The 2015–16 season was Gabala FK's 11th season, and their 10th in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top-flight of Azerbaijani football. Domestically, Gabala finished 3rd in the Premier League for the third season in a row and reached the semifinals of the Azerbaijan Cup where they were defeated by Neftchi Baku. In Europe Gabala reached the group stages of the UEFA Europa League where they faced PAOK, Krasnodar and Borussia Dortmund before finishing bottom of the group.
Season review In September 2015, Gabala announced a new one-year shirt sponsorship deal with QafqaZ Hotels and Resorts.
Transfers The summer transfer window saw a lot of transfer movement from Gabala, with 14 players leaving the club and 9 players arriving. The most notable departures were the club's all-time leading goalscorer Victor Mendy returning to France, Ruslan Fomin moving to FC Atyrau in Kazakhstan, and Ekigho Ehiosun returning to parent club Gençlerbirliği S.K. Alexandru Benga, Ruslan Abışov, Adrian Ropotan, Pavol Farkaš and Mikhail Sivakow also left the clubs at the end of their contracts.
Arif Dashdemirov, Magomed Mirzabekov, Asif Mammadov all joined from Inter Baku PIK permanently, whilst Vojislav Stanković also joined from Inter Baku on an 18-month loan deal. Andrey Popovich and Samir Zargarov also joined from other Azerbaijan Premier League clubs, Sumgayit FK and Simurq PFC respectively. Sergei Zenjov moved from recently relegated Russian Premier League side FC Torpedo Moscow, Vitaliy Vernydub from FC Zorya Luhansk, Oleksiy Antonov from FC Aktobe, and George Florescu from Astra Giurgiu.
Transfers
Summer
In:
Out:
Winter
In:
Out:
Squad
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Signed from Signed in Contract ends Apps. Goals Goalkeepers 1 Andrey PopovichPopoviç was born in Chop, Ukraine, but qualified to represent Azerbaijan. GK Sumgayit 2015 10 0 22 Dmytro Bezotosnyi GK Chornomorets Odesa 2015 2016 61 0 33 Dawid Pietrzkiewicz GK Free Agent 2015 12 0 36 Suleyman Suleymanov GK Trainee 2015 0 0 Defenders 2 Sahil Mirzoyev DF Trainee 2015 0 0 3 Vojislav Stanković DF loan from Inter Baku 2015 2017 39 0 5 Pavlo Pashayev DF Metalurh Zaporizhya 2016 2016 2 0 13 Murad Musayev DF Trainee 2012 5 0 15 Vitaliy Vernydub DF Zorya Luhansk 2015 2016 22 0 20 Ricardinho DF Malmö 2015 42 1 21 Arif Dashdemirov DF Inter Baku 2015 64 1 34 Urfan Abbasov DF Qarabağ 2011 126 2 44 Rafael Santos DF Arsenal Kyiv 2014 2017 84 2 74 Yusif Nabiyev DF Trainee 2015 0 0 87 Ruslan Abışov DF Khazar Lankaran 2015 2016 51 4 Midfielders 4 Elvin Jamalov MF Trainee 2013 73 0 6 Rashad Sadiqov MF Khazar Lankaran 2015 56 2 8 Magomed Mirzabekov MF Inter Baku 2015 29 0 11 Asif Mammadov MF Inter Baku 2015 2016 26 3 16 Emin Zamanov MF Trainee 2015 0 0 18 Vadim Abdullayev MF Simurq 2015 1 0 19 Oleksiy Gai MF Chornomorets Odesa 2015 2016 71 18 25 Qismət Alıyev MF Trainee 2014 8 0 37 Kamal Mirzayev MF Trainee 2012 5 0 66 Samir Zargarov MF Simurq 2015 122 14 77 Ehtiram Şahverdiyev MF Trainee 2015 2 0 Forwards 7 Ermin Zec ST Balıkesirspor 20152016 36 10 9 Sergei Zenjov ST Torpedo Moscow 2015 2017 42 5 10 Dodô ST Lokomotiva 2011 2016 161 30 32 Rashad Eyyubov ST Kapaz 2016 21 2 69 Oleksiy Antonov ST Aktobe 2015 2017 49 8 90 Ramil Hasanov ST Trainee 2015 0 0 97 Roman Huseynov ST Trainee 2015 4 0 Left during the season 5 George Florescu MF Astra Giurgiu 2015 2017 4 0 14 Javid Huseynov ST FK Baku 2014 40 15 17 Vüqar Nadirov ST Khazar Lankaran 2015 2015 0 0 32 Facundo Pereyra ST loan from PAOK 2015 2016 21 5 70 Vagif Javadov ST loan from Khazar Lankaran 2015 2015 5 1 88 David Meza MF Inter Baku 2015 2016 10 1
Out on loan
Friendlies
Competitions
Azerbaijan Premier League
Results summary
Results
League table
Azerbaijan Cup
UEFA Europa League
Qualifying rounds
Group stage
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
|colspan="14"|Players away from Gabala on loan: |- |colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Gabala no longer at the club:
Goal scorers PlacePositionNationNumberNamePremier LeagueAzerbaijan CupEuropa LeagueTotal1 MF19Oleksiy Gai1040142 FW7 Ermin Zec730103 FW69Oleksiy Antonov70184 FW10Dodô21475 FW32Facundo Pereyra4105FW 9Sergei Zenjov20357 MF66Samir Zargarov31048 MF11Asif Mammadov2103FW14Javid Huseynov003310DF44Rafael Santos2002 Own goal2002FW32Rashad Eyyubov1102MF6 Rashad Sadiqov110214DF21Arif Dashdemirov1001MF88David Meza0101DF20Ricardinho0101FW70Vagif Javadov0101TOTALS44161171
Disciplinary record NumberNationPositionNamePremier LeagueAzerbaijan CupEuropa LeagueTotal3 DFVojislav Stanković600030904 MFElvin Jamalov8010101006 MFRashad Sadiqov412110727 FWErmin Zec801000908 MFMagomed Mirzabekov400000409 FWSergei Zenjov1010103010FWDodô1000203011MFAsif Mammadov4010005015DFVitaliy Vernydub60005011019DFOleksiy Gai5010208020DFRicardinho3000205021DFArif Dashdemirov4000004022GKDmytro Bezotosnyi0000101032FWRashad Eyyubov1000001034DFUrfan Abbasov5000217144DFRafael Santos6000309066MFSamir Zargarov4010207069FWOleksiy Antonov5000207087DFRuslan Abışov30000030Players who left Gabala during the season:5 MFGeorge Florescu0000303014FWJavid Huseynov0000303032FWFacundo Pereyra0000101088MFDavid Meza00001010TOTALS781813511213
Notes
Qarabağ have played their home games at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium since 1993 due to the ongoing situation in Quzanlı.Doğma torpaq, qüdrətinə qurban olum! Gabala played their second & third qualifying round home matches at the Bakcell Arena, Baku, instead of their regular stadium City Stadium, Qabala, due to a punishment by UEFA. Apollon Limassol play their home matches at Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, instead of their regular stadium Tsirion Stadium, Limassol. Gabala played their home matches at Bakcell Arena, Baku instead of their regular stadium, Gabala City Stadium, Qabala. The match between Gabala and Kapaz on 31 October 2015, was suspended in 29th minute due to server fog. The remainder of the game was played the next day, 1 November 2015, at 20:00.
References
External links Gabala FC Website Gabala FC at UEFA.com Gabala FC at Soccerway.com Gabala FC at National Football Teams.com