FC Arda Kardzhali
FC Arda 1924 Kardzhali (Bulgarian: ПФК Арда Кърджали) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Kardzhali, that competes in First League, the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system.
| Full name | Професионален Футболен Клуб Арда 1924 Кърджали (Professional Football Club Arda 1924 Kardzhali) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Сините от Кърджали (The blue ones from Kardzhali) Господарите на Родопите (The Lords of the Rhodopes) | |||
| Short name | Арда (Arda) | |||
| Founded | August 10, 1924 (as Rodopski Sokol) | |||
| Ground | Arena Arda, Kardzhali | |||
| Capacity | 11,114 | |||
| Head coach | Nikolay Kirov | |||
| League | First League | |||
| 2022–23 | First League, 7th of 16 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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It was founded on 13 October 1924, as an association football branch of a larger sports society in the town. The club was reestablished in 2015, after its former entity was dissolved.
Named after the Arda river, a tributary of the Maritsa, Arda's home ground is the Arena Arda in Kardzhali, which has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. For the majority of its existence, the club regularly participated in the Second League, with its highest-ever ranking a second-place finish during the 1955–56 Bulgarian Second League. In the Bulgarian Cup, Arda have reached the finals once, in 2021, losing to CSKA Sofia.
In 2018–19, Arda won the Second League promotion play-off against Septemvri Sofia, resulting in the club's first-ever appearance in the Bulgarian top division.