Central Stallions Thriving in New Era

The 2024/2025 season was one of highs and lows for the the club known as Tuv Azarganuud. After beginning the season without a single point in its first nine matches, the club entered the winter break seemingly destined for relegation. The team pulled off the unthinkable when the league resumed in the spring, securing 9th-place in the Premier League ahead of Brera Ilch and avoiding automatic placement in the First League this year.

After easily surviving a relegation/promotion playoff with Ulaangom City FC, the club had a lot to consider this off-season, including how to rebuild and move forward if it wanted to remain a fixture in the top flight.

In a fashion typical for the club, it started with a rebrand. In August 2025, just before kick off for the current season, Tuv Azarganuud introduced a new logo with the English translation of its name. Tuv Azarganuud became Central Stallions, or the Stallions from Tuv (Central) Province. The club was originally founded in 2018 as Tuv Buganuud (Central Deer/Stags) before trading its Deer identity for the Stallions during the 2023/2024 season.

A new identity wasn't the only overhaul made by the club in the off-season. The first sign that the club was serious about rebuilding was the hiring of Bayasgalangii Garidmagnai as head coach. Garidmagnai has won the league before and is the country's first and still only pro-licensed coach. He's been named the league's coach of the year at least two times on route to eventually being named men's senior national team manager in 2024.

Over the following off-season months, the club would sign high profile and proven players from both Mongolia and abroad. The signings included Mongolian internationals such as Saikhanchuluun Amarbayasgalan, Enkhbileg Purevdorj, and Tuguldur Munkh-Erdene. The most eyebrow-raising move was the signing of Japanese striker Tetsuaki Misawa who was the MPL's top scorer with BCH Lions in 2021 but has since been an effective scorer in the top flights of Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia.

When the season began its winter break, Central Stallions sat atop the league table with 23 points from nine matches with a record of 7-2-0. The team has rebuilt from winless to undefeated in exactly one year. A league championship is not guaranteed, however, as FC Ulaanbaatar is only two points behind and things can, as we know, change quickly and dramatically in Mongolian football.

Central Stallions have shown its depth, maintaining the top position essentially without the services of Tetsuaka Misawa who has failed to resume his previous form because of injury. Expect him to make more of an impact following the long winter break to recuperate.

Although there are a lot of questions remaining when the league finally resumes (hopefully) next month, there are several signs indicating it will be a successful one for Central Stallions. Perhaps the strongest indicator is that on 17 February 2026, the lunar calendar began the Year of the Horse.