Pakhtakor FC

Pakhtakor
Full namePakhtakor Football Club[1]
Nickname(s)Uzbek: Paxtakorlar
(The cotton grower)
Uzbek: Sherlar
(The Lions)
Uzbek: Xalq jamoasi
(People's team)
Founded8 April 1956; 68 years ago (1956-04-08)
GroundPakhtakor Central Stadium
Capacity35,000
PresidentBobur Shodiev
ManagerMaksim Shatskikh
LeagueUzbekistan Super League
2023Uzbekistan Super League, 1st of 14 (champions)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Pakhtakor Football Club (Uzbek: Paxtakor futbol klubi) is an Uzbek professional football club, based in the capital city of Tashkent, that competes in the Uzbekistan Super League. Pakhtakor literally means "cotton-grower".

Pakhtakor was the only Uzbek club to play in the top-level Soviet football league and the only Central Asian club to appear in a Soviet Cup final. Playing in the Uzbek League since 1992, the club has been the undisputed powerhouse in Uzbekistan since the fall of the Soviet Union, winning fourteen Uzbek League titles, including six in a row from 2002 to 2007.[2] Pakhtakor also won seven consecutive domestic cups between 2001 and 2007, winning eleven cups in total.[3] Players from the club have won Uzbek footballer of the Year honours eight times, and Pakhtakor teammates swept the top three spots in 2002. Club managers have been named Uzbek coach of the year twice.[4]

The team is also a perennial competitor in the AFC Champions League, having reached the semi-finals of the competition twice in 2003 and 2004. Pakhtakor currently holds the record in number of consecutive participations in the AFC Champions League, participating in 11 tournaments from 2002 to 2013.

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Stokkermans, Karel (28 February 2008). "Uzbekistan – List of Champions". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 14 October 2003. Retrieved 18 July 2008.
  3. ^ Stokkermans, Karel (19 March 2008). "Uzbekistan Cup Finals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2008.
  4. ^ Yusupov, Sardorbek (16 May 2008). "Uzbekistan – Footballer and Coach of the Year". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2008.