FC Vereya
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| Full name | Professional Football Club Vereya-Stara Zagora | |||
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| Founded | July 15, 2001 | |||
| Ground | Trace Arena, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria | |||
| Capacity | 3,500 | |||
| League | A Regional Group - Stara Zagora | |||
| 2018–19 | First League, 14th /expelled/ | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Vereya (Bulgarian: Верея) is a Bulgarian association football club registered in Stara Zagora. They lastly competed in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The team was founded in 2001, and by 2016, they reached the top level for the first time. In 2019, they were expelled from the First League for reported match fixing.
History
Foundation and beginning
The club was founded in 2001 by a founding board led by Hristiyan Parvanov, Galin Mihaylov, Slavcho Tanev, Tonko Totev and Dimo Hristov. Until the 2005/06 season it was playing in Regional groups before the promotion to the V AFG under the name FC Vereya-Arsenal after a merger with Arsenal Kazanlak, but after the season 2006/07 Vereya-Arsenal became Arsenal Kazanlak and the 2nd team Vereya Bulsatkom moved to Stara Zagora again and was registered as FC Vereya. They won the A RFG 3 times in the next 5 seasons, getting the promotion during the 2011–12 season.
Trace Group ownership (2012–present)
In 2012, Bulgarian construction company Trace Group started investing in the club and a new stadium project Trace Arena was presented. On May 21, 2014 the club won the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League after defeating Minyor Pernik 2–0 in the final.[1] During the same season Vereya finished 3rd in the V Group and secured promotion to the higher-ranked professional football league, the B Group.
In 2016, the club submitted an application for the newly restructured Bulgarian First League. On June 1, 2016, one of the new signings of the club for the upcoming season, the Brazilian Elias Alves da Silva, announced that he joined the club, as it would compete in the top league of Bulgaria, long before an official statement was given by the BFU officials on the number of the teams competing in the new league, thus sparking controversy.[2]
On June 7, 2016, Vereya, alongside five other B Group outfits, were approved by the Bulgarian Football Union and were promoted to compete in the upcoming 2016-17 Bulgarian First League.
On 7 May 2019, Vereya were disqualified from the league for match fixing. All results from played matches involving Vereya were retained with the Bulgarian Football Union awarding Septemvri Sofia two wins by 3–0 from their scheduled relegation play-off matches with Vereya and the loser from the relegation play-off match between Dunav Ruse and Vitosha Bistritsa (the latter) directly faced the second-placed team from the Second League (Montana).[3][4][5] Vereya was then disqualified from the Second League, due to financial issues, following which they were also disqualified from the third tier, which meant that the team will start the 2019-20 season from the fourth division of Bulgarian football, in this case the Stara Zagora regional league.
Statistics
Season to season
- Seasons in First League: 3
- Seasons in B Group (now Second League): 2
- Seasons in V Group ( now Third League): 3
- Seasons in A Regional Group: 10
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Shirt and sponsors
Vereya main colors are blue and white.
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt partner |
|---|---|---|
| 2006–2012 |  Unknown
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Bulsatcom / Trace Group |
| 2012–2014 |  Tomy Sport
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Trace Group |
| 2014–2016 |  Nike
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| 2016–2018 |  Erreà
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| 2018–2019 |  Uhlsport
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Efbet |
Honours
- 6th: 2017–18
- 8th 2015–16
3rd: 2013–14
Winners (4): 2005-06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12
Runner-up (1): 2009–10
Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League:
- Winners (1): 2013–14
- Semifinals: 2016–17
Notable players
Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Vereya or at some other point in their careers.
Managers
| Dates | Name | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–11 | Unknown | |
| 2011–13 | Kolyo Hristov
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| 2013–14 | Petar Kostadinov
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1 Amateur Cup title 1 Promotion to B Group |
| 2014 | Krasimir Manolov
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| 2014 | Gospodin Mirchev
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| 2014–15 | Radostin Kishishev
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| 2015–16 | Zhivko Zhelev Vladislav Yanush
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| 2016–2017 | Aleksandar Tomash
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| 2017 | Ilian Iliev
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| 2018 | Blagomir Mitrev
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| 2018 | Ivan Kolev
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| 2018 |  Nebojša Miličić
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| 2018 | Lyudmil Kirov
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| 2018–2019 | Nebojša Miličić
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| 2019 |  Oleksandr Sevidov
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| 2019 | Ivan Vutov
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References
- ^ Верея спечели купата на Аматьорската футболна лига (Gong.bg, (In Bulgarian))
- ^ "Елиаш пред Sportal.bg: Треньорът на Берое не ме искаше в състава, оставам в "А" група с Верея". sportal.bg. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
- ^ "След сигнал на УЕФА: БФС изхвърли клуб от Първа лига" [After signal by UEFA: BFU expelled a team from First League] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ "Верея изваден от Първа лига заради пет мача, три от тях са известни" [Vereya expelled from First League because of five matches, three are known] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ "Ще получи ли Лудогорец две точки предимство след изваждането на Верея от Първа лига?" [Will Ludogorets receive two points advantage after the expulsion of Vereya from First League?] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
