Etar () is a Bulgarian sports football club based in

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

, that plays in the

Bulgarian Second League The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League (), also known as Second League () or Vtora liga, is the second level of the Bulgarian football league system, below First League and above the Third League. Twenty teams take part in the league ...

, the second 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) Football Club Etar ( Bulgarian: Футболен клуб "Етър"), commonly referred to as Etar Veliko Tarnovo, was a Bulgarian professional association football club from Veliko Tarnovo. Founded on 24 April 1924, the club spent most of its ...

. 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 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 ...

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 with the license of FC Botev Debelets. In their first season they finished in 5th position in V Group. In January 2016,

Boncho Genchev Boncho Lyubomirov Genchev (; born 7 July 1964) is a Bulgarian retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and a current manager. He started in his home country in the lower leagues before moving to Lokomotiv Gorna an ...

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. The selection included

Lyubomir Genchev Lyubomir Genchev ( Bulgarian: Любомир Генчев; born 13 April 1986) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is son of former footballer Boncho Genchev. Career Genchev returned to Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovit ...

coming from

A 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 ...

team

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, Stefan Hristov from

Spartak Pleven OFK Spartak () is a Bulgarian municipal association football club from the city of Pleven founded on 10 September 1919. It currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. The team's greatest achievements are the B ...

and the leading goalscorer in the first part of 2015–16 season in B Group,

Petar Dimitrov Petar Dimitrov (; born 28 February 1982) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Kostenets. Career Dimitrov played for a few clubs, including CSKA Sofia, Belasitsa Petrich, Vihren Sandanski and Beroe Stara ...

. The team eventually won all its matches, winning the league and being promoted to B Group.

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 Ferario Spasov ( Bulgarian: Ферарио Спасов; 20 February 1962 – 11 November 2023) was a Bulgarian football coach and player. Managerial career Spasov was manager of Litex Lovech and CSKA Sofia. From 1 April 2016 he became the ma ...

remains in his position as manager and with a good selection team made promotion to First League. 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 Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, , pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous ...

, coupled with

Septemvri Sofia Septemvri () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Its home ground is the Septemvri Stadium, but due to its poor condition the ...

's 2–0 away defeat to

Oborishte Oborishte () is a village located in the Panagyurishte municipality, Pazardzhik Province, western Bulgaria. It is relatively large for the region and has 1,307 inhabitants. Its name until 1950 was ''Mechka'' (Мечка), which in Bulgarian means ...

. 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 Football club Pirin (), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the Second League, the second division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 2008, after a merger ...

3-1 aggregate and advanced to the second round. There, the violets faced

Dunav Ruse FC Dunav (, officially named ''"Дунав от Русе"'') is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Ruse, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system. Part of a larger spor ...

. 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 Krasimir Genchev Balakov (, ; born 29 March 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is considered ...

was announced as the new manager in the club with

Stanislav Genchev Stanislav Petrov Genchev (; born 20 March 1981) is a Bulgarian former footballer and current manager. Club career SC Vaslui SC Vaslui signed Genchev as a free player, on 14 June 2008. Genchev signed a three-year contract. He scored in his fi ...

Iliyan Kiryakov Iliyan Ivanov Kiryakov (; born 4 August 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a defender. A versatile player, he could be deployed as a full-back on either flank, or as a centre-back. During a professional career ...

and Kaloyan Chakarov as first team coaches. After 4 seasons in the First League, Etar was relegated to the Second League at the end of the 2020-21 season. 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 Botev () is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Si ...

and did not manage to return to the First League immediately. Next season (

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

), Etar managed to finish in second place, securing promotion to the First League after two years of absence.

League positions

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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.

Honours

Domestic

* First League: ** Winners (1): 1990–91 * Second League: ** Winners (1): 2016–17 * Third League: ** Winners (1): 2015–16

Players

Current squad

' ''For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2024–25 and Transfers summer 2025.''

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 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 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. EU Nationals EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) Non-EU Nationals

Reserve team

Etar II () is a Bulgarian football team based in

. It is the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

of Etar Veliko Tarnovo, and currently plays in Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football.

Current squad

Notable 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 *

Georgi Angelov Georgi Ivanov Angelov (; born 12 November 1990) is a Bulgarian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back and Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder. Caree ...

* Preslav Borukov * Ivaylo Dimitrov * Plamen Galabov *

* Zdravko Iliev * Hristo Ivanov * Ivan Ivanov * Mariyan Ivanov *

Svetoslav Kovachev Svetoslav Svetlozarov Kovachev (; born 14 March 1998) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger. His younger brother Lachezar is also a footballer, currently playing for Spartak Pleven. Career Ludogorets Razgrad Born in ...

Veselin Minev Veselin Minev ( Bulgarian Cyrillic: Веселин Минев; born 14 October 1980) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He has a twin brother, Yordan, who is also a footballer. Club career Minev, together ...

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 ...

* Georgi Pashov *

Yani Pehlivanov Yani Pehlivanov (; born 14 July 1988) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Spartak Pleven. Career Pehlivanov began his career at Chernomorets Pomorie. In January 2011 he joined Chernomorets Burgas. He made his A PFG debut o ...

* Ivan Petkov *

Georgi Sarmov Georgi Sarmov (; born 7 September 1985) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. Club career Naftex Between 2004 and 2006 Sarmov played for Naftex Burgas, making 43 league appearances and scoring 2 goal ...

* Kolyo Stanev * Ivan Stoyanov * Krum Stoyanov * Ventsislav Vasilev *

Preslav Yordanov Preslav Yordanov (; born 21 July 1989) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Etar Veliko Tarnovo. Club career Spartak Pleven Born in Pleven, Yordanov started his career as a forward for Spartak Pleven during the ...

;Europe * Artjom Artjunin ;CONCACAF * José Córdoba * Romeesh Ivey * Josecarlos Van Rankin ;Africa * Gilson Varela *

Gaëtan Missi Mezu Gaëtan Missi Mezu Kouakou (born 4 May 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for side Martigues. Born in France, he plays for the Gabon national team. Club career Missi Mezu was born in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. He began ...

Alasana Manneh Alasana Manneh (born 8 April 1998) is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Hibernian and the Gambia national team. Career Barcelona Born in Banjul, Manneh joined FC Barcelona's youth setup ...

Alioune Badará Alioune Badará Samb (born 1 October 1989) is a Senegalese footballer who plays as a forward for Lokomotiv GO. Club career After playing youth football for Senegalese academy Étoile Lusitana, Badará spent 9 years of his career with several cl ...

Goalscoring and appearance records

*Players in bold are still playing for Etar.

Past seasons

*Seasons in '' First League'': 5 *Seasons in '' Second League: 4 *Seasons in '' V Group'' (now '' Third League''): 3

Managers

Club officials

Board of directors

Current technical body

References

External links

*
bgclubs.eu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etar Veliko Tarnovo * Association football clubs established in 2013 2013 establishments in Bulgaria Football clubs in Veliko Tarnovo Phoenix clubs (association football)