Maksimov headed the Azerbaijani Araz-Nakhchivan

Ukrainian coach Yury Maksymov has been officially appointed head coach of the Araz-Nakhchivan football club. According to the press service of the Azerbaijani club, the contract with the specialist is calculated until the end of the 2026/27 season. The new coach faces a difficult task: after six rounds, Araz-Nakhchivan occupies the last, 12th place in the standings of the Azerbaijan championship, having scored only 2 points. Maksimov will play his debut match as the head of the team on October 9, when the Red Wolves will host Kyapaz. Commenting on his appointment, Maksimov noted that he already has an understanding of the situation in the club: "I have a general idea of ​​the team and the squad. I understand where we are inferior and where we can gain an advantage. There is a lot of work ahead. Tomorrow we will have the first training session with the team. I am aware that four of our players have gone to the national team location and will join us later. Now our main task is to rise from the bottom of the tournament table to higher positions. The team must believe in itself. We are obliged to rise as high as possible, this is a critically important moment for us," said the driver. For Yuriy Maksimov, this is already his second work experience in Azerbaijan. In the 2017/18 season, he led Samakhi (then the club was called Keshlu), with which he won the Azerbaijan Cup. Then, in the final match, his team beat Gabala 1:0, coached by another Ukrainian, Roman Hryhorchuk. The previous place of work of the 57-year-old specialist was Poltava Vorskla, which he headed from October 2024 to June 2025. This stage ended unsuccessfully: under his leadership, the Poltava players were relegated from the elite division of the Ukrainian championship for the first time in a long time. During his coaching career, Maksimov also worked with Dnipro-1, Zvyagel, Kazakh Taraz, Russian Mordovia, Donetsk Metalurg and Kryvyi Rih Kryvbas. It is interesting that last season the club was headed by another Ukrainian specialist - Andriy Demchenko. The management terminated the agreement with the coach due to the team's failure to reach the European Cup zone. He came to Araz-Nakhchivan in January 2026. The team played 17 official games under his leadership, winning 6 matches and drawing two. According to the results of the championship, the club took sixth place and could not get into the Eurocup zone, after which a decision was made to terminate cooperation and simultaneously cut the club's budget in half with the appointment of a new local coach.