From football coach to
Azerbaijan’s National Hero It is difficult to talk about Qarabag FK without mentioning their courageous and tragic history. The club were founded in Aghdam, a town of rich history in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and played in the Azerbaijan championship in the Soviet era. After the USSR ceased to exist, they won the title in 1993, but at the same time huge ethnic conflict erupted in the region. Armenian armed forces captured Aghdam, destroying most of it, including the Imarat stadium and committing war crimes. The local Azerbaijani population had to flee to other parts of the country, leaving Aghdam the largest ghost town in the world. It remains empty today. Allahverdi Bagirov was a footballer and a hero. Not the hype kind of heroism that is celebrated in modern media when a footballer scores a goal, makes a last ditch tackle or a goalkeeper dives bravely at a center-forward’s feet. Former Qarabag FK coach was a real hero. During the “Golden Wheat Cup”, he was the captain of FK Qarabag against a team from Jabrail in 1970. In 1976, Bagirov became the club’s head coach. The former Azerbaijani football legend Mushfig Huseynov remembers: “He was my first football coach. Allahverdi Bagirov taught us to be kind and 16 | EK MAG | ISSUE 06, August 2020
