FC Arda Kardzhali

History

First Arda team (1924–2013)

Arda was established on August 10, 1924, under the name Rodopski Sokol, but later took the name Arda, derived from the nearby Arda River. From 1945 to 1957 the team was named Minyor until a year later when the previous name was put in use again. In 1956, the club finished as a runner-up in the B Group. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup during the 1959–60 campaign of the competition. In 1988 they secured the third place in the B Group. The Kardzhali club spend most of its time in the second and third levels of Bulgarian football, before getting dissolved in 2013 due to financial troubles.

Refounding (2015–2017)

The team suffered relegation from the V Group in 2013 and didn't compete in any league division until 2015 when they returned to the A Regional Group after reestablishment. In 2016, Arda achieved promotion to the Bulgarian Third League after a successful season and a 3–0 win in the play-off match against Lyubimets.

PSI Group ownership and promotion to the elite (2017–present)

In early June 2017, the club was purchased by Bulgarian road construction company PSI Group, in an attempt to develop a football project, inspired by the domestic and international success of Ludogorets. Two weeks later, former Levski Sofia player Elin Topuzakov was appointed as head coach and Emil Kremenliev was hired as sporting director. Subsequently, Petar Peshev was elected chairman of the club and was revealed that the new ownership would invest around €1 million in new signings, salaries and infrastructure around the stadium during the following South-East Third League season. All of this led to an amateur double during the 2017–18 season, as Arda won both its group and the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, resulting in a promotion to the Bulgarian Second League.

After the unsatisfactory results in the first 5 rounds, Elin Topuzakov was released as a manager and Stoycho Stoev was appointed, but on 6 March 2019 Stamen Belchev was appointed as the new manager, after Stoev reached an agreement with the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad. The team improved greatly, eventually managing a 3rd-place finish, enabling them to participate in the play-offs against relegation-avoider PFC Septemvri Sofia to enter the top level of Bulgarian football. Arda eventually won 0–1 over Septemvri at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Plovdiv, thus resulting in the club's first-time ever participation in the Bulgarian First League.

First seasons in the elite and Bulgarian Cup Final

Arda's first match in the Bulgarian top tier resulted in a 0–0 home draw against Botev Plovdiv. This was followed by an away 0–0 draw to Tsarsko Selo. Arda's first win came in the third round, when the team managed to beat Beroe Stara Zagora 3–1 at home. Arda then won their first away game in the top league, by beating Vitosa Bistritsa 1–3, extending their unbeaten run to four games. At the end of the first half of the season in December, Arda was in seventh place in the league, with seven wins, seven draws, and six losses. At the end of the regular season in June, Arda was in the relegation group. Despite this, on June 20, Arda secured their place in the First League for the upcoming season, after Botev Plovdiv beat Botev Vratsa 3–2.

Arda reached the final of the 2020–21 Bulgarian Cup, their first-ever participation at a final of the domestic cup. Arda faced CSKA Sofia, and lost by 1–0, in a closely fought game. A few days later, the team won the Europa Conference League play-off against Cherno More Varna and qualified for a European tournament for first time in their history. In the Europa Conference League, Arda faced Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva. Arda's general inexperience with European football caused an upsetting 0–2 home loss, followed by a 4–0 away loss, which eliminated Arda from the Europa Conference League.

Honours

• First League:
  • 4th place (2): 2020–21, 2024–25
• Bulgarian Cup:
  • Runners-up (1): 2020–21
• Third League
  • Winners (1): 2017–18
• A Regional Group
  • Winners (1): 2015–16
• Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League
  • Winners (1): 2017–18

Players

Current squad

**

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2025 and Transfers winter 2025–26.

Foreign players

Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First League, however only five non-EU nationals can be used during a match day. Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Bulgarian citizenship after playing in Bulgaria for 5 years.

EU Nationals EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

• BRA ITA Andre Shinyashiki
• BRA ITA Gustavo Cascardo
• CMR FRA Félix Eboa Eboa
• GBS POR Isnaba Mané
• MLI FRA Wilson Samaké
• UKR BUL Vyacheslav Velyev Non-EU Nationals
• AZE Cəlal Hüseynov
• BRA Patrick Luan
• NGA David Idowu

Goalscoring and appearance records

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• PLEASE UPDATE THE TABLES ONLY AFTER THE END OF A MATCH ** -

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Most goals for the club in First League

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• Players in bold are still playing for Arda.

Records and notable stats

Club Records

• Biggest home win in First League: Arda Kardzhali 5–0 Lokomotiv Plovdiv (17 February 2023) Arda Kardzhali 5–0 Lokomotiv Sofia (14 April 2025)
• Biggest away win in First League: Botev Plovdiv 0–5 Arda Kardzhali (4 August 2025)
• Biggest home loss in First League: Arda Kardzhali 0–4 Ludogorets Razgrad (12 February 2022)
• Biggest away loss in First League: Tsarsko Selo 4–0 Arda Kardzhali (25 April 2021)
• Unbeaten streak in First League (single season): 11 (2020–21)
• Most consecutive wins in First League (single season): 5 (2023–24)

Notable players

For all players with a Wikipedia article see :Category:FC Arda Kardzhali players.

The footballers enlisted below have international caps for their respective countries or more than 100 caps for Arda. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries.

;Bulgaria

• Bulgaria Mihail Aleksandrov

• Bulgaria Ahmed Osman

• Bulgaria Dimitar Aleksiev

• Bulgaria Preslav Borukov

• Bulgaria Spas Delev

• Bulgaria Aleksandar Georgiev

• Bulgaria Ventsislav Hristov

• Bulgaria Hristo Ivanov

• Bulgaria Stanislav Ivanov

• Bulgaria Ivan Karadzhov

• Bulgaria Mihail Karushkov

• Bulgaria Ivan Kokonov

• Bulgaria Lachezar Kotev

• Bulgaria Svetoslav Kovachev

• Bulgaria Plamen Krumov

• Bulgaria Deyan Lozev

• Bulgaria Martin Lukov

• Bulgaria Dimitar Makriev

• Bulgaria Aleks Petkov

• Bulgaria Milen Stoev

• Bulgaria Ivan Tilev

• Bulgaria Borislav Tsonev

• Bulgaria Radoslav Tsonev

• Bulgaria Radoslav Uzunov

• Bulgaria Radoslav Vasilev

• Bulgaria Ventsislav Vasilev

• Bulgaria Tonislav Yordanov

• Bulgaria Iliya Yurukov

• Bulgaria Petar Zehtinski

• Bulgaria Milen Zhelev

;Europe

• Armenia Rumyan Hovsepyan
• Azerbaijan Cəlal Hüseynov
• Montenegro Slobodan Rubežić
• North Macedonia Darko Glišić

;Africa

• Algeria Ilias Hassani
• Benin David Kiki
• Cameroon Félix Eboa Eboa
• Sierra Leone Alie Sesay
• Mauritania El Mami Tetah
• NigerIvory Coast Oumar Sako

;Asia

• Iraq Rebin Sulaka

European record

Matches

Personnel

Board of directors

Current technical body

Manager history

Seasons

League positions

ImageSize = width:900 height:60 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2026 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2005

Colors = id:First_tier value:green legend:First_tier id:Second_tier value:white legend:Second_tier id:Third_tier value:red legend:Third_tier id:Fourth_tier value:yellow legend:Fourth_tier id:Fifth_tier value:blue legend:Fifth_tier id:Does_not_exist value:black legend:Does_not_exist

PlotData= bar:Position width:16 color:white align:center from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2013 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "V Group" from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2015 color:black shift:(0,14) text: Dissolved from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 color:yellow shift:(0,14) text: "Regional" from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2018 color:red shift:(0,14) text: "Third League" from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "2nd League" from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2024 till:01/07/2025 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/2025 till:01/07/2026 shift:(0,-4) text: from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2026 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "1st League"

Past seasons

Key

References

References

1. (30 October 2017). "Феновете в Кърджали: Ние сме Арда - господари на Родопите".
2. "История на клуба". ПФК АРДА.
3. "Арда (Кърджали) се върна в Трета лига".
4. "Готви се грандиозен проект в Кърджали, Топузаков и легенда от САЩ '94 поемат клуба".
5. (15 June 2017). "Топузаков потвърди за треньорския пост в Арда Кърджали".
6. "Силният човек на новия хит в БГ футбол за плановете на клуба и защо е избрал Топузаков".
7. "Драма във Велико Търново! Арда направи дубъл в аматьорския футбол".
8. "Арда освободи Топузаков, сериозно име пое отбора".
9. "Стамен Белчев пое Арда".
10. "Историческа вечер за Кърджали! Арда срази Черно море и ще дебютира в Европа".