Spartak Varna

1918–1945: Foundation of SC Sokol

Spartak Varna was founded on 28 August 1918 by a group of young people, who were playing football together for two years. At the initial meeting, regarding the establishment of the club, the name was decided to be SC Sokol. Niagol Kolev was elected as the first chairman of the club. A few days later, the members of the board registered the Football Club to the government under the name "Bulgarski Sokol". The colors of the team were blue and white. "Bulgarski Sokol," one of the poor suburban teams in Varna, was poorly circumstanced in comparison to the leading teams at that time such as Ticha and "Vladislav."

On 30 January 1924 "Bulgarski Sokol" merged with the sport club "Shipka" and proved to be one of the strongest teams in Varna. Among all the players called with a lot of praise from the fans "Falcons" with most successful plays was the forward Mihail Tunchev. In 1924 he was invited in the national team, and there he became the first national player of the team.

A few years later started the rise of the team. In the season 1928/29 the team won for the first time the championship of Varna, and joined the State Championship where they reached third place. Two years later 1930/31 the falcons were again champions of Varna. For the State Championship they reached the final with the Sofia's AS-23. Next year "Shipchenski Sokol" again reached the final, where the rival was the capitol's team Slavia. On 18.09.1932 in front of 10 000 audience on the football field of AS-23 the falcons won with 2:1 and became State Champion and Winner of the Cup of the King. In the next season "Shipchenski sokol" were again champion of Varna, and for the State Championship they reach for the third consecutive time the final. On 03.10.1933 in Sofia rival of the "falcons" was PFC Levski Sofia. Varna's team lost with 3:1 and took the second place in the State Championship.

1945–2010: Merge and Spartak naming

In 1945 the club merged with other two Varna's football clubs "Levski" and "Radetski". This happened on 18 October 1945, and the team accepted a new name - Spartak Varna (the name Spartak means "Spartacus", a gladiator who led an uprising against Ancient Rome). In the years between 1945–1948, three times Spartak reached the semi-finals of the State Championship. In 1950, the team took the fifth place in the newly created "A" Republican Football League. Spartak Stalin relegated to B League in 1952 but returned to A League at next year. Spartak again relegated to second level in 1963–64 season but returned in 1964–65 season. However, this return was short-lived and relegated in 1965–66.

In 1955, Spartak won the third place and bronze medals in the championship of "A" League. In 1959, the forward of Spartak, Georgi Arnaudov-"Alaha", became a shooter of the championship with nine goals. Two years later, Spartak again had a winner in the shooters list: Liuben Kostov with 12 goals. In 1960/61, Spartak had matches in the tournament of the Soviet Army which then was playing the role of the Cup of Bulgaria. They reached the final and met the strongest team in Bulgaria at that time- CSKA. Spartak lost the final 3:0. As a finalist, however, Spartak won the right to play in the 1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup. Spartak met Austrian club SK Rapid Wien in the first round. After a goalless draw in Wien, Spartak lost the second leg 5–2 at home and was eliminated. In 1969, another sport club merged with Spartak – it was the "Lokomotiv" sport club, a smaller club from Varna. The merge became a fact on 06.03.1969 and the club took the name "JSK-Spartak". JSK-Spartak returned to first level in 1971 but relegated in 1973–74 and returned to first level in 1974–75. JSK-Spartak relegated again in 1977–78.

In 1982 the "Falcons" reached the final of the Cup of Bulgaria as they won the semi-final against Levski-Spartak in Kazanlak in front of a crowd of 20,000. In Plovdiv, Spartak lost the final 4:0 to CSKA-Septemvriisko Zname, but as a finalist they obtained the right to play in the Cup of the National Cup Winners. In the first round, Spartak faced Turkish side Mersin Idman Yurdu. Spartak managed to win in Varna and draw in Mersin, enabling progression. In the next round, Spartak had the privilege to play former European champions Manchester United. Spartak displayed strong performances in both games, but narrowly lost 1-2 at the Yuri Gagarin Stadium and 0-1 at Old Trafford, thus suffering elimination. In the same year, JSK-Spartak returned to the A League. In the season 1983/84, after number of games, Spartak reached third place. The goalkeeper Krasimir Zafirov was declared the best goalkeeper in the championship. Since 1985 the football was separated from the other sports in JSK-Spartak, and that way the FC Spartak Varna is differentiated as well.

The 80's will be remembered and with the regular participation of the team in the tournaments for the Varna Summer Cup. Rivals of the "falcons" were the teams of NK Rijeka Croatia, the English Oxford United F.C., Hungarian Újpest FC and many others. In 1988/89, Spartak became the first Bulgarian team with private sponsor and president Atanas Atanasov-Kebie. From the autumn of 1994, president of the club was Nikolay Ishkov. Spartak relegated to B league in 1988–89 and returned to A League in 1991–92. However, Spartak relegated to second level in 1993–94.

In the season 1994/95 after many games the falcons won the cup in Bulgaria. In the same season the forward Ivo Georgiev scores 21 goals. For the first time there was successful transfer policy and perspective selection. Many of the players has a profitable offers from capitol's and foreign clubs. In its 84 years of history Spartak went through many peaks and downfall moments, but it left a trace in the Bulgarian football. The same season Spartak returned to the first level.