FC Amkar Perm (Russia)
Founded in
1994, (Although records show the clubs ‘birthday’ was 8th May 1993) FC Amkar Perm was based in the Russian city of
Perm. It took its place in the Russian professional league in 1995, finally
making it to the Russian Premier League in 2004. The club was originally formed
to represent the Perm Inorganic Fertilizer Company. This is where the name of
the football club came from, as the word ‘Amkar’ is a translation of two
Russian words, Amiak, meaning ammonia and Karbamid, meaning carbamide. These
are the two substances that would be used in the fertiliser plant. They got
their colours of red and black trough an association with the Italian giant, AC
Milan. A company who worked with them to help get equipment were from the city
of Milan. The clubs first team mainly consisted of employees when they first
started off in 1994, but they soon started adding quality to their team from
other surrounding cities, with former professionals joining the club. In their
first season they swept up every trophy they could win in the region of Perm,
including the league and cup double. The next year they applied to become a
club in the Russian leagues and got accepted. They were included in the Russian
third tier in 1995.
Joining the professional leagues
didn’t seem to halt FC Amkar Perms success and with the help of some former
Zveda Perm players the club gained qualification to the second tier by coming
second in the sixth group of the third tier (Russian football has a very
complicated tier to tier promotion and relegation system). 1998 saw the the
biggest game in the clubs history to date when they hosted Spartak Moscow at
their home stadium, the Zvezda Stadium, in the Russian Cup. The sold-out
stadium saw 25,000 witness Amkar beating Spartak 1-0. That year the club
finished top, scoring 100 goals in the process and reaching the Russian First
Division.
The first few seasons saw Amkar
settle in well to their new league, finishing a respectable top six in their
first four season in the division. They even managed a cup run in the 2001-02
season but lost 1-0 to CSKA Moscow in the semi-final. It was only a matter of
time before the club realised their ambition to get to the Russian Premier
Division and their time finally came when they had to beat Fakel Voronezth on
the final day of the 2003 season. Amkar took their chance and saw them promoted
to Russia’s top tier for the first time in their history.
Adjusting to the dizzy heights of the
Russian Premier Division, Amkar finished a respectable 11th (2004), 12th (2005)
and 13th (2006). In the off-season,
before their debut in the Russian Premier League Amkar recruited players of
high quality including the likes of Vladimir Leonchenko and Andrei Lavrik. Tey
even went on another cup run, but once again were beaten in the semi-final by
Khimki, losing 2-0 on aggregate.
In 2005 saw an entertaining season, with
plenty of goal and memories made for the Amkar fans, including wins against
Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow. They may also remember a
loss to Lokomotiv Moscow when they were 3-0 up at half-time only to thro it
away in the second half and lose 4-3. But Amkar were not really known for their
goal scoring, nut rather their defending. In 2006 the club went 15 matches
without conceding a goal. This record was to then be beaten by them in 2008
when they went 17 games without conceding a goal. This helped the club qualify
for the Europa League and would ultimately go down as the most successful
season in the clubs 26-year history.In the second round of the Europa League,
they met English club Fulham. They lost the first leg 3-1 at Craven Cottage but
won the home leg 1-0 but unfortunately this meant they went crashing out early
on and so their European adventure ended. The club also struggled domestically
and were in danger of being relegated from the Premier Division. Survival was
achieved, thanks to the return of head coach, Rashid Rakhimov.
Once again, in 2010, the club
reached the semi-final of the Russian Cup, under unusual circumstances. They
had received a by in the quarterfinals after FC Moscow were dissolved (A club
we may go back and look at in the future). Amkar lost in a penalty shoot0out to
Zenit St Petersburg after a 0-0 draw in normal time. The club struggled again
in the league but managed a 14th place
finish to secure their place in the Russian Premier Division yet again, but it
came at a price. Martin Kushev, a Amkar cult hero and the club’s top goal-scorer
in the Premier Division, announced his retirement from the game.
The next season saw Amkar, surprisingly,
volunteer themselves to join the Russian First Division, stating that due to
financial circumstances they could not compete in the Premier Division. The
club’s supporters rallied and tried to get support and funds together. They
didn’t succeed but the introduction of a new chairman, Gennady Shilov,
replacing outgoing chairman, Valery Chuprakov, saw the club retracted their
request to join the First Division and continue to play in the Premier
Division.
And they did, continue to play in the
Premier Division, giving younger players a chance and being competitive in the
division without ever really challenging for the title. The club stabilised
over the next few years until 2018 when the Russian Football Union recalled FC
Amkar Perms’ licence to compete in the Premier Division for the 2018-19 season,
this meant they could not even compete in the Russian National League either
and on the 18th June, 2018 club president,
Gennadi Shilov announced the club was dissolving. FC Zvezda Perm was to compete
in its place and entered the PFL for the 2018-19 season.
The clubs all-time top goal-scorer
was Konstantin Paramonov with 170 goals in all competitions. Their all-time
appearance maker was Aleksei Popev who made 424 appearances for the club. The
clubs biggest ever victory recorded was in their first ever season when they
beat Magnitogorsk 8-1. Their biggest defeat came at the hands of Spartak Moscow
in 2004 when they lost 6-0.
I spoke to Alex McGuiness, an Irish
man who was born in Perm so naturally has grown attached to the club that
represents his town of birth. He even runs a Twitter account to promote the
club and all their matches, and club news such is his dedication and support
for the newly founded Russian club.
How did you start following Amkar Perm?
Alex: My local team is Dundalk and when Dundalk played Zenit in the UEL
in 2016 I grew and interest in Russian football after I came back from Russia,
(Alex went to the away game v Zenit). I knew I was born in Perm so I started
supporting Amkar Perm, they were in the Premier League at the time and were a
good mid-tableside with a strong defensive back line.
Who is your favourite player to have played in the red and black
of Amkar Perm FC?
Alex: Favourite player is probably belorukvov who
was a strong defender and a great servant for the club for so many years and
probably amkar’s famous ever player.
What has been the best thing about following
Amkar Perm FC?
Alex: Best thing
about following Amkar is the fan base the fans are truley so passionate about
the club and they are the reason why Amkar is back from the dead
Where do you see the club in five or 10
years?
Alex: With the way
things are looking at the moment at Amkar being state owned I hope they can
return back to the premier league in a few years if not hopefully the second
tier of Russian football it’s exciting.
Do you think the club will ever get back to
the level they were at before they dissolved?
Alex: Yes Amkar I
can get back to the top, {their} not the first club to go through this, Aresnal
Tula for example have fallen this badly and still got back to the premier
league.
If there was one thing you could add or
change to the club right now, what would it be and why?
Alex: I dream of a
new stadium as the current stadium only holds 17k but if they would renovate
the stadium that would be great but if I was realistic it would be a healthy
good future for Amkar.
Finally, can you tell me interesting fact
about the history of the club that you have found out yourself?
Alex: Amkar perm formed in 1994, at the time perm was
known to have a good trade partner with the city milan in Italy this give Amkar
its famous red and black stripes, Amkar became perm champions which led them to
climb the Russian leagues to the premier league they stayed in the premier
league for 18 years.
The story
of FC Amkar Perm is an all too familiar one in Russia, with a number of clubs
rising to the dizzy heights of Premier League football only to find they cannot
sustain the financial obligations put on them or keep up with the success they
have gained over a few years. Russian football is very much dominated by the
Moscow clubs, with the exception of St Petersberg, and for any other club
outside of that monopoly to gate crash that party, they would need a huge
financial backing and one that would last longer than a few years. Anzhi
recently tried to do it but they look like they may fall the same way as FC
Amkar Perm. The good news is that FC Amkar Perm are back in existence and still
playing football in front of their fans, albeit at a lower level than they once
were, although for their fans I don’t think it matters who or what league they
are playing in as long as the jersey is worn with pride by the players who play
for them.