyev, who became the key players of the club in the 80s.[36][37][38] Kairat finished the1980 season in 12th place with 10 wins, 11 draws and 13 defeats.[39] For the most wins with acomeback, the team won the For the Will of Victory Prize, awarded by theSoviet Russia newspaper.[37] In the1982 season, underYozhef Betsa coaching, team results had been sharply declined.[40][41] Towards the end of the season Betsa was replaced by Leonid Ostroushko. However, he did not have time to rectify the situation and they were relegated to the First League.[40][41] In the1986 season, Ostroushko led the club to 7th place, the best result of Kairat in the Soviet Top League. In the1988 season, under Segizbayev rule, Kairat relegated to the First League once more. Despite this failure the team ended the season with success. On 22 November 1988, Kairat won theUSSR Federation Cup.[42] In the final inKishinev, the club beatNeftchi Baku 4–1, where all four goal scored by Kairat's forward Viktor Karachun.[42] Until thedissolution of the Soviet Union in the end of 1991, Kairat was a member of the First League, season-by-season showing decline.
As a result of the subsequent independence ofKazakhstan, Kairat joined the newly formedKazakhstan Premier League. Being the strongest Kazakh club at that time, Kairat was chosen as a base club to form theKazakhstan national football team.[43] Therefore, the club managerBakhtiyar Baiseitov also headed the national team.[43] In theinaugural season of the league, the club became champion.[44] They also reached their firstdouble, winningFosfor Taraz in the1992 Kazakhstan Cup Final.[45]
Next season, Kairat records deteriorated sharply. The 11th place in the 1993 season led to dismissal of Baiseitov.[43] Following two seasons, under management of former Kairat playerKurban Berdyev Kairat finished 11th and 9th. In 1997, another Kairat veteranVakhid Masudov led the team to their second Kazakhstan Cup success.[46] In the end of the season, Kairat had financial troubles due to financial crisis in the country. The Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan decided to become a main sponsor and take the team under its wing.[47] However, the half of the team did not agree with the decision to be under military control.[48] As a result of disagreement, Kairat was divided into two teams, Kairat Sports and Health Professional Football Club, shortly Kairat SHPFC, andKairat-CSKA, who took sponsorship of the state military body.[48] The last got a right to Premier League register, while Kairat SHPFC went toKazakhstan First Division.[48] In the 1998 season, Kairat SHPFC found a sponsorship from Kazakh businessmanBulat Abilov, whose support led to Kazakhstan First Division win and promotion to Premier League.[48] The next two seasons marked the participation of both Kairats in the league. The fully crowded Central Stadium hosted their matches against each other and caused great interest but also contradictions among the fans.[48] In 2000, Kairat SHPFC won the Kazakhstan Cup, beating 5–0Access-Golden Grain inthe final.
On 1 March 2001, Almaty Deputy Mayor Kairat Bukenov announced the reunification of two clubs.[48] Already as unified Kairat, they won two Kazakhstan Cups, in 2001 and 2003. In 2004, under theAleksei Petrushin rule the club won their second domestic title.
At the end of the 2006 season, the main sponsor of the clubKazakhstan Temir Zholy, withdrew. This precipitated a financial troubles which lasted until the start of 2007 season. Consequently, most of the club's players switched to other teams. The club entered the 2007 season with an inexperienced, young team. In July 2007, a group of private investors took over the club and invested around 4 million US dollars in it. At the beginning of 2009, the club declared itself bankrupt and was relegated to the First Division. Kairat became the champion of the First Division and returned to top-flight in November 2009.[49]
On 15 October 2018,Carlos Alós left Kairat by mutual consent,[50] withAndrei Karpovich being appointed as Caretaker manager.[51]On 25 November 2018, Kairat presentedAleksey Shpilevsky as their new manager.[52] Kairat won the2020 Kazakhstan Premier League after sixteen years.[53] On 7 June 2021, Aleksey Shpilevsky left Kairat to joinErzgebirge Aue.[54] On 24 August 2021,Kurban Berdyev was appointed manager of theKazakhstan Premier League club FC Kairat.[55] Berdyev left Kairat by mutual consent on 6 June 2022.[56] Kirill Keker was appointed as the clubs permanent Head Coach two days later on 8 June 2022.[57]
Kairat won the2024 Kazakhstan Premier League and qualified for the2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying stage. In the first qualifying round, Kairat defeatedOlimpija Ljubljana 3–1 in on aggregate.[58] Kairat then won the second qualifying round againstKuopion Palloseura 3–2 on aggregate[59] and reached the play-off round after defeatingSlovan Bratislava on penalties in the third qualifying round.[60] On 26 August, they qualified for theChampions League league phase for the first time in their history, defeatingCeltic in the playoffs 3–2 on penalties after both legs ended goalless.[61] After being drawn to play againstSporting CP in the first round of the league stage, they made history by making the longest trip in the history of theUEFA Champions League, flying 6,900 kilometres fromAlmaty toLisbon.[62]
In their earlier years, Kairat played their home games at the Spartak Stadium. Building of the club's present groundAlmaty Central Stadium started in 1956.[63] The initiator of the building was the then leader of the Kazakh SSRLeonid Brezhnev.[63] The location for the stadium in the square surrounded by Abay, Baitursynov, Satpayev streets and the Yesentai River was chosen by Brezhnev himself.[63] Architect Adambay Kapanov took theLuzhniki Stadium inMoscow as a model for the new stadium.[64] Being smaller than Luzhniki, the stadium later was nicknamed as the Small Luzhniki.[63] The arena was also projected withrunning track and the number of elements forathletic events.[63] The Central Stadium was commissioned in 1958. However, the first official match was held here on 10 April 1960. On this day, Kairat played their debut match in theSoviet Top League against Admiralteyets Leningrad, which ended with a score of 0–0. Initially, the stadium benches seated around 35,000 people.[65] In 1997, the stadium was renovated.[66] As a result of old wood benches being replaced by individual plastic chairs, the capacity was reduced to 23,804 seats.
During the Soviet period, the Central stadium was state property. After the independence of Kazakhstan, the stadium was owned by the City Council of Almaty. In 2015, the stadium was transferred to the ownership of Kairat for exchange of 30% of shares of the club.
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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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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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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| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman of the Supervisory Board |  Kairat Boranbayev |
| General Director | Askar Yesimov |
| Sporting Director | Arman Birkurmanov |
| Technical Director | Evgeniy Krasikov |
Last updated: September 2025
Source:[70]
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Rafael Urazbakhtin |
| Assistant Manager | Maksim Zuev |
| Assistant Manager | Artem Gavrilenko |
| Assistant Manager | Sergey Kutzov |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Ilya Yurov |
| Fitness Coach | Artem Savelyev |
| Video Analyst | Aleksandr Kotlyar |
| Video Analyst | Elshad Khinizov |
| Physiotherapist |  Thiago Vieira |
| Club Doctor | Dastan Turaliev |
| Rehabilitation Doctor | Bekzhan Pirmahanov |
| Massagist | Aleksandr Shapkin |
| Massagist | Sergey Bibikov |
| Senior Administrator | Ramil Yusupov |
| Administrator | Mirolsav Priz |
| Head of Security | Dauren Sarsabaev |
| Media Officer | Arman Dzhaksygulov |
Last updated: September 2025
Source:[71]
The following managers won at least one trophy when in charge of Kairat:
| Name | Period | Trophies |
|---|---|---|
 Viktor Korolkov | 1971–1972 | European Railworks Cup |
| Stanislav Kaminsky | 1976–1978 | Soviet First League |
| Leonid Ostroushko | 1983–1986 | Soviet First League |
| Bakhtiyar Baiseitov | 1992–1993 | Kazakhstan Premier League,Kazakhstan Cup |
| Vakhid Masudov | 1996–1998 | Kazakhstan Cup |
| Vladimir Nikitenko | 1999–2000 | Kazakhstan Cup |
| Vakhid Masudov | 2001 | Kazakhstan Cup |
| Leonid Ostroushko | 2003 | Kazakhstan Cup |
 Aleksei Petrushin | 2004–2005 | Kazakhstan Premier League |
 Vladimír Weiss | 2012–2015 | Kazakhstan Cup |
 Kakhaber Tskhadadze | 2016–2017 | 2Kazakhstan Super Cups |
 Carlos Alós Ferrer | 2017–2018 | Kazakhstan Cup |
 Aleksey Shpilevsky | 2018–2021 | Kazakhstan Premier League |
 Kurban Berdyev | 2021–2022 | Kazakhstan Cup |
| Rafael Urazbakhtin | 2024–Present | Kazakhstan Premier League,Kazakhstan Super Cup |
The table below shows club's performance over the last 17 seasons:
| Season | League | Rank | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Cup | CL | EL | ECL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | First | 1 | 26 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 63 | 21 | 38 | 42 | Round 1 | — | — | — |
| 2010 | Premier | 10 | 32 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 38 | −21 | 29 | Round 3 | — | — | — |
| 2011 | Premier | 11 | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 30 | 49 | −19 | 22 | Quarterfinals | — | — | — |
| 2012 | Premier | 10 | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 23 | 34 | −11 | 29 | Round 2 | — | — | — |
| 2013 | Premier | 3 | 32 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 44 | 38 | 6 | 33 | Round 2 | — | — | — |
| 2014 | Premier | 3 | 32 | 18 | 5 | 9 | 58 | 31 | 27 | 38 | Winners | — | 2QR | — |
| 2015 | Premier | 2 | 32 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 60 | 19 | 41 | 45 | Winners | — | PO | — |
| 2016 | Premier | 2 | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 75 | 30 | 45 | 71 | Runner-up | — | 2QR | — |
| 2017 | Premier | 2 | 33 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 78 | 32 | 46 | 74 | Winners | — | 2QR | — |
| 2018 | Premier | 2 | 33 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 60 | 33 | 27 | 62 | Winners | — | 3QR | — |
| 2019 | Premier | 2 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 65 | 32 | 33 | 68 | Quarterfinals | — | 2QR | — |
| 2020 | Premier | 1 | 20 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 48 | 19 | 29 | 45 | — | — | 2QR | — |
| 2021 | Premier | 3 | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 52 | 21 | 31 | 51 | Winners | 2QR | 3QR | GS |
| 2022 | Premier | 4 | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 42 | Quarterfinals | — | — | 2QR |
| 2023 | Premier | 4 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 44 | 32 | 12 | 44 | Quarterfinals | — | — | — |
| 2024 | Premier | 1 | 24 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 47 | Quarterfinals | — | — | — |
| 2025 | Premier | 1 | 26 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 53 | 19 | 34 | 59 | Quarterfinals | LP | — | — |
Rank = Rank in the league; P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Cup =Kazakhstan 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; R16 = Round of sixteen; QF = Quarter-finals; SF = Semi-finals.
Before theKazakhstan Football Federation joinedUEFA in 2002, Kairat took part in theAsian Cup Winners' Cup twice, in1997–98 and2000–01. On the latter occasion, they reached the quarter-finals for the first time, losing to Iranian sideEsteghlal by an aggregate score of 0–3.
| Competition | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 26 | −9 | 033.33 |
| UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 60 | 41 | +19 | 044.74 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 15 | −2 | 020.00 |
| Asian Cup Winners' Cup | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 040.00 |
| Total | 76 | 29 | 16 | 31 | 103 | 93 | +10 | 038.16 |
Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.
QR = Qualifying round; 1QR = 1st qualifying round; 2QR = 2nd qualifying round; 3QR = 3rd qualifying round; PO = Play-off round; LP = League phase.
Correct as of 15 June 2025.[72]
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 264 |  Hammarby | 5.500 |
| 265 |  Hibernians | 5.500 |
| 266 | Kairat | 5.500 |
| 267 | AIK | 5.425 |
| 268 | IFK Göteborg | 5.425 |
| Rank | Player | Years | League | Cup | Super Cup | Europe | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yevstafi Pekhlevanidi | 1980–89 | 94 | 11 | – | – | 105 |
| 2 |  Gerard Gohou | 2014–2017 | 80 | 8 | – | 11 | 99 |
| 3 | Alibek Buleshev | 2000–06, 2007–08 | 77 | 12 | – | 1 | 90 |
| 4 | Sergey Kvochkin | 1960–69 | 75 | 6 | – | – | 81 |
| 4 | Anatoly Ionkin | 1972–78 | 64 | 4 | – | – | 68 |
| 6 | Sergei Volgin | 1980–85, 1986–89, 1992 | 42 | 20 | – | – | 62 |
| 7 | Leonid Ostroushko | 1954–57, 1959–67 | 56 | 2 | – | – | 58 |
| 8 | Bauyrzhan Islamkhan | 2014–2020 | 43 | 8 | – | 6 | 57 |
| 9 | Sergei Stukashov | 1977–84 | 52 | 5 | – | – | 57 |
| 10 | Sergey Klimov | 1978–80, 1986, 1989–92, 1996–2000 | 28 | 27 | – | – | 55 |
Sporting CP (2015–present)[73]
