Yerevan, December 15, Armenpress: Edgar Manucharian, a forward of Pyunik FC, was recognized Armenia's best football player of 2004.

Edgar Manucharian will be playing next year for Dutch Ajax.

Second and third places were given by sport journalists, coaches and referees to Armen Shahgeldyan and David Grigorian from Mika FC in Ashtarak.

By Khachik Chakhoyan

FC Pyunik proved a class above the rest as they cruised to their fourth successive Armenian Premier League title.

Unbeaten run
Pyunik won the league unbeaten in 2003, and they again avoided defeat until their penultimate match on 11 November when FC Kilikia claimed a 1-0 away win in a rearranged game. Still, their overall run of 59 league fixtures without losing, starting in October 2002, is the fourth best sequence on record in any European top flight.

Yerevan, July 14, Mediamax. Head coach of Yerevan football team Pyunik Vartan Minasian called “logical” the 3:1 victory of his players against Macedonian Pobeda in the first qualification round of Champions League in Skopje on July 13.

27 January, Uefa.com: Armenia have named their squad for the forthcoming international tournament in Cyprus which will involve eight European teams.

Eight new boys
Coach Mihai Stoichita has named a 23-man party, including eight Under-21 internationals who have yet to make their senior debuts. This group includes three 17-year-olds from FC Pyunik - Edgar Manucharyan, Zhora Hovhannisyan and Balep Ba Ndoumbuk - as well as Levon Pachajyan, David Grigoryan, Ararat Arakelyan, Carl Lombe and U21 captain Barseg Kirakosyan.

'Need to involve youngsters'
"We need to involve the youngsters in the team, so that we will be stronger in the future," Stoichita said. Other participants in the Cypriot tournament are Cyprus themselves, Romania, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia and Kazakhstan.

World Cup group
In 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 1 Armenia have been drawn alongside against Netherlands, Czech Republic, Romania, Finland, Macedonia and Andorra.

Armenia squad
Hambartsumyan, Apoula Bete, Hovsepyan, Arman Karamyan, Artavazd Karamyan, Hakobyan, Melikyan, Sarkisyan, Kirakosyan, Lombe, Ndoumbuk, Mkrtchyan, Zeciu, Tadevosyan, Aleksanyan, Manucharyan, Hovhannisyan, Pachajyan, Grigoryan, Arakelyan, Petrosyan, Khachatryan, Voskanyan.

January 22: Armenia is this week's featured country in uefa.com's Jubilee coverage of each of UEFA's 52 member associations.

The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) has used the country's annual football gala awards ceremony to highlight football's fight against intolerance and discrimination.

No rest

During the ceremony, attended by top Armenian players and club officials, as well as government ministers and members of parliament, FFA president Ruben Hayrapetyan said: "We cannot rest on our laurels. We have to ensure that the phenomenon withers on the vine."

Match banners

Armenia has been contributing to UEFA's pan-European anti-racism campaign for some time now. At the UEFA EURO 2004' qualifying match between Armenia and Spain in October, banners in Armenian and English with the wording 'Armenian football against racism' were hung around the Republican stadium in Yerevan.

'Negative phenomenon'
In November, several further activities took place, including a programme involving the country's leading musicians. Mr Hayrapetyan emphasised the importance of all communities being accepted in Armenia. "We will work hard to educate the coming generations of Armenian footballers, to ensure that this negative phenomenon can be prevented within our football."

Spreading the message
The anti-racism project is directed not only at black players from Africa or elsewhere, but also other national minorities in Armenia as well such as Russians, Ukrainians, Kurds, Ezids and Jews. Armenia's journalists have also pledged to spread the message through their various outlets.

Yerevan to Teheran

This month, two professors from Yerevan's Pedagogic University are undertaking a walk from Yerevan to the Iranian capital Tehran to highlight the football anti-racism drive. The idea of that tour arose after the two professors, Hrant Patrikyan and Yurik Muradyan, learned about the FFA project via TV and the press.

University lecture
The tour starts at the Iranian Embassy in Yerevan and finishes at the Armenian Embassy in Tehran. The two participants will hold various meetings both in Armenia and Iran, as well as a lecture at Tehran University when they will present the FFA and UEFA anti-racist policies.

Yerevan, December 07, Reuters: Ara Akopyan, whose goals helped Banants Yerevan finish Armenian league runners-up, has been voted the country's top player this year.

The 23-year-old striker, who notched a record 45 goals in 24 league matches, was the overwhelming choice in a nationwide poll of the country's coaches, officials and journalists.

Yerevan, October 17: Sammy McElroy, yesterday named as the Stockport County manager, admitted he was on the verge of quitting his post with Northern Ireland after last month's 1-0 home defeat by Armenia.

"Things happened after that game which totally destroyed me," said McElroy, who refused to elaborate. "I'd been feeling very down because of circumstances but I saw the campaign through, I did my best and I hope the new man can build on what we have."

Northern Ireland failed to score a goal in their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign and have gone 13 games without scoring.

Jim Boyce, the Irish Football Association president, was "let down and hurt" by McElroy’s departure. "I backed him 150 per cent throughout the difficult times," Boyce said. "We gave Sammy a new contract before we played our last few ties and he accepted, saying he never wanted to manage anyone but his country."

Meanwhile, Dennis Wise is set to begin his career in management with Mill wall following the sacking of Mark McGhee and his assistant, Archie Knox, after the 1-0 home defeat by Preston.

Wise will become the south-east London club's player-captain-manager for the next four games and as the former England international has a good relationship with chairman Theo Paphitis a permanent appointment cannot be ruled out.

Euro 2004: Spain Beats Armenia 4-0, Goes toPlayoffs

Yerevan, 13 October: Spain defeated Armenia 4-0 on Saturday in their last Euro 2004 qualifier but still missed out on direct qualification for the tournament, after Greece won Group 6 with a narrow 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland.

Spain finished with 17 points, one point behind Greece. Ukraine placed third, followed by Armenia and Northern Ireland.

Spain's win was kick-started by Juan Carlos Valeron's opener after just seven minutes of the lopsided match. Real Madrid striker Raul doubled the lead 14 minutes from time and second-half substitute Jose Antonio Reyes sealed the result with two goals in the last three minutes.

In the 23rd minute Raul found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky, who dived to deny Spain's captain a clear scoring chance.

Rodriguez was close to scoring in the 35th minute, but his powerful shot from inside the penalty box hit the left post.

Spain defeated Armenia 4-0 on Saturday in their last Euro 2004 qualifier but still missed out on direct qualification for the tournament, after Greece won Group 6 with a narrow 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland.

Spain finished with 17 points, one point behind Greece. Ukraine placed third, followed by Armenia and Northern Ireland.

Spain's win was kick-started by Juan Carlos Valeron's opener after just seven minutes of the lopsided match. Real Madrid striker Raul doubled the lead 14 minutes from time and second-half substitute Jose Antonio Reyes sealed the result with two goals in the last three minutes.

In the 23rd minute Raul found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky, who dived to deny Spain's captain a clear scoring chance.

Rodriguez was close to scoring in the 35th minute, but his powerful shot from inside the penalty box hit the left post.

One minute later Berezovsky leaped for another stunning save to stop Raul's header into the left upper corner of the goal.

Two minutes before halftime, Vicente Rodriguez hit the target but the goal was disallowed for offside

Spain fully dominated the second half and Raul scored in the 76th minute when he collected a pass from Joseba Etxeberria from the right, outplayed an Armenian defender and found the right corner of the net.

Reyes scored his first goal on a solo effort with one-minute left in regulation time and added another a minute later.

Arman Karamian had two opportunities for Armenia midway through the second half, but failed to convert. Lineups

Armenia - Roman Berezovsky; Yeghishe Melikyan, Karen Dokhian, Sargis Hovsepian, Arutyun Vardanyan, Romik Khachatryan, Tudor-Marian Zesiu (Artur Mkrtchyan, 90th), Artur Voskanyan (Andrey Movsesian, 80), Albert Sarkisyan, Artavazd Karamyan, Arman Karamyan (Artur Petrosian, 90).

Spain - Iker Casillas; Michel Salgado, Carlos Marchena, David Albelda, Carles Puyol, Ivan Helguera, Raul Gonzalez (Alberto Luque, 78), Ruben Baraja (Joaquin Sanchez, 66), Juan Carlos Valeron, Vicente Rodriguez (Jose Antonio Reyes, 62), Joseba Etxeberria.

Greek football chief denies trying to fix match with Armenia

The president of the Hellenic Football Federation, Vasilios Gagatsis, has sent an official letter to his Armenian counterpart Ruben Ayrapetyan, saying that statements about an attempt "to buy" a match between the Armenian and Greek national teams in a qualifier of the 2004 European championship "have inflicted colossal damage on our reputation".

Mediamax news agency reports that Vasilios Gagatsis once again denied statements that the leadership of the Hellenic Football Federation had offered a bribe to the Armenian side.

"The Greek national team has won all its matches in an honest fight and no-one can doubt this," Vasilios Gagatsis said.

In order to clarify all the circumstances of this case, UEFA has appointed a disciplinary inspector who will present his conclusions by 11 October.