According to “ESPN”, Sabah was founded only on September 8, 2017, which means that its first match in the league stage may coincide approximately with its ninth birthday. The club belongs to the “Masazir” region, located about 20 miles northwest of the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, and is nicknamed “The Owls.”
Last season was historic for Sabah and for Azerbaijani football in general, as the club won its first title in the local league, and added to it the Azerbaijan Cup, ending the dominance of Karabakh, which monopolized 11 of the last 12 league titles.
Sabah’s rise was rapid and strange at the beginning. It entered the league system in the 2017-2018 season in the second division, and was promoted after only one season despite occupying fifth place, after the first four teams failed to obtain a license to play in the premium division. Since then, the club has not stopped progressing.
As for his coach, he has a story that is no less strange. Lithuanian Valdas Dambrauskas, 49 years old, was not a prominent player, and retired at the age of 23, before starting the path of coaching. His life changed in 2002 when he won about $1,300 in the Lithuanian version of the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” program. He used the money to move to London and obtain his training certificates, while he worked in various jobs, including newspaper distribution and child care.
Dambrauskas began his coaching career in the ninth division in England, then led clubs in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Croatia, before taking over as coach of Sabah in 2025 and leading them to the Champions League.
Sabah also has a striking visual identity, as it is the first team to adopt pink as one of its primary colors and reach the Champions League stage. The team is known as “Pink and Black”, in reference to its colors and logo, which is also linked to Lake “Masazir”, famous for its pink colour.
Sabah’s path to the league stage was not easy. He entered all of his preliminary rounds and was not a candidate to qualify, but he eliminated “The New Saints” from Wales, “KuPS” from Finland, “AGF Aarhus” from Denmark, and then Hapoel Beersheba from Israel.
In the decisive round against Hapoel Beersheba, Sabah needed a goal in the 94th minute to keep his European dream alive, before settling the confrontation in extra time and qualifying with a score of 6-4.
It is noteworthy that the club does not yet have a large European fan base, due to its newness and the difficulty of traveling from Azerbaijan. During the first leg against Hapoel Beersheba in Romania, his players received only one fan at the hotel, but he ignited a special atmosphere with fireworks and pink candles.
