The Arda Chronicle
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Simeon Vasilev, 20, steals the show — 7.89
Marked 7.89 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dimitar Velkovski stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dimitar Velkovski and Arda agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Atanas Kabov runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Gustavo Cascardo wants to go home
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Arda can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
Arda supporters have found a favourite in Simeon Vasilev
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Simeon Vasilev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match1 Aug 2026
Arda see off Lokomotiv Sofia
Three points for Arda, 2‑0 the final word against Lokomotiv Sofia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Arda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Viktor Popov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A masterclass from Dominik Yankov
Marked 8.10 — 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Arda and Anatoli Gospodinov are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
In brief
- Squad Emil Viyachki in a row with a teammate
- The dugout The manager’s verdict
- The dugout Stanislav Ivanov knocks on the manager's door