FC Dunav Ruse

Dunav Ruse

Gradski Stadion
Capacity	13,000
Owner	Fans Association / Academy Managers
Head coach	Martin Kovachev
League	Second League
2022–23	Second League, 6th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

FC Dunav (Bulgarian: Дунав, 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 sports branch, Dunav were established on February 16, 1949, as a merger of two local football clubs in the city, Dinamo and Rusenets.

Among the club's most notable achievements are a final in the Bulgarian championship in 1937, a

.

History

Domestic

Over the course of its history, the club carried a variety of different names such as Sava, Napredak, Levski, Varush, Angel Kanchev, Rakovski, Rusenets, Dinamo, Spartak, DNA, Torpedo and Partizanin. Dunav played in the

A Group

over a number of seasons between 1937 and 1940, 1951, 1956, 1958–67, 1968–73, 1974–77, 1984–86, 1988–91 and 1996–98, before being relegated again.

Roma

at the Municipal Stadium in 1975.

Following years of several movements between lower divisions, a decent squad, established by playing manager Engibar Engibarov at the time, eventually won the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League in 2003–04 and for the next season they finally gained promotion to the B PFG after a long-term absence in the amateur divisions. It was to be their first appearance in professional football since the club was relegated from the A Group in 1991.

From January 5, 2006 until October 2 of the same year, Dunav were managed by Ferario Spasov. He acquired some well-known footballers and loaned talented players from Litex Lovech in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the first division again.

The 2009–10 season in the B Group was very narrow for the club as the dream of reaching the

. The second half of the season started very well and the team was in a row with a couple of very significant wins, but they won only one game in their last 7 matches and eventually failed to gain promotion to the top flight.

In the following years, Dunav again failed to impress and was mostly seen as a middle table club in the final ranking of the B Group. In 2010–11, the club was left by some of its good players, as a result of ongoing financial difficulties in the team. Dunav subsequently withdrew from the

in February 2011, after being unable to reduce its financial debts to the municipality and a majority of its squad players. A few days later, the club announced bankruptcy and was dissolved.

In 2011, Dr. Simeon Simeonov established a new entity under the name Dunav 2010, which was approved by the BFU to start from the lowest levels of Bulgarian football. The team obtained license and after several court decisions in the following months, it regained the traditions and history of its predecessor. In 2015, the club won the Bulgarian Amateur Cup and was promoted to the second division.

In 2016, Dunav 2010 became champions of the

.

Ever since, Dunav's financial situation has been very unstable, despite the club playing in the top tier.

During the winter break of the 2019–20 season, Dunav owners stated that the team might face administrative relegation if a new income source is not provided on time. However, the club continued to participate in the top tier until the very end of the

, thus being relegated. However, Dunav's financial situation and poor ownership led to the club being taken over by the fans' association and academy coaches, announcing on 4 August 2020 that Dunav will compete in the Third League.

After two seasons in the third level, Dunav managed to promote to the Second League, at the end of the 2021–22 season.

European

On an international basis, Dunav's debut entry in the European club competitions dates back to the

after an overall 0–3 loss in both legs.

Honours

Domestic

• First League:
  • Fourth place: 1974–75, 2016–17

• Bulgarian Cup:
  • Runners-up:
    1961–62

• Second League:
  • Winners (6): 1950, 1954, 1957, 1968, 1974, 2015–16

• Third League:
  • Winners (2): 2014–15, 2021–22

• A Regional Group:
  • Winners (1): 2010–11

• Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League:
  • Winners (2 times - record): 2004, 2015

League positions

European record

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1975–76	UEFA Cup	1R	Roma	1–0	0–2	1–2
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Irtysh Pavlodar	0–2	0–1	0–3

Players

Current squad

As of 15 February 2024^{[update] [4]}

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  BUL Daniel Nikolov 4 DF  BUL Georgi Ivanov 6 MF  BUL Nikola Kolev 7 MF  BUL Simeon Veshev 8 MF  UKR Stanislav Nechyporenko 9 FW  BUL Miroslav Budinov 10 MF  BUL Dimitar Zakonov 11 MF  BUL Denislav Minchev 14 MF  BUL Radoslav Apostolov 15 MF  BUL Kristiyan Gospodinov 17 FW  FRA Louis Pahama 18 FW  BUL Radoslav Velikov

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  BUL Teodor Kostov 20 FW  BUL Yordan Dimitrov 22 DF  BUL Stoyan Predev 27 FW  BUL Ivan Kolev 29 DF  BUL Nikolay Dichev 34 MF  BUL Oleg Dimitrov 45 MF  BUL Dzhan Hasan 69 GK  BUL Damyan Damyanov 77 DF  BUL Georgi Valchev 88 DF  BUL Dimitar Todorov 99 MF  BRA Victor Yan — MF  BUL Samuel Fuentes

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

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries, held any club record, or have more than 100 league appearance. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.

Past/Current seasons

Season	Lvl	League	Place	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Bulgarian Cup
2010–11	IV	A RFG	1	9	0	2	20	8	27	First round
2011–12	III	V Group	6	12	10	6	48	19	46	not qualified
2012–13	III	V Group	2	24	2	2	86	15	74	not qualified
2013–14	II	B Group	13	6	9	11	24	32	27	First round
2014–15	III	V Group	1	28	1	1	121	11	85	Second round
2015–16	II	B Group	1	18	10	2	53	19	64	Second round
2016–17	I	First League	4	15	10	11	46	44	55	Quarterfinals
2017–18	I	First League	12	11	7	19	31	50	40	Quarterfinals
2018–19	I	First League	11	9	9	19	40	59	36	Second round
2019–20	I	First League	13	6	8	17	26	55	26	First round
2020–21	III	Third League	5	16	5	7	60	33	53	Preliminary Round
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

References

• Paytashev, Rumen (2001). Svetovna Futbolna Entsiklopediya (in Bulgarian). Sofia: KK Trud. p. 126.
  ISBN 954-528-201-0
  .

External links

• Official website