SFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo
Full nameSports Football Club
Etar Veliko Tarnovo
Nickname(s)Болярите (The Bolyars)
Founded24 April 1924 (1924-04-24)
GroundStadion Ivaylo
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
Capacity15,000
ChairmanDeyan Kuzdov
Head coachSvetoslav Petrov
LeagueFirst League
2022–23Second League, 2nd of 18 (promoted)
WebsiteClub website

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

Etar was established in 2013, shortly after the folding of Etar 1924, which was dissolved for financial reasons after the 2012–13 season. Etar 1924, on the other hand, was established as a result of the dissolution of the historical FC Etar (Veliko Tarnovo). Although the three clubs share similar names and colors, the Bulgarian Football Union considers them separate entities and records are not shared between the three. The current Etar 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]

After 4 seasons in the First League, Etar was relegated to the Second League at the end of the 2020-21 season.[10] Back into the second tier, Etar managed to finish in fourth place during the 2021–22 season, qualifying for promotion playoffs. Etar, however, lost against Botev Vratsa and did not manage to return to the First League immediately. Next season (2022–23), Etar managed to finish in second place, securing promotion to the First League after two years of absence.

League positions

First Professional Football LeagueSecond Professional Football League (Bulgaria)First Professional Football LeagueSecond Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football Group

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 Spain Joma Britos
2016–2017 None
2017–2022 WinBet
2022– United States Nike

Honours

Domestic

Players

Current squad

As of 12 December 2023 [11]

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 Bulgaria BUL Angel Martinov
4 DF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Aleksandrov
5 DF Bulgaria BUL Rosen Varbishki
7 DF Bulgaria BUL Kolyo Stanev
8 MF Panama PAN Martín Morán (on loan from C.A. Independiente)
9 FW Bulgaria BUL Martin Toshev
10 FW Croatia CRO Lovre Knežević
12 GK Italy ITA Alessandro Guarnone
14 FW Bulgaria BUL Ivaylo Dimitrov
15 DF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Angelov
17 MF Bulgaria BUL Atanas Atanasov
19 MF Panama PAN Javier Betegon
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 GK Bulgaria BUL Martin Velichkov
23 MF Nigeria NGA Moses Candidus
24 MF France FRA Chano
25 DF Bulgaria BUL Krum Stoyanov (captain)
26 DF Bulgaria BUL Mariyan Ivanov
28 MF Bulgaria BUL Nikolay Yankov
32 MF Netherlands NED Oussama Alou
33 DF Ecuador ECU Luis Córdova (on loan from Cuenca)
38 MF Bulgaria BUL Vladislav Naydenov (on loan from Ludogorets II)
77 DF Bulgaria BUL Martin Nikolov
DF Mexico MEX Josecarlos Van Rankin

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2023 and Transfers winter 2023–24.

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.

Reserve team

Etar II
Full nameSFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo II
Nickname(s)Болярите (The Bolyars)
GroundTrifon Ivanov Stadium, Veliko Tarnovo
ChairmanDeyan Kuzdov
ManagerStefan Angelov
LeagueThird League
2022–23Third League, 14th
WebsiteClub website

Etar II (Bulgarian: Етър II) is a Bulgarian football team based in Veliko Tarnovo. It is the reserve team of Etar Veliko Tarnovo, and currently plays in Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football.

Current squad

As of 12 March 2023 [12]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Bulgaria BUL Teodor Ivanov
GK Bulgaria BUL Presiyan Petkov
GK Bulgaria BUL Nikos Rashkov
DF Bulgaria BUL Rosen Varbishki
DF Bulgaria BUL Ivalin Petkov
DF Bulgaria BUL Ivelin Ivanov
DF Bulgaria BUL Sever Aliev
DF Bulgaria BUL Ismail Ibryamov
DF Bulgaria BUL Denis Martinov
DF Bulgaria BUL Vasko Parvanov
DF Bulgaria BUL Aleksandar Pleshkov
DF Bulgaria BUL Kenan Yumerov
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Ivanov
MF Bulgaria BUL Trayan Dimitrov
MF Bulgaria BUL Kristiyan Dimitrov
MF Bulgaria BUL Atanas Atanasov
MF Bulgaria BUL Dimitar Kolev
MF Bulgaria BUL Aleksandar Kraev
MF Bulgaria BUL Denislav Georgiev
FW Bulgaria BUL Ivan Petkov
FW Bulgaria BUL Zlatin Boyanov
FW Bulgaria BUL Kaloyan Nenchev
FW Bulgaria BUL Aleksandar Guguchkov

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 22 July 2021

Most appearances for the club in First League

RankNameCareerAppearances
1Bulgaria Hristo Ivanov2017–2023110
2Bulgaria Yani Pehlivanov2017–202378
3Bulgaria Rumen Rumenov2017–201976
4Bulgaria Ivan Stoyanov2017–202073
5Bulgaria Nikola Kolev2017–202072
6Bulgaria Milcho Angelov2019–202168
7Bulgaria Daniel Mladenov2017–2019, 2021–202367
8Bulgaria Zdravko Iliev2019–202363
9Bulgaria Ivan Skerlev2016–202057
10Albania Flo Bojaj2018–202055


Most goals for the club in First League

RankNameCareerGoals
1Bulgaria Daniel Mladenov2017–2019, 2021–202321
2Bulgaria Preslav Borukov2020–202112
3Montenegro Veljko Batrović2018–201911
Bulgaria Milcho Angelov2019–202111
5Senegal Alioune Badará2017–201810
6Bulgaria Ivan Stoyanov2017–20209
7Albania Flo Bojaj2018–20208
Bulgaria Ivan Petkov2016–20218
9Bulgaria Rumen Rumenov2017–20196
10Bulgaria Tonislav Yordanov20205
  • Players in bold are still playing for Etar.

Past seasons

As of 16 June 2023

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
2020–21 1 First League 14th↓ Round of 16
2021–22 2 Second League 4th Round of 16
2022–23 2 Second League 2nd↑ Preliminary round

Managers

Dates Name Honours
2013–2014 Bulgaria Sasho Angelov
2014–2015 Bulgaria Kaloyan Chakarov
2015–2016 Bulgaria Georgi Vasilev
2016 Bulgaria Boncho Genchev
2016 Bulgaria Ferario Spasov 1 V Group title
2017–2018 Bulgaria Stanislav Genchev 1 Second League title
2018–2019 Bulgaria Krasimir Balakov
2019 Bulgaria Rosen Kirilov
2019 Bulgaria Kaloyan Chakarov
2019–2020 Bulgaria Petko Petkov
2020 Bulgaria Kaloyan Chakarov
2020–2021 Bulgaria Aleksandar Tomash
2021–2022 Bulgaria Veselin Velikov
2022–2023 Bulgaria Emanuel Lukanov
2023 Bulgaria Marin Stefanov*
2023– Bulgaria Svetoslav Petrov

    Club officials

    Board of directors

    Position Name Nationality
    ChairmanDeyan KuzdovBulgaria
    Board MemberGeorgi MarkovBulgaria
    Board MemberKristiyan DeshkovBulgaria
    Board MemberLyubomir FilipovBulgaria
    Board MemberSvetoslav TotevBulgaria
    Board MemberTsvetomir BoyadzhievBulgaria

    Current technical body

    Position Name Nationality
    Administrative DirectorStefan AtanasovBulgaria
    Youth Academy directorStefan AngelovBulgaria
    Head coachSvetoslav PetrovBulgaria
    Assistant coachStefan DanailovBulgaria
    Assistant coachMarin StefanovBulgaria
    Goalkeeper coachKaloyan ChakarovBulgaria
    Youth Academy CoachTsvetan RaykovBulgaria
    Youth Academy CoachKristiyan PavlovBulgaria
    PhysiotherapistPreslav NikolaevBulgaria
    HousekeeperMiroslav ChernevBulgaria

    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
    10. ""Етър" е първият изпадащ, "Славия" оцеля" (in Bulgarian). btvnovinite.bg. 19 May 2021.
    11. "Мартин Тошев взе № 9, Янко Ангелов – 29 (вижте всички номера)". sport-vt.com (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 9 February 2023.
    12. "Дублиращ отбор". etarvt.bg (in Bulgarian). 16 July 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
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