FC Vereya

Vereya (Bulgarian: Верея) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Stara Zagora, which currently competes in the Southeast Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football.

FC Vereya
Full nameProfessional Football Club Vereya-Stara Zagora
Nickname(s)The Lions
FoundedJuly 15, 2001 (2001-07-15)
GroundTrace Arena, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Capacity3,500
Head coachKolyo Kolev
LeagueA RFG Stara Zagora
2022–23Southeast Third League, 20th (relegated)
WebsiteClub website

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 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 after defeating Minyor Pernik 2–0 in the final.[1] During the same season Vereya finished 3rd in the V Group and secured promotion to the higher-ranked professional football league, the B Group.

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, 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.[2]

On June 7, 2016, Vereya, alongside five other B Group outfits, were approved by the Bulgarian Football Union 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 awarding Septemvri Sofia 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 and Vitosha Bistritsa (the latter) directly faced the second-placed team from the Second League (Montana).[3][4][5] 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
Season Tier Division Place Bulgarian Cup
2001–02 4 A RFG N/A Did Not Play
2002–03 4 A RFG N/A DNP
2003–04 4 A RFG N/A DNP
2004–05 4 A RFG N/A DNP
2005–06 4 A RFG 1st ↑ DNP
2006–07 3 V AFG 7th ↓ DNP
2007–08 4 A RFG 4th DNP
Season Tier Division Place Bulgarian Cup
2008–09 4 A RFG 1st DNP
2009–10 4 A RFG 2nd DNP
2010–11 4 A RFG 1st DNP
2011–12 4 A RFG 1st ↑ Second round
2012–13 3 V AFG 5th DNP
2013–14 3 V AFG 3rd ↑ DNP
2014–15 2 B PFG 11th First round
Season Tier Division Place Bulgarian Cup
2015–16 2 B PFG 8th ↑ First round
2016–17 1 First League 7th Semifinals
2017–18 1 First League 6th First round
2018–19 1 First League 14th ↓ Second round
2019–20 4 A RFG 3rd ↑ DNP
2020–21 3 Third League 18th ↓ DNP
Bulgarian V AFGRegional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian First LeagueBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGRegional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGRegional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)

Shirt and sponsors

Vereya main colors are blue and white.

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt partner
2006–2012 Unknown Bulsatcom / Trace Group
2012–2014 Bulgaria Tomy Sport Trace Group
2014–2016 United States Nike
2016–2018 Italy Erreà
2018–2019 Germany Uhlsport Efbet

Honours

First League:

Second League:

Third League:

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:

  • Winners (1): 2013–14

Bulgarian Cup:

Current squad

As of 1 August 2020

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Bulgaria BUL Radostin Yordanov
4 DF Bulgaria BUL Yordan Dobrev
5 MF Bulgaria BUL Isus Angelov
6 DF Bulgaria BUL Ivan Ivanov
7 DF Bulgaria BUL Milen Stoyanov
8 MF Bulgaria BUL Galin Penev
9 MF Bulgaria BUL Kristian Petrov
10 MF Bulgaria BUL Ventsislav Ivanov
11 MF Bulgaria BUL Mihael Lalev
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Koychev
16 MF Bulgaria BUL Steliyan Kolev
17 DF Bulgaria BUL Stanimir Petrov
18 MF Bulgaria BUL Denislav Zapryanov
20 MF Bulgaria BUL Kiril Atanasov
21 FW Bulgaria BUL Petar Milkov
22 GK Bulgaria BUL Ventsislav Yankov
26 DF Bulgaria BUL Vladimir Zafirov (captain)
77 DF Bulgaria BUL Zhivko Monev
23 DF Greece GRE Konstantinos Laios

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.

Managers
Zhivko Zhelev was appointed Vereya playing head coach in March 2015
Dates Name Honours
2001–11 Unknown
2011–13 Bulgaria Kolyo Hristov
2013–14 Bulgaria Petar Kostadinov 99991 Amateur Cup title
1 Promotion to B Group
2014 Bulgaria Krasimir Manolov
2014 Bulgaria Gospodin Mirchev
2014–15 Bulgaria Radostin Kishishev
2015–16 Bulgaria Zhivko Zhelev
Bulgaria Vladislav Yanush
2016–2017 Bulgaria Aleksandar Tomash
2017 Bulgaria Ilian Iliev
2018 Bulgaria Blagomir Mitrev
2018 Bulgaria Ivan Kolev
2018 Serbia Nebojša Miličić
2018 Bulgaria Lyudmil Kirov
2018–2019 Serbia Nebojša Miličić
2019 Ukraine Oleksandr Sevidov
2019 Bulgaria Ivan Vutov
2020– Bulgaria Kolyo Kolev

References
  1. Верея спечели купата на Аматьорската футболна лига (Gong.bg, (In Bulgarian))
  2. "Елиаш пред Sportal.bg: Треньорът на Берое не ме искаше в състава, оставам в "А" група с Верея". sportal.bg. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  3. "След сигнал на УЕФА: БФС изхвърли клуб от Първа лига" [After signal by UEFA: BFU expelled a team from First League] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  4. "Верея изваден от Първа лига заради пет мача, три от тях са известни" [Vereya expelled from First League because of five matches, three are known] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  5. "Ще получи ли Лудогорец две точки предимство след изваждането на Верея от Първа лига?" [Will Ludogorets receive two points advantage after the expulsion of Vereya from First League?] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. May 7, 2019. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
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