FC Dobrudzha Dobrich

Dobrudzha
Full nameFootball club Dobrudzha Dobrich
Founded1919; 105 years ago (1919)
GroundStadion Druzhba, Dobrich
Capacity12,500
ChairmanSpiridon Spiridonov / Sergey Serafimov
ManagerAtanas Atanasov-Orela
LeagueSecond League
2023–24Second League, 6th
Websitehttps://fcdobrudzha.com

FC Dobrudzha (Bulgarian: ФК Добруджа) is a Bulgarian football club based in Dobrich, that competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football.

It plays its home matches at Stadion Druzhba with a capacity of 12,500 seats, and its team colours are green and yellow. The team is named after the Dobruja region, a prominent agricultural area in Northeast Bulgaria.

Honours

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History

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Previous crest used until 2018.

Dobrudzha was founded as a union of three clubs, Vihar, Orlov and Slavia, in 1916. The club assumed the names Cherveno zname, Spartak and Septemvri between 1949 and 1957, when it was renamed Dobrudzha after a few other local sport associations joined.

In 1962, Dobrudzha managed to promote to the A Group for the first time in club history. The maiden season in the top level proved to be a challenge, however, and Dobrudzha was relegated, finishing 15th. Back into the B Group, Dobrudzha barely missed on promotion back to the A Group in 1964, finishing second. In 1966, however, Dobrudzha won the B Group and promoted back to A Group, after three years away. Two consecutive 12th-place finishes during the 1966–67 and 1967-68 seasons in the elite followed, where Dobrudzha narrowly avoided relegation twice. The fairytale ended in 1968–69, however, as Dobrudzha finished 15th and was relegated, ending a three-year stay in the A Group.

After the relegation in 1969, Dobrudzha spend the next two decades in the B Group, with a second-place finish in 1975 being the closest the team could get in terms of returning to the A Group. After 22 years in the B Group, Dobrudzha finished second during the 1990–91 season, and the long-awaited return to the top tier finally ended. Season 1991–92 marked what would be the golden era for Dobrudzha. After narrowly avoiding relegation and finishing 14th that season, Dobrudzha managed to stabilize in the top level and gradually improved its ranking the following years, with a 13th-place finish in 1993, followed by two 12th-place finishes the following years. Season 1995–96 is considered the most successful for the club in its entire history, as that is when a 7th-place finish was achieved. The next three seasons produced mid-table results, and in 2000, Dobrudzha was relegated back to the B Group, ending the club's nine consecutive years in the elite.

Dobrudzha managed to finish fifth the following season in the B Group, which was followed by a second-place finish in the 2001–02 season, marking a return to the A Group after two years. However, the team was relegated back after only one season. Season 2002–03 remains the last appearance for Dobrudzha in the top tier, as of 2023.

In 2018, Dobrudzha returned to the second tier by winning the 2017–18 Northeast Third League. The team, however, struggled in the second tier, finishing last. In the 2019–20 season, Dobrudzha once more finished first in the third tier, promoting again to the second tier after the season was finished early in March, due to the COVID-19 epidemic in Bulgaria.

Current squad

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As of 27 August 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Bulgaria BUL Georgi Argilashki (captain)
2 DF Bulgaria BUL Velislav Boev
3 DF Bulgaria BUL Dimitar Pirgov
4 DF Bulgaria BUL Petko Ganev
5 DF Bulgaria BUL Ivailo Minchev
6 MF Bulgaria BUL Ivaylo Klimentov
7 FW Bulgaria BUL Anton Ivanov
8 MF Brazil BRA Lucas Cardoso
9 FW Bulgaria BUL Georgio Dimitrov
10 MF Bulgaria BUL Rumen Rumenov
11 FW Bulgaria BUL Kitan Vasilev
13 GK Bulgaria BUL Galin Grigorov
15 DF Bulgaria BUL Bogdan Kostov
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Bulgaria BUL Simeon Mechev
21 DF Bulgaria BUL Nikolay Zhelyazkov
22 DF Colombia COL Jhonatan Cuero
23 MF Brazil BRA Buá
25 GK Bulgaria BUL Aleksey Andreev
26 DF Bulgaria BUL Ivan Jechkov Ivanov
27 FW Bulgaria BUL Angel Angelov
28 DF Bulgaria BUL Zdravko Serafimov
31 FW Bulgaria BUL Adrian Dimitrov
33 FW Brazil BRA Michael
75 MF Bulgaria BUL Petar Georgiev-Pepinho
87 FW Bulgaria BUL Stefan Traykov
89 FW Bulgaria BUL Ivaylo Mihaylov

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2023–24 and Transfers summer 2024.

Notable players

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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.

Statistics

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League positions

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Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria)Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian A Football GroupBulgarian B Football Group

Seasons

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14 seasons in First League:

Season Place
1962/63 15th
1966/67 12th
1967/68 12th
1968/69 15th
1991/92 14th
1992/93 13th
1993/94 12th
1994/95 12th
1995/96 7th
1996/97 12th
1997/98 11th
1998/99 9th
1999/00 12th
2002/03 13th

Best wins:

Home team Away team Result Competition Season
PFC Dobrudja (Dobrich) FC Haskovo (Haskovo) 10:0 Bulgarian Cup 2000/01
PFC Rakovski (Ruse) PFC Dobrudja (Dobrich) 1:7 A PFG 1996/97
PFC Dobrudja (Dobrich) PFC Beroe (Stara Zagora) 5:1 A PFG 1994/95
PFC Dobrudja (Dobrich) PFC Septemvri (Sofia) 5:1 A PFG 1998/99

Notable persons

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Players Players with most matches played for the team in A PFG:

Nationality Player Number of matches
Bulgaria Rumen Boev 212
Bulgaria Diyan Bozhilov 200
Bulgaria Rumen Slavov over 180
Bulgaria Svetoslav Krastev over 160
Bulgaria Atanas Georgiev over 140

Players with most goals, scored in A PFG:

Nationality Player Goals
Bulgaria Diyan Bozhilov 25
Bulgaria Georgi Manolov 23
Bulgaria Rumen Boev 18
Ivory Coast Serge Yoffou 15
North Macedonia Risto Milosavov 14

Former managers

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