SFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo

Etar (Bulgarian: Етър) is a Bulgarian sports football club based in Veliko Tarnovo, that plays in the Bulgarian First League, the top flight of Bulgarian football.

This article is about the team formed in 2013. For the football club formed in 2002, see FC Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo. For the original club from Veliko Tarnovo which existed until 2003, see FC Etar (Veliko Tarnovo).
SFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo
Full nameSports Football Club
Etar Veliko Tarnovo
Nickname(s)Болярите (The Bolyars)
Founded17 July 2013 (2013-07-17)
GroundStadion Ivaylo
Capacity15,000
ChairmanGeorgi Kamarashev
Head coachPetko Petkov
LeagueFirst League
2019–20First League, 10th
WebsiteClub website

Etar is the official successor of Etar 1924, which was dissolved for financial reasons after the 2012-13 season. The current Etar was established after the former folded and quickly ascended from the amateur leagues, eventually promoting to the Bulgarian First League at the end of the 2016-17 season. The club's home ground has been Ivaylo Stadium since 2013. Etar plays in all-violet kits and their nickname is 'The Bolyars'.

History

Foundation and Amateur League (2013–2016)

The club was founded as OFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo in 2013[1] with the license of FC Botev Debelets.[2] In their first season they finished in 5th position in V Group.

In January 2016, Boncho Genchev became the new manager of the team which was in 3rd place at the halfway point in the season, only two points behind the 1st place team.[3] The selection included Lyubomir Genchev coming from A Group team Montana, Stefan Hristov from Spartak Pleven and the leading goalscorer in the first part of 2015–16 season in B Group, Petar Dimitrov.[4] The team eventually won all its matches, winning the league and being promoted to B Group.[5]

Professional Football (2016–present)

On 9 June 2016 Etar were officially approved for the new 2nd division — Second League, with the club changing its abbreviation to "SFC Etar". Ferario Spasov remains in his position as manager and with a good selection team made promotion to First League.[6] Etar were promoted as champions of the 2016–17 Second League, sealing their title on the final day of the season with a 2–2 away draw against Nesebar, coupled with Septemvri Sofia's 2–0 away defeat to Oborishte.[7][8]

Etar’s first season into the elite was difficult. The team finished 13th in the regular phase, with only four wins. This placed Etar as one of the candidates for relegation. In the relegation phase, Etar finished last in their group and had to play playoff/play out matches in order to remain in the elite. In the first round, Etar beat Pirin Blagoevgrad 3-1 aggregate and advanced to the second round. There, the violets faced Dunav Ruse. Two strong matches resulted in a 4-1 aggregate win, and Etar secured their status as a member of the top tier.

On 4 January 2018 Krasimir Balakov was announced as the new manager in the club with Stanislav Genchev, Iliyan Kiryakov and Kaloyan Chakarov as first team coaches.[9]

League positions
Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)

Nickname, shirt and colors

Their main nicknames are the Bolyars and the Violets, the latter in reference to the colour of their home kit, which is often mistaken for purple.

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt partner
2013–2016 Joma Britos
2016–2017 None
2017– WinBet

Honours

Domestic

Players

Current squad

As of 30 July 2020

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  BUL Hristo Ivanov (captain)
3 DF  BUL Yuliyan Raykov
5 DF  BUL Hristofor Hubchev
6 DF  BUL Plamen Krachunov
7 FW  BUL Milcho Angelov
8 MF  BUL Ivan Mihaylov
9 FW  BUL Ivan Petkov
11 MF  BUL Anton Ognyanov
12 GK  BUL Tsvetomir Tsankov
13 GK  BUL Anatoli Gospodinov
14 DF  BUL Ivan Skerlev
16 MF  BUL Steliyan Dobrev
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF  BUL Borislav Markov
20 DF  BUL Yani Pehlivanov
22 MF  BUL Nikola Kolev
24 DF  BUL Georgi Kupenov
26 DF  BUL Mariyan Ivanov
44 MF  BUL Bozhidar Katsarov
70 DF  BUL Kolyo Stanev
71 MF  BUL Daniel Pehlivanov
84 DF  BUL Zdravko Iliev
88 FW  BUL Dimitar Baydakov
98 FW  BUL Valentin Yoskov (on loan from CSKA 1948)
— DF  BUL Dimitar Tsonev

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 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 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.

Notable players

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

Goalscoring and appearance records
As of 23 September 2019

Most appearances for the club in First League

RankNameCareerAppearances
1 Hristo Ivanov2017–73
– Rumen Rumenov2017–73
3 Ivan Stoyanov2017–69
4 Nikola Kolev2017–53
5 Georgi Sarmov2017–201950
6 Daniel Mladenov2018–49
7 Ivan Skerlev2016–45
– Dimo Atanasov2017–201845
9 Ivan Petkov2014–44
10 Ventsislav Vasilev2017–201942


Most goals for the club in First League

RankNameCareerGoals
1 Daniel Mladenov2018–20
2 Veljko Batrović2018–201911
3 Alioune Badará2017–201810
4 Ivan Petkov2014–8
5 Ivan Stoyanov2017–7
6 Flo Bojaj2018–5
– Milcho Angelov2019–5
8 Rumen Rumenov2018–4
9 Alasana Manneh2018–20193
– Georgi Sarmov2017–20193
– Erik Pochanski2017–20193
  • Players in bold are still playing for Etar.

Past seasons

As of 19 July 2020

Season Tier Division Place Bulgarian Cup
2013–14 3 V Group 5th DNP
2014–15 3 V Group 2nd DNP
2015–16 3 V Group 1st↑ DNP
2016–17 2 Second League 1st↑ Round of 32
2017–18 1 First League 11th Quarter-finals
2018–19 1 First League 7th Quarter-finals
2019–20 1 First League 10th Round of 32
  • Seasons in First League: 3
  • Seasons in Second League: 1
  • Seasons in V Group (now Third League): 3

Managers
Dates Name Honours
2013–2014 Sasho Angelov
2014–2015 Kaloyan Chakarov
2015–2016 Georgi Vasilev
2016 Boncho Genchev
2016 Ferario Spasov 1 V Group title
2017–2018 Stanislav Genchev 1 Second League title
2018–2019 Krasimir Balakov
2019 Rosen Kirilov
2019 Kaloyan Chakarov
2019– Petko Petkov
    gollark: Raising a child is a large responsibility which people seem to get basically no useful training or guidance on.
    gollark: I think you could make a strong case to have all child generation and rearing done by the government, if anyone had worked out how to make nonterrible trustworthy governments.
    gollark: It won't sell well unless you can work in something marketable too and also generalising from anecdotes not that good.
    gollark: I see.
    gollark: If they were something you showed other people, they would just be written mostly for signalling and ignored.

    References
    1. Новият „Етър В. Търново” е вече факт!
    2. "Етър Велико Търново започва на чисто във В група". gong.bg. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28.
    3. Бончо Генчев: Ще върнем Етър в професионалния футбол
    4. Етър хвърли трансферна бомба – привлече голмайстора на "Б" група
    5. Етър се завърна в професионалния футбол пред хиляди боляри на стадион „Ивайло”
    6. Официaлнo: “Етъp” във Втopa лига
    7. "Nesebar vs. Etar 2–2". soccerway.com. 27 May 2017.
    8. „Етър” влезе в елита!
    9. Революция в Търново: Балъков е новият мениджър на Етър, Генчев остава, Деко е аут
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