Minyor Pernik U20

13 Feb 2027
Saturday
Process
28 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Minyor Pernik's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Minyor Pernik has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

33 days out for Dragomir Despodov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Minyor Pernik will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Juliano puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Minyor Pernik, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Transfer targets

Minyor Pernik rebuffed over Pereowei Magbisa

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

Squad

Ivaylo Klimentov 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.

Player ratings

The game went through Ivaylo Klimentov — 7.04

Marked 7.04 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

Match

Minyor Pernik come up short against Dunav Ruse

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

Boardroom

Wages eat 117% of everything Minyor Pernik earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

In brief

Back issues
27 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Minyor Pernik's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Minyor Pernik has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Dragomir Despodov breaks a bone — 41 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Boardroom

Istanbulspor come asking about Georgi Petkov

Minyor Pernik did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.

The dugout

Aleks Lukanov: 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.” Minyor Pernik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Kristiyan Hristov delivers — 7.37

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Kristiyan Hristov scored, was marked 7.37, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Player ratings

Georgi Babaliev runs at them all day

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.

Boardroom

Minyor Pernik close the window on a squad of their own making

2 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Squad

Bruno Pires gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bruno Pires has just signed for Minyor Pernik, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Words exchanged at Minyor Pernik

Georgi Aleksandrov 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.

In brief

26 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Minyor Pernik

8 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.

Squad

A fracture rules Dragomir Despodov out for 48 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Minyor Pernik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Dzhuneyt Ali beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Minyor Pernik

Georgi Aleksandrov 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.

Match

Minyor Pernik cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Panagiotis Ballas

Minyor Pernik asked and Anagennisi Karditsa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Klimentov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Stiliyan Tisovski 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.

Player ratings

António Ribeiro stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.81 on the card, and the Minyor Pernik support went home talking about one name.

In brief

25 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Minyor Pernik's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Minyor Pernik has to find a result from somewhere.

Transfer targets

Stipe Vulikić is a medical away from Minyor Pernik

The deal with Levski 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.

Player ratings

Dzhuneyt Ali 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

Tarxien Rainbows tell Minyor Pernik: Anthony Lokosa 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

Ivaylo Klimentov 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Minyor Pernik

Tiaguinho 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 terraces

One of their own: António Ribeiro

He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Player ratings

António Ribeiro takes the honours

Marked 7.58 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Minyor Pernik had the best player on the pitch.

Transfer targets

Minyor Pernik ask about Pereowei Magbisa

A loan enquiry to Flamurtari: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

  • The dugout Somebody else is better right now than Ivan Penev
  • The dugout Ivan Penev has become a man the manager trusts
  • The dugout Georgi Petkov: “We have to be better”
24 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Minyor Pernik

6 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.

Transfer targets

Failed medical for Teodor Ivanov

The deal with CSKA Sofia died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Squad

The step up is real for Emiliyan Gogev

At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Time is catching up with Stoyan Predev

Everybody at Minyor Pernik saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.

Squad

Home is on Tiaguinho's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Minyor Pernik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Transfer targets

Ludogorets tell Minyor Pernik: Deroy Duarte 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.

Player ratings

Steven Kirilov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

The Kevin Bemanga conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Lokomotiv Plovdiv will make the call about Kevin Bemanga this week. Minyor Pernik have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

23 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

A brace, and Georgi Dimitrov takes the afternoon — 8.49

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Georgi Dimitrov provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Georgi Babaliev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

The wait goes on for Minyor Pernik

5 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.

Transfer targets

Teodor Ivanov due for a Minyor Pernik medical

Everything agreed with CSKA Sofia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Words exchanged at Minyor Pernik

Georgi Aleksandrov 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

Juliano wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Minyor Pernik know it.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Oktay Hamdiev

Minyor Pernik asked and Chernomorets Burgas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Klimentov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

One of their own: Georgi Dimitrov

He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

In brief

22 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

4 matches without a win for Minyor Pernik

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

Squad

Real improvement from Valentin Dotsev at Minyor Pernik

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Valentin Dotsev is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Minyor Pernik

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

A row about effort at Minyor Pernik

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Dimitris Keramitsis

“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

Nobody on the pitch touched Arhan Isuf

7.54, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Minyor Pernik had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Georgi Petkov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Minyor Pernik dressing room was either.

Player ratings

Krasimir Todorov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief

21 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Georgi Aleksandrov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The goals have deserted Minyor Pernik

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

Squad

Ivaylo Klimentov 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.

Squad

The decline has begun for Preslav Yordanov

Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Minyor Pernik is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Hristiyan Vasilev

“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.

Match

Minyor Pernik come up short against Etar

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

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dzhuneyt Ali

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Minyor Pernik at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 5, 28 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

The dugout

Georgi Petkov answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

20 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Georgi Angelov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minyor Pernik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Squad

Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Klimentov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Krasimir Todorov runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Stoyan Predev

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.

The dugout

When it matters, Ivan Penev plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Kristiyan Hristov 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.

Squad

Bookings catch up with Georgi Aleksandrov

One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Minyor Pernik will feel it on Saturday.

Match

Minyor Pernik draw a blank against Spartak Pleven

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Spartak Pleven defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

19 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

An unwelcome headline for Georgi Aleksandrov

He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dzhuneyt Ali

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for Dzhuneyt Ali

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

Match

Sevlievo take the points off Minyor Pernik

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Voices raised on the Minyor Pernik training ground

Two players, one bad tackle and a session that had to be stopped. It was over in a minute; it was outside the gates in an hour.

Boardroom

122% of the income goes out in wages at Minyor Pernik

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Squad

Juliano is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Juliano has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

The dugout

Georgi Petkov faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Georgi Petkov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

18 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Minyor Pernik tear CSKA Sofia II apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 11‑0 against CSKA Sofia II, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Vintage Preslav Yordanov — 9.97

At 37 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.97, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

3 goals for Juliano

The match ball belongs to Juliano, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

A day Ivaylo Klimentov will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

Krasimir Todorov takes the match ball home

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

The dugout

Kristiyan Hristov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minyor Pernik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and António Ribeiro delivers — 7.92

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. António Ribeiro scored, was marked 7.92, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Match

Krasimir Todorov among the goals in a wild afternoon

11 goals in one match, Krasimir Todorov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Minyor Pernik and CSKA Sofia II.

Player ratings

Krasimir Todorov in the eights

A performance of 9.86 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

17 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Georgi Aleksandrov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Minyor Pernik

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

When it matters, Preslav Yordanov plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lyubomir Vasilev

“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.

The dugout

Lyubomir Vasilev does not fit this one

Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.

The dugout

Aleks Lukanov has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Aleks Lukanov has written the date down.

In brief

16 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Minyor Pernik

Juliano 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

When it matters, Ivan Penev plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Squad

Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Georgi Angelov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

15 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Juliano in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Klimentov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Minyor Pernik come up short against Belasitsa

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Dimitris Keramitsis

“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.

Market

Still no ink between Minyor Pernik and Hristiyan Vasilev

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Hristiyan Vasilev.

Squad

9 new faces, and Minyor Pernik 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.

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 Georgi Petkov left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Minyor Pernik pick somebody else ahead of Ivan Penev

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

The dugout

Hristiyan Vasilev gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Hristiyan Vasilev is on it.

In brief

14 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Minyor Pernik bow out of the cup

Levski go through and Minyor Pernik go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dzhuneyt Ali

Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Dimitris Keramitsis keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minyor Pernik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

6 saves: Hristiyan Vasilev 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Squad

Ivaylo Klimentov 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 127% of everything Minyor Pernik earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Market

Talks stall between Minyor Pernik and Georgi Aleksandrov

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

Georgi Aleksandrov named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Georgi Aleksandrov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

In brief

13 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Minyor Pernik up to position 3

23 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Dzhuneyt Ali in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Klimentov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Krasimir Todorov the difference as Minyor Pernik beat Yantra

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Krasimir Todorov. 2‑1 against Yantra, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Krasimir Todorov

At 22 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.

Looking ahead

The big one: Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa come into view

Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Minyor Pernik will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Georgi Babaliev

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for Stiliyan Tisovski

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

The dugout

Stoyan Predev dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

12 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Stanislav Nistorov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minyor Pernik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Dzhuneyt Ali beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Squad

Lyubomir Vasilev is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Ivaylo Klimentov 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

When it matters, Ivan Penev plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Georgi Petkov: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

Match

No goals between Minyor Pernik and Vihren

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Vihren will be the happier side with the point.

Looking ahead

Hristiyan Vasilev faces his old club

Yantra next, and one man in the Minyor Pernik dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

In brief

11 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The step up is real for Valentin Dotsev

At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

A row about effort at Minyor Pernik

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

The decline has begun for Tiaguinho

Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 38 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Minyor Pernik is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Minyor Pernik

25 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Preslav Yordanov has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Minyor Pernik will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Looking ahead

Ivaylo Klimentov goes back to face Vihren

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ivaylo Klimentov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Minyor Pernik needing him to play as if none of it matters.

In brief

10 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Ivaylo Klimentov leads the rout of Ludogorets II

11‑1, and Ivaylo Klimentov took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Minyor Pernik tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

A brace, and Preslav Yordanov takes the afternoon — 8.67

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Preslav Yordanov provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

A day Ivaylo Klimentov will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

A brace, and Steven Kirilov takes the afternoon — 7.93

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Steven Kirilov provided it, and the 7.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Tiaguinho delivers — 7.10

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Tiaguinho scored, was marked 7.10, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Georgi Aleksandrov delivers — 7.43

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Georgi Aleksandrov scored, was marked 7.43, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Tempers go at Minyor Pernik

Georgi Aleksandrov 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.

Match

Ivaylo Klimentov among the goals in a wild afternoon

12 goals in one match, Ivaylo Klimentov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Minyor Pernik and Ludogorets II.

Squad

Preslav Yordanov is slowing down

At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.

In brief

9 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The step up is real for Dimitris Keramitsis

At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Georgi Aleksandrov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Minyor Pernik

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Krasimir Todorov

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

Minyor Pernik get the job done against Dunav Ruse

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

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Krasimir Todorov

7.94, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Minyor Pernik had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Georgi Petkov, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Arhan Isuf

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Aleks Lukanov

“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.

In brief

8 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Klimentov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Hristiyan Vasilev

“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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Minyor Pernik against Chernomorets Burgas

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

Squad

Aleks Lukanov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Georgi Petkov faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Georgi Petkov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Ivan Penev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Minyor Pernik will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Player ratings

Dzhuneyt Ali was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

Dimitris Keramitsis knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dimitris Keramitsis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Stiliyan Tisovski has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Minyor Pernik will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

In brief

7 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Vintage Preslav Yordanov — 8.08

At 37 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.08, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Real improvement from Valentin Dotsev at Minyor Pernik

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Valentin Dotsev is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Squad

Ivaylo Klimentov 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.

Player ratings

Dzhuneyt Ali was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market

Minyor Pernik promote Deyan Despodov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Deyan Despodov 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

Minyor Pernik get the job done against Fratria

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

Transfer targets

Deadline beats Minyor Pernik to Yasen Ivanov

The clock did what Cherno More would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

Market

Still no ink between Minyor Pernik and Georgi Aleksandrov

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Georgi Aleksandrov.

In brief

  • Squad Minyor Pernik are still strangers to each other
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Stoyan Predev knocks on the manager’s door
6 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

$45.0K settles it between the clubs for Yasen Ivanov

Cherno More have accepted the money. What Minyor Pernik do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 32 signed and 16 gone

That is the business done at Minyor Pernik 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.

Squad

António Ribeiro signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” António Ribeiro and Minyor Pernik agree another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Minyor Pernik

Georgi Aleksandrov 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.

Transfer targets

Minyor Pernik rebuffed over Kaloyan Kostov

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

Squad

A row about effort at Minyor Pernik

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Deadline beats Minyor Pernik to Boris Todorov

The clock did what Slavia Sofia would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

Squad

António Ribeiro needs a bigger stage

He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Minyor Pernik know which stage they are at.

Market

Still no ink between Minyor Pernik and Hristiyan Vasilev

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Hristiyan Vasilev.

In brief

5 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

Minyor Pernik agree $94.0K for Boris Todorov

The clubs have shaken hands with Slavia Sofia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Squad

A move Kristiyan Hristov 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. Kristiyan Hristov is living that version at Minyor Pernik, and it tends to show in the first month.

Transfer targets

Joseph George turns down Minyor Pernik

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Spartak Subotica keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Player ratings

Steven Kirilov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Georgi Aleksandrov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Minyor Pernik come up short against Pirin Blagoevgrad

Pirin Blagoevgrad left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Transfer targets

Minyor Pernik rebuffed over Bojan Milosavljević

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

Squad

A row about effort at Minyor Pernik

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Aleks Lukanov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleks Lukanov and Minyor Pernik agree another 2 years.

In brief

4 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Minyor Pernik through in the cup

A 1‑0 win over Yantra, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Player ratings

Vintage Preslav Yordanov — 8.01

At 37 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.01, and nobody on the pitch better.

Boardroom

Minyor Pernik go back to the board over Yaya Dramé

The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $20.0K — a club that wants Yaya Dramé enough to be asked twice.

Squad

A falling-out at Minyor Pernik

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

Transfer targets

An offer of $18.0K for Dzhan Hasan

Minyor Pernik have gone to Dobrudzha with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Minyor Pernik baulk at the price for Yaya Dramé

Chernomorets Burgas wanted more than $19.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Transfer targets

Fratria tell Minyor Pernik: Iliyan Kapitanov 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

After 4 games, Minyor Pernik finally taste it again

The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Marek; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Slav Petkov

“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.

In brief

3 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Ivaylo Klimentov goes up and wins it — 7.80

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.80 for the rest of it.

Match

Minyor Pernik cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Words exchanged at Minyor Pernik

Georgi Aleksandrov 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

Minyor Pernik make their move for Yaya Dramé

$17.0K on the table at Chernomorets Burgas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Player ratings

Dzhuneyt Ali was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Andrei Chindriş

Minyor Pernik asked and Lokomotiv 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.

Market

Arhan Isuf already looking beyond Minyor Pernik

He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.

Match

Minyor Pernik see off Hebar

Three points for Minyor Pernik, 1‑0 the final word against Hebar in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

This league is too small for Georgi Aleksandrov

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Minyor Pernik will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

In brief

2 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Georgi Aleksandrov gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Georgi Aleksandrov has just signed for Minyor Pernik, and for once the answer mattered.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Minyor Pernik — 7.72

1 for Ivaylo Klimentov, marked 7.72, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Squad

Georgi Aleksandrov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Kaloyan Kostov

Minyor Pernik asked and Lokomotiv Sofia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

A row about effort at Minyor Pernik

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Minyor Pernik get the job done against Sportist Svoge

A 2‑1 win over Sportist Svoge, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The terraces

Minyor Pernik supporters have found a favourite in Krasimir Todorov

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Krasimir Todorov 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

Minyor Pernik promote Nikolay Zafirov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikolay Zafirov 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

Minyor Pernik promote Lachezar Bodurov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lachezar Bodurov 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Minyor Pernik Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Age has not caught Preslav Yordanov yet — 7.98

At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Mitko Mitkov

Minyor Pernik asked and Lokomotiv Sofia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Minyor Pernik see off Etar

Three points for Minyor Pernik, 2‑1 the final word against Etar in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

One of those days for Kevin Bemanga

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

This league is too small for Krasimir Todorov

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Minyor Pernik will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Squad

Preslav Yordanov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Preslav Yordanov and Minyor Pernik agree another 2 years.

Market

Talks stall between Minyor Pernik and Krasimir Todorov

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Transfer targets

Minyor Pernik try to borrow Aleksandar Aleksandrov

Spartak 1918 have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Lyubomir Vasilev is in the works

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

In brief