Football in the Bulgarian community

Friendly Match July 26th 2009

2009-7-27T04:49:00-0100

Yesterday FC Gagarin were treated to a friendly match against a team from the Sevlievo area who travelled down to Yambol.

FC Dobromirka are a new team just entering the Bulgarian football league for this coming season.
They have only been going for 2 months, and it did show!

FC Gagarin took full advantage of the inexperience (remembering they have been there many times) and romped home with a 12-1 (maybe more ) victory!
Naveed has some noticeably good players in his team, but there is much work to do to even be as good as the bottom of the Yambol league

It may well look like I am gloating and yes to some degree I am, as our lads have never had to complain to Darren that the game is not testing them enough and they weren't getting out of breath lol.
They totally enjoyed "showing off" and FC Dobromirka helped them to "appear" confident and skilled.

It was a good afternoon, we all enjoyed it, and we all shared a drink afterwards.

It was also a good chance for Darren to see how some of the younger lads not yet in the team are coming on and how they would cope in the team, and noticeably young Avram was superb and yet is only 15 years old.

We just want to say Good Luck to FC Dobromirka for their first season, and maybe we will have a re match in 1 year and see the changes.

Thanks Navcho and team

Nikki & Darren

Above: Not sure that's allowed :)

Below: Kuncho enjoys himself

Final Goal of the match

FC Gagarin V Bezmer 01.06.2009

2009-6-03T16:03:00-0100

Match Day 26
Home to Bezmer

This is it, the last report of the season, Bezmer are 5th in the league and a strong side so today was going to be another difficult game for us, but as I have said before away teams do not like playing us at home, the small pitch means that you cannot dwell on the ball and need to play a “pass and move” game. The only downside to this type of game at the moment being that the pitch is hard and cracking as the temperatures have soared in recent weeks and left the ground dry and as hard concrete, also even though we kicked off at 6.30 pm it was still incredibly hot and hard going.
We started well with Kuncho and Trancho working the wings well and the midfielders, Alex and Stancho, working well with the defence and allowing Bezmer very little time to create anything and around the 10 minute mark we took the lead. Kuncho ran down the wing crossed into the box and Ruci scored his 9th goal of the season.
We continued playing the same way creating chances, hitting the crossbar and coming close on a number of occasions. However Bezmer were also creating chances and on 20 minutes managed a shot that although Ivan, our goalie, got his hands to was unable to keep it out. The score at half time was 1-1 and remained that way, with both sides playing well creating more opportunities and hitting the woodwork.
The final result of 1-1 was fair and the game was played in good spirits from both sides and the Referee also had a good game allowing the match to flow and playing good advantages when possible.
The whole team got the Man of the Match as everyone played well and worked hard for each other.

The Awards
After the game we went to the local bar and had food and drinks and I presented the players with trophies.
There were mentions for Koca and his 2 yard miss of an open goal, Ilian for WWF move on an opponent that he wasn’t even penalized for and to Kolio for the screamer of a goal he scored against Roza, shame it was passed his own Goalie.
As for the real awards they went as follows…….

For playing every game………Trancho and Kolio

Most games voted Man of the Match………..Kolio and Ivan (little)

Most improved ……………Vesko (his confidence has grown as the season has gone on and his positioning and understanding of the game are also far better)

Top Goal Scorer …………..Myself, Kuncho and Ruci each scored 9 goals.

Best Goal Scored………Kuncho for a goal scored in our 6-1 win over Tenevo.

Managers Player of the Year …….Trancho (Although he would like to play striker every week will play any position asked without question including in goal, has been available every week and is always at training, he has a good attitude and tries to play with a smile on his face, a great club player.)

Players Player………Kolio (Another ever present, for a small lad he has great pace and is strong in the air, I feel he could be even better and if he can learn to talk to rest of the back four and become a leader he would make the games easier for himself.)

(from left to right top row) Dencho,Trancho,Tosho,Ivan(big), Darren, Rusi, Kosa, Kuncho,Dimitar, Vesko, Alex, Mayor of Krumovo(back)Ivailo,Avram. (From left to right bottom row) Vesi, Illian and Illian, Ivan (little), Stancho, Kolio, Angel)

All the award winners with the Mayor of Krumovo

Vesko, most improved player

Trancho played every game and manager's player of the year, Darren and Kuncho joint top goal scorer, and best goal scored.

Rusi joint top goal scorer

Kolio played every game, and players player of the year, and joint most games voted man of the match

with a celebratory kiss from one of the Illians!

Little Ivan voted joint most voted "man of the match"

Kuncho joint top goal scorer and best goal celebrates with Dencho

Every player registered with the club was also given a medal and an England shirt to remember the first season in 35 years that the village of Krumovo has had a team in the league.
I also want to mention the fans, they are fantastic and I think at Home matches we have the most in number and by far the most vocal, the buzz the players get when their name is being chanted is another contributing factor to our home success.
Also a massive thank you to Dencho, Velichka and Nikki, they have been tireless in their support of the team this season, Dencho was the person responsible for us starting the training in Krumovo in the first place which has led to us now having a team.
He is with me every week for both training and matches alike and I could not run things without him.
Velichka is the person responsible for making sure all our paperwork is correct and that we have the necessary forms for playing she also helps with the cleaning and supports at matches and training, she is great if one of the kids is playing up, a quick word from her and problem solved.
And then there is Nikki, my right arm, she works relentlessly at raising funds, equipment and awareness, cleans kit and anyone who has been at a match will know she is one of our more vocal supporters, I think it is because of her that the home fans are so good and cheering on the team.
I would also like to thank everyone that has been to watch or who has supported the team this first season, both financially and vocally, a particularly large thank you to Jeanette and Keith who have attended most matches and have braved the rain and cold risking pneumonia and worse still “Man Flu”
Also to the UK charity KitAid headed by Derrick, with support from Dave and Twiggy and to the supporter known only as “the devilishly handsome man” and last but not least to My Bulgaria, which I should add, I used to take the mick out of Nikki for chatting in the chat rooms all those years ago, telling her they are not real you know!

Finally as for next year I have set us a target of finishing in the top six and having seen all the teams I honestly believe this is achievable, if we can build on our experience and work on our consistency, the home ground and support will play a big part in helping us achieve our goal.

So until next season thank you to everyone and I am sorry if I haven’t mentioned you in person but your support is greatly appreciated and hopefully next season we can have more positive results and all have something to cheer about.
Thanks to all
Darren

My final thoughts
What a great game to end the season on, it was played in a really good spirit, had a good feel about it, the team seemed to enjoy it, there were plenty of frustrated faces but equally as many smiling ones too.
The crowd as ever was large and vocal, and Darren is correct that Gagarin do have one of the biggest home crowd, even the league winners Elhovo, didn’t have as many fans when we visited.
Darren started the team buzzing by asking them if they knew who had the most goals, and they didn’t but they wanted to know and just to make it more curious, he told Kuncho that he was a reserve, just as a joke lol, but it got him wondering if it was him.
He then did the team talk and told them that “today’s match is quite simple, we just need to win 12-0” which set them all about laughing.

The last time they played Bezmer, the last game of the first half season, they might as well have not been there, they were shockingly awful, but not today, they were fantastic!
Poor Ivan who was in goal today, he sat in silence and disappointment, knowing that he was the last man on the opposition’s goal.
We were so near so far, it was a shame but it happened.

I want to thank everyone who has sent us money, kit, good wishes and who has been there to support at the matches. We could not have done it without you all, no matter how big or small your donations, it was ALL appreciated.

Well done to all the lads in the team!

And a BIG THANKS to My Bulgaria for starting us off.

Here’s looking to next season, I can’t wait! Enjoy the summer:)

Nikki

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

Elhovo V FC Gagarin 23.05.09

2009-5-25T17:17:00-0100

Match Day 25

Away to Elhovo

On paper this was going to be a tough match, Elhovo knew that a win today and they would be league champions.

In reality it was a total mismatch and they easily out played us in every department, for the first 20 minutes they created plenty of chances but we worked hard to keep them out. Unfortunately when the goals did come they didn’t stop by the time the referee put an end to the slaughter we had conceded 15 goals in all.

Elhovo played extremely well and passed the ball around with purpose they worked well as a team and had some excellent individual performances as well.
Congratulations to them on their success this season.

As for us we have one game remaining next week, we are at Krumovo so hopefully can build on our recent home form and finish the season on a high. We will need to continue practicing our positions as once again on a wide pitch our frailties were easily exposed. On the narrow home pitch we are closer and are able to pressure the opposition quicker, add to that our quick short passing game and it is no coincidence that all but 1 point has come on our home turf.

There were no performances worthy of the man of the match and the whole team gets the Magari award.

Thank you Jeanette and Keith for rushing back from a loved up weekend to catch the 2nd half of the match, well you did get to see a lot of goals, shame they were in the back of the wrong net!

Next week we are home to Bezmer for the last game of the season.

Darren

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

FC Gagarin V Tenevo 16.05.09

2009-5-18T06:17:00-0100

Match Day 24

Home V Tenevo

Managing this team can only be likened to riding a massive rollercoaster.
After the disappointment of last week I can only describe this week as amazing, not only did we manage another win, for the first time we managed to totally dominate a game. From start to finish we were strong in every department, we created plenty of chances and stopped Tenevo from getting into the game.
The first goal came after 10 minutes when I scored from a free-kick, unfortunately Tenevo equalised shortly after but unlike previous weeks we kept going and got our reward.
After about 30 minutes Kuncho raced through to restore the lead, another free-kick lead to Trancho scoring only for it to be ruled out for offside, so at the break we were 2-1 up. My worry was that we would allow the good work that we had done so far go to waste, but my fears were to prove unfounded as we played our best half of football this season. Trancho came in from the left to score the third; this was closely followed by a second for me with another direct free-kick.
Rusi asked to take the next free-kick and also found the back of the net. Ivan and Alex saw great efforts come back off the wood work before Kuncho finished the scoring with his second of the match and our SIXTH.
The game finished with us as 6-1 winners!
This is the performance that I have been praying for, everybody worked hard and we kept our concentration for the whole game. I am so proud of the team for the effort put in today.
The whole team gets the Man of the Match, although I would like to single out Avram who had an excellent game at left back and to Big Ivan in center midfield who with Alex protected the back and set up two of our goals with perfect passes.
No Magari award this week.
Next week we are away to Elhovo who are the current league leaders if we perform like we did today you just never know what could happen.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

Darren

My Thoughts
WOW!!!
It was the best match ever ever!
We were watching a totally different team this week! A winning team!
Darren spoke to them all on Thursday, and said to them that Gagarin have two teams, they were puzzled, but all became clear when he explained to them that there is the good and the bad team, and he never knows which one of them is going to turn up to a match each week.
However, for the first time this season, Gagarin FC played their hearts out, they seemed to understand their positioning better, they were speaking to each other a bit more and it paid off 100%.
They got the goals, and in turn got the confidence to walk all over Tenevo, and they were smiling, they enjoyed the match from start to finish despite the blistering heat.
Darren, my hero, scored a cracking first goal. I don’t do football terminology, but it was from really far out and it bent in right over the goalies head; of course Tenevo’s goalkeeper has been on the receiving end of 4 goals similar to this from the first half of the season, so I thought they must have thought, here we go again although we only managed a draw the last time.
All of the goals were excellent, and when Darren got his 2nd of the match, it was similar again to his other against Tenevo, and they are now known as Angliski goals!
There were several shouts of GAGARIN GAGARIN, and also DARREN DARREN when he took any free or corner kicks.
It is worth noting the celebration on the pitch, Darren’s was an arm in the air, and then they bundled him, making me worry about his back, and Kuncho’s was a forward somersault which Darren just said he got the idea from him lol!!
Rusi and Trancho’s was a run with hugs from everyone.

Tenevo now are the only team not to have picked up 3 points from us, and it was a fantastic feeling knowing that for once not only were we the better team (which we have been before) but we managed to pile on the pressure, work as a team, and benefit from it.

We went back to the village bar afterwards, and there was lots of talk over who scored, and lots of celebration, the lads were over the moon of course.
Next week Gagarin is against league leaders Elhovo who are wearing a Manchester Utd strip so the lads said they have to play Man Utd, Darren said “no worries we will be wearing England tops”, but the lads said NO they want to wear the Chesham Utd kit, as they believe it has brought them luck.
Let’s hope they don’t believe this is the only reason they have won, and that they a starting to believe that working hard as a team, communication, listening and understanding are what makes a good team.

Elhovo here we come, at their pitch next Saturday 23rd May at 6pm.

Thanks to everyone who has shown support this week regarding our need for a sponsor, you know who you are. We were sorry that Jeanette and Keith were not present this week, for without doubt our best game so far.

Nikki

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria