FC Pyunik


Football Club Pyunik, commonly known as Pyunik, is an Armenian professional sports club based in the Kentron neighbourhood of Yerevan. Pyunik is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its creation in 1992, football clubs|has always played] in the Armenian Premier League, becoming the most successful team of Armenia in number of official titles, with 34 won to date.
Pyunik is also known to be one of the most popular football clubs in Armenia, along with Urartu, Shirak and Ararat.
Pyunik has always had a fierce rivalry with Ararat, as both clubs are considered to be the most successful clubs in Armenia, the latter due to its Soviet accomplishments. Both clubs are also the two most popular in the country and favorites within the Armenian Diaspora. Pyunik also shares a rivalry with Urartu which began when Urartu relocated from Abovyan to Yerevan in 2001, and became the third largest team in the city. The Pyunik-Urartu rivalry is seen as one of the biggest clashes in Armenian football.
Pyunik's home stadium is the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, which is also home to the Armenia national football team. The youth academy has produced many Armenian internationals such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Robert Arzumanyan, Karlen Mkrtchyan, Edgar Manucharyan, Varazdat Haroyan and Gevorg Ghazaryan, many who have played or are playing for top European clubs.
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International History

Internationally, Pyunik has yet to win an international title, with the closest result being a bronze place finish in the 2006 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup. Pyunik's domestic success usually qualifies the team for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds.

History

Pyunik was founded in 1992 by Armenian football legend Khoren Oganesian and originally named Homenetmen Yerevan. The club won the first Armenian Premier League competition held in 1992 which it shared with Shirak since both teams were tied on points. In 1995, Homenetmen Yerevan was renamed FC Pyunik. Following the change of name, Pyunik went on to win the 1995–96 Armenian Premier League and end the season with a 59-match unbeaten streak.
In 1996, Pyunik played its first international cup match, a UEFA Europa League qualifying match against Finnish club HJK Helsinki which Pyunik won 3–1. Pyunik also won the 1996-97 Armenian Premier League securing itself another chance at qualifying for an international cup playoffs the following year.
In 1997, Pyunik played its first UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Hungarian side MTK Budapest FC yet failed to qualify for the playoffs following a 6–3 defeat on aggregate.
1998 proved to be a crucial year for the club following the loss of its main source of funding and the subsequent departure of its main players. Pyunik finished 6th that season and withdrew from football altogether.
Pyunik secured a comeback to professional football following its absorption of FC Armenicum, a newly promoted team to the Armenian Premier League. The club's new management sought to bring more experience to the club and reinforced the squad with foreign players from Argentina, Cameroon, Mali and Romania. The reinforcements brought positive results and Pyunik went on to win the 2001 Armenian Premier League and 2002 Armenian Cup.
2002 saw Pyunik advance to the second round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying round after beating Finnish champions Tampere United 6–0 on aggregate. From 2002 forwards, Pyunik went on to win the Armenian Premier League a record of 10 times in a row, from 2001 to 2010.
On 8 January 2020, former Armenian international goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was announced as the club's new manager. Just over 7-months later, 13 July 2020, Berezovsky left the club by mutual consent. On 20 July 2020, Artak Oseyan was announced as Pyunik's new manager, but left his role as head coach on 13 December 2020. On 7 January 2021, Yegishe Melikyan was announced as Pyunik's new manager.
In the 2022/23 season, after victories over Cluj and Dudelange, Pyunik became the first ever Armenian club to reach the third round of Champions League qualifying, where they played against former European Champions Crvena Zvezda, losing 7–0 on aggregate.
Subsequently, Pyunik dropped into the play-off round of the Europa League, where they played against the Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol. After two scoreless draws, Pyunik lost on penalties, thus dropping into the group stages of the Conference League, the first ever group stage appearance in a European competition for the club.
After a defeat away against Basel on the first matchday, Pyunik faced Slovan Bratislava in their first home match in Yerevan, which they won thanks to goals from Artak Dashyan and Yusuf Otubanjo. This result meant that they became the first ever Armenian team to win a game in UEFA group stage competitions.
On 31 December 2024, Pyunik released a statement stating that ownership of the club had passed from Artur Soghomonyan to Anton Farber.

Domestic history

  • Due to the 1995 season being a transitional season, there was no official winner of championship.
  • Championship was decided by a decision game.

European history

CompetitionGPWDLGFGA±
UEFA Champions League42910233669–33
[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup]2897122748–21
UEFA Conference League22120103329+4
Total9230174596146−50

SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAggregate
1996–97UEFA CupQR HJK Helsinki3–12–5 5–6
1997–98UEFA Champions League1Q MTK Budapest0–23–43–6
2002–03UEFA Champions League1Q Tampere United2–04–06–0
2002–03UEFA Champions League2Q Dynamo Kyiv2–20–42–6
2003–04UEFA Champions League1Q KR Reykjavík1–01–12–1
2003–04UEFA Champions League2Q CSKA Sofia0–20–10–3
2004–05UEFA Champions League1Q Pobeda Prilep1–13–14–2
2004–05UEFA Champions League2Q Shakhtar Donetsk1–30–11–4
2005–06UEFA Champions League1Q Haka Valkeakoski2–20–12–3
2006–07UEFA Champions League1Q Sheriff Tiraspol0–00–20–2
2007–08UEFA Champions League1Q Derry City2–00–02–0
2007–08UEFA Champions League2Q Shakhtar Donetsk0–21–21–4
2008–09UEFA Champions League1Q Anorthosis Famagusta0–20–10–3
2009–10UEFA Champions League2Q Dinamo Zagreb0–00–30–3
2010–11UEFA Champions League2Q Partizan Belgrade0–11–31–4
2011–12UEFA Champions League2Q Viktoria Plzeň0–41–51–9
2012–13UEFA Europa League1Q Zeta Golubovci0–32–12–4
2013–14UEFA Europa League1Q Teteks Tetovo1–01–12–1
2013–14UEFA Europa League2Q Žalgiris Vilnius1–10–21–3
2014–15UEFA Europa League1Q Astana1–40–21–6
2015–16UEFA Champions League1Q Folgore2–12–14–2
2015–16UEFA Champions League2Q Molde1–00–51–5
2016–17UEFA Europa League1Q Europa FC2–10–22–3
2017–18UEFA Europa League1Q Slovan Bratislava1–40–51–9
2018–19UEFA Europa League1Q Vardar1–02–03–0
2018–19UEFA Europa League2Q Tobol1–01–22–2
2018–19UEFA Europa League3Q Maccabi Tel Aviv0–01–21–2
2019–20UEFA Europa League1Q Shkupi3–32–15–4
2019–20UEFA Europa League2Q Jablonec2–10–02–1
2019–20UEFA Europa League3Q Wolverhampton Wanderers0–40–40–8
2022–23UEFA Champions League1Q CFR Cluj0–02–2 2–2
2022–23UEFA Champions League2Q F91 Dudelange0–14−14−2
2022–23UEFA Champions League3Q Red Star Belgrade0–20–50–7
2022–23UEFA Europa LeaguePO Sheriff Tiraspol0–00–00–0
2022–23UEFA Europa Conference LeagueGroup H Basel1–21–33rd
2022–23UEFA Europa Conference LeagueGroup H Slovan Bratislava2−01–23rd
2022–23UEFA Europa Conference LeagueGroup H Žalgiris2−01–23rd
2023–24UEFA Europa Conference League1Q Narva Trans2−03−05−0
2023–24UEFA Europa Conference League2Q Kalmar FF2−12−14−2
2023–24UEFA Europa Conference League3Q Bodø/Glimt0–30–30–6
2024–25UEFA Champions League1Q Dinamo Minsk0–10–00–1
2024–25UEFA Conference League2Q Struga3–11–24–3
2024–25UEFA Conference League3Q Ordabasy1−01−02−0
2024–25UEFA Conference LeaguePO Celje1−01–42–4
2025–26UEFA Conference League1Q Tre Fiori5−00–15−1
2025–26UEFA Conference League2Q Győr2−11–33–4

Kit and badge

Throughout the seasons, Pyunik has predominantly worn blue and white jerseys, with a few exceptions including Pyunik's first jerseys which were orange.
Puma is the club's current kit supplier since 2019.
On 3 August 2020, Pyunik announced that Joma would be supplying the team's kit for the 2020–21 season.

Badge

The club has had five different designs for its badge during its history, with the first three designs being significantly different from each other.
Following the club's reappearance in 2001, Pyunik introduced its iconic logo design which included a bold letter P placed on top of a football. The club kept this design for 13 years before introducing a double-headed golden phoenix crest in 2014. This change resulted unpopular among the fans and Pyunik introduced a new badge in 2019, this time returning to its original round shape with a predominantly blue logo and a red phoenix in the center.

Stadium

Pyunik used several locations throughout its history. Between 1992 and 1998, Pyunik played at Hrazdan Stadium, Armenia's largest stadium with a capacity for 54,208 spectators.
In 2001, following the renovations works done at the Republican Stadium two years before, Pyunik relocated and played all its home matches there until 2013, with a brief interruption in 2008, when the club was forced to play at Pyunik Stadium; its training ground, due to renovation works at the Republican Stadium.
Between 2013 and 2017, the Yerevan Football Academy served as a home venue for all domestic competitions, while still using the Republican Stadium for international fixtures. At the beginning of 2017–18 Armenian Premier League season, Pyunik used the Republican Stadium as a home venue during the first half of the season, and eventually returning to their own Pyunik Stadium during the second half.
The Republican Stadium is also the home of the Armenia national football team, and is sometimes used by other Armenian teams for their international cup fixtures.
The club is currently planning on building an all-seater 5,000 capacity stadium by 2022.

List of stadiums used by the club

Supporters

Pyunik's supporter base is traditionally regarded as part of Yerevan's higher class, in contrast with the supposedly more lower-class base of cross-town arch rival FC Urartu. Because of the club's history and recent success, the fanbase has grown not only in Yerevan, but in other provinces of Armenia and within the Armenian Diaspora as well.
Pyunik is considered to be one of the most popular clubs in Armenia, and has one of the biggest Ultras fanbases in Armenia, called Sector 18, named after the sector they occupy at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium.

Rivalries

Pyunik's rivalry with Ararat originates with the creation of the club itself. Pyunik's founder Khoren Oganesian, is considered an Ararat club idol, due to his achievements at the club during the Soviet period, winning the 1975 Soviet Cup. Pyunik's success in recent history has led the club's image to surpass that of Ararat, which has led to arguments over which club has had a bigger impact on Armenian football.
The other rivalry, between Pyunik and Urartu is also known as the clash of Yerevan neighborhoods, since Pyunik is located in the wealthier Kentron neighborhood, whereas Urartu is located in the lower-class Malatia-Sebastia neighborhood. The rivalry between both teams originates from Urartu's relocation from Abovyan to Yerevan in 2001, competing with and eventually becoming one of the largest teams in the city. Both teams' youth academies also compete with each other as they are considered to be two of the best in the country.

Management

Executive board

Anton Farber is the current owner and President of Pyunik since 2024.

Staff

  • Technical Director: Tigran Poghosyan
  • General Secretary: Lilit Avagyan
  • Sports director of Pyunik Academy: Aram Gyulbudaghyan
  • Chief scout: Nikolai Babkin
  • Head of International Scouting: Victor Lafuente

Honours

Other sports sections

Football reserves and academy

The reserve is currently coached by Levon Stepanyan and competes in the Armenian First League. The youth academy is managed by Aram Voskanyan.
Notable players from the youth academy include Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Robert Arzumanyan, Karlen Mkrtchyan, Edgar Manucharyan, Varazdat Haroyan and Gevorg Ghazaryan.