Aghvan Papikyan (Armenian: Աղվան Պապիկյանը, born 8 February 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for III liga club Unia Skierniewice. Born in Poland, he was a member of the Armenia national team.

Aghvan Papikyan
Personal information
Full name Aghvan Papikyan
Date of birth (1994-02-08) 8 February 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Łódź, Poland
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Winger[1]
Team information
Current team
Unia Skierniewice
Number 10
Youth career
2005–2011 ŁKS Łódź
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 ŁKS Łódź 15 (0)
2013–2014 Spartak Moscow 0 (0)
2013–2014FC Pyunik (loan) 18 (4)
2014–2015 Ulisses FC 19 (2)
2015–2017 GKS Bełchatów 37 (6)
2017 Raków Częstochowa 15 (1)
2018–2019 Olimpia Grudziądz 28 (8)
2019–2020 Chojniczanka Chojnice 25 (3)
2020 Alashkert 1 (0)
2020–2021 Ararat Yerevan 18 (1)
2021–2022 Alashkert 11 (0)
2022 Wisła Puławy 14 (0)
2023 Olimpia Grudziądz 14 (1)
2024– Unia Skierniewice 13 (5)
International career
2010–2011 Armenia U17 3 (1)
2011 Armenia U19 9 (2)
2012 Armenia U21 17 (1)
2013–2014 Armenia 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 June 2024

Club career

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Aghvan was a pupil of the football academy ŁKS Łódź. He completed the stages of the club academy along with his older brother Volodya.[2] In 2011, he was included in the first team. Papikyan played 8 matches in total for Łódź.

In February 2013, he transferred to Spartak Moscow.[3]

On 4 September 2020, less than a month after joining FC Alashkert, he moved to Ararat Yerevan.[4]

International career

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Aghvan Papikyan has played for the junior and youth teams of Armenia. He has stated, "I play for the Armenia because that's where my roots are from and I feel Armenian." Papikyan had no desire to join the Poland national football team and couldn't anyway due to citizenship issues, but said he still "feels something towards Poland".[2]

After a match between the Armenia U21 and Armenia national teams on 21 March 2013, Papikyan was among three youth players chosen by the Football Federation of Armenia to join the senior team.[5]

Personal life

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Aghvan is the son of Armenian former football player and current football manager Arsen Papikyan and also has a one-year older brother Volodya who played midfielder for ŁKS Łódź with Aghvan. His parents and brother were born in Armenia and decided to work and live to Poland, where Aghvan was born one year later.

Although born in Poland, he only obtained Polish citizenship on 2 October 2017.[2][6][7]

References

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  1. ^ Aghvan Papikyan at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ a b c "Interview with Aghvan Papikyan, Polish-born Armenian". Poland Soccer Blog. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Aghwan Papikjan wypożyczony do Spartaka" (in Polish). 90minut.pl. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Աղվան Պապիկյանի առաջին հարցազրույցը որպես "Արարատի" ֆուտբոլիստ" [Aghvan Papikyan's first interview as a footballer of Ararat] (in Armenian). FC Ararat Yerevan. 4 September 2020.
  5. ^ Աղվան Պապիկյանը, Տարոն Ոսկանյանը եւ Դավիթ Հակոբյանն` ազգային հավաքականում (in Armenian). sport.news.am. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  6. ^ Walczyk, Jerzy; Łagiewski, Jakub (16 September 2011). "Ekstraklasa. Piłkarz ŁKS nie chce grać w reprezentacji Polski" [Ekstraklasa: LKS player does not wish to play for the Polish national team] (in Polish). sport.pl. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Aghwan Papikjan z polskim obywatelstwem". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 2 October 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
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