Who are FC Noah? Inside the Armenian minnows getting ready to face Chelsea

Chelsea have faced some minnows so far during their first foray into the Europa Conference League but their opponents on Thursday night might top the lot.

Exactly 300 places separate FC Noah and the Blues in the UEFA coefficient rankings and it is difficult to imagine a greater chasm between two sides facing off in European competition.

The Stamford Bridge outfit have spent more than £1billion in the two-year reign of Todd Boehly alone, while their Armenian adversaries for the night have never paid a single transfer fee for a player.

Chelsea's starting XI in their previous Conference League clash against Panathinaikos cost them £487.5m while Noah Yerevan's entire squad is worth £6.5m, according to Transfermarkt - a sum which could get you around 6.5 per cent of an Enzo Fernandez.

You get the idea. But who are Noah? Where do they come from? And what is their potential arc in this year's competition? Mail Sport delves into this tiny team so you don't have to.

Formed in 2017, the Armavir-based side started out life as FC Artsakh before moving to their current location and changing their name two years later.

Their current moniker is of course a reference to the animal-loving biblical figure who built a boat to avoid a huge flood hitting Mount Ararat which, although it lies in modern-day Turkey, is still the national symbol of Armenia.

'Armenia has a strong relationship with the Noah story; it is a spiritual nation,' Vahe Gasparyan, a member of the First Armenian Front supporters group, told The Athletic.

'Christianity is the state religion. Mount Ararat is a special site in the country's history. It is much more than just a place. The symbolism for the country is monumental.'

The club have come a long way to reach Thursday's meeting with Chelsea, the area of Artsakh being its own republic, unrecognised by UEFA for international tournaments, until it was taken by Azerbaijan in 2023.

Slava Gabrielyan, the UEFA Pro-licence coach for the area detailed the struggles back in 2017.

'Before 2006 there was no organised football in Artsakh,' he told The Independent. 'We have some friendly games against teams from Armenia and sometimes from Georgia.

'But we never have competitive games. It's not possible for us.'

Artsakh is now part of Azerbaijan and FC Artsakh is now Noah, who have migrated to Armavir in Armenia amid the conflict in the region.

With the slightest change capable of threatening the club's entire existence, it is understandable that head coach Rui Mota is constantly on the look-out for comfort in an often uncomfortable scenario.

One source is the side's name itself as the boss explains.

'Being able to carry this name with us is so nice,' he said. 'It is like a warm blanket.'

The club hit the ground running after their relocation, lifting the Armenian Cup and the Armenian Super Cup in 2020 but have gone trophy-less since then.

But within five months of his arrival, the Portuguese boss has pulled off the greatest feat in Noah's short history, thrusting the side into top European competition.

Since the Conference League began, no team has reached the group stage having won all four qualifying rounds - until Noah came along.

They have already shown they have giant-killing ability, although not quite on the level of Chelsea, having beaten AEK Athens 3-2 on aggregate in the third round.

Mota, who had moved from Georgia club FC Dila Gori in the summer, had to do his business early with Noah's first match taking place on July 11, before the Euros had even finished.

The team signed a whopping 16 players in less than a month, all for free, with a heavy emphasis on Portuguese incomings from clubs, such as Farense, thanks to the manager's links in the country, having been a performance analyst for Sporting Lisbon for four years.

All of this has led up to their date with Enzo Maresca's men with thousands of ticket requests coming in from Armenians living across Europe.

Meanwhile, to give Noah the best chance of springing an upset, Mota has talked tactics with compatriots managing in the Premier League including Fulham's Marco Silva, with whom he worked at Sporting a decade ago, and Nuno Espirito Santo, who has rocketed Nottingham Forest into the top four.

Iceland international Gudmundur Thorarinsson, who was one of the summer's reinforcements, gave an insight into potential tactics, saying: 'We will try to play our football but there may be times where we will have to park the Ark.'

Things are looking up for Noah beyond just their exciting Conference League campaign, with ambitious owner Vardges Vardanyan investing in a new training ground and aiming to build a stadium to hold up to 20,000 people, a vast increase on their current 3,100 capacity at Abovyan City Stadium.

He said: 'My goal is for FC Noah to become a pillar of Armenian football, consistently achieving success in the Armenian Premier League and proudly representing Armenia in European competitions.'