FC Kairat Almaty
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| Full name | Football Club Kairat |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Халық командасы (The People's Team) |
| Founded | 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata |
| Ground | Central Stadium |
| Capacity | 23,804 |
| Chairman | Kairat Boranbayev |
| Manager | Kakhaber Tskhadadze |
| League | Kazakhstan Premier League |
| 2016 | Kazakhstan Premier League, 2nd |
| Website | Club home page |
Football Club Kairat (Kazakh: «Қайрат» футбол клубы) is a professional football club based in Almaty, which plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. Founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata on the basis of the football club Dinamo Alma-Ata, they were renamed to Urozhai in 1955 and Kairat in 1956. The club's home ground is the Central Stadium which has a capacity of 23,804.
They were the leading Kazakh team during the Soviet era, the only ever club to compete at the Soviet Top League, and to win the Soviet First League (second tier of competition) in both 1976 and 1983. The team achieved an all-time high Soviet Top League finish of 7th in 1986 and altogether spent 24 seasons in the Soviet Top League, a record for a Central Asian team. During the existence of the Soviet Union, Kairat was a part of the Voluntary Sports Societies of the USSR. Kairat is considered to be one of the most popular football clubs in Kazakhstan.
At the end of 2006 season, the main sponsor of the club, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (National railways company), withdrew. This precipitated a financial crisis which lasted until the start of 2007 season. Consequently, most of the club's players switched to other teams. The club entered the 2007 season with an inexperienced, young team. In July 2007, a group of private investors took over the club and invested around U.S. $4 million in it. The club progressed to the quarter-final of the National Cup of Kazakhstan but was very close to relegation, finishing in thirteenth position that season. At the beginning of 2009, the club declared itself bankrupt and was relegated to the First Division. In November 2009, Kairat became the champion of the First Division and was promoted to the Kazakhstani Premier League.
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