FC Arda Kardzhali

FC Arda 1924 Kardzhali (Bulgarian: ПФК Арда Кърджали) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Kardzhali, which currently competes in the First League, the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system.

Arda Kardzhali
Full nameProfessional Football Club Arda 1924 Kardzhali
Nickname(s)Сините вълци (The Blue Wolves)
Short nameArda
FoundedAugust 10, 1924 (1924-08-10) as Rodopski Sokol
GroundArena Arda
Capacity15,000
OwnerPSI Group
ChairmanPetar Peshev
Head coachNikolay Kirov
LeagueFirst League
2019–209th
WebsiteClub website

It was founded on 13 October 1924, as an association football branch of a larger sports society in the town. The club was reestablished in 2015, after its former entity was dissolved.

Named after the Arda river, a tributary of the Maritsa, Arda's home ground is the Arena Arda in Kardzhali, which has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. For the majority of its existence, the club regularly participated in the Second League, with its highest-ever ranking a second-place finish during the 1955–56 Bulgarian Second League. Arda have also reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup once, it happened during the 1959–60 season of the competition.

In 2018–19, Arda won the Second League promotion play-off against Septemvri Sofia, resulting in the club's first-ever appearance in the Bulgarian top division.

History

First Arda team (1924–2013)

Arda was established on August 10, 1924 under the name Rodopski Sokol, but later took the name Arda, derived from the nearby Arda River.[1] From 1945 to 1957 the team was named Minyor until a year later when the previous name was put in use again. In 1956, the club finished as a runner-up in the B Group. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup during the 1959–60 campaign of the competition. In 1988 they secured the third place in the B Group. The Kardzhali club spend most of its time in the second and third levels of Bulgarian football, before getting dissolved in 2013 due to financial troubles.

Refounding (2015–2017)

The team suffered relegation from the V Group in 2013 and didn't compete in any league division until 2015 when they returned to the A Regional Group after reestablishment. In 2016, Arda achieved promotion to the Bulgarian Third League after a successful season and a 3–0 win in the play-off match against Lyubimets.[2]

PSI Group ownership and promotion to the elite (2017–present)

In early June 2017, the club was purchased by Bulgarian road construction company PSI Group, in an attempt to develop a football project, inspired by the domestic and international success of Ludogorets.[3] Two weeks later, former Levski Sofia player Elin Topuzakov was appointed as head coach and Emil Kremenliev was hired as sporting director.[4] Subsequently, Petar Peshev was elected chairman of the club and was revealed that the new ownership would invest around €1 million in new signings, salaries and infrastructure around the stadium during the following South-East Third League season.[5] All of this led to an amateur double during the 2017–18 season, as Arda won both its group and the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, resulting in a promotion to the Bulgarian Second League.[6]

After the unsatisfactory results in the first 5 rounds, Elin Topuzakov was released as a manager and Stoycho Stoev was appointed,[7] but on 6 March 2019 Stamen Belchev was appointed as the new manager, after Stoev reached an agreement with the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad. The team improved greatly, eventually managing a 3rd-place finish, enabling them to participate in the play-offs against relegation-avoider PFC Septemvri Sofia to enter the top level of Bulgarian football. Arda eventually managed to win 0–1 over Septemvri at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Plovdiv, thus resulting in the club's first-time ever participation in the Bulgarian First League.[8]

First League Era

Arda's first match in the Bulgarian top tier resulted in a 0–0 home draw against Botev Plovdiv. This was followed by an away 0–0 draw to FC Tsarsko Selo Sofia. Arda's first win came in the third round, when the team managed to beat Beroe Stara Zagora 3–1 at home. The game remained 1-1 up until the 90th minute, when Elisha Sam scored two goals in three minutes to give Arda the win. Arda then won their first away game in the top league, by beating FC Vitosha Bistritsa 1–3, extending their unbeaten run to four games. At the end of the first half of the season in December, Arda was in seventh place in the league, with seven wins, seven draws, and six losses. At the end of the regular season in June, Arda was in the relegation group. Despite this, on June 20th, Arda mathematically secured their place in the First League for the upcoming season, after Botev Plovdiv beat Botev Vratsa 3–2.

Honours

Second League:

  • Runners-up (1): 1955–56
  • Third place (2): 1987–88, 2018–19

Third League:

A Regional Group:

  • Winners (1): 2015–16

Bulgarian Cup:

Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League

  • Winners (1): 2017–18

Players

First-team squad

As of 25 January 2021[9]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  BUL Stoycho Atanasov
4 DF  BUL Milen Stoev
5 DF  BUL Petko Ganev
7 MF  BUL Mihail Aleksandrov
8 DF  BUL Milen Zhelev
9 FW  BUL Spas Delev
10 FW  BUL Tonislav Yordanov
11 MF  BUL Aleksandar Georgiev
12 GK  BUL Ivan Karadzhov
13 DF  FRA Nicolas Taravel
15 MF  FRA Moussa Haddad
16 MF  BUL Emirdzhan Syuleyman
17 MF  BUL Ivan Kokonov
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 FW  BUL Georgi Atanasov
19 MF  BUL Rumen Rumenov
20 DF  BUL Deyan Lozev
21 DF  BUL Martin Kostadinov
22 DF  GRE Manolis Roussakis (on loan from Xanthi)
23 GK  BUL Mesut Yusuf
27 MF  BUL Emil Martinov
30 MF  BUL Okan Topcu
33 MF  BUL Ivan Tilev
36 GK  BUL Vasil Simeonov
37 FW  BRA Juninho
71 DF  BUL Plamen Krumov (captain)
80 MF  BUL Lachezar Kotev

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2020 and Transfers winter 2021.

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
FW  BUL Eray Karadayi (at Dobrudzha until 31 December 2020)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW  BUL Petar Hristov (at Litex until 31 December 2020)

Foreign players

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League; however, only three can be used in 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

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

  • Moussa Haddad

Non-EU Nationals

Notable Players

The footballers enlisted below have international caps for their respective countries or more than 100 caps for Arda. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.

Goalscoring and appearance records

As of 25 November 2020

Most appearances for the club in First League

RankNameCareerAppearances
1 Emil Martinov2019–41
2 Ivan Kokonov2019–38
3 Radoslav Vasilev2019–202031
4 Spas Delev2019–30
5 Ivan Karadzhov2018–29
6 Deyan Lozev2020–28
7 Rumyan Hovsepyan2019–202024
8 Aleksandar Georgiev2019–23
Plamen Krumov2018–23
10 Zoran Gajić2019–202022
Svetoslav Kovachev2019–22


Most goals for the club in First League

RankNameCareerGoals
1 Radoslav Vasilev2019–202011
2 Ivan Kokonov2019–10
3 Spas Delev2019–5
Svetoslav Kovachev2019–5
5 Elisha Sam2019–20203
6 João Amorim2019–20201
Aleksandar Georgiev2019–1
Rumyan Hovsepyan2019–20201
Lovre Knežević2020–1
Plamen Krumov2018–1
Deyan Lozev2020–1
Emil Martinov2019–1
Rumen Rumenov2019–1
Milen Zhelev2020–1
  • Players in bold are still playing for Arda.

Records and notable stats

Club Records

  • Biggest home win in First League: Arda Kardzhali 3–1 Beroe Stara Zagora (27 July 2019)
  • Biggest away win in First League: Vitosha Bistritsa 1–3 Arda Kardzhali (2 August 2019)
  • Biggest home loss in First League: Arda Kardzhali 2–5 Lokomotiv Plovdiv (11 August 2019)
  • Biggest away loss in First League: Ludogorets Razgrad 2–0 Arda Kardzhali (22 September 2019)
  • Unbeaten streak in First League (single season): 6 (2020–21)
  • Most consecutive wins in First League (single season): 2 (2019–20)

Personnel

Board of directors

Position Name Nationality
PresidentEng. Petar Peshev
Director of FootballGalabin Vasilev

Director of Sports AdministrationStanimir Nikolov
AdministratorEray Salif

Current technical body

Position Name Nationality
Head CoachNikolay Kirov
Assistant CoachGeorgi Kamenov
Assistant CoachIvan Kochev
Assistant CoachTsvetomir Valeriev
Goalkeeper coachStoyan Kolev
Conditioning CoachNikolay Tsvetkov
Conditioning CoachGoran Goranov
Conditioning CoachRadoslav Borislavov

Seasons

League positions

First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria)Regional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFG

Past seasons

Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup
2015–16A RFG (IV)170145721not qualified
2016–17Third League (III)1611617496939not qualified
2017–18Third League (III)13040142794not qualified
2018–19Second League (II)31956441862Round of 32
2019–20First League (I)981111283635Round of 16
2020–21First League (I)qualified
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

References

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