Beroe

The fixture Beroe's supporters circle in red is the Thracian Derby against Botev Plovdiv, a meeting that carries the weight of geography as much as football: both cities sit within the historical region of Thrace, and the game is known locally as the Battle for Thrace.

The club traces its line back to a Stara Zagora side called Vereya, active from 1916, though the founding date recognised today is 4 May 1924, when Borislav and Rekord merged. Bulgaria, Botev, Borislav again, Septemvri, Levski, Shipka, Udarnik, another Botev — before the name Beroe finally stuck in 1959, after a further merger with Lokomotiv. A brief spell as Olimpik-Beroe followed a 1999 merger with a Teteven club, undone within a year when the historical name returned. In 2008 the club was reconstituted as a new joint-stock company under the same identity.

Beroe's single league title came in 1985–86, but the trophy the club has chased most successfully sits outside Bulgaria's borders: four Balkans Cups, in 1968, 1969, 1983 and 1984, a record for the competition. Two Bulgarian Cups followed decades later, in 2010 against Chernomorets and in 2013 against Levski on penalties, and the club beat Ludogorets on spot-kicks in 2014 to add the Bulgarian Supercup. They play at Stadion Beroe, capacity 12,128, and wear green and white — hence the nickname, the Greens.

No one is tied to the club's history quite like Petko Petkov. His 144 goals in 260 league appearances stand as the club record, built across two seasons as the league's top scorer, in 1974 and 1976. In 2016, Stara Zagora made him an honorary citizen of the city he had spent his career representing.