eyewitness
the independent Azerbaijan for the
first time.
“Agdam was a beautiful city, with
fertile ground for farming, fresh air,
clean water and, most importantly,
kind and courageous people,” says
Elshad Khudadatov, born there in
1965, who built his entire career
as a footballer for Qarabag.
This history explains why Armenian
midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan chose
not to travel with his Arsenal team-
mates to face Qarabag in the 2018-19
Europa League group stage. The return
leg at the Emirates was interrupted by a
pitch invader brandishing the Nagorno-
Karabakh flag, with the Gunners fined
€15,000 by UEFA as a result.
May12,1993 is a date that remains
branded on the history of Qarabag and
the whole of Azerbaijan. Qarabag took
to the pitch at the Imarat Stadium in
Agdam to play Turan-Tovuz in the first
leg of the Azerbaijan Cup semi-final.
News reports guessed the attendance
to be around 8,000, ready to get
behind the Horsemen, as the club is
known. The nickname is derived from
both the Karabakh breed of horse and
the two horses on the club’s crest.
Qarabag won1-0 thanks to a goal
from Yashar Huseynov. It was to be the
last match played at the Imarat Stadium.
“It was a great game,” recalls striker
Mushfiq Huseynov. “I remember the
moment I got the ball and passed it
to my brother who scored. I’ve never
forgotten that moment. It was incredible.
My pass and Yashar’s goal. No one
could have imagined that would be the
last game we would play in our town.”
“I’m sad and disappointed,” remembers
Yashar, “to think that was the last goal
I had the chance to score at the Imarat,
in Agdam.”
Within a few weeks, the stadium had
been destroyed in the conflict. Modern
pictures of the stadium’s ruins appear
to simply show an empty field; there is
barely any trace of the venue that saw
one of the most important goals in
Qarabag’s history.
The club haven’t played in Agdam
since that day, instead forced into exile
in the capital city of Baku. They have
become known as “the club from the
ghost town” or “the homeless team”for almost three decades.
More recently, they’ve also earned
recognition for their consistent victories
in the domestic league, and notable
achievements in UEFA competitions.“Do more research!” said Qarabag
coach Gurban Gurbanov to reporters
when he was asked to tell them about
his club on the eve of their Champions
League meeting with Chelsea. Their
journey from one of the lowest-ranked
domestic leagues to the group stage of
Europe’s biggest club competition was
the result of a serious and forward-
looking plan by the new ownership
that took over the club in 2001.
Until then, that1993 title win
was the only one in Qarabag’s history;
the Horsemen had generally hovered
around mid-table, occasionally finishing
in the top three, yet with no prospect
of long-term success and, more
importantly, fears for a very
uncertain future.
The club was saved thanks to its
acquisition by Azersun Holding, a food
manufacturing company owned by Iranian
brothers Abdolbari and Hassan Gozal.“You’re a part of
my motherland”...
Qarabag fans unveil a
banner against Roma