PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra
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| Full name | PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Zheleznicharite ot Mezdra (The irons from Mezdra) | ||
| Founded | 1945 | ||
| Dissolved | 1 August 2012 | ||
| Ground |
Lokomotiv Stadium, Mezdra | ||
| Capacity | 5 000 | ||
| 2011–12 | V Group, 2nd | ||
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PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra (ПФК Локомотив Мездра) was a Bulgarian football club from the town of Mezdra.
Until the 2007-08 season, the team participated in either the second or the third Bulgarian divisions, but gained a promotion to the top level for 2008-09. The club's home ground was the Lokomotiv Stadium in Mezdra, with a capacity of 5,000. Team colours were red and black.
History
PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra was founded in 1945, under the name Iron sport club. The team, nicknamed The irons from Mezdra, counts 20 participations in the second division, and the best success in Bulgarian Cup is a quarter-final in 1945-46.
The turning point in the history of the club was in 2007. The company NADIN bought the club, and almost all of its players were released and a significant number of valuable players were signed. The team won the second division without difficulty, finishing more than 10 points ahead of the second team in the table and qualifying for the top flight for the first time in his history.
In the first year in the top division, Lokomotiv's owner decided to bring players with a lot of experience in the Bulgarian football, his first signing being ex-Levski Sofia's Saša Simonović, who arrived from Slavia Sofia for free. Radostin Stanev, Iliya Iliev and Strati Iliev were just a few players who soon followed, as the club also signed seven imports - Portuguese David Silva, Rui Miguel and Fausto, Serbian Zoran Cvetković, Austrian Milan Janković, Greek Aristeidis Lottas and Jiří Lenko from Czech Republic. The team coach was Viktorio Pavlov. The first top flight game was against Spartak Varna, a 0-2 loss. After the match, Pavlov decided to resign and Georgi Todorov was named in his place. In this season the team finished 11th in A PFG.
The club was dissolved in early August 2012 during big finance debt. Another two clubs was founded in Mezdra - Lokomotiv 1929 in 2011 and Lokomotiv 2012 in 2012.
Honours
Domestic
- 8th place 2008–09
- Twice 1/8 finalist 1946 and 2009–10
European
- European Railways Cup Winners (1): 2003[1]
Most games with the club
- 1. 267 -
Atanas Atanasov - 2. 246 - Milcho Gergov
- 3. 210 - Bonko Raykov
Most goals with the club
- 1. 83 - Georgi Yashov
- 2. 66 - Atanas Atanasov
- 3. 42 - Vladimir Hinkov
Notable players
- Tsvetan Genkov (born 8 August 1984 in Mezdra, Genkov began his career in Lokomotiv at the age of seventeen, previously having been an athlete. For Lokomotiv he played 84 matches and scored 41 goals)
References
External links
- (Bulgarian) Official website