Pakhtakor Football Club () is an Uzbek professional football club, based in the capital city of Tashkent, that competes in the Uzbekistan Super League. Pakhtakor is often considered the most successful football club in Uzbekistan.
Pakhtakor was the only Uzbek club to play in the top-level Soviet football league and the only Central Asian club to appear in a Soviet Cup final. Playing in the Uzbek League since 1992, the club has been the undisputed powerhouse in Uzbekistan since the fall of the Soviet Union, winning sixteen Uzbek League titles, including six in a row from 2002 to 2007. Pakhtakor also won seven consecutive domestic cups between 2001 and 2007, winning eleven cups in total. Players from the club have won Uzbek footballer of the Year honours eight times, and Pakhtakor teammates swept the top three spots in 2002. Club managers have been named Uzbek coach of the year twice.
The team is also a perennial competitor in the AFC Champions League, having reached the semi-finals of the competition twice in 2003 and 2004. Pakhtakor currently holds the record in number of consecutive participations in the AFC Champions League, participating in 11 tournaments from 2002 to 2013.
Name The word pakhta (پخته) in Old Turkic means "cotton", and kor (or kar) is from the Dari verb kâshtan (also koshtan, kishtan in Uzbek), meaning "to cultivate"; thus the combination Pakhtakor produces a job name which literally means "cotton maker". In popular culture The famous Uzbek singers Shahzoda, Rustam Gaipov, groups "Parvoz"(ex), "Quartet", "Bojalar" and "Ummon" dedicated their songs to Pakhtakor Football Club.
History
The early Soviet period Pakhtakor's first official match was on 8 April 1956, date considered to be the club's "birthday". Its first match was played against a team from the city of Perm, Russia (then called Molotov city), presumably FC Zvezda Perm. The first goal in Pakhtakor history was scored by Laziz Maksudov on a penalty shot and Maksudov's goal was the only and game-winning strike.
The team was formed in three months, and the government invited the senior trainer Valentin Bekhtenev from Moscow to recruit the best Tashkent players for the new Pakhtakor. At the time, the club was to represent Uzbekistan in Soviet football."История Ф.К. Пахтакор (Узбекистан), 30.03.2008 .
In 1959, the club was promoted to the Soviet Top League for the first time. During the 1960s, Pakhtakor's squad was anchored by the striker Gennadiy Krasnitskiy, who led it to a 6th-place finish in 1962. After periods back and forth between the Top League and the Soviet First League, the club reached the final of the Soviet Cup competition in 1968 – the only Central Asian club to reach a Soviet Cup final – losing to Torpedo Moscow 1–0. A win in this final could have qualified the club for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
In 1971, Pakhtakor again departed from the First League, but was not long detained in the lower division as it gained promotion the following year.
Pakhtakor was the only Uzbek side to appear in the history of the USSR Championship during the Soviet era, appearing the highest echelon 22 times, and recording 212 wins, 211 draws, and 299 losses. Their best league finish was 6th place, which they achieved twice, in 1962 and 1982.
Aircrash 1979
On 11 August 1979, Pakhtakor made it back to the Soviet Top League, but shortly thereafter disaster struck the club and Soviet football. During a flight to play Dinamo Minsk, Pakhtakor's plane was involved in a mid-air collision over Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukrainian SSR. All 178 people aboard both planes involved died.
Seventeen Pakhtakor players and staff members died in the crash: Idgay Borisovich Tazetdinov (Trainer), (13.01.1933) Mikhail Ivanovich An (Half-back), (19.11.1952) Vladimir Ivanovich Fedorov (Forward), (05.01.1956) Alim Masalievich Ashirov (Defender), (25.01.1955) Ravil Rustamovich Agishev (Defender), (14.03.1959) Constantine Alexandrovich Bakanov (Half-back), (25.05.1954) Yuri Timofeevich Zagumennykh (Defender), (07.06.1947) Alexander Ivanovich Korchenov (Half-back), (04.05.1949) Nikolai Borisovich Kulikov (Defender), (25.04.1953) Vladimir Vasilyevich Makarov (Forward), (09.03.1947) Sergey Constantinovich Pokatilov (Goalkeeper), (20.12.1950) Victor Nikolayevich Churkin (Forward), (25.01.1952) Sirozhiddin Akhmedovich Bazarov (Forward), (10.08.1961) Shukhrat Musinovich Ishbutaev (Forward), (08.02.1959) Vladimir Valievich Sabirov (Forward), (14.01.1958) Vladimir Vasilyevich Chumaks (Manager), (08.12.1932) Mansur Inamdzhanovich Talibdzhanov (Club administrator), (04.04.1944)
Annually, in August, the club sponsors a youth tournament in memory of the people lost in the disaster.
Following the tragedy in 1979, the Soviet Football Association told every Top League team to give three players each, so the team could be redrafted and Pakhtakor was barred from relegation for the next three seasons. Also spurred on by its prolific goalscorer Andrei Yakubik a few years later, Pakhtakor had its best record in 1982, finishing sixth and ahead of several Russian and Ukrainian football powerhouses, such as Zenit Saint Petersburg, CSKA Moscow, and Shakhtar Donetsk. Pakhtakor had a point deducted that season due to exceeding the allowed limit for the games tied (drawn), but it did not influence the club's final standings.
The lean years: 1984–1990 After leading Pakhtakor to its best finish, age finally caught up with Yakubik and he moved back to his hometown of Moscow to continue his football career. With the departure of their great forward, the club struggled and spent six years in the Soviet First League. Although the discontent of their fans grew, Pakhtakor's reemergence as a major footballing force followed fast upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Modern period, since 1992
After the USSR collapsed, a new page began in the club's history. 1992 saw Pakhtakor participate in the first season of the Uzbek Oliy League. Since 1992 Pakhtakor have become the most successful Uzbek club with 10 Uzbek League titles, and 11 Uzbek Cups. Until 2014 the club is the only team to have participated in all seasons of the AFC Champions League since its inauguration in 2002. Since 2002 the club participated 11 times in AFC Champions League.
The participation in the AFC Champions League season 2011 was not successful. On 4 May 2011 in a match against Al Nassr, Pakhtakor lost and finished its Asian campaign. In that match, because of many injured players, Pakhtakor's coach Ravshan Khaydarov formed a starting squad from the youth team players and so the club made a record in the AFC Champions League history as the youngest team of the tournament with the players' average age of 21,8 years. The average age of club players for season 2011 was 23,3 years."Championat.uz: «Пахтакор» ОЧЛ рекордини ўрнатди, 05.05.2011 . In the 2014–15 seasons, Pakhtakor won its 10th and 11th League champion titles.
Rivalries Central Asian Derby During the Sovet era, Pakhtakor's main rival was the strongest club in Kazakhstan at that time — Almaty's Kairat.
The confrontation between these two clubs was called the Central Asian derby . It was mandatory for the top leadership of the republics to attend, and the stadiums had real full houses.
This was part of the general rivalry at all levels that arose between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the mid 20th century.
After the collapse of the USSR, Pakhtakor and Kairat began to compete in their respective national championships and, accordingly, did not often meet in international tournaments, limiting themselves to rare friendly matches. In total, the teams played more than 80 official matches against each other.
Even during the Soviet era, the leading clubs of other Central Asian republics – Dushanbe's CSKA Pamir Dushanbe, Ashgabat's Köpetdag Aşgabat and Bishkek's Alga — were considered Pakhtakor's main rivals.
Capital derby Since Bunyodkor's promotion to the Uzbek League, matches between the two clubs from the capital is considered by supporters on both sides and football journalists as the Uzbek capital derby or the Toshkent derby.
El Clasico
The match between Pakhtakor and Neftchi Farg'ona is one of the most popular rivalries in Uzbek League held since 1992. The first match between the two clubs was played on 25 May 1992 in Tashkent.
Stadium
Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium was built in 1956 with a capacity of 55.000 spectators. The stadium was renovated in 1996, and in July 2007 club management announced the next renovation. Reconstruction work finished in 2009, the capacity was reduced to 35.000 and the stadium became an all-seater stadium. In January 2010, the stadium was chosen as the best sporting facility in 2009 of Uzbekistan.
Players Current squad
Out on loan
Youth squad
«Пахтакор» U19 таркибида туркманистонлик футболчи дебют қилди«Пахтакор» подписал полузащитника молодежной сборной Туркменистана Вепаева
Personnel
Management OfficeNamePresidentJakhongir ArtikkhodjayevVice-presidentDilshod KarimovGeneral directorDmitry AdismanDirector of General AffairsMaksim ShatskikhDirector of General Affairs Nikolay Minchev
Current technical staff
PositionNameHead coach Kamoliddin TajievAssistant coach José Borges Marco Leite Miguel SoaresGoalkeeper coach Ricardo Vasconcelos
Managerial history
List of Pakhtakor FC managersName From To Duration P W D L Win % Valentin Bakhtenev 1956 1956 Yury Khodotov 1957 1957 Lev Olshansky 1957 1959 Alexander Keller 1960 1963 Gavriil Kachalin 1963 1963 Alexander Abramov 1964 1964 Mikhail Yakushin 1965 1966 Boris Arkadyev 1967 1967 Yevgeny Yeliseyev 1968 1968 Mikhail Yakushin 1969 1970 Alexander Keller 1971 Vyacheslav Solovyov 1972 1975 Gavriil Kachalin 1975 Anatoli Bashashkin 1976 Gennadi Krasnitsky Alexander Kochetkov 1977 1979 Oleh Bazylevych 1979 Sergei Mosyagin 1980 1980 Ishtvan Sekech 1981 1985 Viktor Tikhonov 1986 Berador Abduraimov 1987 1988 Viktor Nosov 1989 1989 Fyodor Novikov 1990 1991 Ahral Inayatov 19911991. Высшая лига. Составы команд. football.lg.ua 1991 Aleksandr Tarkhanov 1991 1992 Ahral Inayatov 1992 Bahadir Ibrahimov 1993 1993 Rustam Akramov 1994 Ahral Inayatov Hans Verèl 1995 1996 Alexander Ivankov 1996 1997 Ubirajara Veiga da Silva 1998 1999 Alexander Ivankov 2000 Sergei Butenko 2001 2002 Viktor Djalilov 2002 Ravshan Khaydarov Täçmyrat Agamyradow 2003 2006 Valery Nepomnyashchy 2006 Ravshan Khaydarov 2006 2007 Viktor Djalilov 2008 2009 Miodrag Radulović 1 January 2010 3 May 2010 Ravshan Khaydarov 4 May 2010 27 September 2011 Murad Ismailov 28 September 2011 27 December 2011 Dejan Đurđević 28 December 2011 20 June 2012 Murad Ismailov 20 June 2012 31 December 2013 Samvel Babayan 3 January 2014 23 June 2015 Numon Khasanov 8 July 2015 29 May 2016 Grigory Kolosovsky 30 May 2016 5 April 2017 Ravshan Khaydarov 6 April 2017 1 June 2017 Shota Arveladze 23 June 2017 21 December 2020 124 90 18 16 Pieter Huistra 6 January 2021 10 January 2022 37 23 8 6 Slavče Vojneski 11 January 2022 7 July 2022 17 8 5 4 Maxim Shatskikh 14 July 2022 4 December 2024 90 43 22 25 Pedro Moreira 4 December 2024 4 May 2025 6 2 0 4 Kamoliddin Tajiev 4 May 2024 present
Notable players Former players
Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Pakhtakor.
USSR/Uzbekistan
Former USSR countries
Others countries
Recent seasons Domestic record ChampionsRunners-up3rd Place, 4th Place or Losing semi-finalists