OFC Sliven 2000

Sliven
Full name Общински футболен клуб Сливен 2000
(Municipal football club Sliven 2000)
Nickname(s) Войводите (The Voivodes)
Founded 29 February 2000
Ground Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium,
Sliven
Ground Capacity 10,000
Chairman Bulgaria Yordan Letchkov
Manager Bulgaria Lachezar Doychev
League South-East V Group
2014–15 South-East V Group, 15th
Website Club home page

OFC Sliven 2000 (ОФК Сливен 2000) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Sliven, currently playing in the B PFG, the second division of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Hadzhi Dimitar Stadium in Sliven with a capacity of 15,000. OFC Sliven's team colours are orange and blue.

Honours

History

OFC Sliven 2000 was founded on February 29, 2000 after the bankruptcy of FC Sliven, but as it is the real representative club of the same-name town, it keeps the tradition started back in 1914 with the first local football club Sportist. Through the years the leading club in Sliven had different names - Asenovetz, DNA, General Zaimov, Mlada Gvardia etc.

After World War II Sliven took part in B PFG for ten years before seeing its first promotion to A PFG in season 1963/1964. Up to 2008-09, the club has played 22 seasons at the highest level of Bulgarian football (including continuously from 1974–1993). In 1983-84 FC Sliven finished on 7th place in A PFG and qualified for the UEFA Cup for 1984-85 because of reaching the semi-finals in the Soviet Army Cup; the Cup winners Levski Sofia qualified for European Cup; the finalist was not allowed to play in European competitions; where they faced FK Željezničar Sarajevo, winning the first leg 1-0 at home, but suffering a 1-5 defeat in the second leg.

FC Sliven had its biggest success in 1990, winning the Bulgarian Cup against CSKA Sofia (2-0). The goals were scored by Valeri Valkov and Yordan Lechkov. In the 1990-91 Cup Winners Cup Sliven were drawn against Juventus, losing both matches by scores of 0-2 and 1-6.

Over the next few years, the club went into a deep crisis, and was relegated to the regional football groups and bankrupted. Sliven was reborn in 2000 by establishing the Municipal Football Club (OFC) Sliven 2000, led by Yordan Lechkov. In 2005 the club finally earned promotion back to the second level of Bulgarian football. In May 2008 Sliven were promoted to the top flight winning the Eastern group of Bulgaria's second division. In 2011 the team is relegated and in early 2013 OFC Sliven withdrew from the B PFG due to financial difficulties.

Recent Seasons

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes
2005-06 B PFG 12 269413 223031 1/16
2006-07 B PFG 12 2641111 325223 1/8
2007-08 B PFG 1 261934 632360 1/8 Promoted
2008-09 A PFG 12 308814 324032 1/8
2009-10 A PFG 13 309516 294032 1/8
2010-11 A PFG 16 304719 225219 1/16 Relegated
2011-12 B PFG 6 2710611 292336 1/32
2012-13 B PFG 14 260125 475-2 1/22 Relegated
2013-14 V AFG 16 324028 3316512

European cup history

Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
1984/85 UEFA Cup 1 FK Zeljeznicar 1-0 1-5 2-5
1990/91 Cup Winners'Cup 1 Italy Juventus 0-2 1-6 1-8

Colours and nicknames

Logo of FC Sliven 1960-00

For the majority of their history FC Sliven have worn red and white colours. When the club was first founded in 1918, red was chosen to represent the blood of Bulgarian Voivodes and white was chosen to represent the freedom. After the bankruptcy of FC Sliven in 2000 the club changed its name to OFC Sliven 2000, its badge, and its colours to orange shirts with blue shorts. One of the nicknames of OFC Sliven 2000 is Voivodite which means "Slavic title that originally denoted the principal commander of a military force". It was chosen because the town Sliven is famous for its Bulgarian Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turks in the 19th century and is known as the "City of the 100 Voivodes", a Voivode being a leader of Haiduts.

Kit 1970
Kit 1975
Kit 1988
Kit 1990
Kit 1991-93

Source: sliven-fc.com

Current squad

As of 18 June 2013 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Bulgaria GK Georgi Kinchev
Bulgaria GK Petar Debarliev
Bulgaria DF Yavor Ivanov
Bulgaria DF Ivan Todorov
Bulgaria DF Emil Martinov
Bulgaria DF Stoyan Marinov
Bulgaria DF Mario Hadzhidimitrov
Bulgaria DF Boyan Nikolov
Bulgaria MF Milen Stoyanov
Bulgaria MF Dobromir Dimitrov
No. Position Player
Bulgaria MF Mitko Mitkov
Bulgaria MF Lachezar Lechkov
Bulgaria MF Enver Hristov
Bulgaria MF Georgi Kolev
Bulgaria MF Plamen Budakov
Bulgaria MF Petar Rusev
Bulgaria FW Aleksandar Balezdrov
Bulgaria FW Miroslav Mindev
Bulgaria FW Tolyo Yordanov

Famous players

The following players included were either playing for their respective national teams or left good impression among the fans.

Note: For a complete list of Sliven players, see Category:OFC Sliven 2000 players.

Stadium

The stadium Hadzhi Dimitar in Sliven (15,000 seats) was built in the 50's, first big reconstructions were run in the period 1984 - 1989. Currently Hadzhi Dimitar is a part of big multifunctional sports compound, still under development - at completion featuring hotel, restaurant, 2 training grass pitches, tennis courts, swimming pool. The athletic track of Hadzhi Dimitar is meeting all requirements of IAAF for hosting international competitions. The stadium complex has the only training pitch with FieldTurf flooring in Bulgaria. The size of the official pitch is 105m x 68m. Record attendance is 30,000 people.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.