Club Spotlight: Arvis FC

Arvis FC (Арвис in Mongolian) were crowned champions of the Mongolian First League for the 2017 season. The club has much to celebrate, including gaining promotion to the Premier League for the first time and having the league's top scorer, Erdene-Ochir Mungunbagana, on its roster.

But who is Arvis FC? The club faces a situation very common in Mongolian football; very little media coverage or information is available about the team, especially outside of the country but even within Mongolia also.

Let's get to know the Premier League's newest club.

Arvis FC is an Ulaanbaatar-based club founded in 2010. Like most other clubs in the country, they play their home matches at the MFF Football Centre. For the club's entire existence, it competed in the lower levels of Mongolian football. However, it made several appearances in the Mongolian league cup, including in 2012 when they finished fourth of five teams in Group A. The club were members of the newly-formed Mongolian First League which began play as the country's second division in 2015.

In 2016, the team finished in fifth place in the ten-team league, compiling a 9-2-7 record for 29 points. The club's futsal team experienced slightly more success in the Pepsi Futsal league that season, finishing in third place. In 2017 the club finally made the breakthrough, finishing six points above second place Gepro FC who also earned its first promotion to the Premier League. Arvis finished with a 14-1-3 record with 43 points. They maintained an impressive GF/GA ratio of 65 to 19 (+46).

Arvis FC #9 Erdene-Ochir Mungunbagana was the league's Golden Boot winner with 17 goals. However, the 18-year-old's future with the club is in question as the player has begun attending university in Russia. Arvis FC's 2017 roster was composed mostly of Mongolians but also included French-Guinean winger Mamadou Baldé and a player from Kazhakstan.

2017 Arvis FC team photo

The team's current management team is Donorov and Ganzorig. The 40-year-old head coach Lumbengarav Donorov should be familiar to most fans of Mongolian football. He previously served as captain of the national team and is currently its all-time top scorer with eight goals in 35 appearances. Ganzorig serves as his assistant and head coach of the club's futsal team. Basandorj is the team's current general manager and also serves as the club's captain as a player.

In addition to the men's senior team and futsal team, the club also fields a women's team and a team in the under-15 boy's league.

With such a high pedigree and level of experience in its executives and coaching staff and on-field performance of its players, it is no wonder that Arvis FC has experienced so much success in recent history. Best of luck to the club in the upcoming 2018 season as it faces its most difficult challenge yet.

You can follow the team's official Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/Arvis-FC-680145935436545/

or view its MFF profile at:

http://the- mff.mn/team/5Sv6pW8nY5qsMH3Rj