June 23 – First division Bulgarian league (efbet League) newcomers FC Krumovgrad will have to play in a new city after the club failed to meet the Bulgarian Football Union stadium licensing conditions.
FC Krumovgrad is starting an urgent reconstruction of its stadium, which has a capacity of only 1,500 seats. Until it is completely renovated, the team will play in Bulgaria’s second largest city, Plovdiv.
Krumovgrad is a town in southern Bulgaria with a just over 5,000 inhabitants and is located 140 km from Plovdiv. FC Krumovgrad qualified for the top tier of Bulgarian football for the first time in their history.
The team will play home games at Botev Plovdiv’s training complex, which has a license for efbet League matches. Botev’s team also played there for many years while the Hristo Botev stadium was being reconstructed.
FC Krumovgrad will not train at its own base, but at the municipal stadium “Plovdiv”, where no official matches are played.
“This season our club has achieved a historic promotion to the First league. We have passed through all the levels of Bulgarian football and fully deserved to play in the elite,” said a club statement.
“We want to thank for the support of the Municipality of Krumovgrad, to all the coaches, players and employees of the club, who gave their all for this success. We also thank our supporters for their full support.
“In the next efbet League season, we will not be able to host games at our stadium. We assure you that we are already working on a project for the total reconstruction of our stadium to meet all the requirements for football matches at the highest level and we will be able to return to our home as soon as possible.
“We want to address all supporters of PFC Botev Plovdiv and assure them that we never wanted to play our home games at the most modern and beautiful stadium in – “Hristo Botev”.
“FC Krumovgrad will play its home games at the Botev 1912 Football Complex (training base of Botev), where they will only play official matches. The training process of the team will take place at the “Plovdiv” stadium.
“We thank the management of PFC Botev for the fact that we will be able to play our official matches at the Botev 1912 Football Complex and the Municipality of Plovdiv for the opportunity to prepare at the “Plovdiv” stadium.”
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1722044795labto1722044795ofdlr1722044795owedi1722044795sni@o1722044795fni1722044795