Football in Armenia

History

Passion for football in Armenia began at the very end of the 19th century . Many experts disagree about the birth of football in the country. Some take the first game in the territory of the present Republic of Armenia as a starting point, while others take certain matches in the cities of historical Armenia . Still others consider this day to be when the Armenians first appeared in one of the Turkish or Russian football teams. The English sailors brought the game to the shores of the Bosphorus , where the Armenians created the teams “Armenia” and “Vaspurakan” in Smyrna , a little later “Tork” and “Araks” in Constantinople , as well as the teams “Cilicia”, “Ararat”, “Amazasp” and etc. There is information about the first players who played for the Tork football club. The players who entered the field in black and red uniforms: Vagan Matevosyan, Simon Papikyan, Vagan Cheraz, Yeghishe Kajuni, Yeznik Kadzhuni, Hayk Semerjyan, Gabriel Majaryan, Asatur Potikyan, Aram Mazmanyan, Aram Goryan ^[1] . In 1911, “Armenia” became the winner of the tournament organized by the Football Federation of Greece, and in 1913 “Cilicia” took first place among the teams of educational institutions.
The turning point for Armenian football was October 13, 1924, when the refugees of the Armenian genocide returned to their homeland on the Chicherin steamboat. On the same day, the refugees played a match against Dynamo (Batumi), one of the strongest teams in the Caucasus, and won 2-1. In 1925 they organized the Nairi team and the next year having won the Spartakiad in Armenia, they began to represent the country in the Spartakiad of Transcaucasia. In these games, the team from Armenia for the first time had a sports uniform and boots. After that, football began to develop in all regions of the country. In all regions, football teams were organized that constantly played friendly games among themselves. And although at that time the teams did not have coaches and regular training, some players already had the glory of good football players throughout the Caucasus.
In the 1930s, the Armenian team began its first international games. In May 1930, the Yerevan national team played a match with a strong Moscow team, the match ended in a 0-0 draw. And on September 21 of the same year, the team played their first international match. The national team of Yerevan hosted the German national team. 3000 fans came to see the match. Such interest in the football game in Armenia has not yet been recorded. The match ended with the victory of the Germans with a score of 1: 3. This match made football seriously in Armenia. In the same year, the rules of football were first translated into Armenian. And then the brochure “What a novice footballer should know” was published.
In 1933, construction began on the Dynamo Stadium ( Republican Stadium (Yerevan) ), which was completed in 1935. The first match at the stadium on the opening day was Spartak (Yerevan) - KBKT (Moscow). At that time, sports companies (Spartak, Dynamo, etc.) already operated in Armenia, which paid particular attention to the development of football and had different teenage groups.

Participation in the championships of the USSR

The year 1935 was marked by the fact that the Yerevan national team first started participating in the USSR championship (until 1936 the USSR championship was held between the national teams). The team took second place in their subgroup.

In 1936, the first national championship was held in Armenia, in which 6 teams participated. “Dynamo” became the first champion of Armenia, “Spartak” took the second place, and “Builder” took the third. In the same year, the first USSR championship among club teams was held, in which the Crystal Cup was played. A team from the Alaverdi smelter participated in this championship from Armenia. The team began participating in the quarter finals and lost to Dynamo (Batumi) with a score of 7: 1.

Already in 1937, Armenian clubs received permission to participate in the championships of the USSR: “Spartak” - League “G”, “Dynamo” - League “D”. For these championships, Armenian clubs for the first time held training camps and began to invite foreign players. but the lack of international practice has made itself felt. Spartak took the last place in the league “G”, “Dynamo” - the third in the league “D”. Although the first participation cannot be called successful, it was a huge step in the development of Armenian football. These participation provided an opportunity to identify weaknesses and demonstrate a new approach for further development.

In 1938, the championship of the USSR was held only by one group “A” and was played among 26 teams. Not a single Armenian team got the opportunity to participate. In 1939, Yerevan Spartak played in Group B (as the current champion of Armenia). The team took 14th place among 23 teams. But the result is not a failure, since such strong teams as Wings of the Soviets, Lokomotiv (Tbilisi), Spartak (Leningrad), Dynamo (Kharkov), Dynamo (Rostov) and participated in this group etc.

In the USSR Cup “Spartak” began participating in the 1/16 finals. In the 1/8 finals, he lost to CDKA, who became the silver medalist in group “A”. The game of Yerevan really impressed many experts.

In 1949, it was decided to expand the geography of the championship. Dynamo received the right to participate in group A. In the first season, Dynamo took 16th place out of 18 teams. In 1950, it was decided to return the geography of the competition and reduce it to 14 teams. Dynamo was supposed to maintain its place in the Premier League, but the team could not solve this problem. In 1951, Dynamo returned to Group B and it took 10 years to return to the big leagues.

Soviet time

At that time, Yerevan “ Ararat ” stood out in the Armenian football horizon. He became the only Armenian club that took part in the championships of the major league of the USSR . In 1949, under the name Dynamo made his first debut in the Premier League, but left it the following year. Since 1966, “Ararat” has invariably played in the Premier League. The first success of the club came in 1971 with the winning of silver medals in the championship. Two years later, Ararat players scored a gold double, winning the championship and winning the USSR Cup of the 1973 season under the leadership of Nikita Simonyan . This event was the peak of the success of “Ararat” and the Armenian football of the Soviet period as a whole. The conquest of the championship made it possible to debut in the European Cup . The team reached the quarterfinals, where in the sum of two matches they lost to Bayern Munich (0-2 at a party, 1-0 at home). In the 1975 USSR Cup Ararat also won the trophy. In the 1983 season, the team after the first round was in first place in the championship, but in the end it almost flew out of the Premier League ^[2] .

Arkady Andriasyan , Hovhannes Zanazanyan , Levon Ishtoyan , Nazar Petrosyan , Khoren Hovhannisyan , who played for Ararat, played in the USSR national team , including the 1982 World Cup , Olympic Games 1972 and 1980.

Independent Time

Since 1991 , when Armenia gained independence, the country began the countdown of its own history of football. The National Football Federation takes part in all kinds of football competitions, in addition to the usual one, including youth and women's football competitions.

Before the formation of the Football Federation of Armenia, football in Armenia was led by the USSR Football Section, formed in 1934 , which was later renamed the USSR Football Federation . After the independence of the republic, the Football Federation of Armenia was founded on January 18, 1992, with headquarters in Yerevan, to control and manage football in Armenia .
The Federation organizes and manages national football teams, which include men's and women's teams, supporting, developing and popularizing football as a whole. Also, under her auspices, competitions are held in the Premier League , the First League , the Armenian Cup and the Super Cup of Armenia .
From the day of its foundation, the Presidents of the Football Federation of Armenia are:

• 1992 - 1994 : Nikolay Ghazaryan
• 1994 - 1998 : Armen Sargsyan
• 1998 - 2002 : Suren Abrahamyan
• since 2002 - Ruben Hayrapetyan

Championship of the Armenian SSR

Armenian SSR Cup

Armenian Championships

Armenian Premier League

The football championship is the main football competition in Armenia . From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within the USSR . In 1992, the Football Federation of Armenia was created, and with it the “Premier League”, whose name was changed in 1999 to the present. From 1992 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2011, the championship was held according to the spring-autumn system, in the seasons 1995/1996 and 1996/1997 and from the 2012/201 season - according to the autumn-spring system.

Eight teams are currently participating in the Premier League. Over the years, the league has evolved from a small tournament, in which only eight teams participated, into a championship of two divisions. The Armenian Championship is held in 4 rounds, twice - at home and twice - away.

First League of Armenia

Armenian Cup Competitions

Armenian Independence Cup

The Cup is one of the main football competitions in Armenia . Originally called the Armenian Cup , founded in 1939 , when the tournament was an integral part of the USSR Cup . With independence in 1992 , the tournament gained its current name and is traditionally held on May 9th .

Armenian Super Cup

Statistics

Premier League Players Scoring