Qarabağ FK

Right now #ChelseaFC are playing a team in the #uefachampionsleague with a quality name and a superb badge with a fascinating, if tragic, history. So let's do Azerbaijan's finest the honour and #GetTheBadgeIn for the Horsemen of @FKQarabaghEN Futbol Klubu.

The club was founded in 1951, when Aghdam’s new city stadium was completed. At the time, the Soviet Union’s local sports system relied on state and agricultural cooperatives, and the new team took the name Mehsul, meaning “Product” or “Harvest” in Azerbaijani. The name reflected the town’s agricultural character — Aghdam was known for vineyards, fruit, and horse breeding — and symbolised productivity and local pride.

Mehsul first entered the Azerbaijani SSR Championship in 1966, finishing fourth. The club spent several seasons in local competition, its best finish being second place in 1969, before financial problems forced its withdrawal in the early 1970s. Revived later as Shafaq (“Twilight”) and then Cooperative Society, the club finally adopted its enduring name, Qarabağ, in 1988. That year they won the Azerbaijan SSR title and gained promotion to the Soviet Second League — the highest point of their pre-independence era.

The name Qarabağ comes from the Turkic qara (black or large) and Persian bāgh (garden) — a term meaning “black garden” or “great garden.” It captures the region’s natural richness and deep cultural layers. Karabakh lies between the Kura and Aras rivers, stretching from low plains to the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus, and has long been home to mixed communities of Azerbaijanis and Armenian. A little like Ukraine, it was known for its deep dark soil that allowed for huge harvests.

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire after World War I, both new republics — Armenia and Azerbaijan — claimed the area. When the Soviet Union took control in 1920, the Bolsheviks decided that Karabakh would remain within Azerbaijan. In 1923, the highland area, where most of the population was Armenian, became the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) within the Azerbaijan SSR.

The Armenian-majority NKAO had cultural autonomy but remained politically tied to Baku. Periodic petitions to unite it with Armenia were rejected, but the issue never disappeared.

In 1988, as the Soviet Union weakened, the NKAO parliament voted to join Armenia. The decision sparked unrest and armed clashes that escalated into the First Nagorno-Karabakh War after independence in 1991. By 1993, Armenian forces controlled most of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts, including Aghdam.

Aghdam was destroyed, its 40,000 residents displaced, and Qarabağ FK’s home ground, the Imarat Stadium, reduced to ruins. Their manager and former player, Allahverdi Baghirov, was killed in the fighting.

Four UN Security Council resolutions later called for Armenian withdrawal, but the occupation remained in place until the 2020 ceasefire, when Azerbaijan regained much of the territory.

From 1993 onwards, Qarabağ FK became a team in exile, based in Baku — representing a city that no longer existed.

The two rearing horses on Qarabağ’s badge refer to the Karabakh horse, a breed native to the region and one of the oldest in the world. Known for its speed, endurance, and distinctive golden-chestnut coat, the Karabakh horse has been a source of national pride for centuries. It symbolises grace, resilience, and connection to the land — qualities that have come to define the club itself. Coming from Ipswich, who proudly have their local breed, the Suffolk Punch on the badge - I very much approve of this equine symbolism.

Even in exile, Qarabağ FK’s spirit endured. In 1993, the same year their home town of Aghdam fell, they won both the Azerbaijan Top League and the national cup. In 1999, they became the first Azerbaijani club to win a European match abroad, defeating Israel’s Maccabi Haifa.

Sponsorship from Azersun Holding in 2001 gave the club stability, and under long-serving manager Gurban Gurbanov, Qarabağ rose to dominate the domestic league. Their historic qualification for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage marked a milestone for Azerbaijani football — the first time a club from the country had reached that level.

Today, Qarabağ FK, still in exile, play their home matches in Baku’s Azersun Arena and Tofiq Bahramov Stadium.

Every time the Horsemen take the field, they carry the memory of Aghdam with them. Each game carries more than sporting meaning: it is a reminder of Aghdam’s history and of a people’s determination to keep their heritage alive through football.