Qəbələ · Azerbaijan

Qəbələİdman Klubu

Qırmızı-qaralar · “The Red-Blacks”

Founded 1995 · Qəbələ, Greater Caucasus foothills

Europa League group stage ×2
Survived the play-off

Qəbələ play at Gabala City Stadium, capacity 3,748, are coached by Jeton Beqiri and stand 10th in the 2026/27 Misli Premyer Liqası on 8 points from 10 matches. Founded in 1995 in Qəbələ. 25 registered players.

Updated 3 Nov 2026

2026/27 season

MİSLİ PREMYER LİQASI

League position

10th

Played 10

Points

2 won
2 drawn
6 lost

Registered players

for 2026/27

Ground capacity

3,748

Seats

Recent form

Lost
Lost
Lost
Won
Drew

Most recent last

Home ground

Gabala City Stadium

Qəbələ

3,748Capacity

Head coach

Jeton Beqiri

Management

Chairman Fariz Najafov

Squad

Registered players, 2026/27

Club colours

Red & black

Last season2025/26

11th of 12

27 points

Honours

2Azerbaijan Cups

2League runners-up

2First Division titles

League: None — runners-up 2016-17, 2017-18
Cup: 2018-19, 2022-23

Squad 2026/27 — 25 players

Squad taken from the Professional Football League's registration list for this club. Shirt numbers can change during a transfer window.

History

Founded on 3 July 1995 as Göy Göl, representing the Xanlar district. After winning the 2005-06 First Division the club was relocated to Qəbələ, re-registered, and taken over by Gilan Holding — the conglomerate run by Tale Heydarov, club president from 2005 to 2019. What followed was one of the most aggressively funded projects in Caucasian football: a multi-sport organisation spanning judo, boxing and taekwondo, and a town of 13,000 people playing Borussia Dortmund.

The ambition outran the resources. A promised 15,000-seat stadium was never built. Relegation came in 2023-24, the First Division title in 2024-25, and in 2025-26 survival required a relegation play-off, won 2-0 against Mingəçevir on 28 May 2026.

In Europe

The first Azerbaijani club to win four consecutive European rounds — Dinamo Tbilisi, Čukarički, Apollon Limassol and Panathinaikos in 2015-16 qualifying — to reach the Europa League group stage. In a group with Borussia Dortmund, Krasnodar and PAOK they took two points from two goalless draws with PAOK, and lost 1-3 at home to Dortmund with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring a hat-trick in front of 10,500. They returned to the group stage in 2016-17 against Saint-Étienne, Anderlecht and Mainz. Every European home match was played at a Baku stadium; Gabala City Stadium was never UEFA-licensed.

Stories & legends

Tony Adams in the Caucasus

In May 2010 Gabala appointed Arsenal's legendary captain on a reported £1m a year — an extraordinary sum for a club in a league few Europeans could name. He finished seventh and resigned in November 2011. The club repeated the trick in 2013 with Yuri Semin. For most British fans it is still the only reason they have heard of Qəbələ.

Azerbaijan's first football academy

Founded in 2007 — a genuine institutional first in a country where youth development barely existed. In 2012 the club launched the Qabala Cup, an U-15 tournament that brought Villarreal, Levante and Galatasaray academies to a town of 13,000.

Three straight seasons of drama

Relegated 2024, promoted as champions 2025, survived a play-off 2026. Few clubs anywhere have had a more volatile three years.

Fixtures & results

Zİrə