FC Astana


Astana Football Club is a professional football club based in Nur-Sultan. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,254-seat Astana Arena stadium. The club colours, reflected in their badge and kit, are sky blue and yellow. Founded as Lokomotiv Astana in 2009, the club changed its name to Astana in 2011. They are members of the Astana Presidential Club, an association of the main sports teams in Astana supported by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna.
The short history of the club already boasts five league titles, three Kazakhstan Cups and three Kazakhstan Super Cups.

History

Founding and first years (2009–2014)

On 27 December 2008, football clubs from Almaty Megasport and Alma-Ata announced they would merge to found a new club. The club was named "FC Lokomotiv Astana" as the National Railway Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy became a general sponsor. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy in cooperation with City Council of Nur-Sultan decided to move the club to the new building stadium in the capital of Kazakhstan. Vakhid Masudov became the first head coach in the club's history. The club has benefited from a high salary role which has enabled them to attract players of status to the club. Andrey Tikhonov and Yegor Titov first of all came from the Russian Football Premier League. Several more followed such as Patrick Ovie and Baffour Gyan. Maksim Shatskikh later arrived from Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League which was again a very high-profile capture for the club. The majority of their other players have arrived from other clubs of the Kazakhstan Premier League, mostly on free transfers from the clubs which were absorbed to make the club and several which went into bankruptcy.
On 8 March 2009, Lokomotiv played in the league's inaugural match against Kazakhmys in Satbayev. In March 2009, Vakhid Masudov was replaced by Vladimir Gulyamkhaidarov. However, only two days after his appointment he was replaced by Russian specialist Sergei Yuran. The club earned silver medals in their first season of play. On 14 November 2010, Holger Fach guided Astana to their first Kazakhstan Cup success. However, they were ineligible for a UEFA license since they had not yet existed for at least three years. So they were not able to start in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. On 2 March 2011, Astana beat Tobol 2–1 and won the Kazakhstan Super Cup for the first time. In 2012, Miroslav Beránek led Astana to win their second Kazakhstan Cup. In July 2013, the club made a debut in Europe playing in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League against Botev Plovdiv. Astana lost both matches, 0–1 at home and 0–5 away. On 4 July 2013, Astana officially joined to newly created Astana Presidential Sports Club, the organization supported by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna to combine the main sports teams in Astana.

Stoilov years: Domestic dominance and European breakthrough (2014–2018)

On 22 June 2014, the club announced that former Botev Plovdiv manager Stanimir Stoilov was appointed as new head coach. In 2014–15 European campaign, Astana played four ties in the UEFA Europa League qualifying stages. In the first round they beat Pyunik 6–1 on aggregate, then raised more than a few eyebrows in the second round, beating Hapoel Tel Aviv 3–1 on aggregate thanks to a convincing home leg win. The third qualifying round saw Astana cruise past AIK, with a 4–1 aggregate score. In the play-off round, Astana was defeated by Villarreal. On 1 November 2014, Astana became Kazakhstan Premier League champions for the first time in their history, securing the championship with a 3–0 home win against Kaisar.
On 1 March 2015, Astana won the 2015 Kazakhstan Super Cup, beating Kairat 3–2 in a penalty shoot-out after the match ended with the score 0–0. On 26 August 2015, the club became the first team from Kazakhstan to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, after beating APOEL 2–1 on aggregate in the play-off round. They were drawn in Group C alongside Benfica, Atlético Madrid and Galatasaray, where they managed to obtain four points in six games after four draws and two losses. On 8 November 2015, Astana clinched their second Kazakhstan Premier League title beating Aktobe 1–0 at home in the last tour game. On 9 December 2015, the club extended their contract with Stanimir Stoilov for the next two years.
In the 2016 season, Astana was eliminated from UEFA Champions League after two stages, being defeated by Celtic in the third qualifying round 3–2 on aggregate. However, the club qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage, beating BATE in the play-off round. On 26 October 2016, Astana won their third straight championship under Stoilov's rule. On 19 November 2016, the club won the 2016 Kazakhstan Cup, defeating Kairat 1–0. Their 2017 Champions League bid was stopped short once again by Celtic, this time in the playoff round. Following an embarrassing 5–0 rout in Glasgow, they failed to reach the group stages in an 8–4 defeat on aggregate. However, Astana reached another milestone by reaching the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League after finishing second in the group phase. Astana extended further its domestic dominance by winning fourth consecutive title in the 2017 season. On 8 January 2018, Stoilov signed a new contract with Astana, but left the club on 1 March 2018 to take over the vacant Kazakhstan national football team's manager position.

Post Stoilov years: (2018–)

On the same day as Stoilov was announced as the new manager of Kazakhstan, 1 March 2018, Grigori Babayan was announced as the Astana's interim manager. On 1 June 2018, Astana announced Roman Hryhorchuk as the club's new manager. On 17 August 2018, Hryhorchuk left Astana on compassionate leave with Grigori Babayan again stepping in as Caretaker Manager. Astana announced on 3 January 2019 that Hryhorchuk would return to lead the team after missing the second half of the 2018 season due to family reasons.
On 14 January 2019, Paul Ashworth was announced as the new executive director of FC Astana.
Hryhorchuk left Astana by mutual consent on 13 January 2020. The following day, 14 January 2020, Michal Bílek was announced as the new Head Coach of Astana.
On 18 February 2020, Astana revealed a new logo to commemorate 10-years of the club.

Stadium

Astana's current home venue is Astana Arena. The stadium has been Astana's home since the mid of the 2009 season, when the club moved from the Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium. The stadium holds 30,254 and has a retractable roof. The inaugural match at the new stadium was a 2–1 win over the Kazakhstan national under-21 football team in a friendly match. It is also serves as a national stadium for the Kazakhstan national football team.

Colours and crest

The team's original crest was implemented in 2009 consisting of the team's name, Football Club Lokomotiv Astana, on a blue round frame and a blue coloured letter "L" in the center, meaning railway track. As the result of renaming in 2011, the club adopted a new crest. The crest consisted of the team's name with uppercase letters on an image of the ball. This was accompanied by the words "football club" in Kazakh and Russian languages on the top and bottom of the crest. On 23 January 2013, the club presented a new crest, which replicated the style and colours of the Lokomotiv Astana crest. The crest consisted an image of the ball in a shanyrak style and two Kazakh national patterns on each side. The present club crest was introduced on 10 March 2014, and incorporated the Astana Presidential Club crest's style and colours as well as BC Astana, Astana Pro Team and Astana Dakar Team. The crest consists of the team's name, Astana Football Club, under a flying ball.
Blue and white were initially the club's primary colours, the team's nickname was the "Blue-and-White". Blue was used to accent the home jersey while white was the main colour of the team's away kit. During the 2012 season, Astana wore yellow and blue striped shirts and blue shorts as home kit and wholly blue away kit. In 2013, they retrieved original colours used from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, the club joined to Astana Presidential Club and adopted its colours. The present club colours are sky blue and yellow. Astana's current shirt sponsor is Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna. The club's first kit sponsorship was from national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy who sponsored the club for a total of 4 years before ending the deal in 2013. The team's kit supplier is Adidas who have supplied the club kits since their inception.
PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
2009–2014AdidasKazakhstan Temir Zholy
2014–AdidasSamruk-Kazyna

Players

First team squad

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Out on loan

For recent transfers, see 2020 FC Astana season.

Non-playing staff

Management

Coaching staff

Notable managers

The following managers won at least one trophy when in charge of Astana:
NamePeriodTrophies
Holger Fach2010–2011Kazakhstan Cup, Kazakhstan Super Cup
Miroslav Beránek2012–2013Kazakhstan Cup
Stanimir Stoilov2014–2018Kazakhstan Premier League, Kazakhstan Cup, Kazakhstan Super Cup
Grigori Babayan2018Kazakhstan Premier League, Kazakhstan Super Cup
Roman Hryhorchuk2018–2020Kazakhstan Premier League, Kazakhstan Super Cup
Michal Bílek2020–Kazakhstan Super Cup

Honours

Seasons

SeasonRankPWDLFAGDPtsCupELCL
2009226200654243060
20104321481041281350
2011432167950371333
2012526137634241046
2013232195856282838
20141321810463263745
2015132207555263946
2016132234547212673
2017133254474215176
2018133245468224077
2019133223867283969

;Key
Rank = Rank in the Kazakhstan Premier League; P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Cup = Kazakhstan Cup; EL = UEFA Europa League; CL = UEFA Champions League.

in = Still in competition; — = Not attended; 1R = 1st round; 2R = 2nd round; 3R = 3rd round; 1QR = 1st qualifying round; 2QR = 2nd qualifying round; 3QR = 3rd qualifying round; PO = Play-off round; GS = Group stage; ; R32 = Round of 32; R16 = Round of 16; QF = Quarterfinals; SF = Semifinals; F = Final.

European record

CompetitionPldWDLGFGAGD
UEFA Champions League30111093439−5
UEFA Europa League44179206473-9
Total7628192998112-14

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAggregate
UEFA Europa League1QR Botev Plovdiv0–10–50–6
UEFA Europa League1QR Pyunik2–04–16–1
UEFA Europa League2QR Hapoel Tel Aviv3–00–13–1
UEFA Europa League3QR AIK1–13–04–1
UEFA Europa LeaguePO Villarreal0–30–40–7
UEFA Champions League2QR Maribor3–10–13–2
UEFA Champions League3QR HJK4–30–04–3
UEFA Champions LeaguePO APOEL1–01–12–1
UEFA Champions LeagueGS Benfica2–20–24th
UEFA Champions LeagueGS Atlético Madrid0–00–44th
UEFA Champions LeagueGS Galatasaray2–21–14th
UEFA Champions League2QR Žalgiris Vilnius2–10–02–1
UEFA Champions League3QR Celtic1–11–22–3
UEFA Europa LeaguePO BATE2–02–24–2
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Olympiacos1–11–44th
UEFA Europa LeagueGS APOEL2–11–24th
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Young Boys0–00–34th
UEFA Champions League2QR Spartaks Jūrmala1–11–02–1
UEFA Champions League3QR Legia Warsaw3–10–13–2
UEFA Champions LeaguePO Celtic4–30–54–8
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Maccabi Tel Aviv4–01–02nd
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Slavia Prague1–11–02nd
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Villarreal2–31–32nd
UEFA Europa LeagueR32 Sporting Lisbon1–33–34–6
UEFA Champions League1QR Sutjeska Nikšić1–02–03–0
UEFA Champions League2QR Midtjylland2–10–02–1
UEFA Champions League3QR Dinamo Zagreb0–20–10–3
UEFA Europa LeaguePO APOEL1–00–11–1 P.
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Dynamo Kyiv0–12–23rd
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Stade Rennais2–00–23rd
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Jablonec2–11–13rd
UEFA Champions League1QR CFR Cluj1–01–32–3
UEFA Europa League2QR FC Santa Coloma4–10–04–1
UEFA Europa League3QR Valletta5–14–09–1
UEFA Europa LeaguePO BATE3–00–23–2
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Manchester United2–10–14th
UEFA Europa LeagueGS Partizan1–21–44th
UEFA Europa LeagueGS AZ0–50–64th
UEFA Champions League1QR

;Key
1QR = 1st qualifying round; 2QR = 2nd qualifying round; 3QR = 3rd qualifying round; PO = Play-off round; GS = Group stage; R32 = Round of 32.

UEFA coefficient

The table shows the position of FC Astana, based on their UEFA coefficient club ranking, and four clubs, which are closest to FC Astana's position.
RankTeamPoints
48 Borussia Mönchengladbach29,000
49 Fenerbahçe28,500
50 Astana27,500
51 Viktoria Plzeň27.000
52 Lokomotiv Moscow26.500

As of 9 November 2018.

Records

As of match played 12 December 2017
Players played over 50 competitive, professional matches only. Appearances as substitute included in total.
NameYearsLeagueCupSuper CupEuropeTotal
1 Nenad Erić2011–present
2 Abzal Beisebekov2009, 2012–present
3 Dmitri Shomko2011, 2014–present
4 Marin Aničić2014–2019
5 Yevgeny Postnikov2014–present
6 Tanat Nusserbayev2011–2016
7 Serikzhan Muzhikov2014, 2015–2019
8 Patrick Twumasi2013, 2014, 2015–2018
9 Marat Shakhmetov2009–2014
10 Foxi Kéthévoama2012, 2013–2015

Top goalscorers

NameYearsLeagueCupSuper CupEuropeTotal
1 Patrick Twumasi2013, 2014, 2015–2018
2 Tanat Nusserbayev2011–2016
3 Marin Tomasov2017, 2018–Present
4 Junior Kabananga2015–2018, 2018–2019
5 Foxi Kéthévoama2012, 2013–2015
6 Igor Bugaiov2010–2011
6 Roman Murtazayev2017–2019
8 Đorđe Despotović2016–2018
9 Sergei Ostapenko2010, 2012–2014, 2015
9 Serikzhan Muzhikov2014, 2015–2019

Partnerships