Review of our UEFA Europa League's opponents

by Ayrton Galea - 23rd June 2015

Yesterday afternoon, Birkirkara FC were drawn against Ulisses FC of Armenia in the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa League 2015-2016.

Ulisses plays in the Armenian Premier League and they were formed in 2000. They were founded as Dinamo-2000 and four years later they changed their name to Dinamo-Zenith FC, after they merged with Zenith FC. Two years later, with the arrival of a new sponsor, they changed their name to Ulisses FC.

Ulisses are based in the city of Yerevan, the the capital and the largest city of Armenia, with a population of over one million. The summers are usually very hot and the average temperature in July is 34 °C. Their currency is the Armenian Dram.

The city's stadium is Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, with a capacity of 14,400. Unfortunately attendances in Armenia are also in crisis and they registered an average of less 400 spectators till the end of 2014.

Club's History

In the first three years, the team struggled to keep its feet but did enough to keep its place in the Armenian Premier League. Things got better in 2004, when they changed their name and joined with Zenith as they earned a respective fifth place which was the Club's best achievement till then.

Following changing their name to Ulisses, in 2006, the Club was revamped and the start of a project that led them to the crown began. Following a struggling season in 2006 where they saved their place in the top division in the last match, they avoided relegation without trouble in 2007 and 2008.

In 2009, the Club continued to grow and they continued to be strengthened. They strengthened the squad with several new players that helped them to reach a respective third place before they wrote history in 2011 by winning their first Championship.

In 2012-2013 season, Ulisses finished in the sixth place and seventh in the following season. They bounced back last season by ending their league commitments in the second place with fifty points from twenty-eighth matches. They scored forty-three goals and conceded thirty-two.

UEFA Competitions

Ulisses has competed three times in UEFA Competitions, twice in the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa League and once in the UEFA Champions League. They have played six matches, in which they drew once while lost the other five. They are still seeking to score their first goal in UEFA Competitions.

They took part for the first time in the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa League 2010-2011 when they were eliminated by Israel Club Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC with a narrow 1-0 aggregate score following a goal-less draw in their home leg and a narrow 1-0 defeat in the away leg.

In the following season, starting their adventure once again from the first round of the Europa League, they met Ferencvaros of Hungary and were eliminated with a 5-0 aggregate score following a 2-0 and 3-0 defeat in the first and second leg respectively.

The Club participated for the first and only time so far in the UEFA Champions League in the 2012-2013 season when following winning the league, they started from the second round. They were eliminated by the Moldavian Club FC Sheriff Tiraspol with a 2-0 aggregate score following an identical 1-0 defeat in both legs.

The Squad

The squad is made up of nineteen players who are all from Armenia, Russia and George, and one player hailing from Serbia. From the eight Armenian players, four have a dual citizenship, being three Russian and one Polish.

The Club's top scorer for the 2014-2015 season was Hovhannes Goharyan with ten goals from twenty-eighth matches. He ended the league as the league's third-joint top scorer with another two players. Cesar Romeno of Pyunik FC was the league's top scorer with twenty-one goals followed by Jacques Bougouhi of Shirak FC with one goal less.

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