FC Okzhetpes
Football Club Okzhetpes is a Kazakhstani professional football based in the Torpedo Stadium in Kokshetau. The club currently plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League.
History
Although having finished only 9th in the 2008 Kazakhstan Premier League, the club gained entry to the first qualifying round of the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa League because of the denial of licenses by UEFA and withdrawal of higher placed teams.On 3 January 2019, Andrei Karpovich was announced as Okzhetpes manager for the 2019 Kazakhstan Premier League season.
Names
- 1957 : Founded as Torpedo
- 1990 : Renamed Spartak
- 1991 : Renamed Kokshetau
- 1994 : Renamed Kokshe
- 1997 : Renamed Avtomobilist and moved to Shortandy (Nur-Sultan suburb)
- 1998 : Renamed Khimik and moved to Stepnogorsk
- 1999 : Renamed Akmola
- 2000 : Moved back to Kokshetau
- 2001 : Renamed Esil
- 2004 : Renamed Okzhetpes
Origin of name
The club takes its name from a cliff, Okzhetpes, which means 'an arrow won't reach'. According to fan club president Viktor Kruk:
"Eighteenth century Kazakh ruler Ablai Khan could not decide which of his warriors to give a captive girl to and so allowed her to choose a husband for herself. She climbed to the top of the highest cliff and said she would marry whoever hit her shawl with an arrow. Nobody managed it."