Pyunik continues holding friendly matches during the training camp. Our team has already competed against Shakhtar Donetsk, Bosnian Borac and Kazakh Ordabasy, winning the last two games. Our rival in tomorrow's match is Shakhter Karagandy, who took Kazakhstan's name to European football in 2013, becoming the first Kazakh team to enter the Europa League group stage. It was during that period that the Miners established real hegemony in the country and had far-reaching goals.

Our press service has examined and introduces the rich history of Shakhter to you, their numerous successes and the Armenian football players who performed there.

Shakhter Karagandy's history as a professional team dates back to 1958, although the Miners’ football origins date back to earlier times. Before the World War, they performed under the name Coal Miner, then under the name Miner.

The start of the football path and survival among the giants of the USSR

Since the 1950s, Shakhter began to perform in the regular championships of the Soviet Union, in parallel, they took part in the Central Asian and Kazakhstan Cups. One of their main achievements is the double championship of the USSR Second League (1982, 1983), despite this, Shakhter never managed to reach the race of the strongest.

Shakhter has started performing in Kazakhstan since the beginning of the creation of the championship. From 1992 to 2008, our rival did not have any tangible success in the domestic championship, but still fought for the top positions.

Then, the Karaganda team started the European journey thanks to the prize-winning place in the championship for two years in a row. In 2008, in the qualifying round of the UEFA Cup (currently, the Europa League), the Miners lost to the Hungarian Debrecen, and the following year to the Polish Rukh.

The beginning of hegemony

In 2011, the Kazakhstan championship was held in two different groups. Shakhter scored 42 points in the championship, registering the first and biggest achievement in its history and becoming the champion of Kazakhstan.

Already next season Shakhter defended the championship title. The Karaganda team left behind Pavlodar with a two-point difference.

Shakhter continued its success in 2013, winning the Kazakhstan Cup and Super Cup.

The triumph of Kazakhstan in Europe

In the 2013/14 season, Shakhter achieved an unprecedented success for Kazakh football. The gold medal in the domestic championship that year sent the team to the Champions League, and after overcoming Belarusian BATE and Albanian Skënderbeu in the qualifying rounds, the Karaganda team reached the Champions League play-offs, securing a place in the Europa League group stage.

The Kazakh team travelled to the Europa League after losing two legs to Celtic. The Oranges failed to offer a strong competition to teams much stronger than them. They were included in the same group with AZ Alkmaar, PAOK and Maccabi Haifa. Our rival was the 4th in the group with only 2 points earned in 6 games.

Shakhter Karagandy fought only in the qualifying rounds in other European Cup competitions. The team managed to reach the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League in the 2014/15 season, as well as the play-offs of the Conference League qualifying tournament in the 2021/22 season.

To win Celtic you don’t need stars, but...

Before we move on to the next chapter of Shakhter's history, we would like to highlight an episode from the home match against Celtic in the play-off of the Champions League qualifying tournament which was a much-anticipated one for Kazakhstan football, especially for Shakhter.

Before the pre-match open training session, when everyone expected to see Virgil van Dijk, Pukki or El Fraser Foster in the pitch, a black sheep was brought into the Astana Arena. According to tradition, locals would sacrifice a black sheep on the eve of an important event as a sign of good luck.

Shakhter head coach Viktor Kumykov also referred to that unique ritual. "We followed the tradition, the boys took the initiative to sacrifice an animal for us in the playoffs of the Champions League, and I was in favor."

In the home match, the Kazakh club beat Celtic 2:0, but lost in the confrontation 2:3.

The end of the golden age

After many successes and a certain hegemony in Kazakhstan, our rival began a series of unsuccessful seasons. Shakhter Karagandy started the 2020 season with a new management and a new strategy, the aim of which was not only to return the Miners to the leading positions, but also to build a modern club.

The plan works, and the Karaganda team finishes the season with 32 points, earning the opportunity to represent Kazakhstan in European competitions next season.

The record holders

The best scorer in the history of the club is Nikolay Igamberdiev. In Soviet times, Nikolay scored a total of 174 goals for the Miners. Sergey Mishchenko played the most matches for Shakhter; no more, no less than 20 seasons and 577 official matches.


The Kazakh classic

The hottest derby in Kazakh football is between Kairat Almaty and Shakhter Karagandy, which are the first professional clubs of the country. Their irreconcilable rivalry dates back to the 50s.

The extreme deterioration of relations between these teams is due to their frequent confrontations in the USSR championships. Along with the double championship of Shakhter, Kairat was also fighting and trying to catch up with the main rival.

One of the most important and interesting derbies in the championship of independent Kazakhstan is the match of these teams, where no one forgets about the old scores.

The current lineup

Finding an outstanding leader in the current Shakhter is a difficult task. Last season, 3 players fought for the title of the best scorer in the team: Ivan Sviridov (7 goals), Temur Chogadze (6 goals) and Aydos Tattybaev (5 goals).

Roman Murtazaev made the most assists (5).

Shakhter is led by 41-year-old specialist Andrey Finonchenko, who is considered one of the team's legendary players. After receiving a coaching license, Finonchenko has been working in the club system since 2017. His favorite and often used formation is the 3-5-2, which is a style that requires quick play and frequent rearrangements.

The Armenian connection with Shakhter

Eight Armenian footballers have played for Shakhter Karagandy. It is interesting that four of them, Petros Avetisyan, Robert Arzumanyan, Gevorg Ghazaryan and David Yurchenko, once performed in Pyunik, and our newcomer Solomon Udo has previously played for the Kazakh club.

The greatest achievement among the above-mentioned players was registered by our club alumnus Gevorg Ghazaryan, who won the national cup with Shakhter, as well as participated in all 6 games of the Europa League group stage in the 2013/14 season.

In the last 5 games of the finished season, Shakhter celebrated one victory, registered 3 draws and suffered one defeat. Moreover, the Karaganda team took points from the title holder Astana in the last match of the season.