FC Marek Dupnitsa
Coordinates: 42°16′31.1″N 23°8′8.3″E / 42.275306°N 23.135639°E
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| Full name | Football Club Marek Dupnitsa | |||
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| Founded | 2010 | |||
| Ground | Bonchuk Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 8,050 | |||
| Manager | Yanek Kyuchukov | |||
| League | South-West Third League | |||
| 2016–17 | South-West Third League, 8th | |||
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FC Marek Dupnitsa (Bulgarian: ФК Марек Дупница) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Dupnitsa. It was founded in 2010 after the unification of four other local clubs – Atletic, Slavia, ZHSK and Levski. Its home matches take place at the Bonchuk Stadium.
Honours
Domestic
- Winners: 2014
- Winners: 1978
History
Early history (1919–1947)
The people of Dupnitsa saw football being played for the first time by foreign troops staying in the city during World War I. Over the next several years, 4 football clubs were created in Dupnitsa – Slavia, Levski, ZHSK and Athletic. In 1923, the teams of Dupnitsa participated in the formation of Southwest Football League and between 1935 and 1944 the clubs from Dupnitsa often participated in the finals of the national tournaments. By 1944 each of the four teams already had its own stadium.
Marek (1947–1970)
In 1947 Slavia, Levski, ZHSK and Athletic decided to merge into one club, who was named Marek. This name is the nickname for Stefan "Stanke" Dimitrov, a local hero of the Communist party. Marek is an abbreviation which contains the first letters of Stefan Dimitrov's nickname – Marxist, Antifascist, Revolutionary, Emigrant, Communist.
In 1948 Marek became a part of the newly created first division of Bulgarian football, Bulgarian A PFG, finishing eighth out of ten clubs in season 1948–49, but the team was relegated to the 2nd division, B PFG, in 1950. Marek subsequently won promotions to the Bulgarian A PFG in 1952 and 1956, followed by immediate relegation to B PFG the following seasons, 1953 and 1957, respectively. During these years, Marek's greatest achievement was 5th place in the Bulgarian A PFG during the 1960–61 season. The team's coach at that time was Lyuben Petrov. Up until the mid-1970s, Marek bounced back and forth between the 1st and 2nd divisions of Bulgarian football.
Success in Bulgaria and Europe (1975–1981)
The biggest successes for Marek came in the late 1970s and the early 1980s when the team finished third in its domestic league in 1977 and won National Cup (the Cup of the Soviet Army, as it was called at the time) in 1978, by defeating the overwhelming favorites of CSKA Sofia by the score of 1-0 in front of 75,000 spectators at Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia, Bulgaria.
During the 1976–77 season, Marek defeated PFC CSKA Sofia twice, home and away, with the scores 2:1 and 3:1. That season Marek led the league for several rounds and at the end the team fought tooth and nail with Slavia Sofia for the third place in the table. Marek won the decisive game against Slavia Sofia in Dupnitsa by the score 1:0, and finished in 3rd place, winning the bronze medals. This is Marek's best finish to date in the top flight of Bulgarian football.
In this period the team also played in Europe: UEFA Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, and Intertoto Cup. Victories include games against Bayernunich (a 2-0 victory), against Ferencváros of Hungary (a 3-0 victory), and against Aberdeen of Scotland (a 3-2 victory), led by coach Alex Ferguson. The return leg in Scotland was tied 0-0 until late in the game, when substitute Gordon Strachan scored a goal and led his team to a 3-0 victory. The club also competed in the 1980 Intertoto Cup against IFK Göteborg (2-3, 1-4) – a team that won the UEFA Cup just a year later;B 93 Copenhagen (2-0, 2-3), and Austria Salzburg (4-2, 2-2) to finish second in the group. The following season Marek once again competed in the Intertoto Cup-against Stuttgarter Kickers (0-1, 0-2), Viking (1-2, 0-3), and Willem II (0-1, 1-4) and finished last in its group.
Stadium and fans: The team is known for its loyal supporters and the local stadium "Bonchuk Stadium" is infamous for being a difficult place for visiting teams. "Bonchuk Stadium" holds 16,050 people. The town of Dupnitsa was known as the "city on wheels", because thousands of loyal Marek fans would follow the team at away games to remote parts of Bulgaria.
Famous players: Among the most famous players of Marek are Kiril Milanov, Dimitar Isakov, Nikolay "Shultz" Krastev, Sasho Pargov, Ivan and Ventzi Petrov, Stoyan Stoyanov (a goalkeeper), Asen Tomov, and Dimitre Dimitrov-Miki. The coach associated with the successes of Marek is Yanko Dinkov.
Recent history (2001–2010)
In 1983, Marek was relegated to B PFG and then the third division of Bulgarian football. After over a decade of playing in the lower divisions, in 2001 Marek returned triumphantly to the Bulgarian A PFG.
As a participant in the Intertoto Cup, Marek tied 1-1 the German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg in 2003, but lost away from home the second leg, 0-2, and was eliminated from the tournament. The team finished 7th at the conclusion of the 2003–04 season, 9th at the end of the 2004–05 season, 11th after the 2005–06 season, and 12th at the end of the 2006–07 football season of the Bulgarian premier division, Bulgarian A PFG (out of 16 teams). In 2006–07, Marek secured its place in the Bulgarian top division for the next season with a 1-0 home win over the powerhouse CSKA Sofia.
During the 2007–08 season, Marek was plagued by injuries of key players, several coaching changes and a not-so-well covered conflict between the senior players of the club: Angelo and Yanek Kyuchukov and the club president, Yordan Andreev. Further, the team sold their best and most talented player, Enyo Krastovchev, to Levski Sofia. As a result, the team finished in last place, 16th, with only 5 wins in 30 games, in the Bulgarian A PFG, and was relegated to B PFG for the 2008–09 season.
Before the start of the 2008–09 season in B PFG, the team held its pre-season training in France in an attempt by the club President Andreev to compile a team made up exclusively of young foreign players. The team even had a Portuguese coach for the first few games of the season. The regular season started disastrously for Marek. After several consecutive losses, the Portuguese coach was fired, and all but one of the foreign players left the club.
Marek barely survived the 2008–09 season in B PFG, finishing 14th out of 16 teams, winning only 7 out of 30 regular season games, scoring 29 and conceding 48 goals.
During the 2009–10 season in B PFG, the team was coached by Velin Kostadinov and player-manager Angelo Kyuchukov. The team found more consistency and finished comfortably in 10th place with 41 points.
A New Beginning (2010–)
The Bulgarian Football Federation denied Marek the license to compete in B PFG for the 2010–11 season due to the team's financial debts. Thus, the club had to start over and compete at the lowest level of Bulgarian football, in the regional amateur league, Zona Rila. The team's new coach became Ivaylo Pargov, a former player for the team.
During the 2010–11 season, Marek dominated the local amateur division and after winning all but one of its regular season games, it earned a playoff game against PFC Belasitsa Petrich for the right to play in the third division, Bulgarian V AFG. The play-off game was tied after 90 minutes, 1-1, and Belasitsa went on to win on penalties.
Despite the lost playoff and the prospect of spending a second season in the regional amateur league, a number of third division teams declined participation prior to the upcoming 2011–12 season due to financial insolvency. Thus, Marek was administratively promoted to the third division, Bulgarian V AFG for the 2011–12 season.
During the 2012–13 season, Marek finished first in the Southwest V AFG and earned automatic promotion to the Bulgarian Second Division. B PFG
Marek surprised its numerous fans with a fantastic 2013–14 season in the Second Division, dominating its opponents and securing promotion to A PFG with 4 games to go.
The return to A PFG has proven difficult as Marek finished the 2014-2015 season in 11th place out of 12 teams, and the team was relegated. Marek won only 6 games in the entire season, v. Haskovo three times, at Cherno More and v. Slavia Sofia.
After the conclusion of the 2014-2015 season Marek did not receive a professional license from the Bulgarian Football Federation due to unpaid financial obligations to government institutions, and the team was relegated to the amateur divisions.
Subsequently, Marek was fined by the Bulgarian Football Federation due to "suspicion" of match fixing and the club ownership decided to dissolve the existing club, and register a new Fc Marek 1915, which started competing from the lowest level of football in Bulgaria - the 4th division - during the 2015-2016 season.
After a successful undefeated season in the 4th division, and navigating through 2 rounds of playoffs, Marek earned promotion and will compete in the 3rd division, the Southwestern Group, during the 2016-2017 season.
Marek in Europe
UEFA cup
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | UEFA Cup | 1 |  |
Ferencváros | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 |
| 2 |  |
Bayern Munich | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | ||
Cup Winners' Cup
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | Cup Winners' Cup | 1 |  |
Aberdeen | 3–2 | 0–3 | 3–5 |
Intertoto Cup
Year Stage Match Results 1980 group Marek Dupnitsa – 
IFK Göteborg2-3, 1-4 1980 group Marek Dupnitsa – 
Austria Salzburg4-2, 2-2 1980 group Marek Dupnitsa – 
B 93 Copenhagen2-0, 2-3 1981 group Marek Dupnitsa – Stuttgarter Kickers0-1, 0-2 1981 group Marek Dupnitsa – 
Viking1-2, 0-3 1981 group Marek Dupnitsa – 
Willem II0-1, 1-4 2002 1/32 Marek Dupnitsa – 
Caersws FC2-0, 1-1 2002 1/16 
FC Ashdod – Marek Dupnitsa1-1, 0-1 2002 1/8 Marek Dupnitsa – 
Slaven Belupo0-3, 1-3 2003 1/32 Videoton – Marek Dupnitsa2-2, 1-1 2003 1/16 Marek Dupnitsa – VfL Wolfsburg1-1, 0-2 2004 1/32 Marek Dupnitsa – 
FC Dila Gori0-0, 2-0 2004 1/16 .svg.png)
Genk – Marek Dupnitsa2-1, 0-0
Current squad
As of 7 August 2017 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
The following players included were either playing for their respective national teams or left good impression among the fans.
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Note: For a list of other Marek Dupnitsa players, see Category:PFC Marek Dupnitsa players.