Profiled: Connah’s Quay’s Champions League opponents FC Alashkert
Russian: Alexander Vitalievich Grigoryan Credit: Salov Gleb
Connah’s Quay Nomads take on Armenian Champions FC Alashkert in the UEFA Champions League First qualifying round on Wednesday 7 July.
We take a look at who their UCL opponents are.
FC Alashkert is one of six first-division teams based in the Armenian capital Yerevan. The city is home to an estimated 1,084,000 people, 37% of the countries population.
They are based in the Southwestern district of Shengavit which is considered by many archaeologists to be Armenia’s most prominent prehistoric site.
Embed from Getty ImagesHistory
Alashkert were originally founded in 1990 in the small town of Martuni in the Gegharkunik Province, some 100km east of Yerevan. They spent most of their early history playing in the Armenian First League (second division) enjoying a brief spell in the Premier League in 1992.
After finishing 6th during the 1998 First League season they didn’t compete in the following season and had folded by the early month of 2000.
In 2011 the club was FC Alashkert re-founded by local businessman Bagrat Navoyan. They entered the First League in 2012/13 and won promotion to the Premier League in their first season.
Prior to the 2013/14 season, the club relocated to the Arminian capital Yerevan after they purchased the Nairi Stadium.
Stadium
After completing the purchase they renamed the stadium the Alashkert Stadium.
The stadium is located in Shengavit District just across the road from the ruins of the Shengavit Settlement and adjacent to Lake Yerevan.
Built-in 1960 the Alashkert Stadium can hold a capacity crowd of 6,850 with 1,850 of those fans being seated. Despite this, the club only had an average attendance of 325 during the 2019/20 season.
Embed from Getty ImagesManager
Aleksandr Grigoryan was named the new head coach of Alashkert in May 2021. Their previous manager Abraham Khashmanyan left his role to become manager of the National Team. Grigoryan has spent most of his managerial career in Russia. He had a brief eight-month spell in the Russian Premier League as manager of FC Tambov.
In his three games in charge before the end of the season, Alashkert won all three games to clinch the title.
Recent success
Since their move to the capital city Alashkert have won four Premier League titles. Between 2015 and 2018 they won three titles in a row. In 2018/19 they won their first Armenian Cup.
For all of their success in Armenia, Alashkert have had limited success in Europe. Their best success to date is reaching the Champions League 2nd qualifying round, twice beating Santa Coloma of Andorra in the 1st qualifying round.
Road to Europe
Alashkert reached the Champions League qualification stage by winning their league. Each team plays each other three times before the end of the season. Alashkert finished top of the league by a five-point margin over runners-up Noah and Urartu. The Yellows lost just four times last season as they claimed 47 points.
European Preparation
The Armenian Premier League completed its season on 28 May. Alashkert won their final three games as they bounced back under new manager Grigoryan after losing the cup final to Ararat-Yerevan on 15 May.
During the off-season the capital side has made several new additions to their squad. In the last week, they have announced six new signings. One of those signings is Portuguese forward José Embaló who scored 15 goals in the II Liga (Polish third tier) last season.
