OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad
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| Full name | Municipal Football club Pirin Blagoevgrad | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Eagles | ||
| Founded |
1922 2008 (After union) 2011 (As OFC Pirin) | ||
| Ground | Hristo Botev Stadium, Blagoevgrad | ||
| Capacity | 7,000 | ||
| Manager | Naci Şensoy | ||
| League | A Group | ||
| 2014–15 | B Group, 2nd (promoted) | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad (Bulgarian: ОФК Пирин Благоевград) is a Bulgarian football club in Blagoevgrad which competes in the A Group, the first division of Bulgarian football.
The club was founded in 2008, after the union of the two clubs from Blagoevgrad – Pirin and PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad. The new club is the historical successor of the original and traditional club records of the former FC Pirin which was founded in 1922. In 2011 was merged again with Perun Kresna, to become OFC Pirin.
The club's home ground is the Hristo Botev Stadium in Blagoevgrad with a seating capacity of 7,000, which was expanded after the winter break of the 2010–11 season by making completely new all-seater east stand.
History
Pirin
The club was founded in 1922. Pirin has played more than 20 seasons in the top flight and has played two times in the European football competitions - one participation in the UEFA Cup and one participation in the Cup Winners' Cup. The club's first participation in the UEFA tournaments was not promising. In 1985, Pirin faced the then reigning Swedish champion Hammarby IF. The first game in Blagoevgrad, ended with a 1–3 loss. The second game in Sweden was also a defeat – 0–4 and Pirin were out of the European competitions. Pirin's best season in the Bulgarian top division was in the 1984–85 season, where they managed a 5th place. The club was also two times runner-up of the Bulgarian Cup. Also, Pirin's youth academy is attributed as being one of the best developers of young and unknown players in Bulgaria. Among the club's famous players are Dimitar Berbatov, Spas Delev, Petar Mihtarski, Ivaylo Andonov, Ivan Cvetkov, Vladislav Zlatinov and Petar Zlatinov.
On August 18, 2006, after failing to arrange some debts and signals of corruption, Pirin was thrown out of the A PFG, the team's results for the season were annulled, and the club was demoted to play in the Bulgarian South-West V AFG. However, after two years, Pirin won the South-West V AFG and the club returned for the upcoming season of the Western B PFG.
The Union
In December 2008, Pirin, which played in the Western B PFG, merged with PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad, which played in A PFG. The new club was named FC Pirin Blagoevgrad and is officially the rightful holder of the club records of the former Pirin, which has played more than 20 seasons in the top flight.[1] FC Pirin's Western B PFG place was taken by FC Bansko. Then, Nikolay Galchev was appointed manager of the club Petar Mihtarski. A few months later, the successes came nearby and Pirin qualified for the final of the Bulgarian Cup, beating CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia). However, in the final, they suffered a 3–0 defeat against Litex Lovech.
OFC Pirin
In the foremath of the 2011–12 season, Pirin Blagoevgrad did not receive a professional license to compete in A PFG. However, due to their financial struggles they did not participate in the South-West V AFG. Later that year they got the license of Perun Kresna. The team finished 2011-12 season as Perun, but for 2012-13 the team got the name OFC Pirin. In 2015 team joined once again in A Group
Colours
Currently, the team's home kit is green and the away kit is white. Various combinations of green and white have been used throughout the club's history.
Honours
Domestic
- 5th place (1): 1984–85
European
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup | 1 |  |
Hammarby | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–7 |
| 1994–95 | Cup Winners' Cup | QR |  |
Schaan | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 1 |  |
Panathinaikos | 0–2 | 1–6 | 1–8 | ||
Current squad
- As of 25 January 2016
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2015 and Transfers winter 2015–16.
Foreign players
Up to three non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the A Group. Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Bulgarian citizenship after playing in Bulgaria for 5 years.
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EU Nationals |
EU Nationals (Dual citizenship) |
Non-EU Nationals |
Past seasons
League positions
| Season | League | Place | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Bulgarian Cup | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | V Group (III) | 3 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 69 | 26 | 62 | not qualified | ||
| 2013–14 | V Group | 1 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 87 | 6 | 79 | not qualified | ||
| 2014–15 | B Group (II) | 2 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 52 | 15 | 61 | First round | ||
| 2015–16 | A Group (I) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | First round | ||
| Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation. | |||||||||||
Managers
| Dates | Name | Honours |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–2014 |  Kostadin Gerganchev |
1 V AFG title |
| 2014–2015 | Yordan Samokovliyski |
1 Promote to A Group |
| 2015 | Ivo Trenchev (interim) | |
| 2015 | Nedelcho Matushev |
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| 2015– |  Naci Şensoy |
References
External links
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