From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
At 19, Luca Meirelles is already the best thing here
An average of 7.06 in a first team he is several years too young for. Spartak 1918 have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mateo Jurić-Petrašilo and Spartak 1918 agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexander Milošević, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Spartak 1918 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Hüseyin Ertürk
“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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 130% of everything Spartak 1918 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maksym Kovaliov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match18 Nov 2026
CSKA Sofia go through and Spartak 1918 go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match21 Nov 2026
Dobrudzha made Spartak 1918 work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Bruno Mišura
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spartak 1918, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Spartak 1918 know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad16 Nov 2026
45 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Daniel Ivanov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
At 19, Luca Meirelles is already the best thing here
An average of 7.00 in a first team he is several years too young for. Spartak 1918 have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market9 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Xande’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Damyan Yordanov unhappy with how he is being used
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Damyan Yordanov has let it be known that he does not like the way Spartak 1918 are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Oct 2026
8 matches without a win for Spartak 1918
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Spartak 1918 are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 130% of everything Spartak 1918 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Deyan Lozev 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Spartak 1918 have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Lokomotiv Plovdiv came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market2 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Damyan Yordanov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Spartak 1918's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Spartak 1918 has to find a result from somewhere.
Match24 Oct 2026
Montana left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Emmanuel John
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Spartak 1918's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Spartak 1918 has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak 1918 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 43 days on the sidelines for Daniel Ivanov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Maksym Kovaliov
“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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Arda left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces5 Oct 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Match3 Oct 2026
4 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 218% of everything Spartak 1918 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Tailson
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Spartak 1918 have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Botev Plovdiv left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Deyan Lozev 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 Deyan Lozev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. CSKA Sofia came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mateo Jurić-Petrašilo signs something — a contract at Spartak 1918 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A first senior shirt for Bruno Mišura
Every debut is a small story about the future: Bruno Mišura, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market14 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Xande’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bruno Mišura finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Spartak 1918 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 31 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Spartak 1918 are won quietly and lost loudly.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Saad Moukachar reports back to Spartak 1918 with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luca Meirelles. 2‑1 against Lokomotiv Sofia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 120% of everything Spartak 1918 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The award goes to Hüseyin Ertürk, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spartak 1918, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Tales
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 35 with 0 appearances behind him, and Spartak 1918 have to plan for both answers.
Market7 Sep 2026
A season-long audition: Hajduk Split still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Spartak 1918's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
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 Spartak 1918, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Lokomotiv Sofia paid $120.0K and Spartak 1918 took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad31 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Ludogorets are out and Spartak 1918 go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Cherno More, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad24 Aug 2026
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Maksym Kovaliov
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Martin Georgiev, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Georg Stojanovski has come up in conversations Spartak 1918 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Maksym Kovaliov 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tailson finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Spartak 1918 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Boris Ivanov, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Hüseyin Ertürk, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market17 Aug 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Xande’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market17 Aug 2026
The shop window has Boris Ivanov in it
Spartak 1918 have let the market know Boris Ivanov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The press cannot get enough of Tailson
Praise is not points and never has been. It is, however, the fastest way for a valuation to move, and everybody in the game reads the same pages.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Dobrudzha made Spartak 1918 work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tsvetoslav Marinov commits to Spartak 1918 for another 5 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market10 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Saad Moukachar has his answer from Spartak 1918; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Zakaria Tindano, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maksym Kovaliov commits to Spartak 1918 for another 3 years.
Squad3 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Spartak 1918, another week without a signature from Angel Granchov.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Xande's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.