Botev Vratsa U20

24 Oct 2026
Saturday
Process
12 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Genov

158 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Marin Orlinov stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

No end in sight to Botev Vratsa's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Botev Vratsa has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Botev Vratsa

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

José Gallegos falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Botev Vratsa are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Match

Botev Vratsa come up short against Ludogorets

Ludogorets left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Botev Vratsa

Something was said to Radoslav Tsonev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Boris Chochev left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

Back issues
11 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Lazar Boyanov

67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Botev Vratsa taken apart

0‑3 to Botev Plovdiv, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

6 saves: Marin Orlinov was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

4 matches without a win for Botev Vratsa

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Botev Vratsa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Kassim Hadji stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Kassim Hadji and Botev Vratsa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

The goals have deserted Botev Vratsa

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Botev Vratsa can tell you which week it ends in.

Market

Botev Vratsa promote Milko Ivanov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Milko Ivanov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

The dugout

No hiding place for Marin Orlinov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marin Orlinov, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Botev Vratsa

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout A promise honoured at Botev Vratsa
  • Player ratings Martin Petkov beats them one at a time
10 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Lazar Boyanov out for 74 days

74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

A hiding for Botev Vratsa

Beaten 0‑4 by CSKA Sofia, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Lyuboslav Stoyanov keeps Botev Vratsa in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Botev Vratsa count the cost of losing Hristo Petrov

49 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Tempers go at Botev Vratsa

Marin Orlinov 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.

The dugout

Daniel Genov 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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Botev Vratsa dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Boris Chochev faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Boris Chochev after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Ivan Goranov

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

9 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Lazar Boyanov damages knee ligaments — 82 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 82 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Botev Vratsa

0‑4 against Levski, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Words exchanged at Botev Vratsa

Daniel Genov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

José Gallegos falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ivan Goranov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Goranov, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Inquest at Botev Vratsa

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Boris Chochev to a room that had heard them before.

Looking ahead

Botev Vratsa take on the side everybody is chasing

CSKA Sofia arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.

Squad

A long afternoon for Marin Orlinov

Beaten 4 times, with 5 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.

In brief

8 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Lazar Boyanov out for 89 days

89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Tempers go at Botev Vratsa

Daniel Genov 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.

Player ratings

Kassim Hadji runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Filip Panić

Botev Vratsa asked and ND Gorica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Mitchy Ntelo at his very best

Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Botev Vratsa.

Squad

Gabriel Rodrigues is a square peg at Botev Vratsa

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Squad

6 new faces, and Botev Vratsa are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Match

Honours even between Botev Vratsa and Lokomotiv Sofia

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Boris Chochev was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Botev Vratsa dressing room was either.

In brief

7 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Lazar Boyanov out for 97 days

97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Kassim Hadji beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A move Gabriel Rodrigues would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gabriel Rodrigues is living that version at Botev Vratsa, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Daniel Genov falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Botev Vratsa rebuffed over Vito Kovač

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Botev Vratsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The terraces

Botev Vratsa supporters have found a favourite in Sainey Sanyang

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sainey Sanyang 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.

Market

Martin Atanasov steps up from the Botev Vratsa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin Atanasov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Match

Botev Vratsa get the job done against Slavia Sofia

A 1‑0 win over Slavia Sofia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Vasil Tonev out for 28 days

The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Vasil Tonev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

6 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Lazar Boyanov out for 104 days

104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 15 signed and 1 gone

That is the business done at Botev Vratsa until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Andrej Vasović rejects the move

Botev Vratsa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Club Brugge, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Player ratings

Kassim Hadji runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Olympiacos tell Botev Vratsa: Alexis Kalogeropoulos is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Match

A bad afternoon for Botev Vratsa against Cherno More

0‑1 to Cherno More, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Boris Chochev to a room that had heard them before.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Marto Boychev

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Marto Boychev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Botev Vratsa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout

Martin Smolenski 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.

In brief

5 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Boris Dimitrov has said yes to Gomel

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Botev Vratsa have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Aleksandar Buchkov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Lautaro Taboada will not be coming to Botev Vratsa

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Leganés is saying, and nobody at Botev Vratsa is enjoying the guessing.

Player ratings

Kassim Hadji beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Botev Vratsa rebuffed over Francisco Tcherkaski

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensores have kept their man, and Botev Vratsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Radoslav Tsonev sends Botev Vratsa past Beroe

It finished 2‑1, and it was Radoslav Tsonev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Botev Vratsa.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Radoslav Tsonev

“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.

Player ratings

Radoslav Tsonev in the eights

A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Alexis Kalogeropoulos is in the works

Botev Vratsa have made the call to Olympiacos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

4 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Botev Vratsa out of the cup

CSKA Sofia ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Market

Botev Vratsa turn down Beroe for Martin Petkov

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Lyuboslav Stoyanov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

No thanks: César Miño rejects the move

Botev Vratsa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olimpia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Match

No end in sight to Botev Vratsa's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Botev Vratsa has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Eyes on Boris Dimitrov again

The phone has started ringing about Boris Dimitrov again, and this time the name on the line is Gomel. Botev Vratsa are listening politely and promising nothing.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Aleksandar Buchkov

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Martin Achkov ran the middle of the pitch — 7.28

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 7.28, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Aleksa Maraš

Botev Vratsa asked and Botev Plovdiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

3 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

César Miño is a medical away from Botev Vratsa

The deal with Olimpia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Transfer targets

Quilmes tell Botev Vratsa: Gabriel Vázquez is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Words exchanged at Botev Vratsa

Marin Orlinov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Martin Petkov

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Francisco Tcherkaski is in the works

Botev Vratsa have made the call to Defensores. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Boris Chochev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

Squad

The formation has left Marto Boychev behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Botev Vratsa will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Iliya Yurukov

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Match

Point won or two lost for Botev Vratsa?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Spartak 1918? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief

2 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at Botev Vratsa

Daniel Genov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Martin Georgiev

Botev Vratsa asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Martin Petrov steps up from the Botev Vratsa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin Petrov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Radoslav Marcelinho joins the Botev Vratsa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Radoslav Marcelinho is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Botev Vratsa promote Valeri Nedelkov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Valeri Nedelkov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Botev Vratsa promote Kiril Nikolov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kiril Nikolov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Match

Botev Vratsa come up short against CSKA 1948

CSKA 1948 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Martin Achkov signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Martin Achkov commits to Botev Vratsa for another 4 years.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Boris Chochev left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

1 Edition

The Botev Vratsa Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Marin Orlinov keeps Botev Vratsa in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Martin Petkov takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Kassim Hadji beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Aleksandar Buchkov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Radoslav Tsonev stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Radoslav Tsonev and Botev Vratsa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Botev Vratsa

Daniel Genov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

One of those days for Martin Petkov

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Botev Vratsa see off Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Three points for Botev Vratsa, 3‑1 the final word against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Martin Petkov

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief