FC AP Brera Strumica

FK Akademija Pandev Brera Strumica (Macedonian: ФК Академија Пандев Брера Струмица), commonly known as AP Brera Strumica, is a Macedonian football club based in Strumica, which competes in the Macedonian First League.

Brera Strumica
Брера Струмица

Full name	Fudbalski Klub Akademija Pandev Brera Strumica
Founded	2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Ground	Stadion Kukuš Mladost Stadium
Capacity	1,500
Owner	Brera Holdings (90%) Goran Pandev (10%)
President	Goran Pandev
Manager	Bojan Krulj
League	Macedonian First League
2023–24	Macedonian First League, 7th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

History

Goran Pandev, the clubs founder and current president.

The club was founded in 2010 as Akademija Pandev by the Macedonian football player Goran Pandev, after whom the academy was named.^[1] As of 2014, AP Brera has a senior team competing in the Macedonian senior leagues and in 2017, the senior team was promoted to the Macedonian First League for the first time in its history.^[2]

In February 2018, the team moved to play their home games at Stadion Kukuš due to a disagreement over rent with FK Belasica.^[3] In the 2018–19 season they won the Macedonian Football Cup winning beating Makedonija G.P on penalties after a 2–2 draw. Akademija won 4–2 on Penalties 6–4 in aggregate.

In August 2022, Goran Pandev and Italian based side Brera Calcio entered into a sponsorship agreement which would see both sides establish a closer relationship.^[4] On May 31, 2023, Akademija Pandev was successfully acquired by Brera Holdings PLC, the holding company of Brera Calcio, with the company receiving 90% of the club's shares.^[5]

Emblem's evolution

Akademija Pandev's logo until 2017

Akademija Pandev's logo until 2023

Sports Center "Pandev", home of AP Brera.

Stadium Blagoj Istatov (also known as Stadion Mladost)

Home ground

AP Brera plays its home games at its very own Sports Center "Pandev". Opened in 2020, it has a single pitch with a single 1,500 seating capacity stand, and is also equipped with a hotel and the club's administrative facilities. It is also where its youth categories play and train.

Mladost Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Strumica, Republic of North Macedonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and the stadium's capacity is 6,500 spectators. With the last reconstruction in 2017 the stadium has a capacity of 9,200 seats, and it is a third-class field in accordance with UEFA standards. It meets the conditions for a high-ranking competition and is the second such stadium in the country.

Honours

• Macedonian First League
  • Runners-up (1): 2021–22
• Macedonian Second League
  • Winners (1): 2016–17
• Macedonian Third Football League East
  • Winners (1): 2015–16
• Macedonian Football Cup
  • Winners (1): 2018–19
  • Runners-up (1): 2020–21

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions		Top goalscorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Player	Goals
2014–15	OFL Strumica	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	1st ↑
2015–16	3. MFL East	22	20	2	0	94	6	62	1st ↑
2016–17	2. MFL	27	21	3	3	69	24	66	1st ↑	R2
2017–18	1. MFL	36	10	12	14	43	47	42	6th	SF			Zoran Baldovaliev	14
2018–19	1. MFL	36	17	7	12	45	35	58	3rd	W			Ljupcho Doriev	16
2019–201	1. MFL	23	7	7	9	20	20	28	7th	N/A	Europa League	QR1	Marko Rajković	4
2020–21	1. MFL	33	12	5	16	32	36	41	7th	RU			Mario Krstovski	7
2021–22	1. MFL	33	19	7	7	55	32	64	2nd	R2			Martin Mirčevski	16
2022–23	1. MFL	30	6	10	14	34	38	28	9th	QF	Europa Conference League	QR1	Kristijan Velinovski	6
2023–24	1. MFL	33	11	9	13	34	33	42	7th	QF			Đorđe Ivković	8

¹The 2019–20 season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.^[6]

European record

As of 14 July 2022

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Agg.
2019–20	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Zrinjski Mostar	0–3	0–3	0–6
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	1QR	Lechia Gdańsk	1–2	1–4	2–6

Notes

• QR: Qualifying round

Players

Current squad

As of 28 August 2024.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  MKD Andrej Velkov 4 DF  BRA Kauan 5 DF  SRB Darko Lazić 6 DF  MKD Stefan Naumcheski 7 FW  MKD Daniel Milovanovikj 8 MF  MKD Dragan Stojkov 9 FW  SRB Đorđe Ivković 10 MF  MKD Martin Gjorgievski 11 MF  MKD Marjan Ristovski 13 MF  COL Jork Becerra 14 DF  MKD Mateo Kesikj 15 DF  MKD David Ristovski 16 MF  MKD Kamencho Andonovski

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  MKD Zoran Andonov 21 DF  MKD Georgije Jankulov 22 MF  MKD Dimitar Todorovski 24 DF  MKD Marko Stojilevski 29 MF  NGA Ibrahim Olasebikan 31 MF  SRB Uroš Stamenić 32 DF  MKD Filip Antovski 33 DF  MKD Andrej Arizankoski 47 FW  UGA Rogers Mato 77 FW  MKD Antonio Kalanoski 92 GK  MKD Filip Kupanov 98 GK  MKD Martin Davkov 99 MF  MKD Samuel Nakov

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  MKD Slave Vrgov (at Vardar N) — MF  MKD Zhivko Krstev (at Vardar N) — FW  MKD David Spasov (at Vardar N)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  MKD Mario Kostov (at Vardar) — FW  MKD Kire Stojanov (at Belasica) — FW  MKD Nikola Taleski (at Pobeda)

Notable players

Some notable players to have played for AP Brera are:

• Jani Atanasov
• Bojan Dimoski
• Ljupcho Doriev
• Dimitar Mitrovski
• Sashko Pandev
• Vanche Shikov
• Aco Stojkov

• 
  Vanche Shikov
• 
  Sashko Pandev
• 
  Ljupcho Doriev
• 
  Aco Stojkov

References

1. "Macedonian Football | Akademija Pandev - Macedonian Football". macedonianfootball.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
2. "Akademija Pandev wins historic 1.MFL promotion". MacedonianFootball.com. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
3. "Akademija Pandev switches stadium". MacedonianFootball.com. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
4. "Brera is global: da Pandev al Mozambico" (in Italian). Brera Calcio. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
5. Mendonça, Yasmim (2023-05-31). "Brera Holdings Expands Reach into European Football Market with Acquisition of Akademija Pandev". Best Stocks. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
6. "Вонредна седница на Управен одбор на Фудбалска федерација на Македонија: Прекин на натпреварувачката сезона 2019/2020". Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија. 4 June 2020.

External links

• Club info at MacedonianFootball (in English)
• Football Federation of Macedonia (in Macedonian)
• Akademi (in Macedonian)