After their relegation to the elite, Sliven were allocated to the East 2011-12 B Group. The team largely struggled with their performance, mainly due to the fact that many top players left the club after they were relegated. Sliven finished 6th out of 10 teams, a mediocre performance. Things went from bad to worse for Sliven, however. The team began experiencing serious financial problems, which affected their results, but more importantly, their ability to play professional football. On February 26th 2013, the Bulgarian Football Union suspended Sliven's participation in the Second League, as the team could field at most seven senior players. This automatically relegated the team to the V AFG, the third tier of Bulgarian football.