FC Banants
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| Full name | Football Club Banants | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Proud Eagles | ||
| Founded | January 20, 1992 | ||
| Ground |
Banants Stadium Yerevan | ||
| Capacity | 4,860[1] | ||
| Owner | Jevan Cheloyants | ||
| Chairman | Karlen Mkrtchyan | ||
| Manager | Artur Voskanyan | ||
| League | Armenian Premier League | ||
| 2015–16 | 6th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Football Club Banants (Armenian: Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Բանանց, translated "Futbolayin Akumb Banants"), commonly known as Banants, is an Armenian professional football team from the capital Yerevan. They play in the Armenian Premier League. Banants won the Armenian Cup twice, in 1992 and 2007. In 2013–2014, Banants won the Armenian Premier League for the first time in its history.
In early 2016, the owner of the club became Russia-based Armenian businessman Jevan Chaloyants, who purchased the shares of former owner Oleg Mkrtchyan.
History
Kotayk
FC Banants were founded by Sarkis Israyelyan on 21 January 1992 in the village of Kotayk, representing the Kotayk Province. He named the club after his native village of Banants (currently known as Bayan, within Azerbaijan), which was historically part of the Gardman canton of Utik province of Ancient Armenia.[2] Between 1992 and 1995, the club was commonly referred to as Banants Kotayk.[3] During the 1992 season, the club won the first Armenian Cup. At the end of the 1995 transitional season, Banants suffered a financial crisis. The club owners decided that it was better to merge the club with FC Kotayk of Abovyan, rather than disband it. In 2001, Banants demerged from FC Kotayk, and was moved from Abovyan to the capital Yerevan.
Yerevan
Banants were relocated in Yerevan in 2001. At the beginning of 2003, Banants merged with FC Spartak Yerevan, but was able to limit the name of the new merger to FC Banants. Spartak became Banants's youth academy and later changed the name to Banants-2. Because of the merger, Banants acquired many players from Spartak Yerevan, including Samvel Melkonyan. After the merger, Banants took a more serious approach and have finished highly in the league table ever since. The club managed to lift the Armenian Cup in 2007. Experience is making way for youth for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. The departures of most of the experienced players have left the club's future to the youth. Along with two Ukrainian players, Ugandan international, Noah Kasule, has been signed.
The club headquarters are located on Jivani street 2, Yerevan.[4] The Banants Training Centre is located in the Malatia-Sebastia District of Yerevan.
Stadiums
The construction of the Banants Stadium was launched in 2006 in the Malatia-Sebastia District of Yerevan, with the assistance of the FIFA goal programme. It was officially opened in 2008 with a capacity of 3,600 seats. Further developments were implemented later in 2011, when the playing pitch was modernized and the capacity of the stadium was increased up to 4,860 seats (2,760 at the northern stand, 1,500 at the southern stand and 600 at the western stand).
Fans
The most active group of fans is the Banants Ultras fan club, mainly composed of residents from several neighbourhoods within the Malatia-Sebastia District of Yerevan, since the club is a de-facto representer of the district.
Honours
- Armenian Premier League:
- Armenian Cup:
- Armenian Supercup:
- Winner (1): 2014
UEFA Team Ranking 2016
| Rank | Country | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 419 |  | Llanelli Town | 1.575 |
| 421 |  | KF Vllaznia Shkodër | 1.575 |
| 422 | | Besa Kavajë | 1.575 |
| 398 |  | Banants | 1.550 |
| 424 |  | FK Kruoja | 1.525 |
| 425 |  | CS Grevenmacher | 1.450 |
| 426 |  | B36 Tórshavn | 1.450 |
Banants in European Cups
As of 2015
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League | 20 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 43 |
| UEFA Champions League | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | QR |  Hapoel Tel Aviv |
1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Illychivets Mariupol |
0–2 | 0–2 | 0–4 |
| 2005–06 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Lokomotivi Tbilisi |
2–3 | 2–0 | 4–3 |
| 2Q | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
2–4 | 0–4 | 2–8 | ||
| 2006–07 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | Ameri Tbilisi |
1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 (a) |
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Young Boys Berne |
1–1 | 0–4 | 1–5 |
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | 1Q |  Red Bull Salzburg |
0–7 | 0–3 | 0–10 |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Široki Brijeg |
0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| 2010–11 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Anorthosis Famagusta |
0–3 | 0–1 | 0–4 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Rustavi Metalurgist |
0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| 2014–15 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q |  FC Santa Coloma |
0–1 | 3–2 | 3–3 (a) |
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | AC Omonia |
0–1 | 1–4 (a.e.t.) | 1–5 |
- Home results are noted in bold.
Current squad
- As of 21 November 2016[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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FC Banants-2 (reserves)
FC Banants' reserve squad play as FC Banants-2 in the Armenian First League. They play their home games at the Banants Training Centre.
- As of 21 November 2016[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Manager: Vahe Gevorgyan
Managers
- Varuzhan Sukiasyan (1992–94)
- Poghos Galstyan (July 1, 1996 – June 30, 1998)
- Oganes Zanazanyan (2001–05)
- Ashot Barseghyan (2005–06)
Nikolay Kiselyov (2006–07)
Jan Poštulka (2007)
Nikolay Kostov (July 1, 2007 – April 8, 2008)- Nedelcho Matushev (April 8, 2008 – June 30, 2008)
Kim Splidsboel (2008)- Armen Gyulbudaghyants (Jan 1, 2009 – Dec 1, 2009)
- Ashot Barseghyan (interim) (2009)
Stevica Kuzmanovski (Jan 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2010)- Rafael Nazaryan (Jan 1, 2011 – Jan 15, 2012)
- Volodymyr Pyatenko (Jan 17, 2013 – June 30, 2013)
Zsolt Hornyák (July 1, 2013 – May 30, 2015)- Aram Voskanyan (July 1, 2015 – Oct 11, 2015)
Tito Ramallo (Oct 12, 2015 – Oct 3, 2016)- Artur Voskanyan (Oct 3, 2016 – )
References
- ↑ Banants Stadium
- ↑ Interview with Sarkis Israyelyan
- ↑ History of Football Club Banants, from fcbanants.com, retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ↑ Armenia, clubs
- ↑ "Состав Бананца". fcbanants.am (in Armenian). FC Banants. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- ↑ Banants-2 squad
External links
- Official website (English) (Armenian) (Russian)
- Banants at Weltfussball.de (German)