Marked for Davit Volkovi
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
Namiq Ələsgərov damages knee ligaments — 91 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 91 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market25 Jan 2027
Zira say no — this time
The offer from Khazar for Leroy-Jacques Mickels was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zira may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jan 2027
Namiq Ələsgərov damages knee ligaments — 98 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market18 Jan 2027
Neftchi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Zira did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qismət Alıyev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Namiq Ələsgərov
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zira lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Qismət Alıyev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qismət Alıyev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Talha Sarıarslan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A promise honoured for Ruan Renato
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zira told Ruan Renato something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Dec 2026
Cup progress for Zira
A 1‑0 win over Gabala, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match2 Dec 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Davit Volkovi obliged against Gabala. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Zira.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Dec 2026
Zira are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 33 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qismət Alıyev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Leroy-Jacques Mickels was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match5 Dec 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Zira. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Giorgi Papunashvili was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Eren Aydın
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Nov 2026
Zira may not be able to give Martins Júnior what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Martins Júnior wants continental football; whether Zira can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 188% of everything Zira earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match28 Nov 2026
Zira make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
7.15, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zira had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stéphane Acka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ruan Renato has to sit this one out
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Zira lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Match28 Nov 2026
Zira and Sumgayit cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Sumgayit came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Eren Aydın runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match31 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Zira
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ruan Renato in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 188% of everything Zira earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I watch every Zira game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dila runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
7.41, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zira had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Zira will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match31 Oct 2026
Zira and Kapaz cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Kapaz came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Zira do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Qismət Alıyev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
241% of the income goes out in wages at Zira
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruan Renato, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.48 on the card, and the Zira support went home talking about one name.
Match3 Oct 2026
Zira draw a blank against Gabala
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Gabala defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
6‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A brace, and Davit Volkovi takes the afternoon — 8.95
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Davit Volkovi provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The match ball belongs to Martins Júnior, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match19 Sep 2026
Zira make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zira have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Martins Júnior among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Martins Júnior on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zira and Ravan.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.53, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 8.42. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Zira.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Zira man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Martins Júnior was the best thing in any of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Eren Aydın
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Sep 2026
Zira win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Inter will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A brace, and Martins Júnior takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martins Júnior provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Qismət Alıyev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ruan Renato in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Sep 2026
Three points for Zira, 2‑1 the final word against Inter in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Zira supporters have found a favourite in Eren Aydın
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Eren Aydın has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ruan Renato
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market7 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zira know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Alan Rivero gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alan Rivero has just signed for Zira, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Qismət Alıyev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zira will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Match22 Aug 2026
Three points for Zira, 1‑0 the final word against AZAL in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market24 Aug 2026
Alan Rivero is 20, and Zira have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
Qarabag come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Zira did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Issa Djibrilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Zira
4 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market17 Aug 2026
One of our own: Eddy Garayev joins the Zira first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eddy Garayev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Shahriyar Nazarov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Shahriyar Medvedev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Match15 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Zira against Neftchi
0‑1 to Neftchi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Stéphane Acka falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brahim Konaté and Zira agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Issa Djibrilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market10 Aug 2026
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.