Vereya ( bg, Верея) is a Bulgarian
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Stara Zagora
Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province.
Name
The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...
, which currently competes in the
Southeast Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football.
Vereya was founded in 2001. The team made a remarkable rise through the levels of the Bulgarian football system, and by 2016, the club reached the top level of Bulgarian football, the
First League, for the first time. In 2019, after three seasons in the First League, they were expelled from it for reported match fixing.
History
Foundation and beginning
The club was founded in 2001 by a founding board led by Hristiyan Parvanov, Galin Mihaylov, Slavcho Tanev, Tonko Totev and Dimo Hristov. Until the 2005/06 season it was playing in Regional groups before the promotion to the
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 ...
under the name FC Vereya-Arsenal after a merger with Arsenal Kazanlak, but after the season 2006/07 Vereya-Arsenal became Arsenal Kazanlak and the 2nd team Vereya Bulsatkom moved to Stara Zagora again and was registered as FC Vereya. They won the A RFG 3 times in the next 5 seasons, getting the promotion during the 2011–12 season.
Trace Group ownership (2012–present)
In 2012, Bulgarian construction company Trace Group started investing in the club and a new stadium project
Trace Arena was presented.
On May 21, 2014 the club won the
Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League
The Cup of the Bulgarian Amateur Football League (Bulgarian: Купа на Аматьорската Футболна Лига) is a Bulgarian annual football competition established by the BFU in 1994.
Structure
All officially registered amateur ...
after defeating
Minyor Pernik
FC Minyor ( bg, ФК Миньор) is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, that competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The c ...
2–0 in the final. During the same season Vereya finished 3rd in the
V Group and secured promotion to the higher-ranked professional football league, the
B Group
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 ...
.
In 2016, the club submitted an application for the newly restructured Bulgarian First League. On June 1, 2016, one of the new signings of the club for the upcoming season, the Brazilian
Elias Alves da Silva
Elias Alves da Silva (born 4 September 1981), known simply as Elias, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder, most recently for Armenian club FC Yerevan.
He also held Portuguese citizenship, due to the many years spent ...
, announced that he joined the club, as it would compete in the top league of Bulgaria, long before an official statement was given by the BFU officials on the number of the teams competing in the new league, thus sparking controversy.
On June 7, 2016, Vereya, alongside five other B Group outfits, were approved by the
Bulgarian Football Union
The Bulgarian Football Union ( bg, Български футболен съюз, Bǎlgarski futbolen sǎyuz; BFS) is a football association based in Bulgaria and a member of UEFA. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and field ...
and were promoted to compete in the upcoming
2016-17 Bulgarian First League. Vereya was one of the clubs with the necessary financial and infrastructural requirements for the new first tier.
In its first ever season in the top level (2016-17), Vereya managed to secure a 7th place finish, thus remaining part of the elite for next season.
In its second season in the top level (2017-18), Vereya surprised many, by finishing in the top 6 in the regular season.
The third season in the elite was not that successful, however. It was marked by financial problems. On 7 May 2019, Vereya were disqualified from the league for match fixing. All results from played matches involving Vereya were retained with the
Bulgarian Football Union
The Bulgarian Football Union ( bg, Български футболен съюз, Bǎlgarski futbolen sǎyuz; BFS) is a football association based in Bulgaria and a member of UEFA. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and field ...
awarding
Septemvri Sofia
Septemvri ( bg, Септември) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the First League, the first tier of Bulgarian football. Its home ground is the Septemvri Stadium, but due to i ...
two wins by 3–0 from their scheduled relegation play-off matches with Vereya and the loser from the relegation play-off match between
Dunav Ruse
FC Dunav ( bg, Дунав, officially named ''"Дунав от Русе"'') is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Ruse, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system.
Part o ...
and
Vitosha Bistritsa (the latter) directly faced the second-placed team from the
Second League (
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
).
Vereya was then disqualified from the Second League, due to financial issues, following which they were also disqualified from the third tier, which meant that the team will start the 2019-20 season from the fourth division of Bulgarian football, in this case the Stara Zagora regional league.
Statistics
Season to season
*Seasons in ''
First League'': 3
*Seasons in ''
B Group
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 ...
'' (now
Second League): 2
*Seasons in ''
V Group'' ( now
Third League): 3
*Seasons in ''
A Regional Group'': 10
ImageSize = width:800 height:60
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DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2021
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Colors =
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id:rn value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1)
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bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group"
from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2012 color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2014 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V Group"
from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2016 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group
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 ...
"
from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:14
from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2019 color:bl1 shift:(0,14) text: " First League"
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: "Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
"
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
"
Shirt and sponsors
Vereya main colors are blue and white.
Honours
First League:
*6th:
2017–18
Second League:
*8th
2015–16
Third League:
* 3rd:
2013–14
A RFG Stara Zagora:
* Winners (4): 2005-06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12
* Runner-up (1): 2009–10
Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League
The Cup of the Bulgarian Amateur Football League (Bulgarian: Купа на Аматьорската Футболна Лига) is a Bulgarian annual football competition established by the BFU in 1994.
Structure
All officially registered amateur ...
:
* Winners (1): 2013–14
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 ...
:
* Semifinals:
2016–17
Current squad
''As of 1 August 2020''
Notable players
Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Vereya or at some other point in their careers.
;
*
Zhivko Zhelev
Zhivko Dinchev Zhelev ( bg, Живко Желев; born 23 July 1979 in Stara Zagora) is a retired Bulgarian football defender and currently coach of Yantra Gabrovo.
Club career Litex
Zhelev joined Litex Lovech quite young but fought hard to ...
*
Ivan Stoyanov
*
Kostadin Stoyanov
Kostadin Stoyanov ( bg, Костадин Стоянов; born 2 May 1986) is a Bulgarian retired footballer who played as defender. Stoyanov is a central defender.
Career
Stoyanov began his football career playing for Sliven, before joined Cher ...
*
Ivo Ivanov
*
Ivan Bandalovski
Ivan Georgiev Bandalovski ( bg, Иван Бандаловски; born 23 November 1986) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a defender.
Club career Early career
Bandalovski started playing football in the youth team of ...
*
Valeri Domovchiyski
Valeri Angelov Domovchiyski ( bg, Валери Ангелов Домовчийски; born 5 October 1986) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Maritsa Plovdiv.
Career
Youth career
Born in Plovdiv, Domovchiys ...
*
Veselin Minev
Veselin Minev (Bulgarian Cyrillic: Веселин Минев; born 14 October 1980) is a retired Bulgarian footballer who played as a left-back and current assistant manager of Arda Kardzhali.
He has a twin brother, Yordan, who is also a foot ...
*
Ventsislav Hristov
Ventsislav Hristov ( bg, Венцислав Христов; born 9 November 1988) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Botev Vratsa.
Personal life
Hristov was born in Sofia to a Bulgarian father and a Ukrainian mothe ...
*
Daniel Naumov
Daniel Genadiev Naumov ( bg, Даниел Генадиев Наумов; born 29 March 1998) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for CSKA 1948.
Career Ludogorets
Born in Gotse Delchev, Naumov started his career fro ...
*
Petar Vitanov
Petar Ivo Vitanov ( bg, Петър Иво Витанов; born 10 March 1995) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Challenger Pro League club Beveren.
Vitanov began his career with CSKA Sofia. After progressing ...
;Europe
*
Alexandru Pașcenco
Alexandru Pașcenco (born 28 May 1989) is a Moldavian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for FC Florești and the Moldova national football team.
Career
In February 2014, Pașcenco signed a 3.5-year contract with Armenian Premier Lea ...
*
Andrejs Kovaļovs
Andrejs Kovaļovs (born 23 March 1989 in Daugavpils) is a Latvian footballer who most recently played for BFC Daugavpils and also represents the Latvia national football team.
Club career
Kovaļovs started playing football in 1997, at the age ...
;Asia
*
Hussein Abdulghani
;Africa
*
Yassine El Kharroubi
*
Olivier Bonnes
Olivier Harouna Bonnes (born 7 February 1990) is a Nigerien international footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Nonthaburi United.
Club career
Born in Niamey, Bonnes has played in France and Belgium for Nantes B, Nantes, Lille B ...
*
Christoffer Mafoumbi
*
Ulysse Ndong
Ulysse Ndong (born 24 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Born in France, he played for the Gabon national team.
Club career
Ulysse Obame-Ndong started his career playing as goalkeeper and he joined with his fi ...
*
Alexander N'Doumbou
Qian Jiegei (; born 4 January 1992), born in Gabon as Alexander N'Doumbou, is a professional footballer who plays for Chinese Super League club Zhejiang. He formerly represented the Gabon national football team.
Club career
N'Doumbou began his ...
*
Samuel Inkoom
Samuel Inkoom (born 1 June 1989) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. Between 2008 and 2014 he made 44 appearances scoring 1 goal for the Ghana national team. He has played in teams base ...
*
Selim Ben Djemia
Managers
References
External links
Official websiteClub page at bgclubs.euClub page at Sportal.bg
{{First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)
Vereya Vereya (russian: Верея) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia.
;Urban localities
*Vereya, Naro-Fominsky District, Moscow Oblast, a town in Naro-Fominsky District of Moscow Oblast
;Rural localities
* Vereya, Orekhovo-Zuyevsky ...
Vereya Vereya (russian: Верея) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia.
;Urban localities
*Vereya, Naro-Fominsky District, Moscow Oblast, a town in Naro-Fominsky District of Moscow Oblast
;Rural localities
* Vereya, Orekhovo-Zuyevsky ...