Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala is a Russian football club based in Makhachkala, capital
of the Republic of Dagestan.
Founded in 1991, the club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home
games at the Anzhi-Arena.
On 18 January 2011, Anzhi Makhachkala was purchased by billionaire Suleyman Kerimov,
and since then the club have had sufficient funds for signings such as Samuel Eto'o and
the managerial appointment of Guus Hiddink in February 2012.
History The club was founded in 1991 by former Dinamo
Makhachkala player Magomed-Sultan Magomedov, then head of Dagnefteprodukt, and took part
in its first season in the Dagestan League the same year.
They ended up as league champions with an unbeaten record and 16 wins out of 20 matches.
Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the club entered Zone 1 of the Russian Second
Division in 1992 and finished in 5th place.
The club won their Group in 1993, but due to league reorganisation were not promoted,
and remained in the new Western Zone of the third tier until a second-place finish in
1996 guaranteed promotion to the First Division, under the coaching of Eduard Malofeev.
A key player in Anzhi's early history was Azerbaijani international forward Ibragim
Gasanbekov, who was the team's top scorer in all of their first seven seasons.
He was league top scorer in 1993 and 1996.
In 1999 Anzhi won the First Division, and were thus promoted to the Russian Premier
League for the first time.
The side missed out on a bronze-medal finish on the last day of the season, as they conceded
a last-minute Torpedo penalty which took their opponents into third place.
On 20 June 2001, the club played in the final of the Russian Cup for the first time, losing
to Lokomotiv on penalties after a 1–1 draw.
Anzhi finished 15th and were relegated from the Premier League in 2002, but during their
first season back in the First Division they reached the semi-finals of the Russian Cup
where they lost 1–0 to Rostov.
In their seventh season in the First Division, Anzhi won the league and returned to the Premier
League.
On 5 December 2010, defender Shamil Burziyev died in a car accident, aged 25.
Modern history
On 18 January 2011, the club was purchased by Dagestani billionaire Suleyman Kerimov,
but later it was revealed that the President of Dagestan, Magomedsalam Magomedov, met Kerimov
and gave him a 100% stake in the club, including 50% of the shares of the former owner of the
club Igor Yakovlev, in exchange for financial support.
Kerimov was planning to invest over $200 million in infrastructure, of which a substantial
amount will go in building a new stadium with a capacity of more than 40,000 spectators,
which would meet all UEFA requirements.
Kerimov's investment was immediate as the club made signings in the 2011 Winter transfer
window.
The first significant signing came on 16 February, when the club announced the free transfer
of Brazilian left-back Roberto Carlos, a World Cup winner in 2002.
Further signings included €10 million on another Brazilian, the former Corinthians
midfielder Jucilei da Silva and €8 million on Moroccan winger Mbark Boussoufa from Anderlecht.
Boussoufa's transfer was finalised in the last minute of the window, on 10 March.
In summer 2011, the club signed the Hungarian Balázs Dzsudzsák, who signed a four-year
deal to transfer for a reported €14 million.
Anzhi also bought Russian midfielder Yuri Zhirkov from Chelsea for a similar fee.
On 23 August 2011, Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto'o signed from Inter Milan for around €28
million, on a world-record €20.5 million annual salary.
In February 2012 the club appointed the experienced Dutchman Guus Hiddink as a new manager, after
Yuri Krasnozhan's two-month-long spell in charge.
Hiddink's first signing was Congolese defender Christopher Samba, joining for £12 million
from Blackburn Rovers.
On 30 January 2012, Roberto Carlos announced his plans to retire at the end of the season.
He ended his football career on 9 March and took up a role as the club's Director.
On 10 October 2012, Anzhi opened a youth academy, the first in the Republic of Dagestan in order
to develop youth talents to the first team.
The academy is being run by Anzhi's Sporting Director Jelle Goes.
On 22 July 2013, Guus Hiddink resigned from his post as manager ending an 18 month stint.
His newly appointed assistant, countryman René Meulensteen, was promoted to the manager
position.
However, after 16 days as the team manager, Meulensteen was sacked.
On 7 August 2013, Kerimov decided to reduce the team's annual budget by a third.
On 15 August 2013 Yuri Zhirkov, Igor Denisov and Aleksandr Kokorin were packaged to FC
Dynamo Moscow for an undisclosed fee.
The three players had been purchased with the previous two years at a cost exceeding
50 million euros.
Remchukov said that the reason for the move was the "sharp deterioration in the health
of Suleiman Kerimov, because of worries about the club’s lack of success."
In addition, Dynamo also signed Christopher Samba, Vladimir Gabulov and Aleksei Ionov
from Anzhi.
Other cost-cutting transfers included Samuel Eto'o and Willian to English side Chelsea,
Lassana Diarra, Mbark Boussoufa and Arseniy Logashov to Lokomotiv Moscow, João Carlos
to Spartak Moscow, and Oleg Shatov to Zenit St Petersburg.
The firesale continued into January 2014 with the sale of striker Lacina Traoré to French-registered
Monegasque club AS Monaco for €18 million and the sale of midfielder Jucilei to United
Arab Emirates side Al Jazira Club.
The budget cut has resulted in Anzhi performing terribly in the 2013-14 Russian Premier League.
When the season ended, Anzhi finished last in the Russian Premier League.
They only managed to win three matches and finished with just 20 points, which makes
them the worst last-placing team in Europe.
Anzhi had been relegated to the Russian National Football League.
Crest and colours
The club's crest includes a yellow eagle in traditional Caucasian clothing with elements
of the Dagestani flag.
The club's name derives from the word "Anzhi", meaning 'pearl' in the local Kumyk language.
It was also the ancient name for the land around where Makhachkala is situated.
In the 2013-14 season they changed their shirt sponsor from Adidas to Nike, but the classic
colours remain.
Stadium
Due to armed conflict in Dagestan, the club's players live and train in a village near Moscow,
at a training base previously used by Saturn Moscow.
The club fly in for home matches, which have a heavy security presence.
The club's 28,000-seat Anzhi-Arena was built in 2003, and due to its facilities is not
used in European competition, for which Anzhi use the Lokomotiv Stadium in Moscow.
A high-priority goal of Kerimov when he purchased the club was the construction of a new 40,000
seater ground.
Supporters Anzhi get most of their support in the Northern
Caucasian region, particularly from the city of Makhachkala.
The club also enjoys support from fans scattered all over the Dagestan, and the local area
in general.
The club is hated by elements of supporters of Moscow clubs and Zenit St Petersburg, due
to hatred of the club's wealth and North Caucasian and Islamic identity.
European competitions Anzhi participated in the 2001–02 UEFA Cup.
Their opponents were Rangers of Scotland.
Instead of usual home-and-away fixtures, UEFA decided to hold a single match in a neutral
venue due to the unstable situation in neighbouring Chechnya.
Rangers won the match 1–0.
After finishing 5th in the 2011–12 Russian Premier League, Anzhi qualified for the group
stage of the UEFA Europa League for the first time in the club's history, after eliminating
Budapest Honvéd in the 2nd qualifying round, Vitesse in the 3rd qualifying round, and AZ
Alkmaar in the play-off round.
However they had to play home matches at the Luzhniki Stadium due to unrest in Makhachkala.
They finished 2nd in group A behind Liverpool, both games between the two ended as 1-0 home
wins, both teams and Young Boys took the top three positions in the group with ten points
each and were ranked by their head-to-head record with Udinese bottom with four points,
Anzhi were the only team in the group not to lose at home, having won all their home
games in the group stage.
Guus Hiddink's team were drawn with German side Hannover, who won group L. The Russians
won the first leg 3-1 at the Luzhniki Stadium before a 1-1 draw in Germany sent them through
4-2 on aggregate.
They faced Newcastle United in the next round, Alan Pardew's men became the first team to
deny Anzhi a home win in European competition in the first leg before Papiss Cisse headed
home the winner for the Magpies in the last second of the second leg at St James' Park
with Mehdi Carcela-González sent off for Guus Hiddink's team.
Honours Russian First Division:
Winners: 1999, 2009 Russian Cup:
Runners-Up: 2001, 2013 Recent seasons
Russia European record
1R: First round, 2Q: Second qualifying round, 3Q: Third qualifying round, PO: Play-off round
Notes
1 Only one leg was played, in a neutral venue in Warsaw, Poland, due to security concerns
in Russia.
Current squad As of 18 July 2014, according to the club's
official website Note: Flags indicate national team as defined
under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan Note: Flags indicate national team as defined
under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserve squad Reserves are eligible to play in the league.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserve team Anzhi's reserve team played professionally
in the Russian Third League from 1995 to 1997.
For more details, see FC Anzhi-Bekenez Makhachkala.
Current coaching staff
Records Top scorers by season
Notable players Had international caps for their respective
countries.
Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Anzhi.
Managers References
External links Official website
Fans' website A fan is a club Anji