PFC Slavia Sofia

"Slavia Sofia" redirects here. For other sections of the club, see Slavia Sofia (sports club).

Slavia Sofia

Full name

Professional football club Slavia Sofia

Nickname(s)

The Whites
The White avalanche

Founded

10 April 1913

Ground

Ovcha Kupel Stadium,
Sofia

Capacity

25,556

Chairman

Ventseslav Stefanov

Manager

Aleksandr Tarkhanov

League

A Group

2014–15

A Group, 9th

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Away colours

PFC Slavia Sofia (Bulgarian: ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian football club founded on 10 April 1913 in Sofia. Slavia's ground is Ovcha Kupel Stadium with a capacity of 25,556. The team's colours are white and black.

The club has won the Bulgarian Championship 7 times and the Bulgarian Cup 7 times. It has also come second in the championship ten times and reached the cup final 3 more times.

Among the team's international successes are a Cup Winners' Cup semifinal in 1967 and a quarterfinal in 1981, as well as two consecutive Balkans Cup trophies (1986 and 1988).

History

On April 10, 1913, a group of young people living near a Russian Monument in Sofia and representatives of the local capital clubs Botev and Razvitie, in a coffee-house – Alabin str. in Sofia, decided to establish an incorporated sport club – the first organized sport club in Sofia.^[1] The new incorporated club has named Slavia. Dimitar Blagoev – Palio, a 21-year-old student, was elected as the first president of the club. As members of the first club administrative council were elected Emanuil Geshev, Ferdinand Mihaylov, Tsvyatko Velichkov, Georgi Grigorov and Todor Kalkandzhiev.

A few days later, was elected the first football team of the club - Stefan Lalov, Ilia Georgiev, Emanuil Geshev, Todor Kalkandzhiev, Stefan Chumpalov, Dimitar Blagoev – Palio (all of them from Botev) and Pavel Grozdanov, Ferdinand Mihaylov, Boris Sharankov, Asen Bramchev, Dimitar Cvetkov (all of them from Razvitie). The first sport dresses of the club were white shirts and black shorts. Since 1924 the team plays with white shirts and white shorts and up to present days it is popular as the "White pride". On August 11, 1913, Slavia plays its first match versus the local team Savata and wins by 1–0.

After the First world war, Slavia began to become more successful. On June 5, 1928, the team won its first champion title, winning with 4–0 the final match against Vladislav Varna. The title was won by Slavia five more times until 1946, these were achieved in 1930, 1936, 1938–39, 1941 and 1943.

Slavia won the Bulgarian Cup for first time in 1952. By winning the 1963 Bulgarian Cup Final, Slavia qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the club's first appearance in European competition. They were drawn against Hungarian club MTK Budapest in the first round. Slavia were knocked out of the competition 2–1 on aggregate. Its most important achievements in Europe during 1966–67 Cup Winners' Cup campaign when Slavia eliminated Swansea City, RC Strasbourg and Servette, before being eliminated by Rangers at the semi-finals.^[2] The team consisted of great players such as goalkeeper Simeon Simeonov, Ivan Davidov, Aleksandar Shalamanov, Dimitar Largov, Dimitar Kostov and Aleksandar Vasilev.

In 1969 Slavia was merged with Lokomotiv Sofia under the name ZhSK Slavia. Two years later the two clubs split again after splitting was supported by 100,000 fans.

In the 1980–81 season, led by Chavdar Tsvetkov and Andrey Zhelyazkov,^[3] Slavia reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup before losing 6–3 on aggregate to Feyenoord Rotterdam. In 1986, Slavia won Balkans Cup. In the final they beat Greek side Panionios 5–3 on aggregate. In 1988 Slavia won Balkans Cup for second time in his history.^[4]

In 1994 Stoyan Kotsev, the former Slavia midfielder, was appointed as new manager. After finishing fourth in 1995, they went on to win the A PFG title in 1995–96. Slavia finished with 5 points more than the second, Levski Sofia. This marked Slavia's first Bulgarian title since 1943. In the 2010–11 season, Slavia reached the Bulgarian Cup Final, beating Ludogorets Razgrad, Etar 1924, Chernomorets Burgas and Pirin Blagoevgrad. However, they lost the final 1–0 to CSKA Sofia.^[5]

League positions

Stadium

Main article: Ovcha Kupel Stadium

Slavia Stadium in 2011

In the first 10 years after Slavia was founded, the club played in the stadium of his predecessor SC Razvitie. On 3 October 1923, Slavia became the owner of land to the Russian Monument in Sofia, where was the first ground of the club. They played their home games there for the next few decades, until they moved to southwest Sofia in the 1960s.

On 12 March 1958, started the construction of Slavia Stadium. Mayor of the sixth area in Sofia and president of the Slavia women's basketball team, Dimitar Tinev presided at the laying in place of the first stone. The stadium is built in a residential area Ovcha Kupel, served by regular bus services 6 km from Sofia city center. Slavia Stadium has undergone many changes over the years and it presently has a capacity of 25,556.

Honours

Domestic

Champion of Bulgaria – 7 times

1928, 1930, 1936, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1995–96

Vice-champion of Bulgaria – 10 times

1926, 1932, 1934, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1958–59, 1966–67, 1979–80, 1989–90

Third place – 12 times

1939–40, 1942, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1996–97

Bulgarian Cup: – 7 times

Winner: 1952, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1975, 1980, and 1996

Runners-up (3): 1954, 1972, 2011

European

Semi-finals at the Cup Winners' Cup – 1966–67
Balkans Cup – 1986, 1988
UEFA Intertoto Cup – 1977 Intertoto Cup - First place in group four.

Current squad

As of 4 February 2016 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Georgi Petkov (captain)
2	DF	Martin Dechev
3	DF	Dimitar Pirgov
4	DF	Nikita Sergeyev
6	DF	Petko Hristov
7	MF	Borislav Baldzhiyski
8	MF	Vladimir Semerdzhiev
9	FW	Donnell Moukanza
10	MF	Yanis Karabelyov
11	MF	Daudet N'Dongala
12	GK	Mario Kirev
13	DF	Stefan Velkov
14	FW	Ivaylo Dimitrov

No.	Position	Player
15	FW	Kaloyan Krastev
17	MF	Georg Iliev
20	FW	Serder Serderov
21	MF	Martin Stankev
24	FW	Kitan Vasilev
25	DF	Tsvetomir Panov
27	MF	Emil Martinov
32	GK	Antonis Stergiakis
35	MF	Georgi Yomov
66	DF	Aboud Omar
71	MF	Emil Stoev
87	DF	Diego Ferraresso
99	FW	Radoslav Vasilev (vice-captain)

For recent transfers, see Transfers summer 2015 and Transfers winter 2015–16.

On loan

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

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Diyan Valkov (at Vereya until 30 June 2016)
		MF	Jérémy Manzorro (at Anorthosis until 30 June 2016)

No.		Position	Player
		FW	Petar Atanasov (at Montana until 30 June 2016)

Foreign players

Up to five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the A PFG however only three can be used during a match day. 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.

EU Nationals

Antonis Stergiakis
Daudet N'Dongala
Donnell Moukanza

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

Diego Ferraresso

Non-EU Nationals

Technical staff

Name	Role
Aleksandr Tarkhanov	Coach
Vladimir Ivanov	Assistant Coach
Martin Kushev	Assistant Coach
Radostin Stanev	Goalkeeping Coach
Lyuben Angelov	Doctor

Notable stats

Most league appearances for the club
Rank	Name	Games	Active
1	Andrey Zhelyazkov	338	No
2	Atanas Aleksandrov	317	No
3	Iliyaz Aliev	306	No
4	Bozhidar Grigorov	301	No
5	Georgi Gugalov	293	No

Most league goals for the club
Rank	Name	Goals	Active
1	Andrey Zhelyazkov	136	No
2	Bozhidar Grigorov	128	No
3	Chavdar Tsvetkov	104	No
4	Aleksandar Vasilev	100	No
	Petar Aleksandrov	100	No

Bulgarian league top scorer with the club
Rank	Name	Goals	Active
1938	Krum Milev	12	No
1952	Dimitar Isakov	10	No
1954	Dobromir Tashkov	25	No
1958	Dobromir Tashkov	9	No
1959	Aleksandar Vasilev	13	No
1997	Todor Pramatarov	26	No

Managerial history

This is a list of the last Slavia managers:

Name	From	To	Honours
Dobromir Tashkov	1963	1969	–
Dobromir Tashkov	1973	1974	–
Hristo Mladenov	1978	1980	–
Oleh Bazylevych	1987	1988	–
Miroslav Mironov	Oct 1999	May 2000	–
Žarko Olarević	May 2000	23 Nov 2000	–
Kiril Kachamanov	23 Nov 2000	25 Sept 2001	–
Žarko Olarević	25 Sept 2001	18 Dec 2002	–
Miodrag Ješić	18 Dec 2002	23 Aug 2003	–
Ratko Dostanić	24 Aug 2003	23 Sept 2004	–
Atanas Dzhambazki	23 Sept 2004	29 March 2005	–
Petar Houbchev	29 March 2005	10 Nov 2005	–
Alyosha Andonov	10 Nov 2005	2 July 2006	–
Ratko Dostanić	3 July 2006	26 Dec 2006	–
Alyosha Andonov	26 Dec 2006	6 June 2007	–
Stevica Kuzmanovski	6 June 2007	2 June 2009	–
Velislav Vutsov	2 June 2009	18 May 2010	–
Emil Velev	19 May 2010	28 May 2011	–
Martin Kushev	28 May 2011	29 Nov 2012	–
Velislav Vutsov	30 Nov 2012	5 June 2013	–
Asen Bukarev	5 June 2013	20 Oct 2013	–
Milen Radukanov	21 Oct 2013	31 Aug 2014	–
Ivan Kolev	1 Sep 2014	30 Nov 2015	–
Vladimir Ivanov (caretaker)	30 Nov 2015	18 Dec 2015	–
Aleksandr Tarkhanov	18 Dec 2015	present	–

References

↑ "Славия започва с топка назаем" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 10 April 2008.
↑ "Slavia Sports Club turns 100". bnr.bg. 10 April 2013.
↑ "Zhelyazkov salutes centurions Slavia Sofia". uefa.com. 10 April 2013.
↑ "Славия в надпреварата за Балканската клубна купа" (in Bulgarian). pfcslavia.com.
↑ "Bulgarian Cup win ends CSKA Sofia drought". uefa.com. 25 May 2011.

External links

Official website

Bulgarian A Football Group

2015–16 clubs	Beroe Botev Plovdiv Cherno More Levski Litex Lokomotiv Plovdiv Ludogorets Montana Pirin Blagoevgrad Slavia

Stadiums	Beroe Hristo Botev (Plovdiv) Ticha Georgi Asparuhov Lovech Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) Ludogorets Arena Ogosta Hristo Botev (Blagoevgrad) Ovcha Kupel

Former clubs*	Akademik Sofia (18) Akademik Svishtov (4) Belasitsa (12) Botev Vratsa (28) FC Chernomorets (29) PSFC Chernomorets (7) Chernomorets Burgas Sofia (1) CSKA (67) Dimitrovgrad (1) Dobrudzha (14) Dunav (25) Etar (24) Etar 1924 (1) Kaliakra (2) Lokomotiv GO (9) Lokomotiv Mezdra (2) Lokomotiv Sofia (67) Lyubimets 2007 (1) Maritsa (4) Metalurg (2) Minyor (38) Neftochimic (13) Nesebar (1) Pirin 1922 (6) Pirin GD (2) Rilski Sportist (2) Rodopa (4) Rozova Dolina (1) Septemvri (3) Sliven (25) Spartak Pleven (35) Spartak Plovdiv (17) Spartak Sofia (15) Spartak Varna (43) Sportist (1) Svetkavitsa (1) Velbazhd (7) Vidima-Rakovski (5) Vihren (4) Yantra (7)

Former clubs (from Macedonia & Thrace)	Belomorets Kavala Bitola Gotse Delchev Prilep Makedonija Bitola Makedonija Skopje Vardar Skopje ZhSK Skopje

Competition	Champions Players (foreign)

Associated competitions	Second Division Third Division Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League

Seasons	1948–49 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

* In the brackets is the number of seasons in the league.

Football in Bulgaria

League competitions	A Group B Group V Group (4 divisions) Regional Football Groups Bulgarian women's football championship

Cup competitions	Bulgarian Cup Bulgarian Supercup Cup of AFL Bulgarian Women's Cup

Defunct competitions	State Championship (1924–1936, 1941–1945) Tsar's Cup (1924–44) National Football Division (1937–1940) Republic Championship (1945–1948) Cup of the Soviet Army (1983–90) BFU's Cup (1990–91) PFL's Cup (1994–97) Doubles Group (2008–2010)

National teams	Men Women Olympic team (U-23) Under-21 Under-19 Under-17

Lists	Clubs Stadiums Foreign players National team results

Awards	Footballers' Footballer of the Year

BFU PFL

Bulgarian football championship seasons

State Championship (National Football Division)	1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1941 1942 1943 1944

Republic Championship	1945 1946 1947 1948

A Group	1948–49 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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