The best of 2022

The year 2022 was a successful one for most of the teams we are dealing with. Bourj FC, Cusco FC and especially Total Soccer achieved very good results, Fayoum SC classified mid-table as usual, while 1. FK Svidník miraculously remained in the Third Division. At the opposite end, OFK Tryavna was suspended by the Bulgarian Football Union, and a phoenix club, FK Tryavna 1922, emerged in summer to take its place in Gabrovo Regional League. Pepiniere FC and Maaraba SC saw no action this year.

The only team that played in the top league of their country, Bourj FC, succeeded to classify third in the 2021-2022 Lebanese League, which equals their best result ever. The 2022-2023 season started very well, with a winning streak, but results got poorer towards the end of the year, and they finished only fifth in the final table of the regular season. However, Bourj FC qualified for the championship play-offs to be played in 2023, and the gaps are very small, so they might be able to achieve a good performance in 2022-2023 as well.

Cusco FC were relegated to the Peruvian Second Division in the beginning of 2022, as a consequence of a CAS decision. This was their first season in the Second Division ever, after 10 years in the top flight. They promoted to the Peruvian First Division in 2011 by winning Copa Peru. In the Second Division, Cusco FC dominated clearly the competition, winning both tournaments, Apertura and Clausura, and promoted back to the First Division without the need for a play-off.

Fayoum SC had a regular 2021-2022 season in the Egyptian Second Division, with the usual change of managers. There was some stress regarding relegation, but the team eventually finished in a comfortable ninth position. The 2022-2023 is however different, as they have to classify among the top five (or six) to get a place in the future Second Division A. The start of the season was rather poor and they are classified only in 13th place after 12 rounds (almost half of the season), with slim chances to get to the needed upper places in the table. Not impossible though.

The best performance of the year 2022 came from Total Soccer, which participated for the first time in the Colombian Primera C, the third tier in Colombia, and the highest league available for amateur teams. They succeeded to win the competition (which involved hundreds of teams), after some dramatic matches in the knock-out rounds.

1. FK Svidník had a very good second half of the 2021-2022 season, but only classified 11th, which seemed not enough to participate in the new format of the Slovakian Third League. However, they were eventually allowed to participate. They are now struggling to survive in this new league, with a lot of stronger teams than before.

OFK Tryavna were suspended by the Bulgarian Football Union in March 2022, when they were leaders of the Gabrovo Regional League and were heading towards promotion to the Bulgarian Third League. The decision came as a big surprise, as many other clubs were suspended too, for participating in an allegedly illegal meeting organized by Dimitar Berbatov, the opposition candidate to the presidency of the Bulgarian Football Union. The club had to reorganize, and a phoenix club was born in summer 2022, named FK Tryavna 1922, which enrolled in the 2022-2023 Gabrovo Regional League. They are now leaders in the league after half season, and are looking forward to promotion in the Third League.

Pepiniere FC did not enrol in any competition in 2022. There were talks to change their name into Kamonyi FC and to become a team supported by Kamonyi regional government, and to enrol in the 2022-2023 Rwandan Second Division as such. However, nothing came out of it, as the 2022-2023 Rwandan Second Division started without either Pepiniere FC or Kamonyi FC.

The same holds true for Maaraba SC, whose football team was inactive in 2022.

Best team

Total Soccer

 

Best performance

Total Soccer - Equipo Azul 2-1 (second leg of the Colombian Primera C final)

Best manager

Pablo Peirano (Cusco FC)

Best player

Khaled Takaji (Bourj FC)

FK Tryavna 1922 established from the ashes of OFK Tryavna, started new season with a win

In the first days of September 2022, the Bulgarian Football Union published a list of all new clubs that were accepted and affiliated to it. These new clubs may also enroll in the football competitions organised by the BFU or their territorial structures. One of the new clubs that appear on the list is FK Tryavna 1922, which seems to be born out of the ashes of the former OFK Tryavna, a club that was expelled by the Bulgarian Football Union and from all competitions in March 2022, along with other 80 clubs or so, for the ”crime” of participating in the so-called elections organised by Dimitar Berbatov, the main opposition candidate to the president of the BFU, Borislav Mihaylov, on 18 March 2022. The fight for power in the BFU led therefore to this unfortunate decision, which saw OFK Tryavna out of the Gabrovo Regional League in the moment when they were uncontested leaders (with 9 wins in 9 matches), with excellent chances for promotion to the Bulgarian Third League - North-West Group (Severozapadna Treta Liga).

As already pointed out in a previous post, there were two possible courses of action for the expelled clubs. One was to wait for justice to be done, expecting for the old clubs to be reinstated within their ranks by the Bulgarian Footbal Union, given that a court decision in June 2022 already approved the claims of Dimitar Berbatov that new elections have to take place. The alternative was not to wait, and to create new clubs from the ashes of the expelled ones, which will have to start from the scratch, giving up the identity of the former clubs.

This alternative proved to be more appealing for the people managing OFK Tryavna, who created a new club in summer 2022, FK Tryavna 1922. As mentioned above, the new club was affiliated to the Bulgarian Football Union and was able to enroll in the 2022-2023 Gabrovo Regional League (the lowest possible level), where OFK Tryavna competed anyway. They also enrolled in 2022-2023 youth competitions, showing that the club is active on youth levels as well, which is already a sign that the intention is to promote the senior team as soon as possible to the Bulgarian Third League - North-West Group, given that one of the conditions is to have at least one youth team actively involved in the specific competitions.

The 2022-2023 Gabrovo Regional League started on 18 September 2022, and FK Tryavna had their first match away at OFK Balkan Plachkovtsi, a local derby which started at 2 pm (local time). FK Tryavna 1922 won 5-1 and hopefully the OFK Tryavna winning streak of last year will continue this time until the end of the season.

OFK Tryavna expelled from the Bulgarian Football Union and all competitions, Boruna Tsareva Livada promoted to the Third League

OFK Tryavna fell victim to the war for power in the Bulgarian Football Union, led by Borislav Mihaylov. The troubles began in November 2021, when the elections for the president of the Bulgarian Football Union ended up with a narrow win by Borislav Mihaylov, against his main competitor, Dimitar Berbatov. Berbatov soon contested the result of the elections, and in June 2022 a court decided that indeed the regulations have not been properly and entirely respected, so new elections will have to take place.

However, in the meantime, Dimitar Berbatov summoned his supporters on 18 March 2022, to held ”elections”, which were nevertheless not recognized. All the 80 clubs that participated in the congress called by Dimitar Berbatov received the same penalty: they were expelled from the Bulgarian Football Union and from all competitions. OFK Tryavna was one of these clubs. Despite leading the classification in the Gabrovo Regional League, with good chances for promotion to the Bulgarian Third League, they were expelled. Boruna Tsareva Livada promoted to the Third League, and play in the North-West Group in the 2022-2023 season, which has just started.

It is now difficult to guess what will happen to the 80 clubs that have been expelled. If the court decision stands, it might mean that all decisions taken by Bulgarian Football Union after November 2021 are null and void, including this one. On the other hand, it would be undemocratic to cancel all the possible votes for Dimitar Berbatov, the main opposition candidate, by simply removing all the clubs supporting him. It would probably be wise for the Bulgarian Football Union to reinstate all the expelled clubs within their ranks, and to allow them to compete in the 2022-2023 season. Even so, some of these clubs might bring the issue in court and seek justice for the period of time in which they were wrongfully expelled and not allowed to continue playing in their competitions, for reasons not related to sports, but rather politics.

Hopefully, we will see all these clubs back into competitions as soon as possible. OFK Tryavna might play another season in the Gabrovo Regional League. Another solution may be that new clubs are formed, from the ashes of the clubs that were expelled. These new clubs would have nothing to do juridically speaking with the former clubs, and should be allowed to compete, but it will be yet another blow to the continuity of football clubs in Bulgaria.

The best of 2021

2021 has been the year when things have slowly come back to ”normal”, although we are still quite far away from the normality we had before the pandemic. The eight teams that we are concerned with (so far) - Bourj FC, Fayoum SC, Cusco FC, 1. FK Svidník, OFK Tryavna, Total Soccer, Maaraba SC and Pepiniere FC - had very different achievements. However, the word ”achievement” might be too much for some of them, that achieved nothing or were relegated.

The best performance by far belong to Bourj FC. They finished 7th in the 2020-2021 season of the Lebanese League, and reached the semifinals of the Lebanese FA Cup twice, once in spring, and once recently, and they are still competing for the 2021-2022 Cup. Their biggest performance came in summer, when they won the Challenge Cup again, thus retaining it (the last Challenge Cup was held in 2019, when Bourj FC were also winners). Bourj FC are undefeated in the 2021-2022 season of the Lebanese League, are classified fourth after seven rounds, and have high hopes of classifying in the top six after eleven rounds, to compete in the championship play-off.

Most of the other teams were involved in the fight to avoid relegation. One exception has been Fayoum SC, which had a decent 2020-2021 season, as they finished sixth, and had a remarkable run of eight consecutive matches in which they were undefeated and therefore went out of the fight to avoid relegation. The 2021-2022 season started quite well for them, although they again changed the head coach, and had another series of seven matches (in a row) undefeated, and are now also sixth in the table of the Egyptian Second Division, Group A.

Total Soccer had an excellent year in terms of the senior team, which participated in the Primera A of the Antioquia Football League (one of the regional leagues in Colombia). Unfortunately, the Colombian Youth Championship was not held this year, and Total Soccer did not enroll for the nation-wide Primera C, so all their efforts were dedicated to the Antioquia Football League. They finished top of the table in Stage 1 of the competition, then they had a good performance in the following stages, and reached the final of the tournament, where they however lost 1-0 to Águilas Doradas B (the main team of which plays in the nation-wide Primera A). So, Total Soccer are vice-champions of the Antioquia Football League in their first complete year, as they have just promoted in 2019, and the 2020 season was interrupted.

The other teams fought for survival in their leagues. Cusco FC had an unexpectedly difficult year and they succeeded to save themselves from relegation in the very last round, also with some luck due to other results. It was the worse year in their history, and to change that, the club management seem to prepare very well the next season, including several outstanding transfers. The 2022 Peruvian First Division will start soon, in January, and teams are expected to play the home games on their own grounds, at last. This might be another advantage for Cusco FC, due to altitude.

1. FK Svidník were also saved from relegation, due to a combination of facts, including their classification (second to last), and the fact that another team withdrew for the 2021-2022 season, so they were allowed to enroll for the Slovak Third Division, East Group, again, as first below the relegation line. However, their season so far was disastrous, as they have no point whatsoever. Another miracle might be needed for them to stay for one more year in the Third Division.

OFK Tryavna, on the other hand, did not survive in the Bulgarian Third Division, North-West Group. Their spring part of the 2020-2021 season was awful, and they finished last. However, there are big plans for a come-back, as the 2021-2022 season of the regional Gabrovo League started off well, and they are top of the table so far, so they might be back in the Third Division in 2022 if everything goes smoothly.

There are worrying signs for Pepiniere FC. They participated in the very short season of the 2020-2021 Rwandan Second Division, finishing last in their group. However, the main cause for worry is that they did not enroll for the 2021-2022 Second Division, which is played in normal format, and for the moment they are not enrolled in any competition, as far as we know. The same is true for Maaraba SC, but in their case, the situation seems to be the same for some time.

Best team

Bourj FC

Best performance

Bourj FC - AC Tripoli 4-2 (Challenge Cup final)

Best manager

Juan Gabriel Sepúlveda (Total Soccer)

Best player

Mahmoud Kamal ”Schmeichel” (Fayoum SC)

A Happy New Year to everyone!

2021-2022 Gabrovo Regional League

2021-2022 Gabrovo Regional League

 

Season	2021-2022
Dates	19 September 2021 – spring 2022
Champions
Promoted
Relegated
Matches played
Goals scored
Top goalscorer
Biggest home win
Biggest away win
Highest scoring
Longest winning run
Longest unbeaten run
Longest winless run
Longest losing run

 

Competition details and format

 

The Gabrovo Regional League (also known as the Gabrovo Oblast Group) sits at the fourth tier in the football pyramid of Bulgaria, along with the other regional leagues which are organized at the level of each Bulgarian province (oblast). Unlike other regional leagues, it consists of only one division, ”A”, which is at the same time the highest and the lowest football level in Gabrovo Province. 2021-2022 is the eighth consecutive season when Gabrovo Regional League is made up of a single division (group). The competition is organized by the regional administrative football zone centre based in Veliko Tarnovo, belonging to the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU). Dan Kolov Sennik are the defending champions.

There are 11 teams which compete in the 2021-2022 Gabrovo Regional League. The competition is organized as a double round robin championship, in which each team plays each other team twice, once at home and once away, a total of 20 matches. However, because of the odd number of teams, there are 22 rounds, and in each round there is one team which receives a bye.

The competition started on 19 September 2021, and the first half of the season (rounds 1 to 11) is scheduled in autumn 2021, while the second half of the season (rounds 12 to 22) will be played in spring 2022. Between the two halves of the season, there is a large winter break when transfers are allowed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several restrictions are in place and certain rules have been implemented to avoid the spread of the infection. Most matches are played on Sunday afternoon.

The winners of the league may be promoted to the Bulgarian Third League – North-West Group (Severozapadna Treta Liga) if they meet the standards required for this competition and places are available. If the number of places is lower than the number of teams which apply for promotion, then a promotion play-off may be organized between the winners of the different regional leagues. In recent times, however, the number of places was usually high enough and no play-offs have been played. Moreover, some teams which did not even topped the regional league were invited to fill in the places left in the Bulgarian Third League – North-West Group, meaning that even lower classified teams may promote, once they meet the specific standards, involving the existence of junior teams enrolled in national or regional competitions, among others. The latest winners of the Gabrovo Regional League, Dan Kolov Sennik (2020-2021) and Balkan Plachkovtsi (2019-2020) did not apply for promotion to the Bulgarian Third League – North-West Group.

However, things might change this season, as OFK Tryavna have just been relegated to the Gabrovo Regional League from the Bulgarian Third League – North-West Group, and are eager to promote back, making sure that all the standards required are met. They are therefore the main favorites to win the Gabrovo Regional League this year. Defending champions Dan Kolov Sennik may however be strong contenders for the regional title.

Relegation is not an issue, since there is no lower division or league.

 

Team changes from 2020-2021

 

To the Gabrovo Regional League

 

Relegated from the Bulgarian Third League – North-West Group

 

OFK Tryavna

 

Other admitted teams

 

None

 

From the Gabrovo Regional League

 

Promoted to the Bulgarian Third League – North-West Group

 

None

 

Withdrawn

 

None

 

Teams

 

Team	Home town	Stadium	2020-2021
OFK Tryavna	Tryavna	Angel Kanchev	18th in the Third League – NW Group – relegated
Dan Kolov	Sennik	Sennik	1st in Gabrovo League
Balkan	Plachkovtsi	Plachkovtsi	2nd in Gabrovo League
Angel Kanchev	Tryavna	Angel Kanchev	3rd in Gabrovo League
Chardafon 1919	Gabrovo	Hristo Botev	4th in Gabrovo League
Boruna	Tsareva Livada	Tsareva Livada	5th in Gabrovo League
Sportist	Petko Slaveykov	Petko Slaveykov	6th in Gabrovo League
Vihar 1962	Ryahovtsite	Ryahovtsite	7th in Gabrovo League
Yunak 2006	Kormyansko	Sennik	8th in Gabrovo League
Vidima	Dushevo	Sennik	9th in Gabrovo League
Strela 2006	Shumata	Sevlievo	10th in Gabrovo League

 

Geographical distribution of teams

 

Teams in the Gabrovo Regional League are located in the four municipalities included in Gabrovo Province: Gabrovo, Dryanovo, Sevlievo and Tryavna.

 

Municipality	No. of teams	Name of teams
Gabrovo	1	Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo
Dryanovo	1	Boruna Tsareva Livada
Sevlievo	6	Dan Kolov Sennik, Sportist Petko Slaveykov, Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite, Yunak 2006 Kormyansko, Vidima Dushevo, Strela 2006 Shumata
Tryavna	3	OFK Tryavna, Angel Kanchev Tryavna, Balkan Plachkovtsi

 

The municipality of Sevlievo is by far the best represented with 6 teams, followed by Tryavna municipality with 3 teams.

The municipalities of Gabrovo and Dryanovo have only one team in Gabrovo Regional League.

 

Round 1 (19 September 2021)

 

Yunak 2006 Kormyansko – Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite 2-5

Sportist Petko Slaveykov – OFK Tryavna 2-4

Boruna Tsareva Livada – Vidima Dushevo 15-0

Strela 2006 Shumata – Dan Kolov Sennik 1-6

Balkan Plachkovtsi – Angel Kanchev Tryavna 0-4 (awarded)

Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo bye

 

Round 2 (26 September 2021)

 

Angel Kanchev Tryavna – Strela 2006 Shumata 4-1

Vidima Dushevo – Balkan Plachkovtsi 1-5

Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite – Boruna Tsareva Livada 0-7

OFK Tryavna – Yunak 2006 Kormyansko 12-0

Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo – Sportist Petko Slaveykov 4-1

Dan Kolov Sennik bye

 

Round 3 (3 October 2021)

 

Yunak 2006 Kormyansko – Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo 0-2

Balkan Plachkovtsi – Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite 4-1

Strela 2006 Shumata – Vidima Dushevo 2-10

Boruna Tsareva Livada – OFK Tryavna 0-4

Dan Kolov Sennik – Angel Kanchev Tryavna 3-0

Sportist Petko Slaveykov bye

 

Round 4 (10 October 2021)

 

Vidima Dushevo – Dan Kolov Sennik 1-10

Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite – Strela 2006 Shumata 2-2

OFK Tryavna – Balkan Plachkovtsi 6-0

Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo – Boruna Tsareva Livada 3-4

Sportist Petko Slaveykov – Yunak 2006 Kormyansko 3-3

Angel Kanchev Tryavna bye

 

Round 5 (17 October 2021)

 

Strela 2006 Shumata – OFK Tryavna 0-7

Balkan Plachkovtsi – Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo 1-0

Dan Kolov Sennik – Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite 1-0

Boruna Tsareva Livada – Sportist Petko Slaveykov 9-1

Angel Kanchev Tryavna – Vidima Dushevo 6-4

Yunak 2006 Kormyansko bye

 

Round 6 (24 October 2021)

 

Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite – Angel Kanchev Tryavna 1-6

Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo – Strela 2006 Shumata 19-0

Sportist Petko Slaveykov – Balkan Plachkovtsi 3-2

Yunak 2006 Kormyansko – Boruna Tsareva Livada 0-11

OFK Tryavna – Dan Kolov Sennik postponed

Vidima Dushevo bye

 

Round 7 (31 October 2021)

 

Strela 2006 Shumata – Sportist Petko Slaveykov 0-4

Vidima Dushevo – Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite 2-1

Balkan Plachkovtsi – Yunak 2006 Kormyansko 3-0 (awarded, the visitors did not show up)

Angel Kanchev Tryavna – OFK Tryavna 0-5

Dan Kolov Sennik – Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo postponed (match abandoned)

Boruna Tsareva Livada bye

 

Table

 

1	OFK Tryavna	6	6	0	0	38-2	18	Promotion to the Third League
2	Boruna Tsareva Livada	6	5	0	1	46-8	15
3	Dan Kolov Sennik	4	4	0	0	20-2	12
4	Angel Kanchev Tryavna	5	4	0	1	20-14	12
5	Balkan Plachkovtsi	7	4	0	3	15-15	12
6	Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo	5	3	0	2	28-6	9
7	Sportist Petko Slaveykov	6	2	1	3	14-22	7
8	Vidima Dushevo	6	2	0	4	18-39	6
9	Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite	7	1	1	5	10-24	4
10	Yunak 2006 Kormyansko	6	0	1	5	5-36	1
11	Strela 2006 Shumata	7	0	1	6	6-52	1

 

In case that two or more teams are equal on points, the main ranking criteria are the results of the head-to-head matches.

 

All rounds initially scheduled in November 2021 have been postponed indefinitely due to a new outbreak of COVID-19 in Bulgaria.

 

Round 8 – to be rescheduled

 

OFK Tryavna – Vidima Dushevo

Chardafon 1919 Gabrovo – Angel Kanchev Tryavna

Sportist Petko Slaveykov – Dan Kolov Sennik

Yunak 2006 Kormyansko – Strela 2006 Shumata

Boruna Tsareva Livada – Balkan Plachkovtsi

Vihar 1962 Ryahovtsite bye