# FC Chernomorets Burgas

FC Chernomorets Burgas (Bulgarian: ФК Черноморец Бургас) or simply Chernomorets (Bulgarian: Черноморец) were a Bulgarian football club from the city of Burgas. Chernomorets played its home matches at the local Chernomorets Stadium. The team was a runner-up in the Bulgarian Cup and Bulgarian Supercup competitions.
Chernomorets established itself as one of the most consistent teams in Bulgaria, spending most of its history in the top tier A Group. Financial problems started in the early 2000s however, and the club eventually folded after the 2005–06 season. An unofficial successor, PSFC Chernomorets Burgas was soon founded. The new club played in the top tier between 2007 and 2014, but also encountered financial problems, folding in 2019. A third club from Burgas was created in the wake of PSFC Chernomorets’ problems, named FC Chernomorets 1919 Burgas, which began playing in the amateur levels.

## Club colours

| Light blue | White |

### Kit history

| Period | Shirt sponsor |
| 1982–1983 | none |
| 1988–1989 | none |
| 1992–1993 | Red Lion Group |
| 1999–2000 | RWE |
| 2000–2001 | Burgasko |
| 2001–2002 | none |
| 2002–2003 | Blagoustroystveni Stroeji |
| Period | Kit manufacturer |
| 1982–1983 | Adidas |
| 1988–1989 | Puma |
| 1993–1994 | Adidas |
| 1999–2001 | Puma |
| 2001–2002 | Legea |

## History
### 1905–1958

In 1905, a group of Bulgarian students from the Robert College of Istanbul created a new sports club in Burgas with the name SC Strela. Several years later, SC Strela was officially licensed as an association and in May 1912, the local municipality chose the first staff and the first president of the club. In the period between 1918 and 1919, SC Strela had a roster of 200 members, slowly growing into an association with a big importance to the city. Тherefore some changes had to be made and on August 1, 1919, the first president of the club was chosen to be Stefan Ilic. By his suggestion, the club's name was chosen to be changed to SC Chernomorets and the same year, a football department was created to the sports society, named FC Chernomorets.
Between 1919 and 1944, the football club participated in the Bulgarian State Championship, regularly promoting and relegating from the different divisions of the league. In the following years several changes were made. In 1944, the club was bought by the Municipality of Burgas, its name was changed to FC Lyuboslav and a new manager was hired – the prominent Hungarian coach Kramer Lipot. However the results were not good and soon he was sacked from his job. Years later, the bad results were the reason to bring FC Lyuboslav to a dissolve.

### 1958–2006

When the Bulgarian A Group became the new top-tier league format of Bulgaria in 1948, Chernomorets was selected to be one of the ten teams to compete in the new league. Chernomorets finished in last place, however, and was relegated to the B Group.
In 1958, the communist authorities in Burgas decided to reestablish the sports club, which is considered a successor of the achievements of the former FC Chernomorets. The sports club was named SC Botev in honour of the Bulgarian national hero – Hristo Botev. Several years later, the authorities however decided to rename the club to its former name, FC Chernomorets.
It took Chernomorets 16 years to return to the top flight following the relegation in 1949. Chernomorets spent eight seasons in the A Group, from 1965 until 1973. The Sharks were relegated in 1973, and the next four seasons were spent in the B Group. In 1977, another promotion to the A Group followed.
FC Chernomorets's best seasons in the Bulgarian top division were in the 1981–82 and 1983–84 seasons, finishing in the 5th place. Since its establishment, the club had played a total of 31 seasons in the Bulgarian top division. In 1989, Chernomorets surprisingly reached the final of the Bulgarian Cup and played against PFC CSKA Sofia, but the result of the match was a 0:3 loss for Chernomorets. In spite of the loss, the team led by Dian Petkov, Zlatko Yankov, Lyubomir Sheytanov and Vlado Stoyanov, managed to earn a position to participate in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The club's first participation in European club tournaments was not long-lived, however. The team faced Dinamo Tirana from Albania. The first game in Burgas, in the presence of 17,000 spectators at the Chernomorets Stadium, ended with a 3–1 win. But the second game in Tirana finished with a shameful 0–4 loss and Chernomorets were out of the cup winners cup tournament. A few years later, in 1994 Chernomorets were relegated to Southern "B" Group and its return to A PFG in 1999 was with his new owner Ivaylo Drazhev, who had bought the club in 1997.
In 2004, the club with president Ivaylo Drazhev went bankrupt and in the following two seasons Chernomorets was relegated from the top division of the Bulgarian football. The future of the club was unknown and in late 2006 FC Chernomorets withdrew from the South-East V AFG because of financial difficulties and was dissolved shortly thereafter.
A successor club, named PSFC Chernomorets Burgas, was established while the old club was suffering from financial problems. The new club quickly progressed through the lower leagues and promoted to the A Group in 2007.

### Historical names

| Years | Names |
| 1919–28 | FC Chernomorets |
| 1929–31 | FC Chernomorets-29 |
| 1931–44 | FC Chernomorets |
| 1944–58 | FC Lyuboslav |
| 1958–68 | FC Botev |
| 1968-06 | FC Chernomorets |

### Performance by seasons

    Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 1938 BSFC 8 184410 304012 N/A 1939 BSFC 10 180414 17614 N/A Relegated 1948–49 RFD 10 182313 15387 1/4 Relegated 1957 Southern B RFG 8 30101010 425030 N/A 1958 Southern B RFG 10 15546 171814 N/A 1958–59 Southern B RFG 10 3013511 454231 1/4 Relegated 1961–62 B RFG 10 309813 414926 N/A 1962–63 Southern B RFG 11 3815617 615536 N/A 1963–64 Southern B RFG 6 3413138 534239 N/A 1964–65 Southern B RFG 1 341969 572944 N/A Promoted 1965–66 A RFG 14 308913 344825 1/8 1966–67 A RFG 9 30101010 383530 2nd in Group 1 1967–68 A RFG 13 309714 355325 1/2 1968–69 A RFG 7 3010812 515628 3rd in Group 1 1969–70 A RFG 8 3010911 334129 1/8 1970–71 A RFG 15 306717 336619 3rd in Group 3 1971–72 A RFG 14 3411815 474928 1/16 1972–73 A RFG 12 3412715 354431 1/4 drawn 1973–74 Southern B RFG 2 362367 813452 1/4 1974–75 Southern B RFG 2 3818812 524044 N/A 1975–76 Southern B RFG 7 3816814 614740 1/32 1976–77 Southern B RFG 1 3820108 603050 1/32 Promoted 1977–78 A RFG 10 3011514 454327 1/16 1978–79 A RFG 5 301389 454334 1/8 1979–80 A RFG 9 3012315 394227 1/4 1980–81 A RFG 11 3091011 424928 1st leg 1981–82 A RFG 6 3014412 484432 N/A 1982–83 A RFG 13 3012414 414728 N/A 1983–84 A RFG 5 3012711 434731 N/A 1984–85 A RFG 16 308517 355721 N/A Relegated 1985–86 B RFG 1 3821710 814248 N/A Promoted 1986–87 A RFG 12 3010416 487624 N/A 1987–88 A RFG 15 309318 275021 1/4 Relegated 1988–89 B RFG 2 3820108 633250 Final Promoted 1989–90 A RFG 11 3011712 364129 N/A 1990–91 A FG 7 3011811 415030 2nd in Group 1 1991–92 A RFG 12 308913 284325 1/16 1992–93 A RFG 8 3011811 333130 1/8 1993–94 A FG 13 288614 303630 1/16 Relegated 1994–95 Southern B RFG 9 3013710 433546 N/A Relegated 1995–96 South East V Group - ---- --- 3rd leg Promoted 1996–97 B RFG 7 3416414 513952 1/8 1997–98 B RFG 4 301857 501759 1/16 1998–99 B RFG 1 302136 622066 2nd leg Promoted 1999-00 A FG 10 3010713 314037 1/2 2000–01 Premier football league 11 266416 224822 1/16 2001–02 Premier football league 10 4013918 416935 1/16 2002–03 Premier football league 11 267316 325624 1/4 2003–04 A FG 16 304620 306818 1/8 Relegated 2004–05 B PFG 15 305421 296419 1st leg Relegated 2005–06 South East V Group 14 306519 265623 N/A 2006–07 South East V Group 18 340034 81610 N/A Withdrawn

### European

Intertoto Cup and UEFA Cup
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1982 | Intertoto Cup | Group 9 | Baník Ostrava | 5–2 | 1–3 | N/A |
| 1982 | Intertoto Cup | Group 9 | IFK Göteborg | 2–4 | 4–4 | N/A |
| 1982 | Intertoto Cup | Group 9 | Næstved | 4–0 | 1–2 | N/A |
| 1985 | Intertoto Cup | Group 11 | Start | 2–0 | 0–1 | N/A |
| 1985 | Intertoto Cup | Group 11 | Aarau | 4–1 | 3–3 | N/A |
| 1985 | Intertoto Cup | Group 11 | MTK | 1–2 | 1–5 | N/A |
| 1989–90 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | QR | Dinamo Tirana | 3–1 | 0–4 | 3–5 |

## Honours

Bulgarian A PFG:
* Fifth place (2): 1979, 1984
Bulgarian Cup
* Runner-up (1): 1989
Bulgarian Supercup
* Runner-up (1): 1989

## Notable players

* For all players with a Wikipedia article see Category:FC Chernomorets Burgas 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.

## Notable coaches

* Kramer Lipot
* Evgeni Yanchovski
* Totko Dremsizov – lead the sharks seven consecutive seasons (record)
* Lyubomir Borisov
* Vasil Zelev – the most successful coach for the club
* Ivan Tsvetanov
* Miroslav Kralev