Brera Director, Club Founder and President Goran Pandev Announces the Former UAE and Saudi League Coach as Brera Strumica’s Next Field Leader
Strumica, Macedonia, Sept. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FC AP Brera Strumica AD (“Brera Strumica” or the “Club”) is delighted to announce the appointment of Gorazd Mihajlov as its new Head Coach, effective September 9, 2024. Brera Strumica is a North Macedonian football club 90%-owned by Brera Holdings PLC, the first publicly-listed football (American soccer) focused company in the world of professional sports multi-club ownership and investment (Nasdaq: BREA). Brera Strumica competes in the Macedonian First League and has succeeded in reaching the qualifiers to the UEFA Europa League during the 2019-2020 season and the UEFA Europa Conference League during the 2022-2023 season.
Gorazd Mihajlov is a highly respected figure in the football world, and joins the Club with an impressive track record. A graduate of the University of “Sv. Kiril i Metodij” in Skopje, Macedonia, Mihajlov brings a wealth of experience from leading teams across various prestigious leagues. His previous roles include coaching stints with FC Ohrid, FC Pelister, FC Teteks, and FC Vardar, among others.
Coach Gorzad Mihajlov with Brera Kit
Mihajlov’s Coaching Experience:
- 2011-2012: Head Coach, FC Ohrid (Premier League, Macedonia)
- 2012-2013: Head Coach, FC Pelister (Premier League, Macedonia)
- 2013-2014: Head Coach, FC Teteks (Premier League, Macedonia)
- 2014: Head Coach, FC Rudar-Prijedor (Premier League, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- 2014-2015: Head Coach, FC Al Qasidiyah (First Division, Saudi Arabia)
- 2015-2016: Head Coach, FC Teteks (Premier League, Macedonia)
- 2016: Team Manager, FC Pelister (Premier League, Macedonia)
- 2016-2017: Coach, FC Hatta (Premier League, UAE)
- 2018: Coach, FC Al Dhafra (Premier League, UAE)
- 2018-2021: Head Coach, FC Borec 1919 (Premier League, Macedonia)
- 2021-2023: Head Coach, FC Sileks (Premier League, Macedonia)
- 2023-2024: Head Coach, FC Vardar (Premier League, Macedonia)
Awards and Achievements:
- Two-time First Division Champion: FC Borec (2018), FC Sileks (2022)
- Cup of Macedonia Winner: 2013
- Two-time Cup of Macedonia Runner-Up: 2015, 2022
- Coach of the Year: 2013, 2022
- Premier League Best Finish: 4th place with FC Sileks (2022-2023), the club’s best performance in 15 years
- UEFA Conference League Appearances: First round with FC Teteks (2013) and FC Sileks (2022)
ABOUT FC AP BRERA STRUMICA AD
FC AP Brera Strumica AD, formerly known as Academija Pandev, is undergoing a strategic transformation aimed at enhancing performance and expanding its presence in UEFA competitions. This transition underscores the Club’s commitment to excellence and its strategic expansion into Eastern European football.
ABOUT BRERA HOLDINGS PLC
Brera Holdings PLC (Nasdaq: BREA) is focused on expanding its social impact football (American soccer) business by developing a global portfolio of emerging football and other sports clubs with increased opportunities to earn tournament prizes, gain sponsorships, and provide other professional football- and sports-related consulting services.
The Company seeks to build on the legacy and brand of Brera FC, the first football club that was acquired by the Company in 2022. Brera FC, known as "The Third Team of Milan," is an amateur football association which has been building an alternative football legacy since its founding in 2000. The Company owns the trademarked FENIX Trophy Tournament, a nonprofessional pan-European football competition recognized by UEFA, inaugurated in September 2021 and organized by Brera FC. "FENIX" is an acronym for "Friendly European Nonprofessional Innovative Xenial." BBC Sport has called the FENIX Trophy "the Champions League for amateurs," and ESPN covered the 2024 FENIX Trophy finals. In October 2022, the Internet Marketing Association at its IMPACT 22 Conference named Brera FC as its award recipient for "Social Impact Through Soccer," recognizing the Company's focus at an international level with this distinction.
In March 2023, the Company expanded to Africa with the establishment of Brera Tchumene FC, a team then admitted to the Second Division League in Mozambique, a country of nearly 32 million people. Brera Tchumene FC won its post-season tournament and in November 2023 was promoted to Mocambola, the First Division in Mozambique. In April 2023, the Company acquired 90% of the European first division football team Fudbalski Klub Akademija Pandev, now known as Brera Strumica FC, in North Macedonia, a country with participation rights in two major Union of European Football Association ("UEFA") competitions.
In June 2023, Brera acquired a strategic stake in Manchester United PLC, a portion of which was subject to a tender offer by Sir Jim Radcliffe and sold at a 74% realized gain. In July 2023, the Company completed the acquisition of a majority ownership in the Italian Serie A1 women's professional volleyball team UYBA Volley S.s.d.a.r.l. In September 2023, the Company assumed control of Bayanzurkh Sporting Ilch FC, a team in the Mongolian National Premier League, which became Brera Ilch FC when the football season resumed in March 2024. In January 2024, the Company announced the launch of a proactive search for an Italian Serie B football club target designed to bring multi-club ownership of the highest tiers of professional sports ownership to mass investors through the Company's Nasdaq-listed shares. In February 2024, the Brera Holdings Advisory Board was established with MLS founder and World Cup director Alan Rothenberg, luxury lifestyle executive Massimo Ferragamo, sports business leaders Paul Tosetti and Marshall Geller, and Italian football icon Giuseppe Rossi.
In June 2024, the North Macedonian women’s football club Tiverija Strumica officially become part of the Brera family with the establishment of a joint-stock company controlled by Brera Holdings called Women's Football Club Tiverija Brera AD Strumica (“Brera Tiverija”). Brera Tiverija is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brera Strumica FC. Brera Holdings PLC is focused on bottom-up value creation from undervalued sports clubs and talent, innovation powered business growth, and socially-impactful outcomes. See www.breraholdings.com.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
FOR MEDIA AND INVESTOR RELATIONS
Pierre Galoppi, Chief Executive Officer, Brera Holdings PLC
Email: pierre@breraholdings.com
