Hey, greetings from Bulgaria. I hope there are some fans of Danubio, so I can get more info about this club formed by Bulgarian emmigrants in Uruguay between the two World Wars. I am really curious of the history of this club especially because it was formed by compatriots. And between the two World Wars a lot of Bulgarians were emmigrating mainly to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The father of the current president of Brazil is Bulgarian. I really hope that there are fans of Danubio to share here the history of this club.
Danubio was founded by the Bulgarian born brothers, Miguel and Juan Lazaroff, on March 1, 1932 together with other youths from the "Republica de Nicaragua" school in Montevideo. The club name is a reference to the Danube river, the major waterway in Bulgaria.[1] Famous players from the club include Álvaro Recoba, Ruben Sosa, Marcelo Zalayeta, Rubén Olivera, Adrian Dean, Rubén "Polillita" Da Silva, Javier Chevantón, Fabián Carini, Richard Núñez, Walter Gargano, Carlos Grossmuller, Ignacio María González, Edison Cavani and Christian Stuani. Nery Castillo, Ricardo Guero Rodriguez and Diego Forlán played for the youth team, before continuing their careers abroad. Danubio were the 2006/07 champions of Uruguay after defeating Peñarol 4-1 in December 2006 to claim the Apertura and again defeating Peñarol on penalties to claim the 2007 Clausura. Danubio previously won the Uruguayan title in both 1988 and 2004.[2] Danubio have a rather decent fanbase in terms of Uruguayan soccer with about 7,000 fans to 9,000 fans per game on a good day. Recoba is there best player but injuries have kept him on the sidelines for much of his return. Danubio has a decent squad although they have not been performing all too well in Uruguay lately... Danubios biggest rivals are Defensor Sporting the current Apertura champions.....
Danubio is one of the best clubs if not the best club institutionally in the country. They are from a working class neighborhood in Montevideo called "La Curva de Maroñas" where the country's major horse track is located. They have the best youth system in the country, having produced pretty much every Uruguayan player you can think of. Well, not really, but you get my point. They have produced tons of world-class players. Today, they have a pretty good following for Uruguayan scales, since outside of Peñarol and Nacional, crowds are pretty small. Danubio and Defensor are the next 2 biggest teams, and can bring large crowds on good days. As said, these last couple of years they haven't had too much luck, but they were a weapon in the 90's and many people became fans of them during that time I had always known about the reference of the name to the European River, but had never known about the Bulgarian founders. But it doesn't surprise me. My club,Peñarol, was founded by a British company, and most Uruguayans can trace their ancestors to European immigrants that came between the first 2 world wars. My ancestors came from all over Europe. Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Poland, and Lithuania, all over the place.