Shamakhi FK

Early years (1997–2004)

The club has been functioning since 1997, initially as an amateur side that shared its name with Khazar University, the first private university in Azerbaijan, which founded the club. In 1999, Khazar University began to play in the Azerbaijan Premier League, finishing eleventh.^[2] In subsequent years, Inter finished in 7th place (2000/01 season) and 3rd place (2003–04 season).

In the 2003–04 season the team finished in fourth place, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the first time. In the first round of the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, they defeated Bregenz of Austria 3:0 on a forfeiture in the first leg, and 2:1 in the second leg.^[3] In the second round, they played Tampere United of Finland, losing the first leg 0:3; winning the return leg, played in Baku, 1:0; but going out on aggregate 1:3.^[4]

The Double and Tskhadadze years (2004–2014)

In the summer of 2004, all rights of the Khazar University club were transferred to the newly created Inter Baku Professional Football Club, and the team participated in the 13th championship of the Azerbaijani Premier League under the name of Inter Baku. Later in 2004, certain structural changes were made in the club's management, and Inter Baku was renamed the Inter Professional Club, finishing the 2004–2005 season in seventh place. Inter's progression up the standings continued in the 14th iteration of the Azerbaijan Premier League when Inter finished in fourth place.

The club finished fourth again in 2006–07, and first in 2007–08. Following its championship season, Inter qualified for its first-ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2008 and advanced to the second qualifying round by defeating Rabotnički of the Republic of Macedonia on away goals.^[5]

2009 saw Inter Baku retain the Azerbaijan Premier League title, securing it for the second time in the club's history. The club's Champions League campaign was less successful – barely losing to Lech Poznań away on penalties.^[6] In 2011, Inter Baku also managed to win the CIS Cup after defeating Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the final.^[7][8]

In 2012, the club recorded an Azerbaijani record for the biggest win in a European competition by beating Narva Trans 5–0 in Estonia.^[9] The club had started the 2013–14 season with a three-game losing streak, setting a record for worst start to a season in its history.^[10] However, the team managed to clinch second spot in the league.^[11]

Downturn and financial difficulties of Inter Baku (2015–2017)

During the 2015–16 season, Inter started experiencing financial difficulties at the same time with its main sponsor, The International Bank of Azerbaijan. In December 2015, the club's president Georgi Nikolov was replaced by Rashad Gasimov. On 31 March 2016, Inter Baku were banned from participating in the next UEFA club competition that they would qualify for in the next three seasons, covering the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.^[12]

The situation continued during the 2016–17 season as Inter struggled to pay salaries to its players and make new transfers. Despite that, Inter was able to claim the bronze medals in the national championship and reach the semi-finals stage in the Cup. At the end of the season, IBA announced that it would no longer sponsor the club and this led to new changes in the administration. Zaur Akhundov, former director of the National Futzal Federation, was appointed as the head of the supervisory board and Ramish Maliyev became the new executive director of the club. Despite the rumors about the liquidation, Inter was able to find sponsorship for the 2017–18 season and play in the Europe League where it eliminated Serbian Mladost Lučani in the first qualifying round before getting eliminated by Fola Esch in the second round.

Keshla FK (2017–2022)

On 28 October 2017, Inter Baku PIK officially changed its name to Keshla FK.^[13] The club also replaced its logo and jersey colors. In its first match, Keshla lost 0–2 against Kapaz. The next day, the team's manager Zaur Svanadze was replaced by Ramiz Mammadov.^[14] On 25 December 2017, Keshla announced that Ramiz Mammadov had become the club's Sporting Director, with Yuriy Maksymov coming in as the club's new manager.^[15] On 17 July 2018 Maksymov was sacked as manager,^[16] with Mladen Milinković being appointed as the new manager on 25 July 2018.^[17] On 29 October 2018 Milinković was sacked as manager,^[18] with Tarlan Ahmadov being appointed as his replacement on 30 October 2018.^[19] On 8 August 2020, Ahmadov left Keşla.^[20]

On 16 August 2020, Keşla announced Yunis Huseynov being appointed as the new manager.^[21] On 24 January 2021, Huseynov resigned as manager,^[22] with Sanan Gurbanov being appointed as the clubs new manager on 25 January 2021.^[23]

Shamakhi FK (2022–present)

On 6 April 2022, the Azerbaijan Premier League approved the name change of Keşla FK to Shamakhi FK.^[24]

Domestic history

Season	League									Azerbaijan Cup	Top goalscorer
	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P		Name	League
1999-00	1st	11th	22	5	3	14	19	41	18	1/8 Finals	Samir Alakbarov	7
2000–01	1st	7th	20	9	2	9	26	38	29	1/8 Finals	R. Nasibov	8
2003–04	1st	4th	26	15	6	5	43	16	51	1/8 Finals	A. Sokhadze	6
2004–05	1st	7th	34	19	9	6	44	24	66	Runner-up	Elshan Mammadov	10
2005–06	1st	4th	26	14	8	4	35	14	50	Quarter-finals	Lucky Idahor	6
2006–07	1st	4th	24	13	6	5	36	12	45	Semi-finals	Samir Aliyev	6
2007–08	1st	1st	26	18	4	4	55	18	58	Runner-up	Khagani Mammadov	19
2008–09	1st	2nd	26	18	7	1	54	16	61	Runner-up	Walter Guglielmone	17
2009–10	1st	1st	32	22	12	8	58	37	78	Semi-finals	Robertas Poškus	12
2010–11	1st	5th	32	13	10	9	29	24	49	Runner-up	Robertas Poškus	5
2011–12	1st	3rd	32	16	8	8	29	21	56	Semi-finals	Bachana Tskhadadze	7
2012–13	1st	3rd	32	16	9	7	38	22	57	Quarter-finals	Bachana Tskhadadze	8
2013–14	1st	2nd	36	20	7	9	60	37	67	Quarter-finals	Vagif Javadov	16
2014–15	1st	2nd	32	17	12	3	55	20	63	Semi-finals	Mikel Álvaro	9
2015–16	1st	4th	36	16	11	9	39	28	59	Semi-finals	Nizami Hajiyev Mirsahib Abbasov	6
2016–17	1st	3rd	28	11	10	7	39	33	43	Semi-finals	Rauf Aliyev	11
2017–18	1st	6th	28	8	7	13	29	39	31	Winner	Pardis Fardjad-Azad Adrian Scarlatache Slavik Alkhasov	4
2018–19	1st	8th	28	6	5	17	29	45	23	Quarter-finals	Amil Yunanov Jonathan Ayité	5
2019–20	1st	3rd	20	8	6	6	27	21	30	Quarter-finals	Lorenzo Frutos	6
2020–21	1st	6th	28	5	11	12	25	40	26	Winner	Azer Salahli	5
2021–22	1st	7th	28	5	7	16	25	49	22	Quarter-finals	Felipe Santos	6
2022–23	1st	10th	36	4	13	19	26	52	25	Semi-finals	Amil Yunanov	7

European history

As of match played 29 July 2021

Games of Shamakhi in UEFA competitions
Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2004	Intertoto Cup	R1	Bregenz	2–1	3–0	5–1
		R2	Tampere United	1–0	0–3	1–3
2008–09	Champions League	1Q	Rabotnički	0–0	1–1	1–1(a)
		2Q	Partizan	1–1	0–2	1–3
2009–10	Europa League	2Q	Spartak Trnava	1–2	1–3	2–5
2010–11	Champions League	2Q	Lech Poznań	0–1	1–0	1–1 (8–9 p)
2012–13	Europa League	1Q	Narva Trans	5–0	2–0	7–0
		2Q	Asteras Tripoli	1–1	1–1	2–2 (2–4 p)
2013–14	Europa League	1Q	IFK Mariehamn	1–1	2–0	3–1
		2Q	Tromsø	1–0	0–2	1–2
2014–15	Europa League	1Q	Tiraspol	3–1	3–2	6–3
		2Q	IF Elfsborg	0–1	1–0	1–1 (3–4 p)
2015–16	Europa League	1Q	Laçi	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		2Q	FH	2–2	2–1	4–3
		3Q	Athletic Bilbao	0–0	0–2	0–2
2017–18	Europa League	1Q	Mladost Lučani	2–0	3–0	5–0
		2Q	Fola Esch	1–0	1–4	2–4
2018–19	Europa League	1Q	Balzan	2–1	1–4	3–5
2020–21	Europa League	1Q	Laçi	0–0 (4–5 p)	—	—
2021–22	Europa Conference League	2Q	Sochi	2–4	0–3	2–7

Shamakhi's home ground is Shamakhi City Stadium, which has a capacity of 2,200.^[25]

Azerbaijani teams are limited to nine players without Azerbaijani citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country.

Current squad

As of 15 September 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	AZE	Gurban Safarov
22	DF	AZE	Abbas Aghazade
23	MF	AZE	Rovshan Shahmuradov
56	MF	AZE	Samir Aghayev
62	GK	AZE	Abdulla Seydahmadov
77	DF	AZE	Ibrahim Aslanli
80	DF	AZE	Zahid Mardanov
99	GK	AZE	Sahib Hasanov

For recent transfers, see List of Azerbaijan football transfers summer 2022.

Management

Position	Staff
Chairman of the Board	Elchin Usub
General Manager	Kamran Ismayılov
Press secretary	Yusif Huseynov

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Ramiz Mammadov
Goalkeeping coach	Elnar Karimov

Top goalscorers

As of match played 22 May 2022

	Name	Years	League	Azerbaijan Cup	Europe	Total
1	Bachana Tskhadadze	2011–2015	36 (116)	10 (20)	6 (11)	47 (147)
2	Nizami Hajiyev	2007–2008 2010–2013 2014–2017	28 (139)	4 (22)	4 (16)	36 (177)
3	Walter Guglielmone	2007–2009	28 (44)	4 (?)	1 (3)	33 (47+)
4	Khagani Mammadov	2007–2009	22 (35)	3 (?)	0 (5)	25 (40+)
5	Robertas Poškus	2009–2011	17 (49)	3 (5+)	0 (2)	20 (46+)
5	César Meza	2013–2015, 2016 2018, 2019–2021	10 (86)	8 (18)	2 (2)	20 (106)
5	Vagif Javadov	2013–2014 2018–2020	17 (52)	2 (7)	1 (5)	20 (64)
8	Rauf Aliyev	2016–2017	12 (36)	3 (5)	2 (10)	17 (51)
9	Ģirts Karlsons	2009–2015	10 (63)	5 (7+)	1 (2)	16 (72+)
10	Petar Zlatinov	2008–2013	14 (107)	0 (9+)	1 (10)	15 (126+)

Top Ten Players With Most Appearances

Player		Period	Caps	Goals
1	Volodimir Levin	2004–13	204	11
2	Asif Mammadov	2008–10; 2011–2015	118	7
3	Bachana Tskhadadze	2010–2015	117	47
4	Giorgi Lomaia	2009–2016	108	0
5	Arif Dashdemirov	2010–2015	98	5
6	Petar Zlatinov	2008–13	97	10
7	Ilia Kandelaki	2010–13	75	3
8	Elmar Bakhshiev	2004–07	74	1
9	Ģirts Karlsons	2009–12	73	36
10	Bronislav Červenka	2007–12	72	5

Information correct as of match played 23 February 2019. Only competitive matches are counted.

Name	Nat.	From	To	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W	Honours	Notes
Ismail Aliyev	Azerbaijan	1997	1998	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Samir Alakbarov	Azerbaijan	1999	2000	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Boyukagha Aghayev	Azerbaijan	2001	2004	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A		[26]
Anatoly Konjkov	Ukraine	2004	2006	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A		[27]
Oleg Smolyaninov	Russia	2006	2006	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A		[28]
Valentyn Khodukin	Ukraine	2006	Jun 2009	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Azerbaijan Premier League	[28]
Kakhaber Tskhadadze	Georgia	Jul 2009	Jun 2015	220	111	63	46	301	166	050.45	Azerbaijan Premier League CIS Cup	[29]
Zaur Svanadze	Georgia	Jun 2015	29 October 2017	94	37	28	29	112	109	039.36
Ramiz Mammadov	Azerbaijan	29 October 2017	25 December 2017	7	3	0	4	2	10	042.86
Yuriy Maksymov	Ukraine	25 December 2017	17 July 2018	17	8	6	3	23	15	047.06	Azerbaijan Cup
Mladen Milinković	Serbia	25 July 2018[17]	29 October 2018[18]	8	1	2	5	7	12	012.50
Tarlan Ahmadov	Azerbaijan	30 October 2018[19]	8 August 2020[20]	23	6	5	12	15	19	026.09
Yunis Huseynov	Azerbaijan	16 August 2020[21]	24 January 2021[22]	15	3	5	7	13	21	020.00
Sanan Gurbanov	Azerbaijan	24 January 2021[23]		0	0	0	0	0	0	!—

• Notes:

P – Total of played matchesW – Won matchesD – Drawn matchesL – Lost matchesGS – Goal scoredGA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won

Nationality is indicated by the corresponding FIFA country code(s).

National

• Azerbaijan League
  • Winners (2): 2007–08, 2009–10
• Azerbaijan Cup
  • Winners (2): 2017–18, 2020–21

Regional

• CIS Cup
  • Winners (1): 2011

• Official Inter Baku website (archived)
• Inter Baku at Weltfussball.de (archived)
• Inter Baku at Soccerway
• Dynamicsport.eu