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FC Tsarsko Selo Sofia

Tsarsko Selo
Full nameAssociation Football Club Tsarsko Selo 2015
Nickname(s)Царете (The Tsars)
Founded1 July 2015; 9 years ago (2015-07-01)
Dissolved22 May 2022; 2 years ago (2022-05-22)
GroundArena Tsarsko Selo
Capacity1,550
Coordinates42°38′11.9″N 23°18′57.5″E / 42.636639°N 23.315972°E / 42.636639; 23.315972
2021–22First League, 14th of 14 (Relegated)
Websitefctsarskoselo.com

Association Football Club Tsarsko Selo 2015 (Bulgarian: Сдружение Футболен Клуб Царско Село 2015), commonly referred to as Tsarsko Selo, was a Bulgarian association football club based in Sofia. It played in First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football league system.

Tsarsko Selo played their home matches at their Tsarsko Selo Sports Complex in the Dragalevtsi quarter of Sofia.

History

2015–2016: Foundation

In the summer of 2015, the previous chairman of CSKA Sofia Stoyne Manolov established a new academy called Football Academy Tsarsko Selo, with a focus on scouting and developing youth football players born in 2002 to 2010.[1] The club was initially registered and a subsequent men's team in the A RFG Sofia South was established, with former long-time CSKA Sofia captain Todor Yanchev appointed as manager.[2] On November 12, 2015, Manolov announced an academy partnership with Spanish La Liga club Málaga CF.[3] In the end of December 2015, Todor Yanchev took over Sofia 2010, which was bought by Manolov and was merged with Tsarsko Selo to establish a new club called Tsarsko Selo Sofia.[4][5]

2016–2022: Professional levels

On 28 July 2016 the team was accepted in the newly created Bulgarian Second Professional League.[6] They finished their first match against Botev Galabovo with a draw.[7] In their first match for the Bulgarian Cup they played against Levski Sofia. The match was played on 22 September 2016 at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Sofia and was won by Levski by 2–0.[8] After 2 heavy defeats, Yanchev stepped down from his position as a manager and on 29 October 2016, previous Cherno More Varna head coach Nikola Spasov was announced as the new manager of the team.[9] The team finished their first season in Second League in 5th place.[10]

The good start of the season for Tsarsko Selo was marked not only by the first place in the league after 8 rounds, but with their first win for the Cup, winning the first round against Neftochimic Burgas on 19 September 2017.[11] On 3 January 2018 Nikola Spasov was announced as the new manager of the Kazakhstan Premier League team Kyzylzhar.[12] Shortly the same day Veselin Velikov was announced as the new manager of the club.[13] On 8 May 2018 Velislav Vutsov was announced as the new head coach of the team with Velikov becoming a selectionist.[14]

On 22 April 2019 in a goalless draw against CSKA 1948 the kings secured their first place in Second League and won promotion in the First League for first time in their history, being 18 points ahead from the second and third place five rounds before the end of the season.[15]

Tsarsko Selo's first ever match in the Bulgarian First Division resulted in a 0–2 away loss against the actual champion Ludogorets Razgrad. This was followed by a home 0–0 draw to the other debutant Arda Kardzhali. Tsarsko selo's first win came in the fifth round, when the team managed to beat Botev Plovdiv away with 0–2. Two goals for the win were scored by Dutch winger Rodney Antwi. The first home win came in the seventh round with 2–1 against Beroe Stara Zagora. Tsarsko Selo eventually finished 13th, having to play a playoff match in order to remain in the elite. They were drawn against the second-placed team from the Second League, Septemvri Sofia. In a very close fought game played in Sofia, Tsarsko Selo won 2–0, securing their place in the First League for the next season.

In January 2022 an Italian Private Investment company joined the club leadership.[16] On 21 May 2022, in the last match of the season, Tsarsko Selo were awarded a penalty that could secure them the win. Yusupha Yaffa decided to take the penalty despite Martin Kavdanski being the regular penalty taker. Yaffa was ready to take the penalty when the owner of the team, Stoyne Manolov, entered the pitch and fought with him. He left the pitch and Kavdanski took the penalty, but it was saved.[17] On the next day, Manolov announced that the team won't be participating in the league next season and will end their existence.[18]

Honours

Shirt and sponsor

Tsarsko Selo's main kit was initially red and white and the away kits were black and red. From 2016, the main kit has been all-red, while the reserve ones are all-white. In 2017 team main kit was changed to pink.

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt partner
2015–2017 Spain Joma None
2017–2019 United States Nike
2019–2022 WINBET

Records and notable stats

As of 22 May 2022

Most appearances for the club in league

Rank Name Career Appearances
1 Bulgaria Reyan Daskalov 2016–2021 124
2 Bulgaria Georgi Minchev 2017–2020 87
3 Bulgaria Antonio Georgiev 2018–2021 83
4 Bulgaria Bozhidar Katsarov 2017–2019 78
5 Bulgaria Ivaylo Markov 2018–2021 68
6 Bulgaria Martin Kavdanski 2019–2022 74
7 Bulgaria Georgi Hashev 2017–2019 56
8 Brazil Anderson 2017–2022 50
9 Haiti Johny Placide 2019–2021 47
10 Bulgaria Svetoslav Dikov 2017–2018
2019
43

Most goals for the club in league

Rank Name Career Goals
1 Bulgaria Georgi Minchev 2017–2020 40
2 Bulgaria Svetoslav Dikov 2017–2018
2019
33
3 Bulgaria Pavel Petkov 2017–2018 17
4 Bulgaria Simeon Ganchev 2016–2018 13
5 Bulgaria Bozhidar Katsarov 2017–2019 11
6 Netherlands Rodney Antwi 2019–2020 9
7 Bulgaria Antonio Georgiev 2018–2021 8
8 Brazil Anderson 2017–2022 8
9 Bulgaria Reyan Daskalov 2016–2021 7
10 Bulgaria Martin Kavdanski 2019–2022 5
  • Players in bold are still playing for Tsarsko Selo.

Notable players

The footballers enlisted below have international caps for their respective countries, have more than 100 caps, or hold a record for Tsarsko Selo. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.

Past seasons

First Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Regional Amateur Football Groups (Bulgaria)
Results of league and cup competitions by season
Season League Bulgarian Cup Other competitions Top goalscorer
Division Level P W D L F A GD Pts Pos
2015–16 A Regional League 4 26 20 1 5 92 21 +71 61 2nd ↑ Not qualified
2016–17 Second League 2 30 14 6 10 54 39 +15 48 5th First Round Bulgaria Simeon Ganchev 13
2017–18 2 30 19 6 5 56 28 +28 63 3rd Second Round Bulgaria Svetoslav Dikov 25
2018–19 2 30 24 4 2 68 27 +51 76 1st ↑ First Round Bulgaria Georgi Minchev 29
2019–20 First League 1 31 9 4 18 27 50 –23 31 13th First Round Netherlands Rodney Antwi 9
2020–21 1 32 9 10 13 33 39 –6 37 9th Second Round Brazil Anderson 7
2021–22 1 32 5 11 16 22 38 –16 26 14th First Round Bulgaria Ventsislav Hristov 6

Key

Champions Runners-up Promoted Relegated

Manager history

Name Nat From To Honours
Todor Yanchev Bulgaria 28 December 2015 29 October 2016
Nikola Spasov Bulgaria 29 October 2016 3 January 2018
Veselin Velikov Bulgaria 3 January 2018 8 May 2018
Velislav Vutsov Bulgaria 8 May 2018 1 June 2018
Nikola Spasov Bulgaria 1 June 2018 1 April 2020 1 Second League title
Vladimir Vutov Bulgaria 4 April 2020 30 April 2020
Lyuboslav Penev Bulgaria 30 April 2020 28 March 2021
Antoni Zdravkov Bulgaria 29 March 2021 8 October 2021
Lyuboslav Penev Bulgaria 13 October 2021 1 January 2022
Vladimir Vutov (interim) Bulgaria 7 January 2022 27 January 2022
Andrea Sassarini Italy 27 January 2022 5 March 2022
Stefano Maccoppi Italy 5 March 2022 22 May 2022

References

  1. ^ Академия "Царско село" набира деца
  2. ^ Бивш капитан на ЦСКА поема академия "Царско село"
  3. ^ Стойне Манолов: Царско село ще си партнира с Малага
  4. ^ Тодор Янчев поема отбор от Югозападната В група
  5. ^ "Стойне Манолов: Българският футбол няма бъдеще без ЦСКА". Focus-sport.net. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  6. ^ "Царско село" и "Левски" (Карлово) допълниха състава на Втора лига
  7. ^ Царско село с равенство в дебюта си във Втора лига
  8. ^ Левски на осминафинал след феноменален гол
  9. ^ Никола Спасов пое отбор от Втора лига
  10. ^ Голеада на Царско село
  11. ^ Царско село продължава напред за Купата на България
  12. ^ Бивш президент на Астана посрещна Никола Спасов в Казахстан
  13. ^ Веселин Великов е новият треньор на Царско село
  14. ^ Вили Вуцов се завърна в родния футбол
  15. ^ ЦСКА 1948 се провали срещу 10 от Царско село, Първа лига официално има нов член
  16. ^ Италианци спасяват Царско село, Стойне Манолов коментира ситуацията
  17. ^ Невиждан панаир в Царско село! Стойне Манолов нахлу на терена и налетя на бой на свой футболист
  18. ^ Стойне Манолов призна: Царско село приключва съществуването си!