On 29 May 2013 Yuri Semin was officially unveiled as the club's new manager,[1] appointing recently retired ex-national team goalkeeper Dmitriy Kramarenko as one of his coaches.
The most notable departures were January signings Luka Žinko to Hangzhou Greentown[3] and Moustapha Dabo to Kahramanmaraşspor, whilst Ifeanyi Emeghara was released, Jeyhun Sultanov retired and Cristian Pulhac was told he was free to leave the club.
[7] Elnar Karimov, Yashar Abuzerov, Rovshan Amiraslanov, Daniel Cruz, Rey Mammadbayli and Amil Yunanov were the other players to leave the club.
[8][9] In June Ibrahima Niasse followed from Inter Baku[10] and Dawid Pietrzkiewicz from Simurq,[10] whilst Lorenzo Ebecilio, on loan, and Abdulwaheed Afolabi joined from Metalurh Donetsk[11] and Kuban Krasnodar[12] respectively.
Gabala added another three signings in July, with Rail Malikov moving from Denizlispor,[13] Danijel Subotić from Volyn Lutsk[14] and Leonardo from Metalurh Donetsk.
[14] Elnur Allahverdiyev signed with Gabala in September on an initial six-month-long loan deal after Rail Malikov was ruled out by injury.
Danijel Subotić, playing his first game for the club after his registration issues were sorted out during the break,[22] scored what turned out to be the winner in the 32nd minute before Amit Guluzade picked up Gabala's second red card of the season for two bookings.
[23] Gabala recorded their 5th win, and moved top of the league for the first time in their history, on 20 September, defeating Ravan Baku at home.
[26] On 19 October 2013, Gabala returned from the international break with an away trip to Inter Baku, a game which they won 1-0 thanks to a Danijel Subotić first half goal.
Gabala went 4-0 down to Qarabağ, after a Nikoloz Gelashvili brace and goals apiece from Vüqar Nadirov and Chumbinho, before scoring three themselves in 15mins to ensure a close last 5 minutes.
[31] At the end of November, Oumar Kalabane suffered a meniscus tear at his knee during training and underwent surgery at Acibadem Fulya Hospital.
Mushfig Teymurov was sent off for Gabala after collecting two yellow cards, before Mahir Shukurov scored an injury time free-kick to seal the victory for Neftchi.
[38] On 23 December, it was announced that Gabala had signed Ruslan Tagizade from AZAL on a two-year contract,[39][40] whilst defenders Shahriyar Khalilov and Dejan Kelhar all left the club and Tarzin Jahangirov joined Simurq on loan.
On 30 December 2013, Gabala announced that they had agreed to sign Rafael Santos, who left Arsenal Kyiv following their bankruptcy in November,[41] on a two-year contract subject to completing medical.
[50] Gabala's first game of the 2014 was on 2 February away to Sumgayit, which they won 3-0 thanks to goals from Victor Mendy, Lorenzo Ebecilio and Leonardo, to return to the top of the league.
[59] Gabala progressed to the Semi-Finals of the cup on 19 March winning 2–1 in the second leg of their quarter-final match against Qarabağ, thanks to goals from Danijel Subotić and Victor Mendy.
[60] On 23 March Gabala were beaten 4–1 at home by Inter Baku, Victor Mendy scoring their only goal whilst they slipped out of the European places for the first time since week 5 of the season.
[67] Gabala went on to seal a place in the Azerbaijan Cup Final on 24 April, with a 1–1 draw in the second leg of against Khazar Lankaran, after Mendy scored his third goal in three games.