Azerbaijan Premier League facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Azerbaijan Premier League

Founded	1992; 33 years ago (1992)
Country	Azerbaijan
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	10
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	First League
Domestic cup(s)	Azerbaijan Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Europa Conference League
Current champions	Qarabağ (11th title) (2023–24)
Most championships	Qarabağ (11 titles)
TV partners	CBC Sport

The Azerbaijan Premier League (called Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası in Azerbaijani) is the top professional football league for men's teams in Azerbaijan. Ten clubs compete in this exciting league. The football season runs from August to May. Each team plays 36 matches, facing every other team four times (twice at home and twice away).

The team that wins the Premier League gets to play in the UEFA Champions League. The teams that finish second and third earn a spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Since 1992, eight different clubs have won the top title in Azerbaijani football. The Azerbaijan Premier League started in 2007. It took over from the "Top Division" (Yüksək Liqa), which was the main league from 1992 to 2007. The current champions are Qarabağ, who won their tenth title in the 2022–23 season.

History of Azerbaijani Football

Early Years: The 1990s

In the 1990s, teams like Neftçi, Kapaz, Turan Tovuz, and Shamkir were very strong. However, many clubs faced money problems. Some teams, like Khazri Buzovna and Shamkir, even had to close down because of growing debts.

A cool fact from this time is that Kapaz had an amazing unbeaten run in the 1997–98 season. They won 22 games and drew 4, with zero losses out of 26 matches. No other team in an Azerbaijani league has matched this record in a single season!

Challenges and Growth: The 2000s

As the new century began, Neftçi found new rivals. Teams like Khazar Lankaran, Inter Baku, and Baku became strong competitors.

Azerbaijani football faced a big challenge in 2002. UEFA, the European football governing body, banned Azerbaijan for two years. This happened because of a long disagreement between the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) and most of the top clubs. The league season was stopped, and top clubs even stopped their players from playing for the national team.

After this tough period, football grew stronger. Khazar Lankaran won the Azerbaijan Cup in 2006 and 2007. They also became league champions in 2006–07. Qarabağ made history by being the first team from Azerbaijan to reach the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League in 2009–10 and 2010–11. They surprised many by playing well against strong teams like Rosenborg and Twente.

Modern Era: The 2010s and Beyond

Azerbaijan Premier League 2011–12 trophy

The 2010s started well, with Neftçi winning the championship after six years. The next season, Neftçi won their seventh title. In that year, Neftçi Baku became the first Azerbaijani team to reach the group stage of a European competition, the Europa League. They even won three titles in a row in the 2012–13 season.

Then, Qarabağ took over. In the 2013–14 season, they won their second title after 21 years. They continued to win the league title many times in a row. In 2014, Qarabağ became the second Azerbaijani team to reach the group stage of a European competition, also in the Europa League. Even more impressively, in 2017, Qarabağ became the first Azerbaijani team to reach the group stage of the biggest European club competition, the Champions League!

In June 2020, the league season 2019–20 ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qarabağ was crowned champions for the seventh season in a row.

How the Competition Works

The Azerbaijan Premier League uses a "double round-robin" system. This means that during the season, which runs from August to May, each club plays every other club four times. They play two games at home and two games away, making a total of 28 games for each team.

Teams get three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the championship.

Since the 2022-23 season, the Azerbaijan Premier League has expanded to include 10 teams.

Here's how many teams have played in the league each season:

• 26 clubs = 1992
• 20 clubs = 1993
• 16 clubs = 1993–94
• 13 clubs = 1994–95
• 11 clubs = 1995–96
• 16 clubs = 1996–98
• 14 clubs = 1998–99
• 12 clubs = 1999–00
• 11 clubs = 2000–01
• 12 clubs = 2001–02
• 15 clubs = 2003
• 14 clubs = 2003–04
• 18 clubs = 2004–05
• 14 clubs = 2005–09
• 12 clubs = 2009–13
• 10 clubs = 2013–16
• 8 clubs = 2016–22
• 10 clubs = 2022–present

Playing in European Competitions

The champions of the Azerbaijan Premier League get to play in the UEFA Champions League. The teams that finish second and third qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Also, the winner of the Azerbaijan Cup gets a spot in the Europa Conference League. If the Cup winner has already qualified for Europe through their league position, then the next highest-ranked team in the league takes their spot.

Teams in the APL (2023–24 Season)

Stadiums and Locations

Here are the teams playing in the 2023–24 season, along with their home cities and stadiums:

Azerbaijani League Champions and Top Scorers

This table shows the champions, runner-up, third place, and top goal scorer for each season:

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third place	Top scorers
1992	Neftçi	Khazar Sumgayit	Turan	Nazim Aliyev (Khazar Sumgayit, 39 goals)
1993	Qarabağ	Khazar Sumgayit	Turan	Samir Alakbarov (Neftçi, 16 goals)
1993–94	Turan	Qarabağ	Kapaz	Musa Gurbanov (Turan, 35 goals)
1994–95	Kapaz	Turan	Neftçi	Nazim Aliyev (Neftçi, 26 goals)
1995–96	Neftçi	Khazri Buzovna	Kapaz	Fazil Parvarov (Kapaz, 23 goals) / Rovshan Ahmadov (Kapaz, 23 goals)
1996–97	Neftçi	Qarabağ	Khazri Buzovna	Gurban Gurbanov (Neftçi, 34 goals)
1997–98	Kapaz	Baku	Shamkir	Nazim Aliyev (Baku, 23 goals)
1998–99	Kapaz	Shamkir	Neftçi	Alay Bahramov (Viləş Masallı, 24 goals)
1999–00	Shamkir	Kapaz	Neftçi	Badri Kvaratskhelia (Shamkir, 16 goals)
2000–01	Shamkir	Neftçi	Vilash Masalli	Pasha Aliyev (Bakili Baku, 12 goals)
2001–02	The AFFA and the clubs had a disagreement, so the league was stopped and results were not counted.
2002–03	Because of a conflict between most clubs and the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan, no league championship was held.
2003–04	Neftçi	Shamkir	Qarabağ	Samir Musayev (Qarabağ, 20 goals)
2004–05	Neftçi	Khazar Lankaran	Karvan	Zaur Ramazanov (Karvan, 21 goals)
2005–06	Baku	Karvan	Neftçi	Yacouba Bamba (Karvan, 16 goals)
2006–07	Khazar Lankaran	Neftçi	Baku	Zaur Ramazanov (Khazar Lankaran, 20 goals)
2007–08	Inter Baku	AZAL	Neftçi	Khagani Mammadov (Inter Baku, 19 goals)
2008–09	Baku	Inter Baku	Simurq	Walter Guglielmone (Inter Baku, 17 goals)
2009–10	Inter Baku	Baku	Qarabağ	Farid Guliyev (Standard Baku, 16 goals)
2010–11	Neftçi	Khazar Lankaran	Qarabağ	Georgi Adamia (Qarabağ, 18 goals)
2011–12	Neftçi	Khazar Lankaran	Inter Baku	Bahodir Nasimov (Neftçi, 16 goals)
2012–13	Neftçi	Qarabağ	Inter Baku	Nicolás Canales (Neftçi, 26 goals)
2013–14	Qarabağ	Inter Baku	Gabala	Reynaldo (Qarabağ, 22 goals)
2014–15	Qarabağ	Inter Baku	Gabala	Nurlan Novruzov (Baku, 15 goals)
2015–16	Qarabağ	Zira	Gabala	Dani Quintana (Qarabağ, 15 goals)
2016–17	Qarabağ	Gabala	Inter Baku	Filip Ozobić (Gabala, 11 goals) & Rauf Aliyev (Inter Baku, 11 goals)
2017–18	Qarabağ	Gabala	Neftçi	Bagaliy Dabo, (Gabala, 13 goals)
2018–19	Qarabağ	Neftçi	Səbail	Mahir Madatov, (Qarabağ, 16 goals)
2019–20	Qarabağ	Neftçi	Keşla	Peyman Babaei, (Sumgayit, 7 goals) & Steeven Joseph-Monrose (Neftçi, 7 goals) & Bagaliy Dabo (Neftçi, 7 goals) & Mahir Emreli (Qarabağ, 7 goals)
2020–21	Neftçi	Qarabağ	Sumgayit	Namik Alaskarov (Neftçi, 19 goals)
2021–22	Qarabağ	Neftçi	Zira	Kady (Qarabağ, 12 goals)
2022–23	Qarabağ	Sabah	Neftçi	Ramil Sheydayev (Qarabağ, 22 goals)
2023–24	Qarabağ	Zira	Sabah	Juninho (Qarabağ, 20 goals)

Team Achievements

How Many Titles Each Club Has Won

This table shows how many times each club has won the league, finished second, or finished third.

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Winning years
Qarabağ	11	4	4	1993, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Neftçi	9	5	7	1992, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2020–21
Kapaz	3	1	2	1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99
Shamakhi	2	3	4	2007–08, 2009–10
Shamkir	2	2	1	1999–00, 2000–01
Baku	2	2	1	2005–06, 2008–09
Khazar Lankaran	1	3	–	2006–07
Turan Tovuz	1	1	2	1993–94
Gabala	–	2	3	–
Zira	–	2	1	–
Khazar Sumgayit	–	2	0	–
Sabah	–	1	1	–
Karvan	–	1	1	–
Khazri Buzovna	–	1	1	–
AZAL	–	1	–	–
Sabail	–	–	1	–
Simurq	–	–	1	–
Sumgayit	–	–	1	–
Viləş Masallı	–	–	1	–

Player Rules and Records

Player Rules

Azerbaijan Premier League clubs can sign almost any number and type of players they want. There are no limits on how much players can be paid or how many players a team can have. There are also no age limits, except for general employment laws. Clubs can sign as many foreign players as they like. Top players from outside the EU can get special work permits to play in Azerbaijan.

The only special rule is the "Under-21 rule." This rule says that every club must have at least two players under 21 years old in their team for each match.

Top Goal Scorers

Players in the Premier League compete for the Azerbaijan Premier League Golden Boot award. This award goes to the player who scores the most goals each season. Nazim Aliyev is the league's all-time top scorer with an amazing 183 goals! He even scored 39 goals in the 1992 season alone. In the 1995–96 season, he was the first player to score 100 Premier League goals. Since then, 10 more players have reached this 100-goal milestone.

Gurban Gurbanov is one of the highest goalscorers in Premier League history.

Here are the top ten highest goal scorers in the league:

Top Ten Highest Goalscorers

Player		Period	Club	Goals
1	Nazim Aliyev	1992–99	Neftchi Baku	183
2	Mushfig Huseynov	1992–07	Qarabağ	125
3	Rovshan Ahmadov	1992–03	Kapaz	116
4	Gurban Gurbanov	1990–06	Neftçi	115
5	Samir Alakbarov	1992–01	Neftçi	115
6	Alay Bahramov	1992–99	Viləş Masallı	108
7	Vadim Vasilyev	1994–07	Baki Fehlesi	102
8	Khagani Mammadov	1994–12	Inter Baku	102
9	Kanan Karimov	1995–12	Shamkir	101
10	Nadir Nabiyev	1995–12	Turan	100

Most Games Played

Aslan Kerimov is one of the most capped players in Premier League history.

Here are the top ten players with the most appearances in the league:

Top ten most capped players

Player		Period	Club	Games
1	Rahid Amirguliyev	2005–23	Khazar Lankaran	451
2	Mahmud Gurbanov	1992–12	Kapaz	421
3	Rashad Sadiqov	1998–21	Neftchi	392
4	Azer Mammadov	1992–12	Kapaz	388
5	Asif Mammadov	2004–	Gabala	388
6	Aslan Kerimov	1992–11	Qarabağ	382
7	Rashad Abdullayev	1994–17	Khazar Lankaran	378
8	Maksim Medvedev	2006-24	Qarabağ	376
9	Elvin Mammadov	2005–2023	Baku	376
10	Vurğun Hüseynov	2005–24	Sumgayit	368

Other League Records

• Biggest home win: Kapaz 14–2 Shamkir (1997–98)
• Most consecutive games unbeaten: Kapaz, 30 games, 1997–98
• Youngest goalscorer: Orkhan Aliyev, for Sumgayit vs Gabala, at 15 years and 236 days old.
• Oldest player: Nadir Shukurov, for Karvan vs Mughan, at 42 years old on April 19, 2009.
• All-time top scorer: Nazim Aliyev (183 goals).
• Most APL appearances: Mahmud Gurbanov, 421 games.
• Most goals in a season: Nazim Aliyev (Khazar Sumgayit), 39 goals in 1992.

League Finances

Attendance at Games

Here's a look at how many people attended the games over the years:

^{* UEFA stopped the league because of a long conflict between the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan and most of the country's top clubs.}

Sponsorship Deals

From 2009 to 2012, UniBank was the main sponsor of the league. After that, a betting company called Topaz took over as the sponsor from 2012 to 2019.

In August 2019, the sponsorship with Topaz ended. The Professional Football League of Azerbaijan (PFL) then started looking for a new sponsor.

Besides the main sponsor, the Premier League also has other official partners. For example, Nike provides the official match ball for the season.

Financial Challenges for Clubs

Since the Premier League began, many clubs have faced financial difficulties. Some clubs even had to close down. When clubs have less money from ticket sales or merchandise, it affects how much they can spend. Players might be asked to take lower pay, and teams might have fewer players.

A big problem in the mid-2000s was the growing gap between the Premier League and the First Division (the league below it). This problem continues today, as some Premier League clubs can spend much more money than others. For some teams, like Shamkir and Karvan, financial problems have led to them being unable to return to the top league.

Media Coverage

You can watch the Azerbaijan Premier League in different countries:

Country	Broadcaster
Azerbaijan	CBC Sport
Austria	Laola1
Georgia
Germany
Russia
Switzerland
International	Bet365 LTV Channel

Awards and Trophies

The League Trophy

The current Azerbaijan Premier League trophy was designed by the Professional Football League of Azerbaijan. This trophy has been given to the champion team since the end of the 2009–10 season. It replaced an older trophy that was only used for a few years.

Monthly and Annual Awards

Besides the main trophy and medals for the winning team, the Azerbaijan Premier League also gives out other awards. There's a "Player of the Month" award given out during the season. At the end of the season, special awards are given for "Player of the Year," "Manager of the Year," and "Young Player of the Year."

See Also

• Azerbaijan First Division
• Azerbaijan Cup
• Football in Azerbaijan
• List of foreign Azerbaijan Premier League players