FC Etar Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, ФК Етър Велико Търново) is a former

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n professional football club based in

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

. They were last competing in the 2012–13 season of the

Bulgarian A Professional Football Group The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

, the top tier of professional football in Bulgaria. The club replaced the old

FC Etar (Veliko Tarnovo) Football Club Etar, or FC ETAR Veliko Turnovo, (Bulgarian: ФК ЕТЪР Велико Търново), was a Bulgarian professional association football club from Veliko Tarnovo. Founded on 24 April 1924, the club spent most of its history in t ...

, which won the Bulgarian championship in 1991. The club's home ground has been

Ivaylo Stadium Stadion Ivaylo ( bg, Стадион „Ивайло“, en, 'Ivaylo Stadium' ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Etar Veliko Tarnovo. The stadium ...

since 1958, and their main nicknames are the Bolyars and the Violets, the latter in reference to the colour of their home kit, which is often mistaken for purple. The club folded following the end of the

2012–13 A PFG 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

due to financial difficulties. Etar Veliko Tarnovo acquired the license of Botev Debelets and played in the

Bulgarian V AFG The Bulgarian Third Amateur Football League ( bg, Трета аматьорска футболна лига, Treta Amat'orska Futbolna Liga), commonly referred to as Third League ( bg, Трета лига) or Treta liga, is the third level of the ...

in the 2013/14 season.

Honours

Domestic

* Bulgarian East B PFG **Winners (1): 2011–12 *

Bulgarian North-West V AFG The Bulgarian Third Amateur Football League ( bg, Трета аматьорска футболна лига, Treta Amat'orska Futbolna Liga), commonly referred to as Third League ( bg, Трета лига) or Treta liga, is the third level of the ...

**Winners (1): 2002–03

History

The club was founded as Etar 1924 in 2002. In their first season, they were promoted to

B PFG The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...

as champions of the North-West V AFG. In the 2004–05 season Etar had their best

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament ...

run, beating Dorostol Silistra and

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground ...

before losing to

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

in the Round of 16. In September 2010,

Velin Kefalov Velin Kefalov ( bg, Велин Кефалов; born 18 September 1968) is a Bulgarian football defender and currently manager. Career He was born in Kazanlak Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seu ...

had been appointed as a manager of Etar 1924. He led the team to the third place in the West B PFG. Because

Chernomorets Pomorie Pomorie ( bg, Поморие) is a Bulgarian municipal ( bg, общински, pronounced obshtinski) association football club based in Pomorie, that competes in the A RFG Burgas, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club plays its home ...

did not receive licence to play in the

A PFG The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

, Etar competed in the promotion playoff, but lost 3–1 to Svetkavitsa. In June 2011, Kefalov left the club and was replaced by Georgi Todorov in the role of head coach. Todorov resigned after the first half of the 2011–12 season and was replaced by

Tsanko Tsvetanov Tsanko Nikolaev Tsvetanov ( bg, Цанко Hиколaeв Цветанов; born 6 January 1970) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a left-back. After ending his playing career he began coaching. Club career Tsvetanov wa ...

. А streak of good form in the second half of the season, ensured promotion to the

on 23 May 2012 with 1–0 home win against

Nesebar Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, bg, Несебър, pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centr ...

. The team finished the autumn part of the 2012/2013

in last place of the standings. As a result, the second half of the 2012/13 A PFG season saw a huge turnover in player and managerial personnel (Tsvetanov had already been replaced by

Serdar Dayat Serdar Dayat is a Turkish football manager, who last managed Türkgücü München. He trained in German Sports University Cologne and has experience as the assistant coach of Thomas Doll, Ersun Yanal, Vladimir Petkovic, and Werner Lorant and ...

). Despite a bright start to the spring season, the increasing financial uncertainty continued to plague the team and Etar relocated to

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

, in part due to a conflict of interest with the Veliko Tarnovo supporter groups and the municipality, which contributed to the club remaining in the relegation zone. In May 2013, the team was practically dissolved and Etar's remaining

opponents were awarded 3:0 wins by default until the end of the season.

Last squad

Foreign players

Up to three non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the

. Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Bulgarian citizenship after playing in Bulgaria for 5 years.

Managerial history

This is a list of the last seven Etar managers: ''As of 8 May 2013''

References

External links

Official Website

Website of the Etar supporters

News about the team and sport in Veliko Tarnovo region
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etar Veliko Tarnovo Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo Association football clubs established in 2002 2002 establishments in Bulgaria Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo Football clubs in Veliko Tarnovo * 2013 disestablishments in Bulgaria