The club has been functioning since 1997, initially as an amateur side that shared its name with Khazar University, the first private university in Azerbaijan, which founded the club. In 1999, Khazar University began to play in the Azerbaijan Premier League, finishing eleventh.[2] In subsequent years, Inter finished in 7th place (2000/01 season) and 3rd place (2003–04 season).
In the 2003–04 season, the team finished in fourth place, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the first time. In the first round of the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, they defeated Bregenz of Austria 3:0 on a forfeiture in the first leg, and 2:1 in the second leg.[3] In the second round, they played Tampere United of Finland, losing the first leg 0:3; winning the return leg, played in Baku, 1:0; but going out on aggregate 1:3.[4]
The Double and Tskhadadze years (2004–2014)
UEFA Champions League 2008–2009 Qualifying match in Skopje, Macedonia; FK Rabotnicki (Macedonia) – Inter Baku (Azerbaijan) 1–1
In the summer of 2004, all rights of the Khazar University club were transferred to the newly created Inter Baku Professional Football Club, and the team participated in the 13th championship of the Azerbaijani Premier League under the name of Inter Baku. Later in 2004, certain structural changes were made in the club's management, and Inter Baku was renamed the Inter Professional Club, finishing the 2004–2005 season in seventh place. Inter's progression up the standings continued in the 14th iteration of the Azerbaijan Premier League when Inter finished in fourth place.
The club finished fourth again in 2006–07, and first in 2007–08. Following its championship season, Inter qualified for its first-ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2008 and advanced to the second qualifying round by defeating Rabotnički of the Republic of Macedonia on away goals.[5]
In 2012, the club recorded an Azerbaijani record for the biggest win in a European competition by beating Narva Trans 5–0 in Estonia.[9] The club had started the 2013–14 season with a three-game losing streak, setting a record for worst start to a season in its history.[10] However, the team managed to clinch second spot in the league.[11]
Downturn and financial difficulties of Inter Baku (2015–2017)
During the 2015–16 season, Inter started experiencing financial difficulties at the same time with its main sponsor, The International Bank of Azerbaijan. In December 2015, the club's president, Georgi Nikolov was replaced by Rashad Gasimov. On 31 March 2016, Inter Baku were banned from participating in the next UEFA club competition that they would qualify for in the next three seasons, covering the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.[12]
The situation continued during the 2016–17 season as Inter struggled to pay salaries to its players and make new transfers. Despite that, Inter was able to claim the bronze medal in the national championship and reach the semi-finals stage in the Cup. At the end of the season, IBA announced that it would no longer sponsor the club, and this led to new changes in the administration. Zaur Akhundov, former director of the National Futzal Federation, was appointed as the head of the supervisory board and Ramish Maliyev became the new executive director of the club. Despite the rumors about the liquidation, Inter was able to find sponsorship for the 2017–18 season and play in the Europe League, where it eliminated Serbian Mladost Lučani in the first qualifying round before getting eliminated by Fola Esch in the second round.
Keshla FK (2017–2022)
On 28 October 2017, Inter Baku PIK officially changed its name to Keshla FK.[13] The club also replaced its logo and jersey colors. In its first match, Keshla lost 0–2 against Kapaz. The next day, the team's manager Zaur Svanadze was replaced by Ramiz Mammadov.[14] On 25 December 2017, Keshla announced that Ramiz Mammadov had become the club's Sporting Director, with Yuriy Maksymov coming in as the club's new manager.[15] On 17 July 2018, Maksymov was sacked as manager,[16] with Mladen Milinković being appointed as the new manager on 25 July 2018.[17] On 29 October 2018, Milinković was sacked as manager,[18] with Tarlan Ahmadov being appointed as his replacement on 30 October 2018.[19] On 8 August 2020, Ahmadov left Keşla.[20]
On 16 August 2020, Keşla announced Yunis Huseynov being appointed as the new manager.[21] On 24 January 2021, Huseynov resigned as manager,[22] with Sanan Gurbanov being appointed as the club's new manager on 25 January 2021.[23]
Azerbaijani teams are limited to nine players without Azerbaijani citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country.
Current squad
As of 28 July 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
