Ground Inter Arena President Vacant League Azerbaijan Premier League Manager Kakhaber Tskhadadze | Ground Capacity 8,125 2015–16 4th Arena/Stadium Inter Arena Founded 1997 | |
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Full name İnter Bakı Peşəkar İdman Klubu Nickname(s) Bankirlər (The Bankers) Owner International Bank of Azerbaijan | ||
Inter Baku PIK (Azerbaijani: İnter Bakı Peşəkar İdman Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Baku, that currently plays in Azerbaijan Premier League.
Contents
- Early years 19972004
- The Double and Tskhadadze years 2004present
- UEFA club competition results
- Stadium
- Players
- Current squad
- Out on loan
- Reserve team squad
- Individual
- Notable managers
- National
- Regional
- References
The club have won the league title twice but have never won the Azerbaijan Cup, despite reaching four finals.
Early years (1997–2004)
The club has been functioning since 1997, but initially it had a different name. The club originally shared named with Khazar University, the first private university in Azerbaijan which founded the club. The club debuted in the amateur league in 1997. In 1999, Khazar University began to play in the Azerbaijan Premier League and club ended its debut in 11th place. In subsequent years, Inter finished in 7th place (2000/01 season) and 3rd place (2003–04 season).
In 2003–04 season the team performed well and ended the season in fourth place. This result earned the club the right to play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the first time. In the first round of the 2004 Intertoto Cup, Khazar University defeated Bregenz of Austria 3:0 in the first leg on a forfeit and 2:1 in the second leg. In the second round of the tournament, Khazar University played Tampere United of Finland. The club lost the first game 0:3, but won the return leg held in Baku, 1:0. Khazar University lost the tie on aggregate and was out of its first Intertoto cup.
The Double and Tskhadadze years (2004–present)
In summer of 2004, all rights of the Khazar University club were transferred to newly created Inter Baku Professional Football Club, and the team participated in the 13th championship of the Azerbaijani Premier League under the name of Inter Baku. Later in 2004, certain structural changes were made in the club's management, and Inter Baku was renamed the Inter Professional Club, finishing the 2004–2005 season in seventh place. Inter's progression up the standings continued in the 14th iteration of the Azerbaijan Premier League when Inter finished in fourth place.
The club repeated its performance with fourth again in 2006–07 before winning the league championship in 2007–08. Following its victory in the domestic league, Inter qualified for its first-ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2008 and advanced to the second qualifying round by defeating Rabotnički of the Republic of Macedonia on away goals.
2009 saw Inter Baku retain the Azerbaijan Premier League title, securing it second time in club's history. The club's Champions League campaign was less successful – barely losing to Lech Poznań away in penalties. In 2011, Inter Baku also managed to win the CIS Cup after defeating Shakhtsyor Salihorsk in the final.
In 2012, the club recorded Azerbaijani record for the biggest win in a European competition by beating Narva Trans 5–0 in Estonia. The club had started the 2013–14 season with a three-game losing streak, setting a record for worst start to a season in its history. However, the team managed to clinch second spot in the league.
On 31 March 2016, Inter Baku were banned from participating in the next UEFA club competition that they would qualify for in the next three seasons, covering the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.
UEFA club competition results
As of 31 July 2015
Stadium
The club play their home matches at the Inter Arena, an all-seater football stadium situated in Baku. Since 2008, the stadium has been under development, surrounded by practice fields, administration buildings and newly built four-star Inter Hotel.
Players
Azerbaijani teams are limited to nine players without Azerbaijani citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country.
Current squad
As of 12 January 2016Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
For recent transfers, see winter 2016 transfers and summer 2016 transfers.
Reserve team squad
As of 30 October 2016. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Individual
Lists of the players with the most caps and top goalscorers for the club, as of 14 November 2014 (players in bold signifies current Inter player). Ģirts Karlsons is the club's all-time top scorer with 36 goals in 73 games.
Notable managers
Information correct as of match played 2 November 2014. Only competitive matches are counted.
P – Total of played matches W – Won matches D – Drawn matches L – Lost matches GS – Goal scored GA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won
Nationality is indicated by the corresponding FIFA country code(s).