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THE mayor of Bulgaria’s southwestern town of Simitli has taken over as temporary coach of the local second division club Septemvri after claiming the team’s poor performance has been an “insult to the community”.

“I’ll be training the team for the home match against Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa,” said Apostol Apostolov who is a former top flight referee and the mayor of the municipality of Simitli, which is the club’s main sponsor.

Septemvri, who have never competed in Bulgaria’s top division, are 11th in the domestic second division.

The Simitli-based club failed to win in five successive matches, picking up only a point and scoring twice.

“It’s an insult to the fans and the entire football community in Simitli,” Apostolov said. “They just didn’t play seriously in the last few matches.”

In happier times, Septemvri reached the Bulgarian Cup semi-finals in 2012 after knocking out then-holders CSKA Sofia in the quarter-finals. — The Guardian.