FC Arda Kardzhali
Bulgarian football club
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FC Arda 1924 Kardzhali (Bulgarian: ПФК Арда Кърджали) is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Kardzhali that competes in First League, the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system.
Господарите на Родопите (The Lords of the Rhodopes)[1]
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| Full name | Професионален Футболен Клуб Арда 1924 Кърджали (Professional Football Club Arda 1924 Kardzhali) | |||
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| Nicknames | Сините от Кърджали (The Blues from Kardzhali) Господарите на Родопите (The Lords of the Rhodopes)[1] | |||
| Short name | Арда (Arda) | |||
| Founded | August 10, 1924 (as Rodopski Sokol) | |||
| Ground | Arena Arda, Kardzhali | |||
| Capacity | 11,114 | |||
| Chairman | Yashar Durmushev | |||
| Head coach | Aleksandar Tunchev | |||
| League | First League | |||
| 2024–25 | First League, 4th of 16 | |||
| Website | fcarda | |||
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It was founded on 13 October 1924, as an association football branch of a larger sports society in the town. The club was reestablished in 2015, after its former entity was dissolved.
Named after the Arda river, a tributary of the Maritsa, Arda's home ground is the Arena Arda in Kardzhali, which has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. For the majority of its existence, the club regularly participated in the Second League, with its highest-ever ranking a second-place finish during the 1955–56 Bulgarian Second League. In the Bulgarian Cup, Arda have reached the finals once, in 2021, losing to CSKA Sofia.
In 2018–19, Arda won the Second League promotion play-off against Septemvri Sofia, resulting in the club's first-ever appearance in the Bulgarian top division.
History
First Arda team (1924–2013)
Arda was established on August 10, 1924, under the name Rodopski Sokol, but later took the name Arda, derived from the nearby Arda River.[2] From 1945 to 1957 the team was named Minyor until a year later when the previous name was put in use again. In 1956, the club finished as a runner-up in the B Group. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup during the 1959–60 campaign of the competition. In 1988 they secured the third place in the B Group. The Kardzhali club spend most of its time in the second and third levels of Bulgarian football, before getting dissolved in 2013 due to financial troubles.
Refounding (2015–2017)
The team suffered relegation from the V Group in 2013 and didn't compete in any league division until 2015 when they returned to the A Regional Group after reestablishment. In 2016, Arda achieved promotion to the Bulgarian Third League after a successful season and a 3–0 win in the play-off match against Lyubimets.[3]
PSI Group ownership and promotion to the elite (2017–present)
In early June 2017, the club was purchased by Bulgarian road construction company PSI Group, in an attempt to develop a football project, inspired by the domestic and international success of Ludogorets.[4] Two weeks later, former Levski Sofia player Elin Topuzakov was appointed as head coach and Emil Kremenliev was hired as sporting director.[5] Subsequently, Petar Peshev was elected chairman of the club and was revealed that the new ownership would invest around €1 million in new signings, salaries and infrastructure around the stadium during the following South-East Third League season.[6] All of this led to an amateur double during the 2017–18 season, as Arda won both its group and the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, resulting in a promotion to the Bulgarian Second League.[7]
After the unsatisfactory results in the first 5 rounds, Elin Topuzakov was released as a manager and Stoycho Stoev was appointed,[8] but on 6 March 2019 Stamen Belchev was appointed as the new manager, after Stoev reached an agreement with the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad. The team improved greatly, eventually managing a 3rd-place finish, enabling them to participate in the play-offs against relegation-avoider PFC Septemvri Sofia to enter the top level of Bulgarian football. Arda eventually won 0–1 over Septemvri at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Plovdiv, thus resulting in the club's first-time ever participation in the Bulgarian First League.[9]
First seasons in the elite and Bulgarian Cup Final
Arda's first match in the Bulgarian top tier resulted in a 0–0 home draw against Botev Plovdiv. This was followed by an away 0–0 draw to Tsarsko Selo. Arda's first win came in the third round, when the team managed to beat Beroe Stara Zagora 3–1 at home. Arda then won their first away game in the top league, by beating Vitosa Bistritsa 1–3, extending their unbeaten run to four games. At the end of the first half of the season in December, Arda was in seventh place in the league, with seven wins, seven draws, and six losses. At the end of the regular season in June, Arda was in the relegation group. Despite this, on June 20, Arda secured their place in the First League for the upcoming season, after Botev Plovdiv beat Botev Vratsa 3–2.
Arda reached the final of the 2020–21 Bulgarian Cup, their first-ever participation at a final of the domestic cup. Arda faced CSKA Sofia, and lost by 1–0, in a closely fought game. A few days later, the team won the Europa Conference League play-off against Cherno More Varna and qualified for a European tournament for first time in their history.[10] In the Europa Conference League, Arda faced Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva. Arda's general inexperience with European football caused an upsetting 0–2 home loss, followed by a 4–0 away loss, which eliminated Arda from the Europa Conference League.
Honours
- First League:
- Bulgarian Cup:
- Runners-up (1): 2020–21
- Third League
- Winners (1): 2017–18
- A Regional Group
- Winners (1): 2015–16
- Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League
- Winners (1): 2017–18
Players
Current squad
As of 25 February 2026[update]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2025 and Transfers winter 2025–26.
Foreign players
Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League, however only five non-EU nationals can be used during 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.
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EU Nationals |
EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)
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Non-EU Nationals
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Goalscoring and appearance records
Most appearances for the club in First League
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Most goals for the club in First League
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- Players in bold are still playing for Arda.
Records and notable stats
Club Records
- Biggest home win in First League: Arda Kardzhali 5–0 Lokomotiv Plovdiv (17 February 2023) Arda Kardzhali 5–0 Lokomotiv Sofia (14 April 2025)
- Biggest away win in First League: Botev Plovdiv 0–5 Arda Kardzhali (4 August 2025)
- Biggest home loss in First League: Arda Kardzhali 0–4 Ludogorets Razgrad (12 February 2022)
- Biggest away loss in First League: Tsarsko Selo 4–0 Arda Kardzhali (25 April 2021)
- Unbeaten streak in First League (single season): 11 (2020–21)
- Most consecutive wins in First League (single season): 5 (2023–24)
Notable players
For all players with a Wikipedia article see Category:FC Arda Kardzhali players.
The footballers enlisted below have international caps for their respective countries or more than 100 caps for Arda. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.
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European record
- As of match played 28 August 2025
| Competition | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 25.00 |
| Total | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 25.00 |
Matches
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 2Q |  Hapoel Be'er Sheva |
0–2 | 0–4 | 0–6 |
| 2025–26 | UEFA Conference League | 2Q |  HJK |
0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 (4–3 p) |
| 3Q |  Kauno Žalgiris |
2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | ||
| PO |  Raków Częstochowa |
1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
Personnel
Board of directors
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| President |  | |
| Director of Football | | |
| Director of Sports Administration | | |
| Administrator | |
Current technical body
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Head Coach | Aleksandar Tunchev | |
| Assistant Coach | Veselin Minev | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Todor Popov | |
| Conditioning Coach | Anton Donchev | |
Manager history
| Name | Nat | From | To | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elin Topuzakov | |
12 July 2017 | 26 August 2018 | |
| Stoycho Stoev | |
26 August 2018 | 6 March 2019 | |
| Stamen Belchev | |
6 March 2019 | 14 April 2020 | |
| Nikolay Kirov | |
15 April 2020 | 3 September 2021 | |
| Georgi Chilikov | |
8 September 2021 | 9 November 2021 | |
| Slavko Matić |  |
12 November 2021 | 16 December 2021 | |
| Stamen Belchev | |
23 December 2021 | 14 May 2022 | |
| Aleksandar Tunchev | |
19 May 2022 | 25 February 2024 | |
| Nikolay Kirov | |
26 February 2024 | 31 May 2024 | |
| Aleksandar Tunchev | |
7 June 2024 |
Seasons
League positions
Past seasons
| Season | League | Bulgarian Cup | Other competitions | Top goalscorer | ||||||||||||
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| Division | Level | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pos | ||||||
| 2015–16 | A Regional League | 4 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 7 | +38 | 21 | 1st ↑ | Not qualified | ||||
| 2016–17 | South-East Third League | 3 | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 49 | 69 | –20 | 39 | 16th | Not qualified | Cup of Bulgarian Amateur League | N/Q | ||
| 2017–18 | 3 | 34 | 30 | 4 | 0 | 142 | 7 | +135 | 94 | 1st ↑ | Not qualified | W | Dimitar Aleksiev |
26 | ||
| 2018–19 | Second League | 2 | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 44 | 18 | +26 | 62 | 3rd ↑ | Round of 32 | Ventsislav Hristov |
12 | ||
| 2019–20 | First League | 1 | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 28 | 36 | –8 | 35 | 9th | Round of 16 | Radoslav Vasilev |
9 | ||
| 2020–21 | 1 | 31 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 50 | 4th | Runners-up | Ivan Kokonov |
8 | |||
| 2021–22 | 1 | 32 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 38 | 51 | –13 | 35 | 10th | Round of 16 | Europa Conference League | 2Q | Tonislav Yordanov |
7 | |
| 2022–23 | 1 | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 47 | 36 | +9 | 58 | 7th | Quarter-final |  Lassana N'Diaye |
8 | |||
| 2023–24 | 1 | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 51 | 8th | Quarter-final | Tonislav Yordanov |
7 | |||
| 2024–25 | 1 | 36 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 54 | 41 | +13 | 58 | 4th | Quarter-final | Tonislav Yordanov |
12 | |||
| 2025–26 | 1 | 36 | Qualified | Europa Conference League | ||||||||||||
Key
| Champions | Runners-up | Promoted | Relegated |