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Qarabag: The Team without a City and their Quest to Conquer Europe
On 23 July 1993, under the rain of artillery fire from the army of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, the city of Agdam was levelled to the ground. The population fled to other villages or to the capital of Baku, while 60,000 of Agdam's inhabitants - their homes reduced to rubble - were forced to become refugees in their own country. The last standard-bearer of the once-bustling and historically important city of Agdam was its football team. Qarabag instantly became the embodiment of this obsolete city, and took on the role of keeping it alive for a population that had lost everything - a beacon of light in the darkest of times. The team, led by coach Gurban Gurbanov, would amaze the whole of Europe, first reaching the Europa League groups and then the Champions League group stage. This book tells the story of that incredible sporting feat and how the club's two-horse logo has become the emblem of an entire people, of a nation that struggles, suffers and holds tight to the dream of one day returning home.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 12, 2023
A really interesting look at the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia and a football team who went from having their home city being wiped off the face of the earth to reaching the group stages of the Champions League.
March 15, 2025
Qarabag are the refugee team from an unlikely country who upset Europe by reaching the Champions League group stages - granted, Anorthosis Famagusta had done the same thing nine years earlier, but still, it's an interesting story.
Much of that story has already been told in Robert O'Connor's Blood and Circuses: A Football Journey Through Europe’s Rebel Republics - which isn't a criticism of Qarabag of course. There's a bit more background - though not a huge amount; this is a short book - and Giulianelli's focus is on the wider Qarabag region, of which Nagorno-Karabakh is (or was) just the mainly Armenian part. So we hear of the team playing games at the Imaret while Armenian bombs fell, and how the then club manager was killed in action - though there is a touching extra anecdote about someone ringing Aghdam for an update, but when they rang again, the phone wasn't answered.
Qarabag leave Aghdam after 40 years to relocate to Baku - along with the entire city of 60,000 in one of the darkest incidents of a dark conflict, as the city is razed to the ground. Title winners in 1993, a bizarre scene sees them celebrate a title the following year as well, only for UEFA to intervene and point out you can't give clubs additional league points for underage performances.
Then Azersun Holdings get involved - it's not clear what funding is put in, though Azerbaijani clubs tend to either have a corporate sponsor or else fold. The team struggle initially, flirting with relegation and even moving back to Karabakh for half a season, enduring hours-long trips to their home games from their base in Baku. It takes a few years for them to earn a second title - and actually since then, the story turns a bit dull, one of a team dominating their domestic scene due to money from Europe destroying any hint of domestic competition. They've now won 10 leagues in 11. They've moved away from fielding mostly local teams, though the foreigners - Albanian, Georgian, South African, Spanish - all tell of how important it is to represent the refugees of Aghdam; they're well versed in the history.
In a country where there wasn't ever a real culture of local football support - Neftchi Baku would have been a de facto national team in the USSR times - it's not really a surprise to read that most of Azerbaijan get behind Qarabag during their European runs (while domestic games are played in a ground with 1/10th the capacity). Yet there's a feeling too that Qarabag are used as a propaganda tool for the Karabakh cause. Giulianelli tries to stay politically neutral but maybe O'Connor's telling of the tale - in which Azerbaijan very much comes off the worse of the two countries, despite Armenia's actions in Aghdam - are more revealing for all that. Though the long-serving Qarabag manager (17 years and counting, which includes a brief spell as national manager) Gurban Gurbanov's comments that "I hope we never have to meet the enemy" (Armenia) and "If it did happen, it would be at a neutral venue, behind closed doors" certainly indicate a depth of feeling, it's only a hint at true emotions. We don't get to hear about UEFA's intervention when Qarabag's PR Manager tweeted "Kill all the Armenians, old and young, without distinction". O'Connor ends his book banned from Azerbaijan - something Giulianelli probably couldn't risk.
This book may have come a couple of years too early - in 2023, of course, Azerbaijan stormed the entire Qarabag region and pretty much completely ethically cleansed it, Armenian sections and all. Qarabag have always said they want to move back in Aghdam, and that may now be possible - but how will that work out? Will it impact what they stand for? Will they be able to thrive in a small city, or will they lose the advantages of playing in a capital city, such as attracting players? A revised edition may be needed in a couple of years.
Much of that story has already been told in Robert O'Connor's Blood and Circuses: A Football Journey Through Europe’s Rebel Republics - which isn't a criticism of Qarabag of course. There's a bit more background - though not a huge amount; this is a short book - and Giulianelli's focus is on the wider Qarabag region, of which Nagorno-Karabakh is (or was) just the mainly Armenian part. So we hear of the team playing games at the Imaret while Armenian bombs fell, and how the then club manager was killed in action - though there is a touching extra anecdote about someone ringing Aghdam for an update, but when they rang again, the phone wasn't answered.
Qarabag leave Aghdam after 40 years to relocate to Baku - along with the entire city of 60,000 in one of the darkest incidents of a dark conflict, as the city is razed to the ground. Title winners in 1993, a bizarre scene sees them celebrate a title the following year as well, only for UEFA to intervene and point out you can't give clubs additional league points for underage performances.
Then Azersun Holdings get involved - it's not clear what funding is put in, though Azerbaijani clubs tend to either have a corporate sponsor or else fold. The team struggle initially, flirting with relegation and even moving back to Karabakh for half a season, enduring hours-long trips to their home games from their base in Baku. It takes a few years for them to earn a second title - and actually since then, the story turns a bit dull, one of a team dominating their domestic scene due to money from Europe destroying any hint of domestic competition. They've now won 10 leagues in 11. They've moved away from fielding mostly local teams, though the foreigners - Albanian, Georgian, South African, Spanish - all tell of how important it is to represent the refugees of Aghdam; they're well versed in the history.
In a country where there wasn't ever a real culture of local football support - Neftchi Baku would have been a de facto national team in the USSR times - it's not really a surprise to read that most of Azerbaijan get behind Qarabag during their European runs (while domestic games are played in a ground with 1/10th the capacity). Yet there's a feeling too that Qarabag are used as a propaganda tool for the Karabakh cause. Giulianelli tries to stay politically neutral but maybe O'Connor's telling of the tale - in which Azerbaijan very much comes off the worse of the two countries, despite Armenia's actions in Aghdam - are more revealing for all that. Though the long-serving Qarabag manager (17 years and counting, which includes a brief spell as national manager) Gurban Gurbanov's comments that "I hope we never have to meet the enemy" (Armenia) and "If it did happen, it would be at a neutral venue, behind closed doors" certainly indicate a depth of feeling, it's only a hint at true emotions. We don't get to hear about UEFA's intervention when Qarabag's PR Manager tweeted "Kill all the Armenians, old and young, without distinction". O'Connor ends his book banned from Azerbaijan - something Giulianelli probably couldn't risk.
This book may have come a couple of years too early - in 2023, of course, Azerbaijan stormed the entire Qarabag region and pretty much completely ethically cleansed it, Armenian sections and all. Qarabag have always said they want to move back in Aghdam, and that may now be possible - but how will that work out? Will it impact what they stand for? Will they be able to thrive in a small city, or will they lose the advantages of playing in a capital city, such as attracting players? A revised edition may be needed in a couple of years.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews