PFC Beroe Stara Zagora

PFC Beroe Stara Zagora

Full name	Професионален Футболен Клуб Берое Стара Загора (Professional Football Club Beroe Stara Zagora)
Nickname(s)	Зелените (The Greens), Берое Хуниорс (Beroe Juniors)
Founded	6 May 1916 (1916-05-06) as Vereya
Ground	Stadion Beroe
Capacity	12,000
Owner	CRD Sport
Chairman	Hernan Banato
Head coach	Josu Uribe
League	First League
2023–24	First League, 11th of 16
Website	www.beroe.bg
Home colours Away colours

Professional Football Club Beroe Stara Zagora, better known as just Beroe (Bulgarian: Берое), is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded in 1916 under the name Vereya. The club's colours are green and white.

Since then the home ground of Beroe has been the homonymous Stadion Beroe in Stara Zagora with a seating capacity of 12,128. Beroe were the 1986 champions of Bulgaria and they also won the Bulgarian Cup twice in 2010 and 2013. In terms of international achievements, Beroe hold the record for Balkans Cups titles, having won the tournament four times. The club's most noted and successful player is Petko Petkov, 2 times A Group Top Scorer: 1974 (with 20 goals) and 1976 (with 19 goals).

History

100 year anniversary of the club postage stamp.

Football was played in Stara Zagora as early as 1916, however with no organized championship in Bulgaria until the late 1920s, numerous clubs enjoyed regional success in those early years for the game in both the city and Bulgaria itself. Beroe can trace its roots back to 4 May 1924, when it was founded as Beroya, after the merger of two other clubs – Borislav and Rekord.

The club withstood the almost constant chaos and strife of the times, often caused by numerous shifts in the political regimes of Bulgaria, and despite many mergers and name changes throughout the first four decades of its history, it is constantly among the top 3 clubs in the city. It has also often been the platform for attempts to unite all the clubs in Stara Zagora, which foreshadowed its role and meaning for the city in the years to come.

The establishment of an organized league to determine the champion of Bulgaria in the late 40s coincided with the consolidation of football in Stara Zagora, the city finally seeing a one single strong club emerge to represent it at the highest level of Bulgarian football. That club was Beroe, at first bearing the names of Udarnik and Botev, before finally restoring its old name in 1959.

Successful years 1968–1980

1968 marked the beginning of Beroe's golden age. During the summer transfer period, the forward Petko Petkov joined the club. In the next 12 years he scored 144 goals for the club in A Group. Beroe became all-powerful, winning the Balkans Cup in 1968 (beating in the final Spartak Sofia with a 6–4 on aggregate) and 1969 (beating Dinamo Tirana with a 4–0 on aggregate). However in 1970 the team was relegated after being excluded from the championship after 18 rounds due to crowd trouble in the match with Levski.

Bouncing back after a year, season 1971–72 in the domestic league was very successful for the team, which finished 3rd, and qualified for the UEFA Cup. The club's first participation in UEFA Cup was also promising, with Beroe eliminating the Austrian Austria Wien (7–0 and 3–1) and the Hungarian Honvéd (3–0 and 0–1) respectively and reaching the third round (but being knocked out by the Yugoslav OFK Beograd).

In season 1973–74 Beroe reach the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup: after eliminating the Luxembourg Fola Esch and the Basques of Athletic Bilbao, they were stopped in DDR by 1. FC Magdeburg (2–0 and 1–1).

Beroe have had some success in Europe, such as the 1–0 win over Juventus in a Cup Winners' Cup first-leg in 1979 and a 3–0 win over Athletic Bilbao in 1973. Moreover, Beroe is one of the two Bulgarian football clubs that has a positive record of the matches played in European club competitions.

Champions 1980–1995

The champions team

In 1982 and 1984 Beroe won the Balkans Cup for the third and fourth times.

In 1986, the team led by the coach Evgeni Yanchovski won the Bulgarian title, the first in the club's history. Beroe finished the season with 43 points (after 20 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses). Beroe played in the 1986–87 UEFA European Champions Cup where they were eliminated in the first round to Dynamo Kyiv of the Soviet Union after 1–1 at Beroe Stadium and 0–2 loss in Kyiv.

The 1990s would see a gradual decline as Beroe were relegated to B Group in season 1994–95, finishing in last place with twelve points.

Downfall of the mid 90s, ups and downs again 1995–2008

The advent of democracy in Bulgaria ushered a new period of chaos and economical hardship for the country, and that didn't pass by Beroe. Nevertheless, despite several seasons of crisis the club again withstood the test of time, and despite needing a helpful merger with another team – Olimpik (Teteven) – remained a key player on the Bulgarian football scene.

The first two seasons back in top division saw Beroe fight relegation, with safety being achieved by second-half runs. In 2001–02 season the team again relegated.

In the autumn of 2007 the actual majority shareholder of Professional Football Club Beroe JSCo Nikolay Banev gave up the financial support of the team. In spite of that, the team demonstrated good football in most of the games. On 10 January 2008 23 players and 3 coaches terminated their contracts with the club after a planned sale of the shares had failed.

Beroe got out of trouble on 3 February 2008, when the Beroe veterans’ club and the national fanclub, assisted by lawyer Damian Georgiev initiated, through related firms, insolvency proceedings in respect of the club in the Regional Court of Stara Zagora. The appointed administrator Elka Petrova transferred all the assets and liabilities of the club to a newly established joint-stock company Professional Football Club Beroe Stara Zagora JSCo.

The new entity succeeded Professional Football Club Beroe JSCo as regard of the license, the membership in the Bulgarian Football Union and the running of the football team itself.

In the summer of 2009 due to the world economic crisis most of the shareholders left the club due to financial problems. The club's main sponsor Brikel JSCo transferred its shares to Beroe veterans’ club and the national fanclub, who appointed a new board of directors. It consists of Damyan Georgiev – Chairman, Genyo Petrov – Executive Director and Tsvetelin Zhoevski.

Winning the Cup 2009–10 and 2012–13

In the 2007–08 season Beroe lost their place in A Group, due to a controversial match between Belasitsa Petrich and Marek Dupnitsa in the last round of the season. In the very next season, however, Beroe won first place in B Group and returned to the top flight. At that time Ilian Iliev had already been manager of the club for the last 2 years. In the year to follow, Beroe achieved its best season in over 20 years, beating all of the main competitors for the Bulgarian Cup. Beroe eliminated CSKA Sofia in the quarter-finals, which paved the way for them to obtain the trophy, winning against second-division Chernomorets Pomorie 1–0 in the final at Lovech Stadium. The winning goal was scored dramatically in the last seconds of the added time by Beroe's former youth player Doncho Atanasov, who also went on to become top goalscorer of the tournament with 4 goals. Beroe became one of the only two Bulgarian teams that have won the cup without succeeding any goals. This success led to Ilian Iliev being awarded with the Coach of the Season award, as well as Ivo Ivanov (defender) being proclaimed best defender in A Group for 2009. Besides him other players that played a main role throughout the season were Iskren Pisarov, Georgi Andonov, Zdravko Iliev, Slavi Zhekov, Dian Genchev. One of the players with most matches in A Group for all times Kostadin Vidolov ended up his career mid-season with Beroe and went on to become a coach for Beroe's second team.

Beroe started 2010–11 season with the debut of the team in the UEFA Europa League. Beroe entered the competition in the third qualifying round and faced the Austrian side Rapid Wien. The game in Bulgaria ended in a 1–1 draw. Rapid Wien won the rematch with 3–0 putting an end to the international campaign of the Bulgarian team.

Beroe started 2012–13 season in Bulgarian Cup eliminating Akademik Svishtov in the second round. In the quarter-finals Beroe eliminated Lokomotiv (Mezdra) with aggregate result of 8–1, and then Pirin (Gotse Delchev) in the quarter-finals and Slavia Sofia in the semi-finals. In the final match at Lovech Stadium in Lovech against Levski Sofia, the result after 90 minutes was 3–3. After Beroe had taken the lead with 3–1 in the 80th minute, Levski Sofia with 10 men restored the tie, after Hristo Yovov received a second yellow card in the end of the first half. At the penalty shoot-out Levski Sofia scored just 1 from 4 penalties and Beroe, 3 of 5 which meant that Beroe had won the cup for the second time in the club's history.

CRD Sport takeover

In the summer of 2023, American player agency CRD Sport is the new owner of Bulgarian top tier club Beroe Stara Zagora. CRD has acquired 100% of the club’s shares. This came after several years of financial problems at the club. Argentinian Gustavo Aragolaza was announced as the new coach for the 2023–24 season.

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

The centenary crest used during the 2016–17 season.

Beroes colours are green and white.

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor
1924–82	None	None
1982–83	Puma
1983–86	None
1986–91	Adidas
1991–92	Nike	CEBI
1992–95	Unknown
1995–04		None
2004–06	Uhlsport	AKB Fores
2006–07	Jako
2007–08	Uhlsport
2008–09	Tomy Sport	Stara Zagora
2009–10	GUPA
2010–11		Bulsatcom
2011–13	Uhlsport
2013–15	Joma	None
2015–22	Uhlsport	REFAN
2022–23	Jako	Efbet
2023–2024	Dryworld
2024–	Nike	8888.bg

Honours

Domestic

• First League:
  • Winners (1): 1985–86
• Bulgarian Cup:
  • Winners (2): 2009–10, 2012–13
• Bulgarian Supercup:
  • Winners (1): 2013
• Second League:
  • Winners (9 - Record): 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959–60, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1982–83, 2003–04, 2008–09

European

• European Cup/Champions League
  • Round of 32 (1): 1986–87
• UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
  • 1/8 final (1): 1972–73
  • 1/16 final (1): 1980–81
• Cup Winners' Cup
  • 1/4 final (1): 1973–74
  • 1/8 final (1): 1979–80
• Balkans Cup
  • Winners (4 - Record): 1967–68, 1969, 1981–83, 1983–84

League positions

Players

Current squad

As of 10 December 2024

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	BRA	Arthur Motta
2	DF	ESP	Oier Sarriegi
3	DF	ARG	Juan Pablo Salomoni
4	DF	ARG	Franco Ramos Mingo (captain)
5	DF	ARG	Luciano Squadrone
6	DF	ESP	Felipe Chacartegui
7	FW	URU	Francisco Sagardia
8	MF	ARG	Segundo Pachamé
9	FW	ARG	Santiago Godoy
10	MF	ARG	Francisco Politano
11	MF	ESP	Ismael Ferrer
12	MF	BRA	Vinicius Belotti

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	DF	BUL	Viktorio Valkov
15	DF	ARG	Enzo Espinoza
16	DF	BUL	Stanislav Yovkov
17	FW	DOM	Juanca Pineda
18	MF	BUL	Stilyan Rusinov
19	MF	ESP	Carlos Algarra
20	MF	URU	Manuel Monzeglio (on loan from Nacional)
21	FW	ESP	Alberto Salido
23	MF	ARG	Kevin Ceijas
24	MF	BUL	Stefan Gavrilov
32	MF	ARG	Thiago Ceijas
96	GK	POR	Rúben Rendeiro

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2023–24, Transfers summer 2024.

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	BRA	Werick Caetano (at Da Nang until 30 June 2025)

Foreign players

Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League, however only five non-EU nationals can be used during a match day. 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.

EU Nationals Rúben Rendeiro Felipe Chacartegui Oier Sarriegi Carlos Algarra Ismael Ferrer Alberto Salido

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) Franco Ramos Mingo Luciano Squadrone Francisco Politino Enzo Espinoza Juan Salomoni Kevin Ceijas Thiago Ceijas Segundo Pachamé Arthur Motta Vinicius Belotti Francisco Sagardia Manuel Monzeglio Juanca Pineda

Non-EU Nationals Santiago Godoy

International players

Juanca Pineda (Dominican Republic)

European record

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1967–68	Balkans Cup	Group A	Vllaznia Shkodër	0–4	2–0	1st
			Gençlerbirliği	2–0	1–0
			Farul Constanța	2–1	2–1
		Final	Spartak Sofia	3–0	3–4	6–3
1969	Balkans Cup	Group B	Pierikos	1–1	1–0	1st
			Ankaraspor	3–0	2–2
		Final	Dinamo Tirana	0–1	3–0 1	3–1
1970	Balkans Cup	Group A	Egaleo	2–0	4–2	1st
			Eskişehirspor	1–0	1–3
		Final	Partizani Tirana	1–1	0–3 1	1–4
1972–73	UEFA Cup	1/32 final	Austria Wien	7–0	3–1	10–1
		1/16 final	Honvéd	3–0	0–1	3–1
		1/8 final	OFK Beograd	0–0	1–3	1–3
1973–74	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1/16 final	Fola Esch	7–0	4–1	11–1
		1/8 final	Athletic Bilbao	3–0	0–1	3–1
		1/4 final	1. FC Magdeburg	0–2	1–1	1–3
1979–80	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1/16 final	Arka Gdynia	2–3	2–0	4–3
		1/8 final	Juventus	1–0	0–3 (a.e.t.)	1–3
1980–81	UEFA Cup	1/32 final	Fenerbahçe	1–0	2–1	3–1
		1/16 final	Radnički Niš	0–1	1–2	1–3
1981–83	Balkans Cup	Group A	Galatasaray	2–1	3–0 1	1st
			Steaua București	2–0	2–3
		Final	Tirana	3–0	3–1	6–1
1983–84	Balkans Cup	Group A	Argeș Pitești	2–4	2–1	1st
			Galatasaray	4–2	1–0
1984–85	Balkans Cup	1/4 final	Argeș Pitești	4–1	0–4	4–5
1986–87	UEFA European Cup	1/16 final	Dynamo Kyiv	1–1	0–2	1–3
1992–93	Balkans Cup	1/4 final	Teuta Durrës	0–1	1–1 (a.e.t.)	1–2
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	3QR	Rapid Wien	1–1	0–3	1–4
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	2QR	Hapoel Tel Aviv	1–4	2–2	3–6
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Atlantas	3–1	2–0	5–1
		2QR	Brøndby	0–1	0–0	0–1
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Radnik Bijeljina	0–0	2–0	2–0
		2QR	HJK	1–1	0–1	1–2

¹ ex officio the team doesn't come or leave the field.

Notes

• Clubs which ultimately won the tournament in that same season are indicated in bold
• 1983–84 Balkans Cup Winner decided on group stage
• QR: Qualifying Round

Competition	S	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Champions League / European Cup	1	2	0	1	1	1	3	– 2
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup	6	22	8	6	8	30	23	+ 7
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / Cup Winners' Cup	2	10	5	1	4	20	11	+ 9
Balkans Cup	7	34	21	4	9	54	42	+ 12
Total	16	68	34	12	22	105	79	+ 26

UEFA & IFFHS rankings

Club coefficients

This is the current 2016–17 UEFA coefficient:

Rank	Team	Coefficient
270	Hibernian	4.785
271	Dundee United	4.785
272	Aalesunds	4.665
273	Kukësi	4.633
274	Olimpija Ljubljana	4.625
275	Beroe Stara Zagora	4.625
276	Botev Plovdiv	4.625
277	Ermis Aradippou	4.610
278	Valletta	4.550
279	Khazar Lankaran	4.550
280	Čukarički	4.480

• Full list

Club world ranking

These are the IFFHS club's points as of 7 January 2016:

Rank	Team	Pointsdie
142	Belenenses	108,00
142	Slovan Bratislava	108,00
142	CS Sfaxien	108,00
146	Panathinaikos	107,00
146	Malmö FF	107,00
148	Beroe Stara Zagora	106,50
148	Orlando Pirates	106,50
150	Brøndby	106,00
150	Cerro Porteño	106,00
152	Johor Darul Ta'zim	105,50
153	Deportes Tolima	104,00

• Full list

Stadium

Main article: Beroe Stadium

Beroe Stadium is situated in the northwestern part of Stara Zagora near the biggest park of the city – Ayazmoto, which is the biggest sport facility of the team. The team has also three training grounds, the Beroe stadium base includes also tennis facilities and covered training hall. Built in 1959, the stadium is currently being renovated and has around 13,000 seating places, most of which are covered. The stadium has its own gymnastics, acrobatics and boxing hall. There is also a table-tennis facility. The stadium's overall capacity is about 15,000. The Beroe stadium has the fastest athletics lane and was often used for such competitions. The biggest attendance was in 1986 when the team won the championship title and more than 40,000 spectators were celebrating together with the players.

Supporters and rivalries

The club has very strong support in the country. Their group is called Zara Boys.

Beroe's main rival is Botev Plovdiv. The match between these two teams is called Thracian Derby. They also have a strong rivalry with the two most popular teams in the country – Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia. Other teams that are in bad relations with Beroe are Lokomotiv Plovdiv and especially Neftochimic Burgas.

The only team with which fans Zara Boys have a strong friendship is Etar Veliko Tarnovo.

Statistics and Records

Evgeni Yanchovski holds Beroe's overall appearance record – he played 341 matches over the course of 14 seasons from 1960 to 1974. This is also the record for League appearances. Beroe's all-time leading scorer is Petko Petkov, who scored 144 goals while at the club from 1968 to 1980. Beroe's biggest victory is 8–0 in A Group against Minyor Pernik in 1973–74 and Chernomorets Burgas Sofia in 2006–07. Beroe's 7–0 defeat of Austria Wien in 1972 was its largest Europe win. Beroe's heaviest defeat, 2–10, came against CSKA Sofia in 1991–92.

• Players in bold are currently playing for the team. Statistic is correct as of match played 1 December 2021.

Most league appearances for the club # Name Apps 1 Evgeni Yanchovski 341 2 Tenyo Minchev 308 3 Hristo Todorov 280 4 Todor Krastev 263 5 Petko Petkov 259 6 Kancho Kasherov 253 7 Venelin Sivriev 245 8 Jordan Mitev 238 9 Ivo Ivanov 237 10 Boris Kirov 227 = Veselin Penev 227

Most league goals for the club # Name Gls 1 Petko Petkov 144 2 Petar Zhekov 101 3 Jordan Mitev 68 4 Vasil Dragolov 58 = Martin Kamburov 58 6 Georgi Belchev 52 7 Myumyun Kashmer 50 8 Stoycho Mladenov 42 9 Georgi Andonov 39 = Georgi Stoyanov 39 10 Radko Kalaidjiev 37

Bulgarian league top scorer with the club Year Name Goals 1967 Petar Zhekov 21 1968 Petar Zhekov 31 1974 Petko Petkov 19 1976 Petko Petkov 18 1978 Stoycho Mladenov 21 2020 Martin Kamburov 18

Managers

• Panayot Tanev (1953)
• Borislav Asparuhov (1954)
• Panayot Tanev (1955–59)
• Borislav Milenov (1959)
• Ivan Radoev (1959–64)
• Anastas Kovachev (1964–65)
• Manol Manolov (1965–66)
• Krum Milev (1966–67)
• Hristo Mladenov (1967–69)
• Anastas Kovachev (1969–70)
• Dimitar Grigorov (1970–71)
• Hristo Mladenov (1971–72)
• Lozan Kotsev (1972–73)
• Ivan Tanev (1973–74)
• Hristo Mladenov (1974–76)
• Georgi Berkov (1976)
• Ivan Manolov (1976–77)
• Ivan Tanev (1977–81)
• Vasil Ivanov (1981)
• Ivan Vutov (1981–82)
• Georgi Belchev (1982–83)
• Petko Petkov (1983–85)
• Evgeni Yanchovski (1985–87)
• Petko Petkov (1987–90)
• Panayot Panayotov (1990)
• Boris Angelov (1990–92)
• Petko Petkov (1992)
• Evgeni Yanchovski (1992–93)
• Tenyo Minchev (1993–95)
• Ivan Vutov (1995)
• Dragoljub Bekvalac (1999–00)
• Ventsislav Kepov (2000)
• Petko Petkov (2000–01)
• Tsvetomir Parvanov (2001)
• Ivan Vutov (2001)
• Ilia Iliev (2002)
• Venelin Sivriev (2002–03)
• Asparuh Nikodimov (2003–04)
• Ivan Vutov (2004–05)
• Hans Kodrić (2005)
• Petko Petkov (2005–06)
• Ilian Iliev (2006–07)
• Eduard Eranosyan (2007)
• Radoslav Zdravkov (2007)
• Nikolay Demirev (2007)
• Ilian Iliev (1 February 2008 – 12 July)
• Ivko Ganchev (1 July 2012 – 12 Oct)
• Petar Hubchev (18 October 2012 – 6 April 2016)
• Plamen Lipenski (7 April 2016 – 31 May 2016)
• Aleksandar Dimitrov (1 June 2016 – 17 October 2016)
• Plamen Lipenski (20 October 2016 – 26 October 2016)
• Ferario Spasov (26 October 2016 – 19 May 2017)

Club officials

Board of directors

Position	Staff
Executive Director	Steliyan Popchev
Chairman of the Board of Directors	Zhelyazko Dinev
Member of the Board of Directors	Rumyana Atanasova

Last updated: December 2022
Source: [1]

First Team

Management
Director of Football	Ivko Ganchev
Administrator	Tihomir Tenev
Technical staff
Head Coach	Nikolay Kirov
Assistant Coach	Ivan Kochev
Assistant Coach	Ivan Zhelev
Goalkeeper Coach	Tihomir Todorov
Fitness Coach	Atanas Nikolov
Medical staff
Doctor	Nikolay Borisov
Rehabilitator	Kaloyan Ganev
Housekeeper	Venelin Sivriev

Last updated: December 2022
Source: [2]

Youth Academy

Management
Director of Youth Academy	Ivan Tsvetanov
Scouting staff
Scout	Boris Kirev
Youth Coaches
U-19 Coach	Veselin Penev
U-17 "Junior A" Coach	Pavel Dimov
U-16 "Junior B" Coach	Ivan Tsvetanov
U-15 "Kids A" Coach	Danail Zhelyazkov
U-14 "Kids B" Coach	Boyan Stoyanov
U-13 "Preparatory Group A" Coach	Doncho Atanasov
U-12 "Preparatory Group B" Coach	Venelin Sivriev
U-11 "Preparatory Group C" Coach	Trifon Panev
U-10 "Preparatory Group D" Coach	Stefan Dinev
U-9 "Preparatory Group E" Coach	Veselin Penev
U-8 "Preparatory Group F" Coach	Steliyan Evtimov

Last updated: September 2021
Source: [3]

Press service

Position	Name	Nationality
Press officer	Emil Dimov
Photographer beroe.bg	Ani Georgieva
beroe.bg	Nikolay Petrov
Fan Relations Coordinator	Aleksander Mechev

External links

• Official website