Sabah Futbol Klubu (, ) is a professional football club based in Masazir, Azerbaijan. The team has played in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top tier of Azerbaijani football league system, since the 2018–19 season. Its home ground is the Bank Respublika Arena in Masazir.
History Sabah were formed on 8 September 2017, joining the Azerbaijan First Division for the 2017–18 season, in which they finished 5th. After the four teams above them in the league failed or declined promotion, Sabah were granted a license to participate in Azerbaijan Premier League on 12 May 2018. Sabah won their first game 1–0 in the Azerbaijan Premier League, against Keşlə FK (currently known as Şamaxı FK), on 12 August 2018, thanks to a Marko Dević goal. Sabah went on to finish their first Premier League season in 7th position, avoiding relegation.
On 16 September 2019, Elshad Ahmadov resigned as manager, with Igor Ponomaryov taking over on an interim basis.
On 26 November 2019, Sabah announced that Željko Sopić had been appointed manager on an 18-month contract. On 3 July 2020, Sopić resigned as manager.
On 10 July 2020, Sabah signed a two-year contract with Vicente Gómez. On 11 March 2021, Gómez left his role as Head Coach by mutual agreement, with Ramin Guliyev being placed in temporary charge. At the end of the season, Guliyev was confirmed as the club's new head coach on a two-year contract Guliyev resigned from his position on 21 October 2021, with Murad Musayev being appointed as the club's new head coach on 30 October 2021, signing a two-year contract.
On 1 February 2024, Sabah announced that Murad Musayev had left his role as head coach after his resignation had been accepted.
On 5 March 2024, Sabah announced the appointment of Krunoslav Rendulić as their new head coach, on an 18-month contract. Rendulić left Sabah on 25 November 2024 by mutual agreement, with Vasili Berezutski being appointed as his replacement on the same day to a two-and-a-half year contract. On 14 June 2025, Berezutski left the club by mutual consent due to personal reasons. On 20 June 2025, Sabah announced the appointment of Lithuanian Valdas Dambrauskas as the new head coach, signing a three-year contract.
On 30 April 2026, Sabah secured the Premier League title for the first time in their history after Qarabağ lost 2–1 against Neftçi. On 13 May 2026, Sabah defeated Zira 2–1 to win the 2025–26 Azerbaijan Cup.
On 25 August 2026, Sabah FK qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history after beating Hapoel Be'er Sheva 5-2 (6-4 on agg).
Domestic history Season League Azerbaijan Cup Top goalscorer Manager Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Name League2017–182nd5th271179413340Second round Arif Asadov2018–191st7th287615204127Quarter-final Marko Dević8 Elshad Ahmadov2019–201st6th20569192721Quarter-final Ulysse Diallo Amadou Diallo Hendrick Ekstein3 Elshad Ahmadov Igor Ponomaryov Željko Sopić2020–211st5th287813283829Round of 16 Ramil Sheydayev6 Vicente Gómez Ramin Guliyev 2021–221st5th2812511423441Quarter-final Joy-Lance Mickels11 Ramin Guliyev Murad Musayev2022–231st2nd362565752481Quarter-final Joy-Lance Mickels17 Murad Musayev2023–241st3rd3617712504058Quarter-final Davit Volkovi Anatoliy Nuriyev6 Murad Musayev Ruslan Qafitullin Krunoslav Rendulić2024–251st5th3610188504648WinnersJesse Sekidika11 Krunoslav Rendulić Vasili Berezutski2025–261st1st332463752578Winners Joy-Lance Mickels19 Valdas Dambrauskas
European record
Competition Pld W D L GF GA UEFA Champions League 9 6 0 3 18 11 UEFA Europa League 2 0 1 1 5 6 UEFA Conference League 12 6 0 6 18 15 Total 23 12 1 10 41 32
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League 2Q RFS 2–1 2–0 4–1 3Q Partizan 2–0 0–2 2–2 2024–25 UEFA Conference League 2Q Maccabi Haifa 3–6 3–0 6–6 3Q St Patrick's Athletic 0–1 0–1 0–22025–26 UEFA Europa League 1Q Celje 2–3 3–3 5–6UEFA Conference League 2Q Petrocub Hîncești 4–1 2–0 6–1 3Q Levski Sofia 0–2 0–1 0–32026–27UEFA Champions League 1Q The New Saints 2–0 2–1 4–1 2Q KuPS 1–0 2–0 3–0 3Q Aarhus 4–0 1–2 5–2 PO Hapoel Be'er Sheva 5–2 1–2 6–4LP Manchester United align=center 0–4 Slavia Praha align=center Borussia Dortmund align=center Viking align=center Barcelona align=center Villarreal align=center Napoli align=center Arsenal align=center
Colours and badge
Sabah's badge features rays of sunshine encased in a shield.
The team's main colours are black-pink, with their kit being made by Spanish clothing company Joma during their first season, and Macron from the start of the 2018–19 season.
Shirt sponsor and kit manufacturer YearsManufacturerSponsor2017–2018 Joma none2018–2020 Macron Bank Respublika2020–Nike
Stadium
The club play their home games at the Bank Respublika Arena in Masazır, which has a capacity of 8.969.
Players
Current squad
For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2026.
Out on loan
Reserve team Sabah-2 plays in the Azerbaijan Reserve League.
Club officials
Management PositionStaffFounder Yagub HuseynovPresident Magsud AdigozalovSupervisory Board Member Yagub Huseynov Firudin Gurbanov Igor Ponomaryov Rahman Hajiyev Rauf KhalilovChief executive officer Ramin HasanovGeneral Manager Nasimi MusayevDirector of sport Igor PonomaryovPress secretary Elnur Hamidov
Coaching staff
Position NameHead coach Valdas DambrauskasAssistant head coach Valerio ZuddasGoalkeeping coach Justinas GasiūnasFitness coach Domagoj PericVideo analyst Oleksandr Panchuk Nikita Vasyukhin
Honours Azerbaijan Premier League Winners (1): 2025–26 Runners-up (1): 2022–23 Azerbaijan Cup Winners (2): 2024–25, 2025–26
Club records Most appearances
NameYearsLeagueAzerbaijan CupEuropeanTotal1 Amin Seydiyev2020–20262 Joy-Lance Mickels2021–2023, 2024–Present3 Aleksey Isayev2020–2024, 2025–Present4 Bojan Letić2022–20265 Anatoliy Nuriyev2022–20266 Elvin Camalov2021–20257 Kaheem Parris2023–2024, 2024–Present8 Tellur Mutallimov2022–Present9 Jesse Sekidika2023–202610 Jon Irazabal2022–2025
Top goalscorers
NameYearsLeagueAzerbaijan CupEuropeanTotalRatio1 Joy-Lance Mickels2021–2023, 2024–Present2 Jesse Sekidika2023–20263 Veljko Simić2025–2026, 2026–Present4 Davit Volkovi2022–20245 Oleksiy Kashchuk2022–2023 Pavol Šafranko2024–2026 Kaheem Parris2023–2024, 2024–Present8 Emmanuel Apeh2022–20249 Aleksey Isayev2020–2024, 2025–Present10 Anatoliy Nuriyev2022–2026
Managerial statistics
NameNat.FromToDurationPWDLGSGA%WHonoursNotesArif Asadov8 September 20171 July 2018(Promotion)Elshad Ahmadov1 July 201816 September 2019Igor Ponomaryov 16 September 201926 November 2019Željko Sopić26 November 20193 July 2020Vicente Gómez10 July 202011 March 2021Ramin Guliyev 11 March 202126 May 2021Ramin Guliyev26 May 202121 October 2021Ilkin Huseynov 21 October 202130 October 2021Murad Musayev30 October 20211 February 2024Ruslan Qafitullin 1 February 20245 March 2024Krunoslav Rendulić5 March 202425 November 2024Vasili Berezutski25 November 202414 June 2025Azerbaijan Cup (1)Valdas Dambrauskas1 July 2025Azerbaijan Premier League (1) Azerbaijan Cup (1)
Notes:
Transfers The top transfer was agreed in July 2026 when 20 years old French forward Aaron Malouda moved to Basel for a fee €3.00 million. Record transfers RankPlayerToFeeYear1. Aaron Malouda Basel€3.00 million20262. Aleksey Isayev Qarabağ€0.45 million20243. Joy-Lance Mickels Al-Faisaly€0.30 million2023
References
External links Official website Sabah FC at UEFA