FC Astana
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| Full name | Football Club Astana |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Blue and Yellows |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Ground | Astana Arena |
| Capacity | 30,000 |
| Owner | Samruk-Kazyna |
| General Manager | Sayan Khamitzhanov |
| Manager | Stanimir Stoilov |
| League | Kazakhstan Premier League |
| 2016 | Kazakhstan Premier League, 1st |
| Website | Club home page |
Football Club Astana (Kazakh: «Астана» футбол клубы), commonly referred to as FC Astana or simply Astana, is a professional football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,000-seat Astana Arena stadium, where they have played since 2009 mid-season. 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 Sports 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 three league titles, three Kazakhstan Cups and two Kazakhstan Super Cups. In 2015, Astana qualified to the UEFA Champions League group stage, becoming the first Kazakh team to do so.
On 27 December 2008, football clubs from Almaty Megasport and Alma-Ata announced they would merge to found a new club. The club named "FC Lokomotiv Astana" inasmuch as the National Railway Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy became a general sponsor. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy in cooperation with City Council of Astana decided to rebase the club to the new building stadium in the capital of Kazakhstan.Vakhid Masudov became the first head coach in a club 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 is 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 last year went into bankruptcy.
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