Today we will talk about arguably the most patriotic player of the Armenian national team—Yura Movsisyan! First, we want to congratulate Yura on his 37th birthday and wish him all the best and success in his entrepreneurial endeavors!
Let's start with his childhood. The future star of Armenia was born in Gyumri in 1987. Official sources claim that the player was born in Baku, but this is not true. In the 1990s, the Movsisyan family moved from Armenia's second-largest city to Rostov and then to Moscow. However, Yura's father wanted to move the family to America, and to "get a ticket" to the USA, Baku was listed as the place of birth on documents. Based on this, the family could apply for refugee status to emigrate.
Yura was 12 years old when he moved to America with his family. In the States, the Movsisyan family faced typical immigrant challenges. Financial issues were especially pressing, so young Yura, along with his brother, worked in an Armenian store. As the player himself recounted, he had to give up football for a year due to the family's difficult situation.
"We stocked goods with my brother, helped in the warehouse, and did everything asked of us. The whole family worked hard: 12-14 hours a day. My father worked as a mechanic in a car repair shop, and my mother was a nanny and more. My father even had two jobs."
Only in his free time could Yura devote attention to football, but not at a professional level. The only place where the young talent could showcase himself was in school tournaments, where he shone and stood out. Notably, after school, Yura did not enroll in any university or college in the country. He continued to play and support his family. Thanks to his brilliant performances in school tournaments, everyone knew about Yura's talent. One day, a local coach approached Movsisyan and offered him the chance to play for a college team. The coach told Yura he would have a chance to go professional. In fact, this was a hint at a possible entry into the MLS draft, where clubs select players. Eventually, after some time, Yura was drafted by MLS-combine.
Movsisyan's father, Sergey, said that Yura hadn't played for three months before the draft, and they didn't know what to do. At 17, school was finished, there was no team, no invitations, only training with the old youth team—and that's it. But suddenly, an opportunity to get into the MLS came up! Indeed, when you work as a loader at 12, you know the value of every opportunity.
"I was at the stadium during this combine. Sitting next to me was the head coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Frank Yallop. I vividly remember Yura hitting the crossbar from 30 meters or more. And then the Galaxy's head coach couldn't hold back and spat out, 'Why did you do that?!' He didn't want another club to snatch Yura from the draft earlier. The Galaxy was the defending champion, and it only had the last, 12th pick. Everyone was amazed by that shot, but he was annoyed..." Sergey said.
The next day, Movsisyan Sr. and Frank Yallop met at the hotel for breakfast. Yallop saw Movsisyan's father, approached him, and said, "Yesterday Yura shouldn't have hit that post. Now I can't take him, but I'm sure your son will be picked by lower-ranking teams. Prepare for a move."
And that's exactly what happened! Who knows, maybe if it weren't for that crossbar, Yura would have stayed with the family and played for Los Angeles simultaneously, but history doesn't know conditional moods, so the 18-year-old Movsisyan went to the backwoods of central America to play for the Kansas City Wizards. Moving to Kansas forced Yura to mature. Within just six months, Movsisyan made it into a professional team. Just as the school coach promised! It's simply fantastic how Yura, being nobody, managed to outshine those who had just returned from the Olympics and were well-prepared!
In Kansas, Yura spent one season, scoring five goals. One of them, by the way, was against his future team, Real Salt Lake.
Interestingly, during this period, Yura got married. Very early—at 19. And when he moved to Real, he was already with his wife, Marianna. The young footballer met his chosen one at an Armenian party in Glendale.
With Movsisyan's arrival, Real Salt Lake began gaining momentum. A year later, Yura helped the club win the national championship, defeating, by the way, the same Los Angeles Galaxy, which included David Beckham. This victory brought the still-young Yura not only a photo with David but also a meeting with then-President of the United States Barack Obama.
"At our team's meeting with Obama, I asked the President, 'Why haven't you recognized the Armenian Genocide? You promised us this.' When Obama was running for election, he promised the Armenian diaspora: 'Vote for me, and I will recognize the genocide.' But he lied. That's why I asked my question. He was shocked. He said, 'Better stick to football, not politics.' I replied, 'This isn't politics; it's life.'"
Yura said that before meeting the president, they were warned not to ask any questions. But "it was important for me to ask this—for myself, for all Armenians." According to the player, after this dialogue with Obama, the White House security looked at him sideways, wanting to escort him out quickly.
Movsisyan left America at his peak. After winning the MLS, the Armenian found himself in a Danish championship club, which was in last place. Thanks to Yura's goals, Randers moved up to mid-table and earned a spot in the Europa League! The Danish club managed to overcome two qualifying rounds, where Yura scored five goals in five matches. Beautiful. After such results in Europe, Movsisyan drew attention in Armenia, and soon, the FFA made an offer to the footballer and sent a letter to the Danish club.
"I believe the national team is not a place to satisfy career or financial ambitions. I am Armenian, and my heart belongs to this country. When I decided to play for Armenia, I was guided by my heart and, above all, by the opportunity to make the Armenian people a little happier," said Yura Movsisyan.
Representatives from clubs such as Espanyol, Rubin, Blackburn, and Dynamo Kyiv flew to Denmark to negotiate with Movsisyan. Eventually, after a personal conversation with FC Krasnodar's president Sergey Galitsky, Yura headed to Russia, to the south.
At that time, the player was surprised that Galitsky was Armenian by his father (Arutyunyan). Movsisyan constantly referred to Krasnodar's president as "Mr. Arutyunyan."
In the Armenian national team, Yura played a crucial role. He scored many goals and was a leader of the national team alongside Mkhitaryan and Ozbiliz. Movsisyan played 38 matches for Armenia and scored 14 goals. Despite his effectiveness and dedication, unfortunately, that very strong generation did not reach a major tournament.
An interesting episode occurred during the match between Armenia and Denmark. It was a game in the qualification for the 2014 World Cup. In that game, the Armenian national team won 4-0, and today's birthday boy scored a brace. Despite this, when Movsisyan left the field after being substituted, the entire stadium applauded the Armenian forward. Denmark certainly remembered Yura!
Movsisyan's career in Russia was bright but ambiguous due to injuries.
His time at Krasnodar was wonderful! Yura became the team's star and the fans' favorite. In 2011, Movsisyan was named Krasnodar's best player, and the following season, he caught a wave and scored nine goals in 13 rounds. Unfortunately, after this, the southern leader got injured and was out for the rest of the season. Shortly after, in the winter of 2012, Moscow Spartak bought Yura for 7.5 million euros and offered him a lucrative contract with a salary of 1.5 million euros per year. In 50 games for Krasnodar, Movsisyan scored 23 goals, after which he faced interesting four seasons in Moscow. In his debut match for Spartak against Terek, Yura scored a hat trick. Later, Movsisyan scored another hat trick, this time against Zenit St. Petersburg. After this game, another famous Armenian striker, Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan, came into the team's locker room and took a jersey with Movsisyan's autograph. Yura played 62 matches for Spartak, scoring 25 goals.
In Russia, the Armenian's career declined due to a series of injuries. Yura returned to Real Salt Lake (the second club of his career) in America, spent a season in Sweden, returned to America again, and finished his career with the Chicago Fire. During his professional career, Yura Movsisyan played 289 games and scored 111 goals.
Now, Yura Movsisyan is developing his club, Lions United, maintaining connections with the Armenian diaspora, and supporting it.
The article's author is the owner of the Telegram channel «А Мики в старте?».
