Marked for Ali Aruna
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yanko Georgiev and Septemvri agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Oct 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Joacim Holtan. 1‑0 against Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Loan watch4 Oct 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Septemvri, and 5 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Septemvri
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match18 Aug 2027
Slavia Sofia ended it 1‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 29 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Joel Sacks was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match21 Aug 2027
CSKA Sofia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A masterclass from Ali Aruna
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Septemvri's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Septemvri has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Aug 2027
Septemvri say no — this time
The offer from Botev Plovdiv for Bertrand Fourrier was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Ali Aruna: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Septemvri have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Robin Schouten was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joacim Holtan, and the manager let it.
Match14 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ali Aruna and Septemvri agree another 4 years.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Korben Rojas gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch10 May 2027
Ali Aruna wants to come home
“I did not go to Botev Plovdiv to sit and watch. I want to come back to Septemvri and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Septemvri, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch15 Mar 2027
“I watch every Septemvri game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Botev Plovdiv runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 Feb 2027
The bid was some way short and Septemvri did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Ali Aruna has come up in conversations Septemvri were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match30 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Korben Rojas, and the manager let it.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Septemvri, and 5 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Every debut is a small story about the future: Dimitar Chelebiev, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market1 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nicolas Fontaine signs something — a contract at Septemvri or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.