FC Fratria

FC Fratria (ФК Фратрия) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Varna, which currently competes in the Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football league system. Fratria's home ground is the Albena 1 Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,000 spectators.

Establishment
Fratria was established in 2021 by businessman Viktor Bakurevich, owner of Berezka supermarkets. Bakurevich decided to start an academy that is free from taxes, making the club base in Benkovski, Varna Province. Later that year, the team started a partnership with MFC Ticha Academy.

Regional and amateur leagues climb up: 2021–2024
They won their first season in B Regional Group and in 2022 were promoted to A Regional Group with Oleksandr Babych taking the manager position. Since Bakurevich had Russian and Ukrainian roots, a few players from Russia and Ukraine, living in Bulgaria, joined the main team and the academies. The team won the league and on 29 May 2023, Fratria secured promotion to Third League, being called the fastest developing team, not only because their quick promote to the third league, but also because of the development of their base and academy. In June 2023, the team started to prepare for their first season in Third League with the intentions to win the group. Fratria also established a second team that joined A Regional League. Later same month it was announced they will move to Stadium Albena 1 in Albena resort.

In their first cup appearance, Fratria was drawn against local team Spartak Varna, but lost the match with a 1:3 result, played on 8 September 2023. On 5 October 2023 the team announced that they are introducing a new sporting director in the name of Emanuel Lukanov, who took the position. In January 2024, Fratria announced they will have a friendly match against Farul II, as part of their winter camp, setting a start of a partnership with Farul Constanța. On 5 February Babych was signed by Pirin Blagoevgrad in First League and Lukanov was promoted as a manager of the team. On 29 February 2024 the team once again changed stadium, moving to Kavarna Stadium, which would allow the team to play in Second League. They won the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League, beating Akademik Svishtov on Ivaylo Stadium on 22 May 2024 with 2:0.

Professional league breakthrough: 2024–present
On 1 June 2024 Fratria won their match against Ustrem Donchevo, finishing second, with the same points as Ludogorets III and promoted to Second League. The team also returned to Albena 1 Stadium, due to administrative issues with Kavarna Stadium.

Honours

 * A RFG Varna:
 * Gold medal with cup.svg Winners (1): 2022–23
 * B RFG Varna:
 * Gold medal with cup.svg Winners (1): 2021–22


 * Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League:
 * Gold medal with cup.svg Winners (1): 2023–24

Logo, shirt and sponsor
The "Fratria" name of the club translates to „Brotherhood", from Latin, with the team having the sloagan “frater pro fratre", meaning „brother for brother", on their logo. Their main colors are red (bordo) and black. Since 2021 their main sponsor is Berezka.

Current squad


For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2024.

Foreign players
Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Bulgarian First Professional League however only three can be used in 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)
 * 🇲🇩 🇧🇬 Vasil Andoni
 * 🇷🇺 🇧🇬 Мikhail Gashchuk

Non-EU Nationals
 * 🇺🇦 Oleksandr Filonchuk
 * 🇺🇦 Andriy Lisak
 * 🇺🇦 Oleksiy Mazhynskyi
 * 🇺🇦 Denys Vasin

Goalscoring and appearance records

 * Players in bold are still playing for Fratria.