The six most experienced players of Vardar were released by the club after their contracts were not extended. The board thanked them for their contribution in the past seasons.
photo by FK Vardar: the players celebrate defeating Malmö in Champions league qualifications last summer
“Sometimes it is about time to make changes, and now that time has come to Vardar. It is the time for some other players to show what they are capable of while playing for our team, players that will bring new spirit, that will take our red and black team towards new heights, new victories, trophies, international success…”
Vardar thanked them through official statement released on the club’s official web site.
“That is why in this moment we would like to thank all those that were part of Vardar this last season but won’t be part of our team in the future, at least not as players. We want to say THANK YOU to: our captain Boban Grncharov, to our reserve captain Nikola Gligorov, our third captain Dejan Blazhevski, to Hofhannes Hambardzumyan, to Darko Glishikj and to Aco Stojkov for everything they’ve done for us during the past few seasons. They all had their contracts expires and are now free players.”
It was expected for Vardar to make drastic changes after the disappointing season ending. Central defender Grncahrov will be 36 in august, defensive midfielder Gligorov will be 35 also in August, winger Blazhevski will be 33 in December, attacker Stojkov turned 35 in April, while left back Glishikj is 26-year-old but the injuries prevented him to perform as needed. Probably the only mistake is releasing Armenian national team right back Hambardzumyan, also 26, who struggled with form and had some discipline issues in the second half-season but overall is a great player and should have been kept.
Besides these 6 Vardar already went separate ways with midfielder/defender Darko Velkovski, Serbian midfielder Vanja Marković and youngster Filip Stojchevski. Previously the club parted ways with Brazilian trequartista Juan Felipe somewhere in April, while during the winter break Boban Nikolov, Besir Demiri, Jambul Jighauri, Ytalo, Petar Petkovski and Visar Musliu left, while keeper Tome Pechovski retired. Stefan Spirovski left on the last day of the summer transfer window. So almost nothing is left from the team that won 3 league titles in the last four seasons and qualified for the Europa League group stage.
“GRNE, NIKOLA, SHILE, HOF, GLISH and ACE… We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the wonderful moments spent in our team. These past four years in which happened only beautiful things will make us remember your performances which will be a role model for the future generations. It was our honor and privilege that we had you as players.”