FC Dunav Ruse

FC Dunav Ruse

Full name	Football Club Dunav Ruse
Nickname(s)	Драконите (The Dragons)
Founded	16 February 1949 (1949-02-16)
Ground	Gradski Stadium, Ruse
Ground Capacity	12,400
Chairman	Simeon Simeonov
Head coach	Veselin Velikov
League	Bulgarian First League
2016–17	First League, 4th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Dunav (Bulgarian: Дунав) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Ruse, that competes in the First Professional League, the top flight of the Bulgarian football league system.

Dunav Ruse were established on February 16, 1949 as a merger of two football clubs in the city, Dinamo and Rusenets.^[1] Dunav's home colours are sky blue and white. Named after the Danube River (Bulgarian: река Дунав), on the banks of which the city of Ruse is situated, the club plays their home matches at the local Gradski Stadium (City Stadium), which has a seating capacity of 12,400 spectators.^[2]

History

Domestic

Over the course of its history, the club carried a variety of different names such as Sava, Napredak, Levski, Varush, Angel Kanchev, Rakovski, Rusenets, Dinamo, Spartak, DNA, Torpedo and Partizanin. Dunav played in the A Group over a number of seasons between 1937–1940, 1951, 1956, 1958–67, 1968–73, 1974–77, 1984–86, 1988–91 and 1996–98, before being relegated again.

Dunav playing against Serie A club Roma at the Municipal Stadium in 1975.

Among the club's most notable achievements are a final in the Bulgarian championship in 1937, an A Group fourth place in 1975 and 2017, and four domestic cup finals in 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1962 respectively.

Following years of several movements between lower divisions, a decent squad, established by playing manager Engibar Engibarov at the time, eventually won the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League in 2003–04 and for the next season they finally gained promotion to the B PFG after a long-term absence in the amateur divisions. It was to be their first appearance in professional football since the club was relegated from the A Group in 1991.

From January 5, 2006 until October 2 of the same year, Dunav were managed by Ferario Spasov. He acquired some well-known footballers and loaned talented players from Litex Lovech in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the first division again.

The 2009–10 season in the B Group was very narrow for the club as the dream of reaching the A Group almost became a reality. Dunav finished the first half of the season in first place, leaving behind the teams of Kaliakra Kavarna and Nesebar. The second half of the season started very well and the team was in a row with a couple of very significant wins, but they won only one game in their last 7 matches and eventually failed to gain promotion to the top flight.

In the following years, Dunav again failed to impress and was mostly seen as a middle table club in the final ranking of the B Group. In 2010–11, the club was left by some of its good players, as a result of ongoing financial difficulties in the team. Dunav subsequently withdrew from the B Group in February 2011, after being unable to reduce its financial debts to the municipality and a majority of its squad players. A few days later, the club announced bankruptcy and was dissolved.

In 2011, Dr. Simeon Simeonov established a new entity under the name Dunav 2010, which was approved by the BFU to start from the lowest levels of Bulgarian football. The team obtained license and after several court decisions in the following months, it regained the traditions and history of its predecessor. In 2015, the club won the Bulgarian Amateur Cup and was promoted to the second division.

In 2016, Dunav became champions of the 2015-16 B Group and were promoted to the top flight for the first time since 1991, 25 years after their last participation. They completed in the debut season of the newly renamed Bulgarian First League. Their first year in the BFL was an instant success, as they finished fourth and qualified for Europa League.

European

On an international basis, Dunav's debut entry in the European club competitions dates back to the 1975-76 UEFA Cup, where they were drawn against Roma of the Italian Serie A. Dunav were subsequently eliminated after a 2–0 defeat in Rome and a notable 1–0 win over the Italian team in Ruse.^[3] In 2017, they managed to secure a spot for the first qualifying round of the Europa League after a prolonged period of European absence, but were eliminated by Irtysh Pavlodar after an overall 0-3 loss in both matches.

Honours

Domestic

First League:

• Fourth place: 1974–75, 2016–17

Second League:

• Winners (6): 1950, 1954, 1957, 1968, 1974, 2015–16

Bulgarian Cup:

• Runners-up: 1961–62

European

UEFA Cup

• First round: 1975–76

League positions

European record

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1975–76	UEFA Cup	1R	Roma	1–0	0–2	1–2
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Irtysh Pavlodar	0–2	0–1	0–3

Current squad

As of 4 August 2017^[4]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Martin Lukov 3 DF Mario Petkov 4 DF Petar Patev 5 DF Teynur Marem 7 MF Bircent Karagaren 8 MF Andreas Vasev 9 FW Miroslav Budinov 10 MF Vasil Shopov 11 MF Diyan Dimov (captain) 20 FW Dimitar Georgiev 21 DF Oleksiy Larin

No. Position Player 22 DF Mihail Milchev 23 DF Hristofor Hubchev 24 DF Preslav Petrov 30 GK Veselin Dobrev 31 MF Krasimir Stanoev 33 GK Aleksandar Konov 77 FW Branimir Kostadinov 83 DF Hristo Popadiyn 86 GK Stanislav Antonov 94 FW Yuliyan Nenov

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 32 MF Stefan Mitev (at Botev Vratsa until 30 June 2018) 99 FW Soner Hyusein (at Lokomotiv Ruse until 30 June 2018)

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.

Past seasons

References

• Paytashev, Rumen (2001). Svetovna Futbolna Entsiklopediya (in Bulgarian). Sofia: KK Trud. p. 126. ISBN 954-528-201-0. 

External links

• Official website