FC Rodopa Smolyan

FC Rodopa (ФК Родопа) is a Bulgarian football club based in Smolyan, which currently plays in the South-East Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football league system. The team was named after the Rhodope Mountains and plays its home matches at the local Stadion Septemvri. Rodopa’s traditional home kit consists of green and white.

Rodopa was founded in 1927. The club spent the majority of its history playing between the second and third tiers of Bulgarian football. In 2003, Rodopa managed to promote to the A Group for the first time in its history. The team managed to remain four seasons in the top division, before suffering relegation at the end of the 2006–07 season. Since then, the club has returned to lower leagues.

History

The Beginning

Smolyan has had various football clubs in different periods, the most notable of them being Rodopets (since 1957). FC Rodopa was formed by separating from the local sports association in 1985. However, prior to that Smolyan has football team representation in both B and V groups.

Member of the Bulgarian Elite

Rodopa qualified for the top division for the first time in their history by winning the B Group in the 2002–03 season.

In the first ever season in the Bulgarian elite for Rodopa, the team managed to finish in 10th place, which was a success for the club, since they avoided relegation, with that being the main goal. The team achieved 10 wins, 3 draws and 17 losses, which earned them 33 points. They also managed to beat Bulgarian powerhouse Levski Sofia at home, one of the best teams that season and in general.

In their second top-flight season, Rodopa achieved a 12th-place finish, being one point above relegated Vidima Rakovski.

In their third season in A Group, Rodopa Smolyan finished 12th, 2 points above relegated PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad, once more avoiding relegation.

In the 2006-07 season, Rodopa did not perform so well and was relegated to the B Group after finishing 15th, ending the club’s four-year stint in the A Group.

Rapid decline and return to amateur football

After the 2006–07 season, Rodopa played three seasons in the B Group. However, in 2010, the club was relegated from the second tier. The following season, Rodopa finished 15th in the V Group, dropping yet another level. In 2011, the club was dissolved due to growing financial problems. Rodopa was reformed the next year but dissolved once more in 2014. The club was reformed a second time in 2014, and began playing in the A RFG (fourth tier).

Rodopa managed to return to the Bulgarian third league for the 2019–20 season. The team joined the Southeast Third League, based on the geographic location of their home town, Smolyan. Rodopa finished 12th in the third tier for the 2019–20 season.

Honours

* Tenth place in the "A" group: 2003/04
* First place in the "B" group - 2002/03
* Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League 1997/98
* Seasons in the "A" group, from 2003/04 to 2006/07
* 1/4 Finalist in the National Cup Tournament: at that time its official name is Cup of Bulgaria - 2003/04

League positions

ImageSize = width:1000 height:70
PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/2022
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1994

Colors =
id:First_tier value:green legend:First_tier
id:Second_tier value:white legend:Second_tier
id:Third_tier value:red legend:Third_tier
id:Fourth_tier value:yellow legend:Fourth_tier
id:Fifth_tier value:blue legend:Fifth_tier
id:Does_not_exist value:black legend:Does_not_exist

PlotData=
bar:Position width:20 color:green align:center
from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/2002 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group"
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group"
from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2007 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A Group"
from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2010 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group"
from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group"
from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 color:black shift:(0,14) text: Diss
from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: Regional
from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 color:black shift:(0,14) text: Diss
from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2019 color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: Regional
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2022 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " 3rd League"

Current squad

''As of 1 September 2019''

Former players

*''For all Rodopa players with a Wikipedia article see :PFC Rodopa Smolyan players.

External links

*

{{BG V AFG

Rodopa Smolyan
Rodopa Smolyan
1927 establishments in Bulgaria