Araz-NakhchivanAraz-Nakhchivan are a football club whose history was interrupted three separate times by organisational and financial crises before the side finally established itself on a lasting basis in Azerbaijan's top flight. The club was founded in 1967 in Nakhchivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan separated from the rest of the country by Armenian territory, and a year later began competing in the Soviet First League. The club ceased operations following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A first attempt at revival came in 2001, when the team joined the Premier League of a now-independent Azerbaijan, but financial difficulties forced it to suspend operations again just a year later. The club was not reformed until 23 May 2013, this time starting out in the First Division. After the 2013/14 season, Araz-Nakhchivan were promoted to the Premier League, where they competed in 2014/15, before another relegation returned the club to the second tier. A lasting return to the top flight came only in 2023, when the club won the First Division title, securing promotion to the Azerbaijan Premier League, where it has competed continuously ever since.
Known as the Qırmızı qurdlar (Red Wolves), the club represents a region with a unique geographic position - the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, entirely cut off by land from the rest of Azerbaijan. The team plays its home matches at the Nakhchivan City Stadium, which can hold nearly thirteen thousand spectators, making it one of the country's larger football venues outside Baku. The club's turbulent history, marked by two periods of suspended operations, remains an important part of the footballing identity of a region for which Araz-Nakhchivan is the sole representative in the national elite.
