Founded last year, FK Arkadag, named in honour of strongman former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, has been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing.
The side has not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season - success unthinkable almost anywhere else. But in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way.
The energy-rich country is one of the most closed on earth, rights groups say, with the Berdimuhamedows - father Gurbanguly and son, President Serdar Berdimuhamedow - exerting near total control over all aspects of society.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who built an intense personality cult during a 15-year spell as president, is now known by the title of "Arkadag," or hero-protector.
Despite handing the presidency to Serdar, Gurbanguly continues to rule in a de facto governing tandem with his son, and enjoys immense privileges as the official head of the Turkmen nation.
Arkadag, the football club named after him, play their home games at Arkadag Stadium in the freshly-built city of Arkadag - a mega project constructed in his honour at an official cost of $5 billion. The city's main landmark? A 43-metre monument with a gilded statue of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow on horseback at the top.
Despite its record-breaking run, FK Arkadag has struggled to bring in the crowds. Around 200 spectators came to matches last month against Ahal and Altyn Asyr attended by 'AFP', dotted around the brand new 10,000-capacity stadium. Tickets had been offered for free.
Watching on, fan Begench Mukhadov waved the club's scarf, emblazoned with its official logo, an ice-blue and white crest featuring an Akhal-Teke horse, a Turkmen national symbol.
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