FC Tsarsko Selo Sofia

In the summer of 2015, the previous chairman of CSKA Sofia Stoyne Manolov established a new academy called Football Academy Tsarsko Selo, with a focus on scouting and developing youth football players born in 2002 to 2010.[1] The club was initially registered and a subsequent men's team in the A RFG Sofia South was established, with former long-time CSKA Sofia captain Todor Yanchev appointed as manager.[2] On November 12, 2015 Manolov announced an academy partnership with Spanish La Liga club Málaga CF.[3] In the end of December 2015, Todor Yanchev took over Sofia 2010, which was bought by Manolov and was merged with Tsarsko Selo to establish a new club called Tsarsko Selo Sofia.[4][5]

On 28 July 2016 the team was accepted in the newly created Bulgarian Second Professional League.[6] They finished their first match against Botev Galabovo with a draw.[7] In their first match for the Bulgarian Cup they played against Levski Sofia. The match was played on 22 September 2016 at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Sofia and was won by Levski by 2–0.[8] After 2 heavy defeats, Yanchev stepped down from his position as a manager and on 29 October 2016, previous Cherno More Varna head coach Nikola Spasov was announced as the new manager of the team.[9] The team finished their first season in Second League in 5th place.[10]

The good start of the season for Tsarsko Selo was marked not only by the first place in the league after 8 rounds, but with their first win for the Cup, winning the first round against Neftochimic Burgas on 19 September 2017.[11] On 3 January 2018 Nikola Spasov was announced as the new manager of the Kazakhstan Premier League team Kyzylzhar.[12] Shortly the same day Veselin Velikov was announced as the new manager of the club.[13] On 8 May 2018 Velislav Vutsov was announced as the new head coach of the team with Velikov becoming a selectionist.[14]

On 22 April 2019 in a goalless draw against CSKA 1948 the kings secured their first place in Second League and won promotion in the First League for first time in their history, being 18 points ahead from the second and third place five rounds before the end of the season.[15]

Tsarsko selo's first ever match in the Bulgarian First Division resulted in a 0–2 away loss against the actual champion Ludogorets Razgrad. This was followed by a home 0–0 draw to the other debutant Arda Kardzhali. Tsarsko selo's first win came in the fifth round, when the team managed to beat Botev Plovdiv away with 0–2. Two goals for the win were scored by Dutch winger Rodney Antwi. The first home win came in the seventh round with 2–1 against Beroe Stara Zagora. Tsarsko Selo eventually finished 13th, having to play a playoff match in order to remain in the elite. They were drawn against the second-placed team from the Second League, Septemvri Sofia. In a very close fought game played in Sofia, Tsarsko Selo won 2–0, securing their place in the First League for the next season.

In January 2022 an Italian Private Investment company joined the club leadership.[16]

As of 9 March 2022[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ITA Guido Guerrieri 3 DF  BUL Martin Kavdanski (captain) 4 MF   SUI Valentino Pugliese 5 DF  ITA Davide Cipolletti (on loan from Parma) 6 DF  ITA Matteo Lucarelli (on loan from Parma) 7 MF  FRA Jeremy Petris 8 MF  MAR Ayoub Abou (on loan from SPAL) 9 FW  GAM Yusupha Yaffa 10 FW  ALB Redi Kasa 11 MF  BUL Andrey Yordanov (on loan from CSKA 1948) 14 DF  MDA Artur Crăciun (on loan from Budapest Honvéd) 15 MF  CIV Pierre Zebli 16 DF  ITA Alessandro Coppola (on loan from Triestina)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  ITA Davide Masella (on loan from Benevento) 19 MF  BRA Lucas Willian 20 MF  ITA Felipe Ronchetti (on loan from Chiasso) 21 MF  ITA Stefano Palmucci (on loan from Parma) 22 GK  SEN Khadim Ndiaye (on loan from Atalanta) 23 MF  ITA Sedrick Kalombo 24 DF  ITA Alessandro Martella (on loan from Parma) 31 GK  BUL Boyan Zagorski 44 DF  BUL Nikolay Nikolaev 66 MF  ITA Davide Vitturini 71 DF  BUL Plamen Krumov 91 FW  BUL Ventsislav Hristov 99 GK  BUL Ivan Dermendzhiev (on loan from Slavia Sofia)

For recent transfers, see Transfers winter 2020–21 and Transfers summer 2021.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  BRA Anderson (to CF Fuenlabrada until 30 June 2022)

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.