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| Full name | Sabah Futbol Klubu | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Bayquşlar (The Owls) Tələbələr (The Students) Qara-çəhrayılar (The Black-pinks) | ||
| Founded | 8 September 2017; 8 years ago (2017-09-08) | ||
| Ground | Bank Respublika Arena | ||
| Capacity | 8.969 | ||
| President | Magsud Adigozalov | ||
| Manager | Valdas Dambrauskas | ||
| League | Azerbaijan Premier League | ||
| 2024–25 | Azerbaijan Premier League, 5th of 10 | ||
| Website | sabahfc | ||
 Current season | |||
Sabah Futbol Klubu (pronounced[sɑbɑh]), commonly known asSabah FK,Sabah FC, or simplySabah, is a professionalfootball club based inMasazir,Azerbaijan. The team plays in theAzerbaijan Premier League, the top tier ofAzerbaijani football league system.
Sabah were formed on 8 September 2017, joining theAzerbaijan First Division for the2017–18 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 inAzerbaijan Premier League on 12 May 2018.[1] Sabah won their first game 1–0 in the Azerbaijan Premier League, against Keşlə FK (currently known asŞamaxı FK), on 12 August 2018, thanks to aMarko Dević goal. Sabah went on to finish their first Premier League season in 7th position, avoiding relegation.[2]
On 16 September 2019,Elshad Ahmadov resigned as manager, withIgor Ponomaryov taking over on an interim basis.[3]
On 26 November 2019, Sabah announced thatŽeljko Sopić had been appointed manager on an 18-month contract.[4] On 3 July 2020, Sopić resigned as manager.[5]
On 10 July 2020, Sabah signed a two-year contract withVicente Gómez.[6] On 11 March 2021, Gómez left his role as Head Coach by mutual agreement, withRamin Guliyev being placed in temporary charge.[7] At the end of the season, Guliyev was confirmed as the club's new Head Coach on a two-year contract[8] Guliyev resigned from his position on 21 October 2021,[9] withMurad Musayev being appointed as the club's new Head Coach on 30 October 2021, signing a two-year contract.[10]
On 1 February 2024, Sabah announced thatMurad Musayev had left his role as Head Coach after his resignation had been accepted.[11]
On 5 March 2024, Sabah announced the appointment ofKrunoslav Rendulić as their new Head Coach, on an 18-month contract.[12] Rendulić left Sabah on 25 November 2024 by mutual agreement, withVasili Berezutski being appointed as his replacement on the same day to a two-and-a-half year contract.[13][14] On 14 June 2025, Berezutski left the club by mutual consent due to personal reasons.[15] On 20 June 2025, Sabah announced the appointment of Lithuanian specialistValdas Dambrauskas as the new Head Coach, signing a three-year contract.[16]
| 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 AhmadovIgor Ponomaryov(interim) Željko Sopić | Bank Respublika | |
| 2020–21 | 1st | 5th | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 28 | 38 | 29 | Round of 16 | Ramil Sheydayev | 6 |  Vicente GómezRamin 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 VolkoviAnatoliy 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 RendulićVasili Berezutski | ||
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Europa League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| UEFA Conference League | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 15 |
| Total | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 23 | 21 |
| 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(4–5p) | ||
| 2024–25 | UEFA Conference League | 2Q |  Maccabi Haifa | 3–6 (a.e.t.) | 3–0 | 6–6(3–2p) |
| 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 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 6–1 | |
| 3Q |  Levski Sofia | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 |
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 companyJoma during their first season, andMacron from the start of the 2018–19 season.
| Years | Manufacturer | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2017–2018 | Joma | none |
| 2018–2020 | Macron | Bank Respublika |
| 2020– | Nike |
The club play their home games at theBank Respublika Arena inMasazır, which has a capacity of 8.969.[17]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
For recent transfers, seeTransfers winter 2025–26.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
Sabah-2 plays in the Azerbaijan Reserve League.
| Position | Staff[19][20] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Yagub Huseynov |
| President | Magsud Adigozalov |
| Supervisory Board Member | Yagub Huseynov Firudin GurbanovIgor Ponomaryov Rahman Hajiyev Rauf Khalilov |
| Chief executive officer | Ramin Hasanov |
| General Manager | Nasimi Musayev |
| Director of sport | Igor Ponomaryov |
| Press secretary | Elnur Hamidov |
| Position | Name[21] |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Valdas Dambrauskas |
| Assistant of head coach |  Valerio ZuddasCristian Ceballos |
| Goalkeeping coach | Justinas Gasiūnas |
| Fitness coach | Domagoj Peric |
| Video analyst | Oleksandr Panchuk Nikita Vasyukhin |
| Name | Years | League | Azerbaijan Cup | European | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amin Seydiyev | 2020–Present | 155 (4) | 13 (2) | 10 (0) | 178 (6) |
| 2 |  Bojan Letić | 2022–2026 | 104 (5) | 8 (0) | 13 (2) | 125 (7) |
| 3 | Joy-Lance Mickels | 2021–2023, 2024–Present | 99 (47) | 13 (5) | 12 (8) | 124 (60) |
| 4 | Aleksey Isayev | 2020–2024, 2025–Present | 108 (11) | 8 (0) | 4 (1) | 120 (12) |
| 5 | Anatoliy Nuriyev | 2022–2026 | 98 (11) | 10 (1) | 10 (0) | 118 (12) |
| 6 | Elvin Camalov | 2021–2025 | 98 (2) | 9 (0) | 6 (0) | 113 (2) |
| 7 |  Jon Irazabal | 2022–2025 | 85 (5) | 6 (1) | 8 (0) | 99 (6) |
| 8 | Tellur Mutallimov | 2022–Present | 83 (4) | 11 (1) | 3 (0) | 97 (5) |
| 9 | Jesse Sekidika | 2023–Present | 76 (16) | 10 (3) | 10 (1) | 96 (20) |
| 10 | Yusif Imanov | 2020–2025 | 80 (0) | 6 (0) | 8 (0) | 94 (0) |
| Name | Years | League | Azerbaijan Cup | European | Total | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joy-Lance Mickels | 2021–2023, 2024–Present | 47 (99) | 5 (13) | 8 (12) | 60 (124) | 0.48 |
| 2 | Jesse Sekidika | 2023–Present | 16 (76) | 3 (10) | 1 (10) | 20 (96) | 0.21 |
| 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 |
| 4 |  Pavol Šafranko | 2024–Present | 10 (39) | 2 (5) | 6 (10) | 18 (54) | 0.33 |
| 6 | Emmanuel Apeh | 2022–2024 | 11 (65) | 4 (6) | 1 (4) | 16 (75) | 0.21 |
| 7 | Aleksey Isayev | 2020–2024, 2025–Present | 11 (108) | 0 (8) | 1 (4) | 12 (120) | 0.1 |
| 7 | Anatoliy Nuriyev | 2022–2026 | 11 (98) | 1 (10) | 0 (10) | 12 (118) | 0.1 |
| 9 |  Kaheem Parris | 2023–2024, 2024–Present | 7 (67) | 2 (9) | 2 (8) | 11 (84) | 0.13 |
| 10 | Marko Dević | 2018–2019, 2020 | 9 (24) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 9 (24) | 0.38 |
| 10 | Veljko Simić | 2025–Present | 9 (18) | 0 (2) | 0 (8) | 9 (20) | 0.45 |
| 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[4] | 71 days | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 037.50 | ||
| Željko Sopić | Croatia | 26 November 2019[4] | 3 July 2020 | 230 days | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 027.27 | ||
| Vicente Gómez | Spain | 10 July 2020[22] | 11 March 2021[23] | 244 days | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 29 | 020.00 | ||
| Ramin Guliyev(Interim) | Azerbaijan | 11 March 2021[23] | 26 May 2021[8] | 76 days | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 033.33 | ||
| Ramin Guliyev | Azerbaijan | 26 May 2021[8] | 21 October 2021[9] | 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[10] | 1 February 2024[11] | 2 years, 94 days | 87 | 48 | 16 | 23 | 157 | 88 | 055.17 | ||
| Ruslan Qafitullin(Interim) | Azerbaijan | 1 February 2024[11] | 5 March 2024[12] | 33 days | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 050.00 | ||
| Krunoslav Rendulić | Croatia | 5 March 2024[12] | 25 November 2024[13] | 1 year, 346 days | 29 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 10 | 044.83 | ||
| Vasili Berezutski | Russia | 25 November 2024[14] | 14 June 2025[15] | 201 days | 28 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 39 | 32 | 035.71 | Azerbaijan Cup (1) | |
| Valdas Dambrauskas | Lithuania | 1 July 2025 | 228 days | 27 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 53 | 23 | 062.96 |
P – Total of played matchesW – Won matchesD – Drawn matchesL – Lost matchesGS – Goal scoredGA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won
Nationality is indicated by the correspondingFIFA country code(s).
