From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑3 to Montana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Galin Ivanov
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
Septemvri make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Septemvri have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 2‑1 win over Beroe, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.89, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“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
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Valon Hamdiu
Defensive actions: 29. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Arda, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.24 — 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Galin Ivanov. 2‑1 against Ludogorets, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
175% of the income goes out in wages at Septemvri
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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.75 — 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolas Fontaine, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Galin Ivanov finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Septemvri have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
42 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Septemvri
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Septemvri are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Simeon 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Septemvri have made Edney Ribeiro available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2026
Lokomotiv Plovdiv ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bertrand Fourrier 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 33 days on the sidelines for Valentine Ozornwafor, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑2 to CSKA Sofia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Valon Hamdiu
“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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Preslav Georgiev has left for Dobrudzha in a $140.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad17 Aug 2026
49 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Galin Ivanov 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.79 on the card, and the Septemvri support went home talking about one name.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Levski will be the happier side with the point.
Market17 Aug 2026
Septemvri have made Galin Ivanov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Faiz Mattoir and Septemvri agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bertrand Fourrier. 2‑0 against Lokomotiv Sofia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“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 ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 8.66 — 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.66, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A defender's afternoon for Valon Hamdiu
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Dobrudzha are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Septemvri will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Valon Hamdiu and Septemvri agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A defender's afternoon for Valon Hamdiu
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Preslav Georgiev again, and this time the name on the line is Dobrudzha. Septemvri are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Robin Schouten’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Faiz Mattoir asks for a word with the manager
“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.