PSFC Chernomorets Burgas

Chernomorets

Full name	Професионален спортен футболен клуб Черноморец Бургас (Professional sports football club Chernomorets Burgas)
Nickname(s)	Акулите (The Sharks)
Founded	1 August 1919 /restored 8 July 2005/
Ground	Lazur Stadium, Burgas (Capacity: 18,037)
Owner	Petrol AD
Chairman	Mitko Sabev
Manager	Dimitar Dimitrov
League	A PFG
2010–11	A PFG, 8th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

PSFC Chernomorets Burgas (Bulgarian: ПСФК Черноморец Бургас) or simply Chernomorets (Bulgarian: Черноморец) is a Bulgarian football club from the city of Burgas, which currently competes in Bulgaria's top football league, the A PFG. The club was restored in 2005 by the local municipality and is the official successor of the traditions and successes of the former PFC Chernomorets, which was founded in 1919 and dissolved in 2005. Chernomorets plays its home matches at the local Lazur Stadium, but the club will soon move to a new modern venue. To date the club hasn't won any major competitions, although the team was a runner-up in the Bulgarian Cup, Bulgarian Supercup and UEFA Intertoto Cup competitions.

Honours

Domestic

Bulgarian A PFG:

• Fifth place (3): 1979, 1984 (as FC Chernomorets), 2010 (as PSFC Chernomorets)

Bulgarian Cup

• Runner-up (1): 1989 (as FC Chernomorets)

Bulgarian Supercup

• Runner-up (1): 1989 (as FC Chernomorets)

International

UEFA Intertoto Cup:

• Runners-up (1): 2008

History

FC Chernomorets

1905-1958

In 1905, a group of Bulgarian students from the Robert College of Istanbul created a new sports club in Burgas with the name SC Strela. Several years later, SC Strela was officially licensed as an association and in May, 1912, the local municipality chose the first staff and the first president of the club. In the period between 1918–1919, SC Strela had a roster of 200 members, slowly growing into an association with a big importance to the city. Тherefore some changes had to be made and on August 1, 1919, the first president of the club was chosen to be Stefan Ilic. By his suggestion, the club's name was chosen to be changed to SC Chernomorets and the same year, a football department was created to the sports society, named FC Chernomorets.

Between 1919 and 1944, the football club participated in the Bulgarian State Championship, regularly promoting and relegating from the different divisions of the league. In the following years several changes were made. In 1944, the club was bought by the Municipality of Burgas, its name was changed to FC Lyuboslav and a new manager was hired - the prominent Hungarian coach Kramer Lipot. However the results weren't good and soon he was sacked from his job. Years later, the bad results were the reason to bring FC Lyuboslav to a dissolve.

1958-2005

In 1958, the communist authorities in Burgas decided to reestablish a sports club, which is a successor of the achievements of the former FC Chernomorets. The sports club was named SC Botev in honour of the Bulgarian national hero - Hristo Botev. Several years later, the authorities however decided to rename the club to its former name FC Chernomorets.

FC Chernomorets's best seasons in the Bulgarian top division were in the 1981/82 and 1983/84 seasons, finishing in the 5th place. Since its establishment, the club had played a total of 31 seasons in the Bulgarian top division. In 1989, Chernomorets surprisingly reached the final of the Bulgarian Cup and played against CSKA Sofia, but the result of the match was a 0:3 loss for Chernomorets. In spite of loss, the team led by Dian Petkov, Zlatko Yankov, Lyubomir Sheytanov and Vlado Stoyanov, the Sharks managed to earn a position to participate in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The club's first participation in European club tournaments was not promising. The team faced Dinamo Tirana from Albania. The first game in Burgas, in the presence of 17 000 spectators at the Chernomorets Stadium, ended with a 3-1 win. But the second game in Tirana finished with a shameless 0-4 loss and Chernomorets were out of the European club tournament. A few years later, in 1994 Chernomorets were relegated to Southern "B" Group and its return to A PFG in 1999 with his new owner Ivaylo Drazhev.

In 2004, the club with president Ivaylo Drazhev went bankrupt and in the following two seasons Chernomorets was relegated from the top divisions of the Bulgarian football. The future of the club was unknown and in 2005 FC Chernomorets was dissolved.

PSFC Chernomorets Burgas

Mitko Sabev era, 2005-present

In the summer of 2005, the club was restored by the mayor of Burgas. Despite the protests of the former owner Ivaylo Drazhev, the new club was named OFC Chernomorets 919 and was named as a successor of the former FC Chernomorets. After a one season stay in the amateur division, the club easily won the Bulgarian South-East V AFG, finishing in the 1st place. In June, 2006, OFC Chernomorets 919 won the Bulgarian Amateur Cup. In the final at the Vasil Levski National Stadium, Chernomorets won with 4-0 against FC Benkovski Kostinbrod.

The same summer, Mitko Sabev, a famous Bulgarian oil magnate and owner of the rival football club in the city Naftex Burgas, bought the club from the municipality and renamed it to PSFC Chernomorets Burgas. (the club is registered in the Bulgarian Football Union as PFC Chernomorets Burgas and is known by that name to the people.) The football club was used as a reserve team for Naftex Burgas.

In 2007, the Sharks won the East B PFG and were promoted to the A PFG. The next season Chernomorets finished 6th and qualified for the Intertoto Cup. In the second round, the Sharks defeated ND Gorica from Slovenia with 3-1 on aggregate to set up a third round clash with Swiss Grasshopper Zurich, but were eliminated with a 0-4 on aggregate.^[1] In December, 2008, Chernomorets's owner appointed for manager of the football club the notable Bulgarian player Krassimir Balakov, after being sacked from FC St. Gallen.^[2][3] At the end of that season, Mitko Sabev dissolved Naftex Burgas and bought PFC Chernomorets Pomorie from Pomorie, making the new club from the nearby town a reserve team for the main football club.

On January 14, 2010, Chernomorets was named as the most progressive club in 2009 in Bulgaria.^[4]

Historical achievements

Historical names

Years	Names
1919-28	FC Chernomorets
1929-31	FC Chernomorets-29
1931-44	FC Chernomorets
1944-58	FC Lyuboslav
1958-68	FC Botev
1968-05	FC Chernomorets
2005-06	OFC Chernomorets 919
2006	PSFC Chernomorets Burgas

Performance by seasons

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
2005-06	V AFG	1	30	29	1	0	122	9	88	1/16	Promoted
2006-07	B PFG	1	26	19	6	1	57	20	60	1/8	Promoted
2007-08	A PFG	6	30	13	8	9	39	32	47	1/8
2008-09	A PFG	7	30	11	10	9	41	37	43	1/8
2009-10	A PFG	5	30	15	6	9	44	29	51	1/8
2010-11	A PFG	8	30	9	10	11	19	28	37	1/4

European

Intertoto Cup and UEFA Cup

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1989-90	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	QR		KS Dinamo Tirana	3-1	0-4	3-5
2008-09	UEFA Intertoto Cup	2nd Round		ND Gorica	1-1	2-0	3-1
2008-09	UEFA Intertoto Cup	3rd Round		Grasshopper	0-1	0-3	0-4

Stadium and Sports Complex

Main article: Lazur Stadium

Main article: Chernomorets Arena

Main article: Chernomorets Stadium

Lazur Stadium

Plan of the stadium

Chernomorets plays its home games at the Lazur Stadium. Lazur Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Burgas, Bulgaria. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 18,037 people and it is 3 star rated by UEFA. The stadium was opened in 1967 and was renovated in 1997 and 2009.

Chernomorets Arena^[5] is a future modern stadium in Burgas, which is going to be the new home ground of Chernomorets Burgas. The new venue will be built in the place of the old home ground of FC Chernomorets, the Chernomorets Stadium, and will have a capacity of 30,000 spectators and a possible expansion to 55,000. It is scheduled to be opened in 2017. The construction will start in the summer of 2013, because of the current demolishing process of the old stadium and the global financial crisis, and will cost 500 million euros, making it one of the most expensive stadiums in Europe. The stadium will be probably rated with a elite ranking by UEFA and will host Champions League and Europa League matches in Burgas and Eastern Bulgaria.

In July 2009, the owner of the club announced an ambitious plan to build a modern sports complex for the club in the Sarafovo neighborhood of Burgas. The sports complex will be named Sharks Nest and will include two training pitches and one training pitch with artificial turf, an administrative building for the team and one building for the management of the football club. The construction of the sports complex started the same month and was finished in July, 2010 at a cost of € 20 million.^[6]

Current squad

As of September 8, 2011 ^[7] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Nik Dashev 2 DF Trayan Dyankov (Vice-captain) 3 DF Ventsislav Bonev 4 DF Enis Hajri 5 DF Nikolay Nikolov 6 MF Todor Palankov 7 FW Georgi Andonov 8 MF Lourival Assis 9 MF Dani Kiki 10 MF Kostadin Dyakov 11 FW Ventsislav Hristov 12 GK Stoyan Kolev 13 FW Martin Toshev

No. Position Player 15 DF Venelin Filipov 17 MF Krum Stoyanov 19 FW Anicet Andrianantenaina 20 MF Yani Pehlivanov 21 MF Borislav Baldzhiyski 22 MF Tsvetomir Tsonkov 25 DF Radostin Kishishev (Captain) 33 GK Yanko Georgiev 37 DF Jérémy Faug-Porret 39 MF Jugurtha Hamroun 55 DF Georgi Terziev 77 MF Plamen Krumov — FW Aleksandar Kirov

For recent transfers, see List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2011.

Foreign players

Up to three non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the A PFG. 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.

EU Nationals Jérémy Faug-Porret

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) Jugurtha Hamroun Enis Hajri

Non-EU Nationals Lourival Assis Anicet Andrianantenaina

Staff

Position	Name
Chairman	Mitko Sabev
Managing director	Plamen Kiryakov
Director	Mihail Hadzhiyanev
Director	Georgi Mitsov
Director	Atanas Paytashev
Director of Youth Academy	Vacant
Manager	Dimitar Dimitrov
Assistant Coach	Georgi Chilikov
Assistant Coach	Petar Kolev
Conditioning Coach	Detelin Maslov
Goalkeeper Coach	Lyubomir Sheytanov

Satellite Club

The following club is affiliated with PSFC Chernomorets Burgas:

• Chernomorets Pomorie (From 2009 is used as a satellite team for Chernomorets Burgas)

Fans

The first time, when a large group of people who support the team with flags, scarves and songs started in the end of the 70's and the early 80's. Then the so-called differentiated English Sector of the stadium, was named 'Ninth September'. So because of traditions, and to this day the fans of Chernomorets Burgas are considered old school and one of the oldest and traditional fans in Bulgaria. Full 2000-3000 people at each match, the English Sector became emblematic in the city and in the whole country for its devoted supporters.

Fanclub

However, the importance of the match determines to a large extent the number of fans visiting the stadium. And while meaningless games had 20 000 people, the unbeaten record to this day remains a semifinal match of the Cup of Bulgaria against Levski Sofia in Haskovo in 1989. Around 7,000 supporters from Burgas filled the stadium in the southern city to see a 3:1 victory and a final ranking for the Cup, ensuring the club's participation in the European club tournaments.

In 1998, a group of supporters of Chernomorets decided to officially join in the partnership, with creating the fanclub Blue Sharks. Roughly at the same time began the separation of certain groups and factions, mainly conceptual or with district basis. The fanclub doesn't maintain close relations with any of the organized supporters of other Bulgarian teams, but it has better relations with the fans from other countries across Europe. Good connections with the Blue Sharks have the supporters of PAOK F.C. and their prominent fanclub GATE4, which prepared and even had a cooperation agreement also with the Dutch ADO Den Haag.

On October 22, 2009 Krassimir Balakov officially opened a pub and a fan shop for the fans of Chernomorets Burgas.

Notable players

Zlatko Yankov Radostin Kishishev Georgi Chilikov Rusi Gochev Georgi Madjarov Todor Raykov Ivan Yovchev Nikolay Rusev Iliyan Banev Simeon Chilibonov Hristo Momchev Ivan Pritargov Vanyo Kostov Panayot Kostov Drazho Stoyanov Plamen Krumov Pedrinha Rali Halachev Stefan Traykov Vančo Trajanov Adrián Fernández Nikolay Krastev Ivaylo Kotsev Ivan Pazachev Pascal Borel Ricardo André

Ivan Pazachev Valentin Deliminkov Dimitar Bozhidarov Dimitar Papazov Lyubomir Sheytanov Ivan Ilchev Totko Dremsizov Dian Petkov Miroslav Kosev Márcio Abreu Petar Kyumurdzhiev Marian Balan Vladimir Stoyanov Stoyan Pumpalov Peyo Nikolov Georgi Iliev Kostadin Dzhambazov Nikolay Radlev Ivan Vutov Orlin Starokin Angel Stoykov Michel Platini Dudu Jochen Seitz Savio Nsereko Jaime Bragança

• For all players with a Wikipedia article see Category:PFC Chernomorets Burgas players.

Notable former coaches

• Georgi Vasilev (March - May 2011)
• Anton Velkov (January - March 2011)
• Krassimir Balakov (2008–10)
• Dimitar Dimitrov (football manager) (2006–08)
• Dian Petkov (2005–06)
• Vassil Zelev - the most successful coach for the club
• Lyubomir Borisov
• Totko Dremsizov - lead the sharks seven years in a row (record)
• Evgeni Yanchovski
• Kramer Lipot

References

1. ^ "Grasshoppers bounce onwards". Uefa.com. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/intertotocup/fixturesresults/round=15293/match=302909/report=rp.html. Retrieved 2008-07-26. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Chernomorets bring Balakov back to Bulgaria". Football24.bg. http://www.football24.bg/?gg=3&hh=4&ii=140&jj=6&ll=14761&mm=140. Retrieved 2008-12-18. 
3. ^ "Sharks bare teeth under Balakov". Uefa.com. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=911376.html. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
4. ^ "Chernomorets is the most progressive club in 2009". chernomoretz.bg. http://chernomoretz.sportal.bg/en/article/679. Retrieved 2010-01-14. 
5. ^ The new Chernomorets Arena in Burgas will be one of the most expensive stadiums in Europe
6. ^ Construction of the Sharks Nest has begun.
7. ^ "Team Roster 2009/10". Chernomoretz.bg. http://chernomoretz.sportal.bg/en/pages/players?PHPSESSID=aa84ce06dab2db64040cf89f21537a47. Retrieved 2009-08-01. 

External links

• (Bulgarian)(English) Official website
• (English) UEFA Profile