UEFA's article about Noah. Scaling new heights

UEFA has published an extensive article about Noah.

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․

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.”

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 per cent 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․

“THE STADIUM WE ARE PLANNING TO BUILD WILL BE OVER 23 ACRES. BUT FIRST WE NEED NEW ROADS –THIS INFRASTRUCTURE IS NOT READY FOR 20,000 PEOPLE TO DRIVE HERE”

“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, sunscorched 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 fanbase 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.

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 €4.5m 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 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.”

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.

“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 earlyseason 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.