No sooner does one season end than another begins for some of Europe’s smaller clubs with big ambitions. Training in the shadow of Mount Ararat, FC Noah are building as quickly as the biblical figure who inspired their name as they lead Armenian football to higher ground
WORDS Michael Harrold | PHOTOGRAPHY Daniil Primak, Michael Harrold
Cities
Two boys are sitting at the top of some concrete steps looking down over the City Stadium. One wears a red Armenia shirt, “Avanesian 6” on the back. From this vantage point, they can see over the top of a whitewashed wall surrounding the ground and onto the pitch without needing a ticket. There is still an hour until kick-off and they’re here early to secure a spot to see a little bit of history being made.
The stadium is on the edge of Abovyan, a small town 40 minutes’ drive northeast of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. There are no stands behind the goals, and if it weren’t for the floodlights, from across the road you would hardly know there is a ground here at all. Soviet-era apartment blocks line the hill behind the boys, but to their right the town quickly gives way to scrubland and hills beyond. This is where FC Noah play their home games, and tonight they are making their Champions League debut against Montenegrin titleholders Budućnost Podgorica to kick off the 2025/26 season.
This first qualifying round tie seems a world away from the bright lights of Munich, where Paris Saint-Germain overwhelmed Inter Milan to become European champions little more than a month previously. Over 3,500 kilometres separates the Bavarian capital from Abovyan in the South Caucasus, but a thread connects the two matches and, for Noah, it is a significant first step up onto club football’s biggest stage.
I have been warned to get to my spot in the press box at the back of the main stand early and, sure enough, it is soon standing room only. The match is sold out and anticipation rises among the 3,000-strong crowd as the teams make their way onto the pitch, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, rather than the Champions League anthem, providing the soundtrack at this stage.
One man holds a banner above his head stating simply: “History makers.” Real Madrid, Arsenal and Bayern shirts are dotted among the crowd, almost a nod to the company Noah dream one day of keeping. The challenge for now, though, is the Montenegrin champions, and they are proving very difficult to break down.
A pocket of 50 or so raucous Budućnost fans on the far side make their presence felt until they are temporarily silenced in the 68th minute, when Imrane Oulad Omar threads the ball through a packed penalty area to score Noah’s historic first Champions League goal. Away to my left, the steps have filled up and I can no longer make out those two boys among the celebrations. Oulad Omar’s strike proves enough for victory, and they will be able to say they were here to see it happen.
Noah are based in Vagharshapat, Armenia’s holiest city, 20 kilometres west of Yerevan. The club’s location here is rich in symbolism. From the training ground, snow-capped Mount Ararat looms in the distance. At over 5,000 metres tall, it dominates the landscape and is central to Armenia’s identity, even if it is situated across the border in Türkiye. According to the Book of Genesis, it was at the top of Ararat that Noah’s Ark came to rest as the waters subsided following a global flood.
Noah’s development director Anna Ohanyan is showing me around. “Do you know how Armenians choose apartments?” she asks. “Depending on which one has the best view of Ararat. Now our home has the best view. We’re lucky. Every day, you come to training and you’re filled with the spirit. It’s not in the territory of Armenia, but it’s something that we have such historic ties with. It’s in our heart and we’re really inspired by it. Noah is a very special name, especially when you are a new club and you are introducing yourself to the world.”
“Do you know how Armenians choose apartments? they pick which one has the best view of mount Ararat. Now our home has the best view. we’re inspired by it”
Noah is a name that is beginning to make itself heard in European football, despite the club being less than a decade old. Only formed in 2017 as FC Artsakh, they have made giant strides since, particularly following the arrival of software and technology magnate Vardges Vardanyan as owner in 2023.
After finishing as runners-up in the Armenian Premier League in 2023/24, Noah enjoyed their first notable European campaign last season, advancing from the first qualifying round all the way to the league phase of the Conference League. A sign of how far they have come in such a short time was a trip to face two-time European champions Chelsea, though the decision not to “Park the Ark” backfired in an 8-0 defeat. They won the Armenian title for the first time last season, earning this first shot at the Champions League.
We walk past an empty swimming pool to the training pitches where last night’s goalscorer, Oulad Omar, has just finished his warm-down and is happy to chat. “It’s a big achievement,” he says. “It’s very historic for the club. People are starting to know who Noah are.” The Dutchman is one of 13 different nationalities in the squad, players coming from as far afield as Japan, Brazil and Ghana. The new coach, Sandro Perković, is Croatian.
One of Noah’s Armenian internationals, Gor Manvelyan, moved back here after growing up in France. It is an unusual step in a country where the diaspora living abroad is estimated to be three times larger than the three million population of Armenia itself. Youri Djorkaeff, for instance, is of Armenian descent but played international football for France, even helping Les Bleus win the World Cup in 1998. Manvelyan was persuaded by owner Vardanyan’s ambition to return home.
“I was born in Armenia, but we left for France when I was five and I grew up in France,” says the 23-year-old. “I did all my training at Nantes and I came back to Armenia two years ago. I’m 100% Armenian. Even though I grew up in France, I’ve always had the Armenian mentality. My parents educated me like that. I was a bit apprehensive at first coming back, but it has been a real pleasure and I’ve adapted well. I feel good here. It’s a really ambitious club that wants to go far. I’m here to help with their project.”
Project is an apt word. The training ground is a construction site, the sound of drilling the backdrop to everything we do. You can see Noah growing at lightning pace as we speak. Currently, the club operate out of one small rectangular block over two floors – a team meeting room and dressing room on the ground floor and offices on the first.
This is all about to change. Next door, a new clubhouse is rising. Ohanyan leads me past bags of cement and rubble into the building site. “This is the future,” she says. For now, it is just a concrete shell over three floors, but in every room, stuck to a wall, is an architect’s rendering showing an image of how that space will soon look. The vision is big.
“Reaching the conference League gave Armenian fans hope. It gave them confidence that everything really can be better in Armenian football”
Fans watch on
“This building will just be for the first team, with hotel rooms for gatherings, for camps, with recreational areas, with entertainment areas, office rooms for management. We are growing and our current building is not enough for us. Also, a medical room, locker room, saunas, canteen… Everything will be here. At the moment, before a game, the players go to a hotel in the city centre, but we want them here in our camp. That will be much better for us.”
We walk past a welder, sparks flying, and make our way up to the roof. The view is incredible, as is the heat, in the mid-30Cs with the sun beating down on us. Straight ahead is Mount Ararat. Below us are four training pitches, one of which is still being prepared but “will be the best in Armenia” when ready, Ohanyan assures me. Experts from Qatar have been flown in to work on the turf. The lush green of the grass contrasts with the surrounding bone-dry, sun-scorched fields.
Ohanyan motions to my left. “The stadium we are planning to build is right across from here – over 23 acres. We just need approval for the allocation of the land. It’s going to have between 15 and 20,000 seats, and the government should help us with the roads because this infrastructure is not ready for 20,000 people to drive here from Yerevan. We need new roads for this.”
Everyone I speak to insists that this is about more than just one club. Building a fan base from scratch to fill a stadium that size seems a big ask, but success for Noah also means success for Armenian football, and that is a project supporters in general are willing to get behind. At last night’s game, there was a large group of Armenia national team fans singing for Noah, and they beat the drum for every Armenian side competing in Europe. It was also the first match of Noah’s new official fan club.
“It’s more than just this club itself,” says coach Perković, who had only been in the job for three weeks prior to that first Champions League game. “I see my role not only as FC Noah coach – I want to help Armenian football, especially the young players here at Noah who are the future of Armenian football. Ambitions are very strong and I think this is good, this is how it should be, but at the same time, me and my staff and the sporting director, president, we are all aware that football is a sport – there are ups and downs. This is a long process. Nothing happens overnight, especially in European football. Our ambitions are big: we want to win the championship and cup domestically, but in Europe we want, first of all, to present our club and Armenian football in the best possible way.”
Ohanyan adds: “Our club’s aspirations are the development of Armenian football. Its ambitions are much broader. It was very important for us to showcase what we are doing to European spectators in the Conference League. This also gave Armenian fans hope, which is very important. It gave Armenian supporters confidence that everything really can be better in Armenian football.”
Flying the flag for Armenia is not just talk. Situated on the eastern edge of Europe and bordered to the south by Iran, Armenia feels far from the heart of the continent. Noah reaching the league phase doesn’t just bring Armenian football that little bit closer but the nation itself, and that’s something to be proud of. That’s why fans of all clubs get behind Noah in Europe. Football offers a link in ways that seem distant in other aspects of society.
This is a country where obtaining a visa to travel is so often complicated. A friend of a friend, Tatev, tells me she has bought tickets to see AC/DC in Paris; Yerevan is not on the tour circuit for major western bands. She is excited to see them for the first time, but the weeks pass and later I learn she was unable to get an appointment to arrange her visa, leaving her unable to go.
Pride in famous Armenians living abroad is evident too. Tatev shows me a book she is reading about Charles Aznavour, the French-Armenian singer and songwriter and tells me about the time Kim Kardashian, another member of the Armenian diaspora, returned to her homeland with her then husband Kanye West, who played an impromptu concert at the lake beside the opera house. She sends me a link to a song by another group she likes, System of a Down, an Armenian-American heavy metal band based in Los Angeles. Tatev is not a Noah fan herself, but she is keen to hear more about this team that is attracting attention so far from home.
“We have to be patient. We have to understand that the fruits come later. You can’t just plant a seed and, boom, it grows”
The Conference League is UEFA’s newest men’s club competition and it gives teams from less established footballing nations a realistic chance of reaching a league phase. As well as promoting Armenian football, getting that far also means improving the nation’s UEFA coefficient ranking – which benefits all Armenian clubs – and significant financial reward. Noah received around €4.8m in participation payments and results-based bonuses from their successful Conference League run in 2024/25. The rewards are greater still in the Champions League, numbers that dwarf anything they could expect to earn in domestic football.
“The money that comes from UEFA is very, very important because nowadays in Armenia it is the primary source of income other than the contributions from investors, from the president himself,” Ohanyan says. “For the club to move forward, it’s essential. In Armenian football, a very small percentage of money comes from broadcast rights. There is no betting advertising, which was previously the biggest source for sport. Sponsors are not very interested in advertising on football kits, so the main source of income is the UEFA contributions, which are put back into the game.”
The pace of change, Ohanyan admits, can be dizzying, but she is enjoying the ride. “We accelerate so much and sometimes it seems we are running too fast, running ahead of time, but we have to be patient. We have to understand that the fruits come later. You can’t just plant a seed and, boom, it grows. We’re now very accustomed to this pace, and it’s OK. It’s very, very exciting. There are hundreds of pending deadlines, tasks, everything. This is what makes you feel you’re on the right track. It gives you motivation to sleep less, work more, because you know what’s coming and what’s waiting for you.”
As I prepare to jump in a taxi and head back to Yerevan, I am introduced to Artur Ramazyan. Artur has been the club’s coach driver since their first match in 2017, and yesterday’s victory was particularly special for him. He is a reminder that while so much of this club is geared to the future, there is still plenty to enjoy in the present. “Noah is my family. It’s like my home,” he says. “Last night was the first time in my life that I was able to take a team of champions to a Champions League game. It’s a big thing and it felt great – I was very careful to get them there safely!” The tagline on the side of his team bus says it all: Journey of Excellence. Surely it won’t be long before Noah are hitting top gear.
Passion project
Noah owner Vardges Vardanyan explains why success means more than results on the pitch
“The name Noah is very interesting,” says club president and owner Vardges Vardanyan. “It comes from the Bible. We attach great importance to both spirituality and the idea of a new beginning for humanity. In that sense, it’s a very inspiring name and now it has become widely loved.”
This sense of a new beginning is all around you as the results of Vardanyan’s investment begin to take shape. Their qualifying campaign proved an intense early-season rollercoaster ride over four rounds, starting with that game against Budućnost, and ultimately leading to a return to the league phase of the Conference League. Off the pitch, the hard work continues.
“We are developing new pitches, infrastructure, coaching staff, processes, specialists, and technical equipment at our academy,” Vardanyan says. “We’ve already brought in a project manager with extensive experience in building World Cup stadiums. All of this is currently in the investment phase.”
Beyond bricks and mortar, Vardanyan’s goal is to see the next generation of Armenian players make their mark. “Our biggest vision is to develop youth football. Preparing the right talent is the most important thing. Noah must achieve success so that football becomes a reason for celebration in our country. If children and teenagers are inspired by Noah’s success, they will approach the game with great energy. I have always loved football. It’s a sport that unites everyone, and I truly want Noah to succeed and for many people to come together around it.”
In an era of international club ownership, Vardanyan is an exception, having grown up in Vagharshapat, where Noah are based. This ancient city is the centre of the Christian Church in Armenia, and its cathedral, Etchmiadzin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is still a place of pilgrimage to this day. “Vagharshapat is very dear to my heart,” he says. “I spent my childhood there and my mother’s parents are from there. When we acquired Noah [in 2023], they used the Vagharshapat academy affiliated with the football federation as their training base, and it was very exciting for me that it was here. Vagharshapat is not only our spiritual centre but also the place where most of my childhood was spent, which makes it all the more special.”
As well as family ties, Vardanyan draws on the wisdom and support of friends too, notably Portuguese football legend Luís Figo. “I have a very friendly relationship with Figo. I respect him greatly; he’s a good friend. I regularly give him advice and also ask for his guidance. His advice is truly invaluable, especially regarding how to move forward, drawing from his experience.”
Whatever it takes to make Vardanyan’s vision for Noah and Armenian football a reality.
The stadium is on the edge of Abovyan, a small town 40 minutes’ drive northeast of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. There are no stands behind the goals, and if it weren’t for the floodlights, from across the road you would hardly know there is a ground here at all. Soviet-era apartment blocks line the hill behind the boys, but to their right the town quickly gives way to scrubland and hills beyond. This is where FC Noah play their home games, and tonight they are making their Champions League debut against Montenegrin titleholders Budućnost Podgorica to kick off the 2025/26 season.
This first qualifying round tie seems a world away from the bright lights of Munich, where Paris Saint-Germain overwhelmed Inter Milan to become European champions little more than a month previously. Over 3,500 kilometres separates the Bavarian capital from Abovyan in the South Caucasus, but a thread connects the two matches and, for Noah, it is a significant first step up onto club football’s biggest stage.
I have been warned to get to my spot in the press box at the back of the main stand early and, sure enough, it is soon standing room only. The match is sold out and anticipation rises among the 3,000-strong crowd as the teams make their way onto the pitch, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, rather than the Champions League anthem, providing the soundtrack at this stage.
One man holds a banner above his head stating simply: “History makers.” Real Madrid, Arsenal and Bayern shirts are dotted among the crowd, almost a nod to the company Noah dream one day of keeping. The challenge for now, though, is the Montenegrin champions, and they are proving very difficult to break down.
A pocket of 50 or so raucous Budućnost fans on the far side make their presence felt until they are temporarily silenced in the 68th minute, when Imrane Oulad Omar threads the ball through a packed penalty area to score Noah’s historic first Champions League goal. Away to my left, the steps have filled up and I can no longer make out those two boys among the celebrations. Oulad Omar’s strike proves enough for victory, and they will be able to say they were here to see it happen.
Noah are based in Vagharshapat, Armenia’s holiest city, 20 kilometres west of Yerevan. The club’s location here is rich in symbolism. From the training ground, snow-capped Mount Ararat looms in the distance. At over 5,000 metres tall, it dominates the landscape and is central to Armenia’s identity, even if it is situated across the border in Türkiye. According to the Book of Genesis, it was at the top of Ararat that Noah’s Ark came to rest as the waters subsided following a global flood.
Noah’s development director Anna Ohanyan is showing me around. “Do you know how Armenians choose apartments?” she asks. “Depending on which one has the best view of Ararat. Now our home has the best view. We’re lucky. Every day, you come to training and you’re filled with the spirit. It’s not in the territory of Armenia, but it’s something that we have such historic ties with. It’s in our heart and we’re really inspired by it. Noah is a very special name, especially when you are a new club and you are introducing yourself to the world.”
“Do you know how Armenians choose apartments? they pick which one has the best view of mount Ararat. Now our home has the best view. we’re inspired by it”
Noah is a name that is beginning to make itself heard in European football, despite the club being less than a decade old. Only formed in 2017 as FC Artsakh, they have made giant strides since, particularly following the arrival of software and technology magnate Vardges Vardanyan as owner in 2023.
After finishing as runners-up in the Armenian Premier League in 2023/24, Noah enjoyed their first notable European campaign last season, advancing from the first qualifying round all the way to the league phase of the Conference League. A sign of how far they have come in such a short time was a trip to face two-time European champions Chelsea, though the decision not to “Park the Ark” backfired in an 8-0 defeat. They won the Armenian title for the first time last season, earning this first shot at the Champions League.
We walk past an empty swimming pool to the training pitches where last night’s goalscorer, Oulad Omar, has just finished his warm-down and is happy to chat. “It’s a big achievement,” he says. “It’s very historic for the club. People are starting to know who Noah are.” The Dutchman is one of 13 different nationalities in the squad, players coming from as far afield as Japan, Brazil and Ghana. The new coach, Sandro Perković, is Croatian.
One of Noah’s Armenian internationals, Gor Manvelyan, moved back here after growing up in France. It is an unusual step in a country where the diaspora living abroad is estimated to be three times larger than the three million population of Armenia itself. Youri Djorkaeff, for instance, is of Armenian descent but played international football for France, even helping Les Bleus win the World Cup in 1998. Manvelyan was persuaded by owner Vardanyan’s ambition to return home.
“I was born in Armenia, but we left for France when I was five and I grew up in France,” says the 23-year-old. “I did all my training at Nantes and I came back to Armenia two years ago. I’m 100% Armenian. Even though I grew up in France, I’ve always had the Armenian mentality. My parents educated me like that. I was a bit apprehensive at first coming back, but it has been a real pleasure and I’ve adapted well. I feel good here. It’s a really ambitious club that wants to go far. I’m here to help with their project.”
Project is an apt word. The training ground is a construction site, the sound of drilling the backdrop to everything we do. You can see Noah growing at lightning pace as we speak. Currently, the club operate out of one small rectangular block over two floors – a team meeting room and dressing room on the ground floor and offices on the first.
This is all about to change. Next door, a new clubhouse is rising. Ohanyan leads me past bags of cement and rubble into the building site. “This is the future,” she says. For now, it is just a concrete shell over three floors, but in every room, stuck to a wall, is an architect’s rendering showing an image of how that space will soon look. The vision is big.
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“Reaching the conference League gave Armenian fans hope. It gave them confidence that everything really can be better in Armenian football”
Fans watch on
“This building will just be for the first team, with hotel rooms for gatherings, for camps, with recreational areas, with entertainment areas, office rooms for management. We are growing and our current building is not enough for us. Also, a medical room, locker room, saunas, canteen… Everything will be here. At the moment, before a game, the players go to a hotel in the city centre, but we want them here in our camp. That will be much better for us.”
We walk past a welder, sparks flying, and make our way up to the roof. The view is incredible, as is the heat, in the mid-30Cs with the sun beating down on us. Straight ahead is Mount Ararat. Below us are four training pitches, one of which is still being prepared but “will be the best in Armenia” when ready, Ohanyan assures me. Experts from Qatar have been flown in to work on the turf. The lush green of the grass contrasts with the surrounding bone-dry, sun-scorched fields.
Ohanyan motions to my left. “The stadium we are planning to build is right across from here – over 23 acres. We just need approval for the allocation of the land. It’s going to have between 15 and 20,000 seats, and the government should help us with the roads because this infrastructure is not ready for 20,000 people to drive here from Yerevan. We need new roads for this.”
Everyone I speak to insists that this is about more than just one club. Building a fan base from scratch to fill a stadium that size seems a big ask, but success for Noah also means success for Armenian football, and that is a project supporters in general are willing to get behind. At last night’s game, there was a large group of Armenia national team fans singing for Noah, and they beat the drum for every Armenian side competing in Europe. It was also the first match of Noah’s new official fan club.
“It’s more than just this club itself,” says coach Perković, who had only been in the job for three weeks prior to that first Champions League game. “I see my role not only as FC Noah coach – I want to help Armenian football, especially the young players here at Noah who are the future of Armenian football. Ambitions are very strong and I think this is good, this is how it should be, but at the same time, me and my staff and the sporting director, president, we are all aware that football is a sport – there are ups and downs. This is a long process. Nothing happens overnight, especially in European football. Our ambitions are big: we want to win the championship and cup domestically, but in Europe we want, first of all, to present our club and Armenian football in the best possible way.”
Ohanyan adds: “Our club’s aspirations are the development of Armenian football. Its ambitions are much broader. It was very important for us to showcase what we are doing to European spectators in the Conference League. This also gave Armenian fans hope, which is very important. It gave Armenian supporters confidence that everything really can be better in Armenian football.”
Flying the flag for Armenia is not just talk. Situated on the eastern edge of Europe and bordered to the south by Iran, Armenia feels far from the heart of the continent. Noah reaching the league phase doesn’t just bring Armenian football that little bit closer but the nation itself, and that’s something to be proud of. That’s why fans of all clubs get behind Noah in Europe. Football offers a link in ways that seem distant in other aspects of society.
This is a country where obtaining a visa to travel is so often complicated. A friend of a friend, Tatev, tells me she has bought tickets to see AC/DC in Paris; Yerevan is not on the tour circuit for major western bands. She is excited to see them for the first time, but the weeks pass and later I learn she was unable to get an appointment to arrange her visa, leaving her unable to go.
Pride in famous Armenians living abroad is evident too. Tatev shows me a book she is reading about Charles Aznavour, the French-Armenian singer and songwriter and tells me about the time Kim Kardashian, another member of the Armenian diaspora, returned to her homeland with her then husband Kanye West, who played an impromptu concert at the lake beside the opera house. She sends me a link to a song by another group she likes, System of a Down, an Armenian-American heavy metal band based in Los Angeles. Tatev is not a Noah fan herself, but she is keen to hear more about this team that is attracting attention so far from home.
“We have to be patient. We have to understand that the fruits come later. You can’t just plant a seed and, boom, it grows”
The Conference League is UEFA’s newest men’s club competition and it gives teams from less established footballing nations a realistic chance of reaching a league phase. As well as promoting Armenian football, getting that far also means improving the nation’s UEFA coefficient ranking – which benefits all Armenian clubs – and significant financial reward. Noah received around €4.8m in participation payments and results-based bonuses from their successful Conference League run in 2024/25. The rewards are greater still in the Champions League, numbers that dwarf anything they could expect to earn in domestic football.
“The money that comes from UEFA is very, very important because nowadays in Armenia it is the primary source of income other than the contributions from investors, from the president himself,” Ohanyan says. “For the club to move forward, it’s essential. In Armenian football, a very small percentage of money comes from broadcast rights. There is no betting advertising, which was previously the biggest source for sport. Sponsors are not very interested in advertising on football kits, so the main source of income is the UEFA contributions, which are put back into the game.”
The pace of change, Ohanyan admits, can be dizzying, but she is enjoying the ride. “We accelerate so much and sometimes it seems we are running too fast, running ahead of time, but we have to be patient. We have to understand that the fruits come later. You can’t just plant a seed and, boom, it grows. We’re now very accustomed to this pace, and it’s OK. It’s very, very exciting. There are hundreds of pending deadlines, tasks, everything. This is what makes you feel you’re on the right track. It gives you motivation to sleep less, work more, because you know what’s coming and what’s waiting for you.”
As I prepare to jump in a taxi and head back to Yerevan, I am introduced to Artur Ramazyan. Artur has been the club’s coach driver since their first match in 2017, and yesterday’s victory was particularly special for him. He is a reminder that while so much of this club is geared to the future, there is still plenty to enjoy in the present. “Noah is my family. It’s like my home,” he says. “Last night was the first time in my life that I was able to take a team of champions to a Champions League game. It’s a big thing and it felt great – I was very careful to get them there safely!” The tagline on the side of his team bus says it all: Journey of Excellence. Surely it won’t be long before Noah are hitting top gear.
Passion project
Noah owner Vardges Vardanyan explains why success means more than results on the pitch
“The name Noah is very interesting,” says club president and owner Vardges Vardanyan. “It comes from the Bible. We attach great importance to both spirituality and the idea of a new beginning for humanity. In that sense, it’s a very inspiring name and now it has become widely loved.”
This sense of a new beginning is all around you as the results of Vardanyan’s investment begin to take shape. Their qualifying campaign proved an intense early-season rollercoaster ride over four rounds, starting with that game against Budućnost, and ultimately leading to a return to the league phase of the Conference League. Off the pitch, the hard work continues.
“We are developing new pitches, infrastructure, coaching staff, processes, specialists, and technical equipment at our academy,” Vardanyan says. “We’ve already brought in a project manager with extensive experience in building World Cup stadiums. All of this is currently in the investment phase.”
Beyond bricks and mortar, Vardanyan’s goal is to see the next generation of Armenian players make their mark. “Our biggest vision is to develop youth football. Preparing the right talent is the most important thing. Noah must achieve success so that football becomes a reason for celebration in our country. If children and teenagers are inspired by Noah’s success, they will approach the game with great energy. I have always loved football. It’s a sport that unites everyone, and I truly want Noah to succeed and for many people to come together around it.”
In an era of international club ownership, Vardanyan is an exception, having grown up in Vagharshapat, where Noah are based. This ancient city is the centre of the Christian Church in Armenia, and its cathedral, Etchmiadzin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is still a place of pilgrimage to this day. “Vagharshapat is very dear to my heart,” he says. “I spent my childhood there and my mother’s parents are from there. When we acquired Noah [in 2023], they used the Vagharshapat academy affiliated with the football federation as their training base, and it was very exciting for me that it was here. Vagharshapat is not only our spiritual centre but also the place where most of my childhood was spent, which makes it all the more special.”
As well as family ties, Vardanyan draws on the wisdom and support of friends too, notably Portuguese football legend Luís Figo. “I have a very friendly relationship with Figo. I respect him greatly; he’s a good friend. I regularly give him advice and also ask for his guidance. His advice is truly invaluable, especially regarding how to move forward, drawing from his experience.”
Whatever it takes to make Vardanyan’s vision for Noah and Armenian football a reality.
The stadium is on the edge of Abovyan, a small town 40 minutes’ drive northeast of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. There are no stands behind the goals, and if it weren’t for the floodlights, from across the road you would hardly know there is a ground here at all. Soviet-era apartment blocks line the hill behind the boys, but to their right the town quickly gives way to scrubland and hills beyond. This is where FC Noah play their home games, and tonight they are making their Champions League debut against Montenegrin titleholders Budućnost Podgorica to kick off the 2025/26 season.
This first qualifying round tie seems a world away from the bright lights of Munich, where Paris Saint-Germain overwhelmed Inter Milan to become European champions little more than a month previously. Over 3,500 kilometres separates the Bavarian capital from Abovyan in the South Caucasus, but a thread connects the two matches and, for Noah, it is a significant first step up onto club football’s biggest stage.
I have been warned to get to my spot in the press box at the back of the main stand early and, sure enough, it is soon standing room only. The match is sold out and anticipation rises among the 3,000-strong crowd as the teams make their way onto the pitch, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, rather than the Champions League anthem, providing the soundtrack at this stage.
One man holds a banner above his head stating simply: “History makers.” Real Madrid, Arsenal and Bayern shirts are dotted among the crowd, almost a nod to the company Noah dream one day of keeping. The challenge for now, though, is the Montenegrin champions, and they are proving very difficult to break down.
A pocket of 50 or so raucous Budućnost fans on the far side make their presence felt until they are temporarily silenced in the 68th minute, when Imrane Oulad Omar threads the ball through a packed penalty area to score Noah’s historic first Champions League goal. Away to my left, the steps have filled up and I can no longer make out those two boys among the celebrations. Oulad Omar’s strike proves enough for victory, and they will be able to say they were here to see it happen.
Noah are based in Vagharshapat, Armenia’s holiest city, 20 kilometres west of Yerevan. The club’s location here is rich in symbolism. From the training ground, snow-capped Mount Ararat looms in the distance. At over 5,000 metres tall, it dominates the landscape and is central to Armenia’s identity, even if it is situated across the border in Türkiye. According to the Book of Genesis, it was at the top of Ararat that Noah’s Ark came to rest as the waters subsided following a global flood.
Noah’s development director Anna Ohanyan is showing me around. “Do you know how Armenians choose apartments?” she asks. “Depending on which one has the best view of Ararat. Now our home has the best view. We’re lucky. Every day, you come to training and you’re filled with the spirit. It’s not in the territory of Armenia, but it’s something that we have such historic ties with. It’s in our heart and we’re really inspired by it. Noah is a very special name, especially when you are a new club and you are introducing yourself to the world.”
“Do you know how Armenians choose apartments? they pick which one has the best view of mount Ararat. Now our home has the best view. we’re inspired by it”
Noah is a name that is beginning to make itself heard in European football, despite the club being less than a decade old. Only formed in 2017 as FC Artsakh, they have made giant strides since, particularly following the arrival of software and technology magnate Vardges Vardanyan as owner in 2023.
After finishing as runners-up in the Armenian Premier League in 2023/24, Noah enjoyed their first notable European campaign last season, advancing from the first qualifying round all the way to the league phase of the Conference League. A sign of how far they have come in such a short time was a trip to face two-time European champions Chelsea, though the decision not to “Park the Ark” backfired in an 8-0 defeat. They won the Armenian title for the first time last season, earning this first shot at the Champions League.
We walk past an empty swimming pool to the training pitches where last night’s goalscorer, Oulad Omar, has just finished his warm-down and is happy to chat. “It’s a big achievement,” he says. “It’s very historic for the club. People are starting to know who Noah are.” The Dutchman is one of 13 different nationalities in the squad, players coming from as far afield as Japan, Brazil and Ghana. The new coach, Sandro Perković, is Croatian.
One of Noah’s Armenian internationals, Gor Manvelyan, moved back here after growing up in France. It is an unusual step in a country where the diaspora living abroad is estimated to be three times larger than the three million population of Armenia itself. Youri Djorkaeff, for instance, is of Armenian descent but played international football for France, even helping Les Bleus win the World Cup in 1998. Manvelyan was persuaded by owner Vardanyan’s ambition to return home.
“I was born in Armenia, but we left for France when I was five and I grew up in France,” says the 23-year-old. “I did all my training at Nantes and I came back to Armenia two years ago. I’m 100% Armenian. Even though I grew up in France, I’ve always had the Armenian mentality. My parents educated me like that. I was a bit apprehensive at first coming back, but it has been a real pleasure and I’ve adapted well. I feel good here. It’s a really ambitious club that wants to go far. I’m here to help with their project.”
Project is an apt word. The training ground is a construction site, the sound of drilling the backdrop to everything we do. You can see Noah growing at lightning pace as we speak. Currently, the club operate out of one small rectangular block over two floors – a team meeting room and dressing room on the ground floor and offices on the first.
This is all about to change. Next door, a new clubhouse is rising. Ohanyan leads me past bags of cement and rubble into the building site. “This is the future,” she says. For now, it is just a concrete shell over three floors, but in every room, stuck to a wall, is an architect’s rendering showing an image of how that space will soon look. The vision is big.
“Reaching the conference League gave Armenian fans hope. It gave them confidence that everything really can be better in Armenian football”
Fans watch on
“This building will just be for the first team, with hotel rooms for gatherings, for camps, with recreational areas, with entertainment areas, office rooms for management. We are growing and our current building is not enough for us. Also, a medical room, locker room, saunas, canteen… Everything will be here. At the moment, before a game, the players go to a hotel in the city centre, but we want them here in our camp. That will be much better for us.”
We walk past a welder, sparks flying, and make our way up to the roof. The view is incredible, as is the heat, in the mid-30Cs with the sun beating down on us. Straight ahead is Mount Ararat. Below us are four training pitches, one of which is still being prepared but “will be the best in Armenia” when ready, Ohanyan assures me. Experts from Qatar have been flown in to work on the turf. The lush green of the grass contrasts with the surrounding bone-dry, sun-scorched fields.
Ohanyan motions to my left. “The stadium we are planning to build is right across from here – over 23 acres. We just need approval for the allocation of the land. It’s going to have between 15 and 20,000 seats, and the government should help us with the roads because this infrastructure is not ready for 20,000 people to drive here from Yerevan. We need new roads for this.”
Everyone I speak to insists that this is about more than just one club. Building a fan base from scratch to fill a stadium that size seems a big ask, but success for Noah also means success for Armenian football, and that is a project supporters in general are willing to get behind. At last night’s game, there was a large group of Armenia national team fans singing for Noah, and they beat the drum for every Armenian side competing in Europe. It was also the first match of Noah’s new official fan club.
“It’s more than just this club itself,” says coach Perković, who had only been in the job for three weeks prior to that first Champions League game. “I see my role not only as FC Noah coach – I want to help Armenian football, especially the young players here at Noah who are the future of Armenian football. Ambitions are very strong and I think this is good, this is how it should be, but at the same time, me and my staff and the sporting director, president, we are all aware that football is a sport – there are ups and downs. This is a long process. Nothing happens overnight, especially in European football. Our ambitions are big: we want to win the championship and cup domestically, but in Europe we want, first of all, to present our club and Armenian football in the best possible way.”
Ohanyan adds: “Our club’s aspirations are the development of Armenian football. Its ambitions are much broader. It was very important for us to showcase what we are doing to European spectators in the Conference League. This also gave Armenian fans hope, which is very important. It gave Armenian supporters confidence that everything really can be better in Armenian football.”
Flying the flag for Armenia is not just talk. Situated on the eastern edge of Europe and bordered to the south by Iran, Armenia feels far from the heart of the continent. Noah reaching the league phase doesn’t just bring Armenian football that little bit closer but the nation itself, and that’s something to be proud of. That’s why fans of all clubs get behind Noah in Europe. Football offers a link in ways that seem distant in other aspects of society.
This is a country where obtaining a visa to travel is so often complicated. A friend of a friend, Tatev, tells me she has bought tickets to see AC/DC in Paris; Yerevan is not on the tour circuit for major western bands. She is excited to see them for the first time, but the weeks pass and later I learn she was unable to get an appointment to arrange her visa, leaving her unable to go.
Pride in famous Armenians living abroad is evident too. Tatev shows me a book she is reading about Charles Aznavour, the French-Armenian singer and songwriter and tells me about the time Kim Kardashian, another member of the Armenian diaspora, returned to her homeland with her then husband Kanye West, who played an impromptu concert at the lake beside the opera house. She sends me a link to a song by another group she likes, System of a Down, an Armenian-American heavy metal band based in Los Angeles. Tatev is not a Noah fan herself, but she is keen to hear more about this team that is attracting attention so far from home.
“We have to be patient. We have to understand that the fruits come later. You can’t just plant a seed and, boom, it grows”
The Conference League is UEFA’s newest men’s club competition and it gives teams from less established footballing nations a realistic chance of reaching a league phase. As well as promoting Armenian football, getting that far also means improving the nation’s UEFA coefficient ranking – which benefits all Armenian clubs – and significant financial reward. Noah received around €4.8m in participation payments and results-based bonuses from their successful Conference League run in 2024/25. The rewards are greater still in the Champions League, numbers that dwarf anything they could expect to earn in domestic football.
“The money that comes from UEFA is very, very important because nowadays in Armenia it is the primary source of income other than the contributions from investors, from the president himself,” Ohanyan says. “For the club to move forward, it’s essential. In Armenian football, a very small percentage of money comes from broadcast rights. There is no betting advertising, which was previously the biggest source for sport. Sponsors are not very interested in advertising on football kits, so the main source of income is the UEFA contributions, which are put back into the game.”
The pace of change, Ohanyan admits, can be dizzying, but she is enjoying the ride. “We accelerate so much and sometimes it seems we are running too fast, running ahead of time, but we have to be patient. We have to understand that the fruits come later. You can’t just plant a seed and, boom, it grows. We’re now very accustomed to this pace, and it’s OK. It’s very, very exciting. There are hundreds of pending deadlines, tasks, everything. This is what makes you feel you’re on the right track. It gives you motivation to sleep less, work more, because you know what’s coming and what’s waiting for you.”
As I prepare to jump in a taxi and head back to Yerevan, I am introduced to Artur Ramazyan. Artur has been the club’s coach driver since their first match in 2017, and yesterday’s victory was particularly special for him. He is a reminder that while so much of this club is geared to the future, there is still plenty to enjoy in the present. “Noah is my family. It’s like my home,” he says. “Last night was the first time in my life that I was able to take a team of champions to a Champions League game. It’s a big thing and it felt great – I was very careful to get them there safely!” The tagline on the side of his team bus says it all: Journey of Excellence. Surely it won’t be long before Noah are hitting top gear.
Passion project
Noah owner Vardges Vardanyan explains why success means more than results on the pitch
“The name Noah is very interesting,” says club president and owner Vardges Vardanyan. “It comes from the Bible. We attach great importance to both spirituality and the idea of a new beginning for humanity. In that sense, it’s a very inspiring name and now it has become widely loved.”
This sense of a new beginning is all around you as the results of Vardanyan’s investment begin to take shape. Their qualifying campaign proved an intense early-season rollercoaster ride over four rounds, starting with that game against Budućnost, and ultimately leading to a return to the league phase of the Conference League. Off the pitch, the hard work continues.
“We are developing new pitches, infrastructure, coaching staff, processes, specialists, and technical equipment at our academy,” Vardanyan says. “We’ve already brought in a project manager with extensive experience in building World Cup stadiums. All of this is currently in the investment phase.”
Beyond bricks and mortar, Vardanyan’s goal is to see the next generation of Armenian players make their mark. “Our biggest vision is to develop youth football. Preparing the right talent is the most important thing. Noah must achieve success so that football becomes a reason for celebration in our country. If children and teenagers are inspired by Noah’s success, they will approach the game with great energy. I have always loved football. It’s a sport that unites everyone, and I truly want Noah to succeed and for many people to come together around it.”
In an era of international club ownership, Vardanyan is an exception, having grown up in Vagharshapat, where Noah are based. This ancient city is the centre of the Christian Church in Armenia, and its cathedral, Etchmiadzin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is still a place of pilgrimage to this day. “Vagharshapat is very dear to my heart,” he says. “I spent my childhood there and my mother’s parents are from there. When we acquired Noah [in 2023], they used the Vagharshapat academy affiliated with the football federation as their training base, and it was very exciting for me that it was here. Vagharshapat is not only our spiritual centre but also the place where most of my childhood was spent, which makes it all the more special.”
As well as family ties, Vardanyan draws on the wisdom and support of friends too, notably Portuguese football legend Luís Figo. “I have a very friendly relationship with Figo. I respect him greatly; he’s a good friend. I regularly give him advice and also ask for his guidance. His advice is truly invaluable, especially regarding how to move forward, drawing from his experience.”
Whatever it takes to make Vardanyan’s vision for Noah and Armenian football a reality.
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Travel
Destination Yerevan
Armenia’s capital is welcoming AND endlessly fascinating. Here’s why…
The Cascade
This massive limestone stairway complete with garden terraces and fountains is Yerevan’s most famous landmark and links the city centre to Victory Park. It’s a steep climb of over 300 metres to the Soviet-era obelisk at the top – hard work in the summer sun – but the views of the city and Mount Ararat beyond are breathtaking.
Visionary
In the park at the foot of the Cascade is a towering statue of Alexander Tamanyan, the Russian-born Armenian architect who transformed Yerevan into the city we see today. His plan, drawn up in the 1920s, included a circular park around the centre of the town and the grand boulevards that cross the capital. “He probably saw a sunny city,” reads an inscription by the poet Yeghishe Charents alongside it, a sense enhanced by the pink and yellow tuff stone that Tamanyan used to bring his vision for Yerevan to life.
Republic Square
That vision is seen in its grandest form in Republic Square, a huge open space flanked by government buildings and exclusive hotels. Formerly Lenin Square, it was renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the revolutionary’s statue was torn down. The torso is kept in the History Museum on one side of the square, while the head is stored away in a warehouse.
Soviet modernism
The city is compact and easy to get around by foot, but it’s worth taking a ride on the metro just to catch a glimpse of its Soviet modernist design. From above, Republic Square metro station resembles a massive concrete flower, while, one stop north, Yeritasardakan metro protrudes from ground like a giant brutalist cannon.
Hrazdan Central Stadium
You can get a great view of the concrete bowl of this venerable arena from the terrace outside the museum dedicated to Sergey Parajanov (Parajanov Street), Yerevan’s feted filmmaker and surrealist artist. It was at this ground that Ararat Yerevan beat Bayern München 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the 1974/75 European Cup, though Bayern advanced 2-1 on aggregate en route to lifting the trophy for a second straight year.
Going out
Take your pick of the bars and restaurants along the tree-lined Martiros Saryan Street. In Vino (6 Martiros Saryan Street) and Decant Wine & Spirit (round the corner at 38 Moskovyan Street) are two great spots to get a taste of Armenian wine, which is enjoying a resurgence as small-scale wineries get the best out of local grape varieties such as Areni and Voskehat.
Capital flavours
Locally grown apricots and melon with homemade yoghurt was my staple breakfast, and fresh fruit, nuts and vegetables are abundant. For an excellent introduction to Armenian cuisine, head to Lavash (21 Tumanyan Street), which is named after Armenia’s delicious, light flatbread. “I hope you like meat dishes,” said my colleague Mher, who proved that Armenian hospitality lives up to its generous reputation by refusing to let me pay for our feast of barbecued pork and beef skewers (Khorovats), salads, breads and my favourite, Ishli Kofte (meatballs inside a case of bulgur wheat). Lahmajoun, a light flatbread topped with minced beef or lamb and cheese, is another delicious option.
Travel
Destination Yerevan
Armenia’s capital is welcoming AND endlessly fascinating. Here’s why…
The Cascade
This massive limestone stairway complete with garden terraces and fountains is Yerevan’s most famous landmark and links the city centre to Victory Park. It’s a steep climb of over 300 metres to the Soviet-era obelisk at the top – hard work in the summer sun – but the views of the city and Mount Ararat beyond are breathtaking.
Visionary
In the park at the foot of the Cascade is a towering statue of Alexander Tamanyan, the Russian-born Armenian architect who transformed Yerevan into the city we see today. His plan, drawn up in the 1920s, included a circular park around the centre of the town and the grand boulevards that cross the capital. “He probably saw a sunny city,” reads an inscription by the poet Yeghishe Charents alongside it, a sense enhanced by the pink and yellow tuff stone that Tamanyan used to bring his vision for Yerevan to life.
Republic Square
That vision is seen in its grandest form in Republic Square, a huge open space flanked by government buildings and exclusive hotels. Formerly Lenin Square, it was renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the revolutionary’s statue was torn down. The torso is kept in the History Museum on one side of the square, while the head is stored away in a warehouse.
Soviet modernism
The city is compact and easy to get around by foot, but it’s worth taking a ride on the metro just to catch a glimpse of its Soviet modernist design. From above, Republic Square metro station resembles a massive concrete flower, while, one stop north, Yeritasardakan metro protrudes from ground like a giant brutalist cannon.
Hrazdan Central Stadium
You can get a great view of the concrete bowl of this venerable arena from the terrace outside the museum dedicated to Sergey Parajanov (Parajanov Street), Yerevan’s feted filmmaker and surrealist artist. It was at this ground that Ararat Yerevan beat Bayern München 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the 1974/75 European Cup, though Bayern advanced 2-1 on aggregate en route to lifting the trophy for a second straight year.
Going out
Take your pick of the bars and restaurants along the tree-lined Martiros Saryan Street. In Vino (6 Martiros Saryan Street) and Decant Wine & Spirit (round the corner at 38 Moskovyan Street) are two great spots to get a taste of Armenian wine, which is enjoying a resurgence as small-scale wineries get the best out of local grape varieties such as Areni and Voskehat.
Capital flavours
Locally grown apricots and melon with homemade yoghurt was my staple breakfast, and fresh fruit, nuts and vegetables are abundant. For an excellent introduction to Armenian cuisine, head to Lavash (21 Tumanyan Street), which is named after Armenia’s delicious, light flatbread. “I hope you like meat dishes,” said my colleague Mher, who proved that Armenian hospitality lives up to its generous reputation by refusing to let me pay for our feast of barbecued pork and beef skewers (Khorovats), salads, breads and my favourite, Ishli Kofte (meatballs inside a case of bulgur wheat). Lahmajoun, a light flatbread topped with minced beef or lamb and cheese, is another delicious option.
Travel
Destination Yerevan
Armenia’s capital is welcoming AND endlessly fascinating. Here’s why…
The Cascade
This massive limestone stairway complete with garden terraces and fountains is Yerevan’s most famous landmark and links the city centre to Victory Park. It’s a steep climb of over 300 metres to the Soviet-era obelisk at the top – hard work in the summer sun – but the views of the city and Mount Ararat beyond are breathtaking.
Visionary
In the park at the foot of the Cascade is a towering statue of Alexander Tamanyan, the Russian-born Armenian architect who transformed Yerevan into the city we see today. His plan, drawn up in the 1920s, included a circular park around the centre of the town and the grand boulevards that cross the capital. “He probably saw a sunny city,” reads an inscription by the poet Yeghishe Charents alongside it, a sense enhanced by the pink and yellow tuff stone that Tamanyan used to bring his vision for Yerevan to life.
Republic Square
That vision is seen in its grandest form in Republic Square, a huge open space flanked by government buildings and exclusive hotels. Formerly Lenin Square, it was renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the revolutionary’s statue was torn down. The torso is kept in the History Museum on one side of the square, while the head is stored away in a warehouse.
Soviet modernism
The city is compact and easy to get around by foot, but it’s worth taking a ride on the metro just to catch a glimpse of its Soviet modernist design. From above, Republic Square metro station resembles a massive concrete flower, while, one stop north, Yeritasardakan metro protrudes from ground like a giant brutalist cannon.
Hrazdan Central Stadium
You can get a great view of the concrete bowl of this venerable arena from the terrace outside the museum dedicated to Sergey Parajanov (Parajanov Street), Yerevan’s feted filmmaker and surrealist artist. It was at this ground that Ararat Yerevan beat Bayern München 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the 1974/75 European Cup, though Bayern advanced 2-1 on aggregate en route to lifting the trophy for a second straight year.
Going out
Take your pick of the bars and restaurants along the tree-lined Martiros Saryan Street. In Vino (6 Martiros Saryan Street) and Decant Wine & Spirit (round the corner at 38 Moskovyan Street) are two great spots to get a taste of Armenian wine, which is enjoying a resurgence as small-scale wineries get the best out of local grape varieties such as Areni and Voskehat.
Capital flavours
Locally grown apricots and melon with homemade yoghurt was my staple breakfast, and fresh fruit, nuts and vegetables are abundant. For an excellent introduction to Armenian cuisine, head to Lavash (21 Tumanyan Street), which is named after Armenia’s delicious, light flatbread. “I hope you like meat dishes,” said my colleague Mher, who proved that Armenian hospitality lives up to its generous reputation by refusing to let me pay for our feast of barbecued pork and beef skewers (Khorovats), salads, breads and my favourite, Ishli Kofte (meatballs inside a case of bulgur wheat). Lahmajoun, a light flatbread topped with minced beef or lamb and cheese, is another delicious option.
Thanks for your interest
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