Cherno More Varna
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Cherno More () is a Bulgarian professional
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club based in the city of
Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...
, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on 3 March 1913, as an association football branch of the larger sports society SC Galata, the club has spent the majority of its existence playing in the top tier of Bulgarian football. Cherno More is named after the
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, and the football club is also known by its nickname The Sailors. Cherno More's home ground is the
Stadion Ticha Stadion Ticha (, ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Varna, Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river a ...
, which has a seating capacity of 8,250 spectators, with plans to move to a new all-seater stadium by 2020, although due to financial issues, the construction has been put on hold. Cherno More previously hosted their games at the Yuri Gagarin Stadium, sharing it with fellow Varna club, Spartak. As one of the relatively successful clubs in Bulgarian football outside the capital
Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, the Sailors have won the Bulgarian championship on four occasions, as well as the Bulgarian Cup once in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
. The club has a long-standing rivalry with neighbouring
Spartak Varna FC Spartak Varna () is a Bulgarian association football club based in Varna, which currently competes in the First League, the top level of Bulgarian football league system. Spartak plays its home matches at the local Stadion Spartak. Founded ...
, with matches between the two being commonly referred to as The Derby of Varna.


History


Early years

On 3 March 1913, Galata Sports Association was established in the first male high school in Varna, with association football being one of its departments. Later in 1913, Karel Škorpil, one of the founding members of the sports society and a prominent
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
-Bulgarian archaeologist, who settled in Varna at that time, suggested the association to be renamed to Reka Ticha, in homage of the old name of the Kamchiya river. On May 24, 1914, Sportist Sports Club, which was formed by Stefan Tonchev and a group of boys in 1909, joined Reka Ticha. Many Cherno More supporters today consider the officially acknowledged founding year 1913 to be historically incorrect, believing that SC Sportist's year of establishment in 1909 should be acknowledged as the year of establishment of Cherno More. Several years later, the first international friendly in Bulgarian club football history was played in 1915 between Reka Ticha and the 21st Pomeranian Regiment of
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, which ended in a 4–4 draw. In 1919, Reka Ticha began playing matches against different teams from the capital
Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, which ended in a success with scores of 3-0 and 1–0 against
Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...
on a home-away basis and a 4–1 win against
Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...
in Varna. The away match with Levski in Sofia however did not take place. The subsequent growth of Bulgarian football required knowledge of the rules, and as such, in 1919, the football department of SC Reka Ticha published the first Bulgarian football rulebook titled "Football - Rules and Admonitions". It was written by the sports functionary and Reka Ticha's member Stefan Tonchev. On January 21, 1919, SC Reka Ticha shortened its name to Sports Club Ticha, and the kit colours were chosen to be red and white. In the same year, the Bulgarian musician Nikola Nitsov wrote the official anthem of the club. In 1921 Sports Club Granit left the collective membership with SK Ticha due to financial disputes, becoming SC Vladislav after Polish king Władysław of Varna. Their emblem was the four-leaf clover and the kit colours were green and white which are still today the official colours of successor Cherno More. SC Vladislav was to become the first team to win the Tsar's Cup in
1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
rendering them the first champions of the
Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria (), also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (), usually known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in Southeastern Europe, which was established on , when the Bulgaria ...
. The captain, Egon Terzetta is revered by the Cherno More fans as the scorer in the final match, winning the cup for the green-white team. Later, in 1945 they will rejoin SK Ticha in a merger and the club will be known as Ticha-Vladislav. In 1925 SK Ticha won the București Cup, after two straight wins against Tricolor (to become later Unirea Tricolor) and Sportul Studentesc both from
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. This turned to be the first international football trophy won by a Bulgarian football club, making SK Ticha the most popular club in Varna at the time. In
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
and
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
SK Ticha finished as runners-up in the knockout National competition. In
1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
the club became Bulgarian champions winning the first edition of the United National Football league. The members of the Championship winning team were: Ivan Saraydarov, Onik Haripyan, Garabed Garabedov, Ivan Gochev, Atanas Kovachev, Georgi Radev, Vili Petkov, Panayot Rozov, Milyu Parushev, Iliya Donchev and Dobri Baychev. In total, 18 SK Ticha and SC Vladislav players were selected for the national team. Boyan Byanov of SK Ticha captained the National team in its first ever match against
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, played on 21 May 1924. The same year he also participated in the Olympic National team for the Paris games.


Communist era (1944-1989)

With the establishment of Communist rule in Bulgaria after WWII, significant changes took place affecting all leading clubs without exception. It was a time for mergers, splits, changing of names and in some cases closure of clubs. All this, to suit the new vision of the new communist ruled government. On 18 February 1945, SC Ticha and SC Vladislav merged with all their available assets and the new name of the club was Ticha-Vladislav. An important issue about the merger of these two teams, and the claims by Cherno More supporters who descend from them, is that it was not as a result of bankruptcy, insolvency, bad debts or any other foul play, but the result of a decision by a political party which had absolute and unchecked power, which simply decided that there were just too many clubs in the city of Varna and that their number should be reduced. On 11 May 1947 SC Primoretz also joined the club, now to be known as TVP. SC Primoretz practised basketball, tennis, athletics and swimming and did not have a football team. Chairman of the club was the long time SC Vladislav sportsman Aleksi Aleksiev who now became the chairman of TVP. In 1948–49, under the name Botev, the club took part in the highest level of the first post-war league to be known as
Bulgarian A Football Group The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...
or "A" RFG. Botev Varna finished 6th in a group of 10 teams with centre forward Nedko Nedev ending up as a joint top scorer of the competition with 11 goals, as many as Dimitar Milanov had scored for CDNV Sofia . Some more reorganisation, in accordance with the Soviet principles, took place in the next season. The town of Varna was renamed
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
in honour of the Soviet dictator and stayed that way until 1956. A departmental system was applied, placing most clubs under the umbrella of two major departments, The Ministry of Defence and The Ministry of Interior. Botev Stalin went under military command and was ordered to play in the Third division (group "V") to make place for the newly formed People's Army team (ONV, later CSKA) from Sofia which started in "A" RFG straight after being founded. Although relegated by decree, the team of Botev Stalin retained most of its players and under the leadership of trainer Ivan Mokanov was promoted back to "A" RFG in 2 successive seasons, under the name VMS (which stands for
Bulgarian Navy The Bulgarian Navy () is the navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; name ...
). In
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
, VMS Stalin finished 3rd in the competition after the two leading
Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
clubs. The saddest season in the club's history is
1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
. It started with 5 consecutive wins, all against Sofia teams. The hopes of title-dreaming supporters were dashed with only 1 point in the following 10 games. The team was relegated at the end of the season to be promoted back the next year under its previous name, Botev Varna. In
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
, a small team from "B" RFG by the name of Cherno More, which resulted from the merger of two other Varna teams (Lokomotiv and Korabostroitel) one year earlier, joined Botev and from this year until now, the club is known by the name Cherno More. The club stayed in "A" RFG without interruption until
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
but did not have any major achievements. Under the control of the Ministry of Defence over the years, a number of talented players left the club for the Central Army Club (CSKA) without Cherno More receiving adequate compensation. One of them, Bozhil Kolev, starred in the defence of the National team in the World Cup finals in BRD'74. Cherno More had its moments of glory in a friendly against
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
which ended in a 3–1 win on 8 June 1966, with goals from Zdravko Mitev (2) and Stefan Bogomilov. The 19 year old
Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...
scored for Ajax. In August 1966 the team from Varna visited England and played three matches. The most memorable was the 1–0 win against
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
on
City Ground The City Ground is a association football, football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,455. ...
. Nottingham fielded a strong side with Peter Grummitt, Bob McKinlay, Alan Hinton, Henry Newton,
Joe Baker Joseph Henry Baker (17 August 1940 – 6 October 2003) was an England international footballer who played at club level for Hibernian, Torino, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Raith Rovers. At the age of 26 he achieved the feat ...
,
Terry Hennessey William Terrence Hennessey (born 1 September 1942) is a Welsh former international footballer who gained 39 caps for Wales. He played as a defender and made 400 Football League appearances in the 1960s and 1970s with Birmingham City, Nottingham ...
, Jeff Whitefoot in the starting 11. The match was decided with a long range shot from defender Dimitar Bosnov in the first half. Nottingham Forest was to end the 1966-67 season as runners-up in the
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
. The other two matches ended in a 1–1 draw against
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...
after Stefan Yanev had opened the score, and a 1–2 defeat to
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
After 16 years in the top flight, Cherno More was relegated in 1976 and won promotion the following season. A new generation of players was emerging. Defenders Todor Marev and Ivan Ivanov, midfielders Todor Atanasov and Ivan Andreev, forwards Rafi Rafiev and Nikola Spasov left many good memories in the late 70s and the 80s. In the 1981–82 season, the team finished 4th and therefore qualified for the Intertoto Cup. Cherno More won twice 2–0 at home against
Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...
and the Danes from
Hvidovre IF Hvidovre Idrætsforening, more commonly known as Hvidovre IF () is a Danish association football club from Hvidovre, Capital Region of Denmark. The club competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football, and plays its ...
and drew 1–1 against
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...
. Away, they drew 1–1 in
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and lost 1-3 and 0–3 in
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
and
Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...
respectively. Later in the 80s, Cherno More was relegated twice and played 3 seasons in "B" RFG. The team reached the final of The Soviet Army Cup and were runners-up twice in 1985 and 1988.


The 90s struggle

The fall of socialism in Bulgaria in 1989 and the establishment of democracy brought new hardships for Bulgarian football clubs. The transition from state backed organisations to privately owned entities saw many traditional football clubs disappear entirely, while others were forced to declare bankruptcy, only to return later by obtaining licences from smaller clubs. Cherno More avoided any administrative changes and kept its name and history, but spent six consecutive seasons in the league's second tier. Relegated in season 1989-90 and again in 1993-94 and facing immense financial difficulties, at one time during the 1998–99 season, the club came close to relegation to the 3rd division of Bulgarian football. Despite being in the "B"RFG, Cherno More sold their best player and own product Ilian Iliev to Levski Sofia for a then Bulgarian record of 2 million leva (£60 000) in 1991. Things started to get better in 1998 with new chairman Krasen Kralev who turned the club into a joint-stock company.


New millennium

The new millennium saw the club establishing itself in the country's top flight. The Sailors spent the majority of the 90s in Bulgaria's second tier before securing promotion at the end of the 1999–2000 season, ending a six consecutive season spell in the B Group. Cherno More survived minor relegation scares in their first two seasons back in the A Group and then went on to become a regular feature in the league's top half. In 2002, Kralev convinced businessman Ilia Pavlov to buy the club. Pavlov had ideas about developing the club and turning it into one of the leaders in Bulgarian football. He appointed the young and ambitious coach Velislav Vutsov and signed many experienced players such as National team goalkeeper
Zdravko Zdravkov Zdravko Stoyanov Zdravkov (; born 4 October 1970 in Sofia) is a former Bulgarian football goalkeeper. He ended his career at the end of 2006–07 season. Club career On the club level, Zdravkov has played for Levski Sofia (1989–1995), I ...
, defenders
Adalbert Zafirov Adalbert Ivanov Zafirov (; born 29 September 1969) is a Bulgarian former football centre-back who most recently managed CSKA 1948. Club career Zafirov who was born in Sofia played in his home town for Lokomotiv and CSKA. In Germany he sign ...
and Georgi Ginchev. Some foreign players such as Lúcio Wagner, Darko Spalević and Maltese international
Daniel Bogdanović Daniel Bogdanović (born 26 March 1980) is a retired footballer who played as a striker. Born in Libya, he represented the Malta national team. Club career Bogdanović spent six months with Cherno More during the second half of the 2002–0 ...
also made their way to Varna. The results were quick to follow. Victories against champions CSKA in Sofia and Litex in
Lovech Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of ...
saw the team soaring up in the table. The success story came to an abrupt end with the murder of Ilia Pavlov on 7 March 2003. Months of uncertainties followed and at some point, the very existence of the club was at stake until Bulgarian holding company Chimimport acquired the club in 2004. In the 2007–08 season, the Sailors finished 5th in A Group and qualified for the last season of the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
due to licence problems of
CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...
. Led by captain
Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...
they had a very successful run - they defeated UE Sant Julia of
Andora Andora () or Marina di Andora is a town on the Italian Riviera in the region of Liguria, included in the province of Savona. Geography and climate Andora is situated in the western part of the Italian Riviera between Capo Mele in the east and ...
in the first qualifying round (9–0 on aggregate) and
Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...
from
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
in the second qualifying round (3–1 on aggregate). Cherno More than challenged German side
VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...
in the 1st round and were eliminated after a 1–2 loss at home and a surprising 2–2 draw in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
after having a 2–0 lead up until the 85th minute of the game. During the same season the team was successful finishing 3rd in A Group, and qualified for the newly created European football competition, the
Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
. In the 2009–10 season, Cherno More started their
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
campaign by defeating Iskra-Stal from
Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
in the second qualifying round (4–0 on aggregate). Subsequently, they were drawn to play against Dutch powerhouse
PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...
in the third qualifying round. The team from Varna was eliminated after a 0-1 loss at
Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...
and another 0-1 loss at the
Lazur Stadium efbet Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium in Burgas, Bulgaria. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and is the home ground of PFC Neftochimic Burgas, Neftochimic 1962 Burgas. The stadium holds 18,037 people and carries ...
in
Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...
. After finishing third in 2008–09, the club failed to impress in the domestic league in the follow-up years, but saw a successful run in the Bulgarian Cup during the 2014–15 season. The Sailors defeated
Sozopol Sozopol ( ; ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. One of the major seaside resorts in the country, it is known for the ''Apollonia'' art and film ...
,
Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...
, Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa, and
Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...
on the road to the final against
Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...
at the Lazur Stadium in Burgas. Despite being down to ten men since the 39th minute and trailing 0–1, the team managed to equalize in added time through Bacari's volley and went on to win the Cup after Mathias Coureur's stunning strike in the 118th minute, winning the club's first post-
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
trophy. In 2018, Ilian Iliev returned to the club as head coach for the first time since his departure in 2006. Under Iliev, the team managed to stabilize its performances and frequently finished in the top six of the league in the upcoming years. In 2024, Cherno More finished second in the league, the team’s highest league position in the history of the Bulgarian league since its founding in 1948. The Sailors drew
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...
in the second qualifying round of UEFA Conference League. The following season the Sailors again qualified for UEFA Conference league by finishing third in the league. This marked the first time Cherno More finished in the top 3 of the league in successive seasons.


Honours


Domestic

* First League: ** Winners (4):
1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
,
1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
,
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
(as ''
Vladislav Vladislav ( (', '); , ; Russian language, Russian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, sh-Cyrl, Владислав, ) is a male given names, given name of Slavs, Slavic origin. Variatio ...
''), 1937–38 (as '' Ticha'') **Runners-up (1): 2023–24 **Third place (3):
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
, 2008–09, 2024–25 *
Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...
: ** Winners (1): 2014–15 *
Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...
: ** Winners (1):
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...


Chronology of the names


Recent seasons


League positions

ImageSize = width:1600 height:65 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/1948 till:01/07/2025 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1949 Colors = id:bl1 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:bl2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3) id:rs value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6) id:rn value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1) PlotData= bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center from:01/07/1948 till:01/07/1949 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1948 till:01/07/1949 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A" from:01/07/1949 till:01/07/1950 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1949 till:01/07/1950 color:red shift:(0,14) text: " V" from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B" from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1953 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1954 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1955 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A Group" from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group" from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1957 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1957 till:01/07/1958 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1958 till:01/07/1959 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1959 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A Group" from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group" from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1968 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1969 till:01/07/1970 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1970 till:01/07/1971 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1972 till:01/07/1973 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/1976 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1976 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A Group" from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group" from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1986 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A Group" from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1988 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group" from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1990 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A Group" from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1993 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group" from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A Group" from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/2000 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B Group" from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2016 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A Group" from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2024 till:01/07/2025 shift:(0,-4) text: from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2025 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " First League" *Points deducted from all teams after completing the first phase of campaign.
Championship/Relegation groups are constituted after all teams have played each other home and away.


European record


Matches

;Notes * 1Q: First qualifying round * 2Q: Second qualifying round * 3Q: Third qualifying round * PO: Play-off round


Stadium

Ticha Stadium was constructed and completed in 1935 with the help of volunteers and fans by an initiative held by the then-president of the club Vladimir Chakarov. In 1968, the stadium was renovated and stands were built. The stadium currently has a capacity of 6,250 seating places, spread in two opposite stands. The main south stand has a roof cover and holds 3,250 spectators, while the opposite north stand has a seating capacity of 3,000 spectators. The north stand is commonly used by the Cherno More ultras and the away fans. The current stadium was built entirely with the help of volunteers and sports fans of the club on the place of the old Reka Ticha playground. In 2007, the local municipality governors and the owners of the club announced in an official statement, that the club would move to a new all-seater stadium, which would be built in the place of the previously unused and demolished Yuri Gagarin Stadium. It would also replace the current Ticha stadium, which would solve numerous problems on match day, including traffic congestion and the lack of nearby parking lots for the fans. The stadium will have a capacity of 22,000 spectators and would be part of Sport Complex Varna, which includes an underground parking area, convertible roof covers, office lounges, two-tier stands and four 50 meter towers, which would block the pressure of the terrain and bring the stadium's shape in a ship. The convertible roof covers will be made of transparent panels, which will allow the light of the floodlights to stream inside the pitch on a night match. The venue would be awarded with an Elite Stadium category ranking by
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
. Following several delays over the next years, majorly due to the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
and the subsequent lack of funding, in 2015 the construction of the stadium finally started and is expected to be finished by late 2019, with the first match being played on the new stadium in 2020.


Statistics and records

Todor Marev holds A Group's and Cherno More's overall appearances record — 422 matches for 20 seasons (from 1971 to 1990 and in 1993–94 season). Cherno More's all-time leading scorer is Stefan Bogomilov, who scored 162 goals for the club (from 1962 to 1976). He also holds the club record of 4 hat tricks. The club's second highest scorer is Georgi Iliev, who scored 71 goals. Center forward Miroslav Manolov holds the club's and A Group's record for the fastest goal - 6 seconds after the referee's first signal, against
FC Montana FC Montana () is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Montana, which currently plays in the Second League, the second level of the Bulgarian football league system. Montana plays its home matches at the Ogosta Stadium, which has a ...
on 22 March 2012. Cherno More's biggest victories in A Group are the 8-0 wins against Cherveno Zname Pavlikeni in 1955 and Maritsa Plovdiv in 1968. Cherno More's largest defeat, 1–8, was against
Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...
in 2004. Also, the club's win against UE Sant Julia, 5–0, in 2008, was the largest European win in the club's history.


Players


Current squad

' ''For recent transfers, see List of Bulgarian football transfers summer 2025.''


Second-team squad


Foreign players

Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the
Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...
, however only five non-EU nationals can be used during 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. EU Nationals * Dani Martín * Celso Sidney * Andreias Calcan EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) * Nacho Pais * Vlatko Drobarov Non-EU Nationals * João Pedro * Weslen Júnior * João Bandaró * Gustavo França * Phellipe Cardoso


Notable players

*''For all players with a Wikipedia article see :PFC Cherno More Varna players.'' Had international caps for their respective countries, held any club record, or had more than 100 league appearances. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries. ;Bulgaria * Aleksandar Y. Aleksandrov * Aleksandar D. Aleksandrov * Sasho Aleksandrov * Todor Atanasov * Zhivko Atanasov *
Danail Bachkov Danail Bachkov ( Bulgarian: Данаил Бачков; born 21 December 1976) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a right-back and a football manager who currently manages Levski Karlovo. Bachkov was capped two times f ...
* Stefan Bogomilov * Dimitar Bosnov * Georgi Bozhilov * Veselin Branimirov * Asen Bukarev * Tsvetelin Chunchukov *
Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; ) also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1933 t ...
* Daniel Dimov * Nikolay Domakinov * Valeri Domovchiyski * Diyan Donchev *
Vasil Dragolov Vasil Ivanov Dragolov (; born 15 September 1962) is a former Bulgarian footballer, who played as a forward. For the Bulgarian national team, he amassed 5 appearances, netting 1 goal. Honours ; Beroe: *A PFG The First Professional Footba ...
* Ivan Dyulgerov * Engibar Engibarov *
Yordan Filipov Yordan Filipov (; 18 June 1946 - 27 July 1996) was a Bulgarian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was maternal grandfather of Andrey Galabinov. In his career Filipov played for Rozova Dolina, Spartak Plovdiv, CSKA Sofia, Sliven, Dunav ...
* Stanislav Genchev * Damyan Georgiev * Daniel Georgiev * Georgi Georgiev * Plamen Getov * Gosho Ginchev * Zhivko Gospodinov * Atanas Iliev * Georgi Iliev * Ilian Iliev * Ilian Iliev Jr. * Ismail Isa * Ivan Ivanov * Georgi Kakalov * Georgi Kitanov * Krasimir Koev * Bozhil Kolev * Petar Kostadinov * Lyuben Kostov * Kiril Kotev *
Zdravko Lazarov Zdravko Lazarov (; born 20 February 1976) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football coach and a former player. Lazarov's professional playing career as a Midfielder#Winger, winger spanned nearly 30 years, during which he playe ...
* Miroslav Manolov * Dimitar Marashliev * Todor Marev * Iliya Milanov * Martin Minchev * Konstantin Mirchev * Zdravko Mitev *
Daniel Mladenov Daniel Ventsislavov Mladenov (; born 25 May 1987) is a Bulgarian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger and is currently a playing manager at FC Kyustendil, Kyustendil. Career Youth career Mladenov ...
* Ivan Mokanov * Stefan Naydenov * Nedko Nedev * Plamen Nikolov * Mariyan Ognyanov * Todor Palankov * Vasil Panayotov * Tsvetomir Panov *
Milen Petkov Milen Ivanov Petkov (; born 12 January 1974) is a former Bulgarian international Association football, football player, who played as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder. Club career Petkov started his career in the FC Dobru ...
* Viktor Popov * Nikola Spasov * Stefan Stanchev * Valentin Stanchev * Stanislav Stoyanov * Plamen Timnev * Aleksandar Tomash * Aleksandar Tsvetkov * Radoslav Vasilev * Stefan Velev *
Georgi Velinov Georgi Velinov Velinov (; born 5 October 1957 in Ruse), nicknamed Johnny, is a former Bulgarian footballer and football manager. A goalkeeper, he was elected Bulgarian Footballer of the Year in 1981. Career Velinov played for PFC Dunav Rous ...
* Mihail Venkov * Petar Vitanov * Georgi Vladimirov * Lúcio Wagner * Kosta Yanev * Stefan Yanev * Dimitar Yordanov *
Stoyan Yordanov Stoyan Ivanov Yordanov (; born 29 January 1944) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At international level, Yordanov represented the Bulgaria national team on 25 occasions between 1968 and 1975, and participated at th ...
*
Stefan Yurukov Stefan Yurukov (; born 16 June 1972 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian former football player. After his retirement Yurukov switched to police work. Honours ;Litex Lovech * Bulgarian League: 1998–99 * Bulgarian Cup (2): 2000–01, 2003–04 ;Dali ...
*
Adalbert Zafirov Adalbert Ivanov Zafirov (; born 29 September 1969) is a Bulgarian former football centre-back who most recently managed CSKA 1948. Club career Zafirov who was born in Sofia played in his home town for Lokomotiv and CSKA. In Germany he sign ...
* Krasimir Zafirov *
Zdravko Zdravkov Zdravko Stoyanov Zdravkov (; born 4 October 1970 in Sofia) is a former Bulgarian football goalkeeper. He ended his career at the end of 2006–07 season. Club career On the club level, Zdravkov has played for Levski Sofia (1989–1995), I ...
* Atanas Zehirov ;Europe * Tigran Gharabaghtsyan * Emin Quliyev *
Daniel Bogdanović Daniel Bogdanović (born 26 March 1980) is a retired footballer who played as a striker. Born in Libya, he represented the Malta national team. Club career Bogdanović spent six months with Cherno More during the second half of the 2002–0 ...
* Evgheni Hmaruc * Miroslav Milošević * Marcin Burkhardt * Ionuț Neagu * Claudiu Keșerü * Vlatko Drobarov ;Africa * Zakaria Benchaâ * Ilias Hassani * Leandro Andrade * Patrick Andrade * Sténio * Hugo Konongo * Aristote N'Dongala * Bacari * Adilson * Mimito Biai * Lino * Madi Queta * Mamoutou Coulibaly * Mehdi Bourabia * Richard Eromoigbe * Stanley Okoro ;Asia * Marc Klok * Aleksey Dionisiev ;South America * Mário Jardel * Marlon Fernández * Hermes Palomino ;North America * Mathias Coureur


UEFA ranking

Source
UEFA Club Coefficients
br /> Last updated: 21 July 2017


Club officials


Board of directors


Current technical body


Coaches history


References


External links

;Official websites
Official websiteCherno More Varna - History and Statistics
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110124173537/http://www.uefa.com/search/photos/index.html#cherno%20more%20varna The official website for European footballbr>PFC Cherno More AD , National AssociationsCherno More , History , UEFA Europa LeagueCherno More , History , UEFA Europa LeagueCherno More , History , UEFA Europa LeagueAleksandrov bolsters Ludogorets defence , UEFA Europa LeagueCherno More - Ajax 3 - 1 (8-6-1966)БФС - Първите ръководители
;Supporters websites
Cherno More fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherno More Varna Football clubs in Varna, Bulgaria Football clubs in Bulgaria Association football clubs established in 1913 1913 establishments in Bulgaria