PFC Cherno More Varna

PFC Cherno More Varna

Full name	Professional Football Club Cherno More Varna
Nickname(s)	Моряците (The Sailors)
Short name	Cherno More
Founded	February 18, 1945 (1945-02-18), as Ticha-Vladislav[1][2]
Ground	Ticha Stadium
Ground Capacity	8,250
Owner	Chimimport AD[3]
Chairman	Marin Marinov
Head coach	Georgi Ivanov
League	First League
2016–17	First League, 6th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Cherno More (Bulgarian: Черно Море) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League.

Cherno More is named after the Black Sea, and the football club is also known by its nickname The Sailors. Cherno More's home ground is the Ticha Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 8,250 spectators, with plans to move to a new all-seater stadium in late 2018. To date, the club has won onсe Bulgarian Cup and Bulgarian Super Cup.

The club has a long-standing rivalry with neighbouring Spartak Varna, with matches between the two being commonly referred to as "The Derby of Varna".

History

Foundation (1945-89)

With the establishment of Communist rule in Bulgaria after WWII, significant changes took place affecting all leading clubs without exception. It was a time for mergers, splits, changing of names and in some cases closure of clubs.^[4] All this, to suit the new vision of the new communist ruled government.^[5] On 18 February 1945, SC Ticha and SC Vladislav merged with all their available assets and the new name of the club was Ticha-Vladislav. An important issue about the merger of these two teams, and the claims by Cherno More supporters who descend from them, is that it was not as a result of bankruptcy, insolvency, bad debts or any other foul play, but the result of a decision by a political party which had absolute and unchecked power, which simply decided that there were just too many clubs in the city of Varna and that their number should be reduced.

In 1947, SC Primoretz also joined the new club, now to be known as TVP 45. SC Primoretz practised only basketball and tennis and therefore did not have a football team. Chairman of the club was the long time SC Vladislav sportsman Aleksi Aleksiev.

In 1948–49, under the name Botev, the club took part in the highest level of the first post-war league to be known as Bulgarian A Football Group or "A" RFG. Botev Varna finished 6th in a group of 10 teams with centre forward Nedko Nedev ending up as top scorer of the competition with 12 goals. Some more reorganisation, in accordance with the Soviet principles, took place in the next season. The town of Varna was renamed Stalin in honour of the Soviet dictator and stayed that way until 1956. A departmental system was applied, placing most clubs under the umbrella of two major departments, The Ministry of Defence and The Ministry of Interior. Botev Stalin went under military command and was ordered to play in the Third division (group "V") to make place for the newly formed Central Army Club (CDNV, later CSKA) from Sofia which started in "A" RFG straight after being founded.^[6] Although relegated by decree, the team of Botev Stalin retained most of its players and under the leadership of trainer Ivan Mokanov was promoted back to "A" RFG in 2 successive seasons, under the name VMS (which stands for Bulgarian Navy).^[7]

In 1953, VMS Stalin finished 3rd in the competition after the two leading Sofia clubs. The saddest season in the club's history is 1955. It started with 5 consecutive wins, all against Sofia teams. The hopes of title-dreaming supporters were dashed with only 1 point in the following 10 games. The team was relegated at the end of the season to be promoted back the next year under its previous name, Botev Varna.

In 1959, a small team from "B" RFG by the name of Cherno More, which resulted from the merger of two other Varna teams (Lokomotiv and Korabostroitel) one year earlier, joined Botev and from this year until now, the club will go by the name Cherno More. The club stayed in "A" RFG without interruption until 1976 but did not have any major achievements. Under the control of the Ministry of Defence over the years, a number of talented players left de club for the Central Army Club (CSKA) without Cherno More receiving adequate compensation. One of them, Bozhil Kolev, starred in the defence of the National team in the World Cup finals in BRD'74.

Cherno More had its moments of glory in a friendly against Ajax which ended in a 3-1 win on 8 June 1966,^[8] with goals from Zdravko Mitev (2) and Stefan Bogomilov. The 19 year old Johan Cruyff scored for Ajax.^[9] In August 1966 the team from Varna visited England and played three matches. The most memorable was the 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest on City Ground. Nottingham fielded a strong side with Peter Grummitt, Bob McKinlay, Alan Hinton, Henry Newton, Joe Baker, Terry Hennessey, Jeff Whitefoot in the starting 11. The match was decided with a long range shot from defender Dimitar Bosnov in the first half.^[10] Nottingham Forest was to end the 1966-67 season as runners-up in the Football League First Division. The other two matches ended in a 1-1 draw against Coventry City after Stefan Yanev had opened the score, and a 1-2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday F.C.. After 16 years in the top flight, Cherno More was relegated in 1976 and won promotion the following season. A new generation of players was emerging. Defenders Todor Marev and Ivan Ivanov, midfielders Todor Atanasov and Ivan Andreev, forwards Rafi Rafiev and Nikola Spasov left many good memories in the late 70s and the 80s. In the 1981-82 season, the team finished 4th and therefore qualified for the Intertoto Cup. Cherno More won twice 2-0 at home against Standard Liège and the Danes from Hvidovre IF and drew 1-1 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Away, they drew 1-1 in Denmark and lost 1-3 and 0-3 in Liège and Leverkusen respectively. Later in the 80s, Cherno More was relegated twice and played 3 seasons in "B" RFG. The team reached the final of The Soviet Army Cup and were runners-up twice in 1985 and 1988.

The 90s struggle

The fall of socialism in Bulgaria in 1989 and the establishment of democracy brought new hardships for Bulgarian football clubs. The transition from state backed organisations to privately owned entities saw many traditional football clubs disappear entirely, while others were forced to declare bankruptcy, only to return later by obtaining licences from smaller clubs. Cherno More avoided any administrative changes and kept its name and history, but spent 8 out of 9 seasons of the decade in the league’s second tier. Relegated in 1990 and facing immense financial difficulties, at one time during the 1998-99 season, the club came close to relegation to the 3rd division of Bulgarian football. Despite being in the "B"RFG, Cherno More sold their best player and own product Ilian Iliev to Levski Sofia for a then Bulgarian record of 2 million leva (£60 000) in 1991. Things started to get better in 1998 with new chairman Krasen Kralev who turned the club into a joint-stock company.

New millennium

The new millennium saw the club establishing itself in the country's top flight. The Sailors spent the majority of the 90s in Bulgaria's second tier before securing promotion at the end of the 1999-2000 season, ending a six consecutive season spell in the B Group. Cherno More survived minor relegation scares in their first two seasons back in the A Group and then went on to become a regular feature in the league's top half. In 2002, Kralev convinced businessman Ilia Pavlov to buy the club. Pavlov had ideas about developing the club and turning it into one of the leaders in Bulgarian football. He appointed the young and ambitious coach Velislav Vutsov and signed many experienced players such as National team goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov, defenders Adalbert Zafirov and Georgi Ginchev. Some foreign players such as Lúcio Wagner, Darko Spalević and Maltese international Daniel Bogdanović also made their way to Varna. The results were quick to follow. Victories against champions CSKA in Sofia and Litex in Lovech saw the team soaring up in the table. The success story came to an abrupt end with the murder of Ilia Pavlov on 7 March 2003. Months of uncertainties followed and at some point, the very existence of the club was at stake until Bulgarian holding company Chimimport acquired the club in 2004.

In the 2007-08 season, the Sailors finished 5th in A Group and qualified for the last season of the UEFA Cup due to licence problems of CSKA Sofia. Led by captain Alex they had a very successful run - they defeated UE Sant Julia of Andora in the first qualifying round (9-0 on aggregate)^[11] and Maccabi Netanya from Israel in the second qualifying round (3-1 on aggregate). Cherno More than challenged German side VfB Stuttgart in the 1st round and were eliminated after a 1-2 loss at home and a surprising 2-2 draw in Stuttgart after having a 2-0 lead up until the 85th minute of the game. During the same season the team was successful finishing 3rd in A Group, and qualified for the newly created European football competition, the Europa League.

In the 2009-10 season, Cherno More started their UEFA Europa League campaign by defeating Iskra-Stal from Moldova in the second qualifying round (4-0 on aggregate). Subsequently, they were drawn to play against Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven in the third qualifying round.^[12] The team from Varna was eliminated after a 0-1^[13] loss at Eindhoven and another 0-1^[14] loss at the Lazur Stadium in Burgas.

After finishing third in 2008-09, the club failed to impress in the domestic league in the follow-up years, but saw a successful run in the Bulgarian Cup during the 2014-15 season. The Sailors defeated Sozopol, Slavia Sofia, Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa, and Lokomotiv Plovdiv on the road to the final against Levski Sofia at the Lazur Stadium in Burgas. Despite being down to ten men since the 39th minute and trailing 0-1, the team managed to equalize in added time through Bacari's volley and went on to win the Cup after Mathias Coureur's stunning strike in the 118th minute, winning the club's first post-World War II trophy.^[15]

Honours

Domestic

Bulgarian A Group:

• Third place (2): 1953, 2008–09

Bulgarian Cup:

• Winners (1): 2015
• Runners-up (2): 2006, 2008

Bulgarian Supercup:

• Winners (1): 2015

Cup of the Soviet Army

• Runners-up (2): 1985, 1988

League positions

^[16][17]

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
2000–01	A Group	10	26	7	5	14	20	49	26	Round of 16
2001–02	A Group	11	40	12	11	17	47	51	35*	Round of 16	Relegation Group
2002–03	A Group	6	26	14	6	6	42	21	48	Round of 16
2003–04	A Group	6	30	10	8	12	45	53	38	Round of 16
2004–05	A Group	8	30	10	5	15	30	38	35	Round of 32
2005–06	A Group	8	28	10	7	11	29	27	37	Runner-up
2006–07	A Group	6	30	14	5	11	37	29	47	Round of 16
2007–08	A Group	5	30	13	9	8	40	26	48	Runner-up
2008–09	A Group	3	30	18	6	6	48	19	63	Round of 32
2009–10	A Group	7	30	13	9	8	40	28	48	Quarter-finals
2010–11	A Group	6	30	15	6	9	36	28	51	Quarter-finals
2011–12	A Group	7	30	16	4	10	46	25	52	Round of 32
2012–13	A Group	10	30	9	8	13	33	39	35	Round of 16
2013–14	A Group	6	38	14	12	12	40	33	54	Round of 16	Championship Group
2014–15	A Group	8	32	15	5	12	42	36	50	Winner	Relegation Group
2015–16	A Group	6	32	10	8	14	36	45	38	Quarter-finals
2016–17	First League	6	36	13	8	15	39	45	47	Quarter-finals	Championship Group

*Points deducted from all teams after completing the first phase of campaign.
Championship/Relegation groups are constituted after all teams have played each other home and away.

European record

Competition	S	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Intertoto Cup / UEFA Intertoto Cup	2	10	4	2	4	14	10	+ 4
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	3	12	5	3	4	20	12	+ 8
Total	5	22	9	5	8	34	22	+ 12

Stadium

Ticha Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Varna, Bulgaria. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Cherno More. It is situated in the north-eastern part of Varna. Built in 1968, the stadium currently has a capacity of 8,250 seating places, spread in two opposite stands. The main south stand has a roof cover and holds 4,250 spectators, while the opposite north stand has a seating capacity of 4,000 spectators. The north stand is commonly used by the Cherno More ultras and the away fans. The current stadium was built entirely with the help of volunteers and sports fans of the club on the place of the old Reka Ticha playground.

In 2007, the local municipality governors and the owners of the club announced in an official statement, that the club would move to a new all-seater stadium,^[18] which would be built in the place of the previously unused and demolished Yuri Gagarin Stadium. It would also replace the current Ticha stadium, which would solve numerous problems on match day, including traffic congestion and the lack of nearby parking lots for the fans. The stadium will have a capacity of 22,000 spectators and would be part of Sport Complex Varna, which includes an underground parking area, convertible roof covers, office lounges, two-tier stands and four 50 meter towers, which would block the pressure of the terrain and bring the stadium's shape in a ship. The convertible roof covers will be made of transparent panels, which will allow the light of the floodlights to stream inside the pitch on a night match. The venue would be awarded with an Elite Stadium category ranking by UEFA.

Following several delays over the next years, majorly due to the global Financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the subsequent lack of funding, in 2015 the construction of the stadium finally started and is expected to be finished by late 2018, with the first match being played on the new stadium in early 2019.

Statistics and records

Todor Marev holds A Group's and Cherno More's overall appearances record — 422 matches for 19 seasons (from 1971 to 1990).

Cherno More's all-time leading scorer is Stefan Bogomilov, who scored 161 goals for the club (from 1962 to 1977). The club's second highest scorer is Nikola Dimitrov, who scored 63 goals. Bogomilov also holds the club record of 4 hat tricks. Center forward Miroslav Manolov holds the club's and A Group's record for the fastest goal - 6 seconds after the referee's first signal, against PFC Montana on 22 March 2012.

Cherno More's biggest victories in A Group are the 8-0 wins against Cherveno Zname Pavlikeni in 1955 and Maritsa Plovdiv in 1968. Cherno More's largest defeat, 1–8, was against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in 2004. Also, the club's win against UE Sant Julia, 5-0, in 2008, was the largest European win in the club's history.

Current squad

As of 8 August 2017
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 3 DF Ertan Tombak 5 DF Stefan Stanchev 6 MF Aleksandar Tsvetkov 7 DF Vitinha 8 MF Emil Yanchev 9 FW Tsvetelin Chunchukov 10 MF Martin Minchev 13 MF Ivan Kokonov 14 FW Georgi Bozhilov 15 DF Aleksandar Aleksandrov 17 DF Martin Kostadinov

No. Position Player 18 DF Atanas Zehirov 21 MF Georgi Iliev (captain) 22 MF Mariyan Ognyanov 23 DF Ilias Hassani 25 GK Ivan Dyulgerov 29 FW Marek Kuzma 33 GK Emil Mihaylov 66 MF Orlin Starokin 70 MF Borislav Baldzhiyski 73 DF Ondřej Sukup 97 MF Nikolay Minkov

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2017.

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player 98 FW Valentin Yoskov (at Nesebar until 31 December 2017)

Foreign players

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First Professional 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.

International players

As of 18 June 2017
The following players have been called-up at least once by the respective national team in the past 12 months. Names in italics denote players who have received a call-up but have not been capped yet.

UEFA ranking

Rank	Country	Team	Points
285		Arka Gdynia	3.825
286		Domžale	3.825
287		Cherno More	3.825
288		CSKA Sofia	3.825
289		Víkingur	3.750

Source: UEFA Club Coefficients
Last updated: 21 July 2017

Club officials

Board of directors

Position	Name	Nationality
Owner	Marin Mitev
Technical director	Marin Marinov
Director of Communications	Krasimir Nikolov
Director of Recruitment	Todor Velikov

Current technical body

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager	Georgi Ivanov
Assistant Manager	Ivaylo Petrov
Assistant Manager	Emanuil Lukanov
Assistant Manager	Georgi Iliev
Goalkeeping Coach	Stoyan Stavrev
Fitness coach	Veselin Markov

Coaches history

Coach Nat From To Ivan Mokanov 1948 1960 Lozan Kotsev 1960 1962 Manol Manolov 1962 1963 Ivan Mokanov (2) 1964 1968 Georgi Dimitrov 1968 1972 Spas Kirov 1972 1974 Stoyan Ormandzhiev 1974 1975 Georgi Dimitrov (2) 1975 1976 Kiril Rakarov 1976 1977 Ivan Vasilev 1977 1979 Ivan Mokanov (3) 1979 1980 Ivan Vasilev (2) 1980 1981 Spas Kirov (2) 1981 1983 Todor Velikov 1983 1985 Bozhil Kolev 1985 1989 Todor Velikov (2) 1989 1990 Kevork Tahmisyan 1990 1991 Todor Velikov (3) 1991 1992 Bozhil Kolev (2) 1992 1994 Vachko Marinov 1994 1995 Nikola Spasov 1995 1996

Coach Nat From To Asen Milushev 1996 1996 Damyan Georgiev 1996 1996 Tsonyo Vasilev 1997 1997 Todor Marev 1997 1997 Lyudmil Goranov 1997 1997 Rudi Minkovski 1997 1998 Svetozar Svetozarov 1998 1999 Radi Zdravkov 1999 2000 Bozhil Kolev (3) 2000 2001 Aleksandar Stankov 2001 2002 Velislav Vutsov 2002 2004 Ilian Iliev 2004 2006 Yasen Petrov March 13, 2006 June 30, 2007 Nikola Spasov (2) 2007 2009 Velizar Popov Sept 16, 2009 Oct 29, 2010 Stefan Genov Oct 30, 2010 Sept 24, 2012 Adalbert Zafirov Sept 25, 2012 Dec 2012 Georgi Ivanov Dec 17, 2012 May 19, 2014 Aleksandar Stankov (2) May 22, 2014 Aug 18, 2014 Nikola Spasov (3) Aug 19, 2014 Jun 10, 2016 Georgi Ivanov (2) Jun 21, 2016 present

Notable players

• For all players with a Wikipedia article see Category:PFC Cherno More Varna players.

References

External links

Official websites

• Official website
• UEFA Profile
• http://www.uefa.com/search/video/index.html#cherno%20more%20varna
• http://www.uefa.com/search/photos/index.html#cherno%20more%20varna
• http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=75787/domestic/
• http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=bul/news/newsid=2252898.html
• http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2009/clubs/club=75787/matches/index.html
• http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2010/clubs/club=75787/matches/index.html
• http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2016/clubs/club=75787/
• http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=63807.html
• http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2042576.html
• http://www.afc-ajax.info/nl/wedstrijd/1966-6-8-Cherno-More-Ajax
• http://www.bfunion.bg/news/4394

Supporters websites

• Cherno More fansite