PFC Botev Plovdiv

Botev Plovdiv

Full name	PFC Botev Plovdiv
Nickname(s)	Canaries The Yellow and Blacks
Founded	12 March 1912
Ground	Hristo Botev, Plovdiv
Capacity	20,777
Owner	Registered association
Chairman	Ivan Dzhidzhev
Manager	Nikolay Kostov
League	A Group
2014–15	A Group, 6th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

PFC Botеv Plovdiv (Bulgarian: ПФК Ботев Пловдив /bɔtɛv pɫɔvdiv/), or simply Botev, is the oldest continuously existing Bulgarian association football club. The club was founded on 12 March 1912 by a group of students in Plovdiv. Its home ground, the Hristo Botev Stadium, is located in the residential quarter of Kamenitza and currently is under construction. Therefore, home matches are played at club's training ground in Komatevo neighbourhood (capacity of 3500 spectators). The team currently competes in A Football Group, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system.

The club is named as Botev in honor of the Bulgarian national hero Hristo Botev. The club's colours are yellow and black.

The Canaries (the nickname of the club) are two-time champions of A Group and have won the Bulgarian Cup two times. Also, in the Bulgarian top championship, Botev have been vice-champion twice and have finished third on the league table ten times. As for the Bulgarian Cup tournament, the team has reached the final ten times. In the years before A Group was created, the club is a six-time champion of Plovdiv. Internationally Botev has reached the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals once and has won the Balkans Cup once. The club is a four-time winner of the Trimontzium Cup (friendly international tournament held in Plovdiv). The club won the Interleague-86 Cup (Polish Football Association trophy).

History

Early years (1912–1950)

Botev Plovdiv was founded in 1912 and is the oldest still existing football club in Bulgaria. Stoyan Puhtev became president, Nenko Penelov was the vice-president, Petar Delev secretary and Tenyo Rusev steward. Rusev named it "Botev" in honor of the Bulgarian national hero Hristo Botev. Since then, the club's name has been changed for political reasons several times: Botev (1912–1946), DNV(1947–51), DNA (1952–57), SKNA (1957), Botev (1957–1968) and Trakia (1968–1989). The current name is Botev Plovdiv. The club's colours, yellow and black, were adopted in 1917.

In 1920, the team won the unofficial football championship of Plovdiv. On August 30, 1925, the canaries played their first official international match against the Turkish Fenerbahçe. In the next year, the team led by the coach and captain Nikola Shterev, won the first official trophy, the Cup of Plovdiv.

Botev Plovdiv became National League champions for the first time in 1929, winning the final against Levski Sofia. The canaries won with 1:0 the final game in Sofia. The goal scored Nikola Shterev. Key players during this period included Nikola Shterev, Stancho Prodanov, Vangel Kaundzhiev and Mihail Kostov, who also played for the national team.

1950–1960

In 1951, Botev Plovdiv joined the newly created Bulgarian A PFG. Despite being relegated in 1953 to the Bulgarian B PFG, in 1954 the club easily won promotion for the top division. 1956 was very successful for the team, which finished 3rd in the domestic league and qualified for the final of the Bulgarian Cup, where Botev faced Levski Sofia. The final match was lost by the canaries with 2:5.

In the next few years, the local municipality decided to build a new venue for the sports club. The construction for the sports complex, started on July 21, 1959 and was built in a period of two years. The new stadium was named Hristo Botev, in honor of the national hero. The sport venue was inaugurated with a friendly match between Botev and Steaua Bucureşti, which was won by the canaries with 3:0 in front of 20,000 spectators.

Dinko Dermendzhiev era (1961–1980)

In 1961 Botev finished 3rd in the A PFG, for second time in the club's history. This championship also marked the first appearance of the club's most important player Dinko Dermendzhiev and the beginning of Botev's golden age. Dermendzhiev holds Botev's overall appearances record, playing in 447 matches for the club. Second is Viden Apostolov with 429 matches and third is Petar Zehtinski with 351. Botev's all-time leading scorer is also Dermendzhiev, who scored 194 goals at his period in the club. Kostadin Kostadinov is the Botev's second highest scorer with 106 goals and third is Atanas Pashev with 100 goals.

Under the leadership of Dinko Dermendzhiev, Botev won their first Bulgarian Cup in 1962, beating Dunav Rousse 3–0 at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia on 12 August. In the 1962–63 season Botev reached the quarter-final of the Cup Winners' Cup by eliminating Steaua Bucureşti and Shamrock Rovers before losing to Atlético Madrid 1–5 on aggregate. In the same season the team finished runners-up in A PFG with 40 points, only 3 less than the first, Spartak Plovdiv.

In 1967 Botev became champions for the second time. The championship team featured several notable players, such as Viden Apostolov, Georgi Popov and Rayko Stoynov, with Vasil Spasov as head coach. Botev represented Bulgaria in the 1967–68 European Champions Cup where they lost in the first round to Rapid Bucureşti after 2:0 win in Plovdiv and 0–3 (a.e.t.) loss in Romania. A five years later, in 1972, the team became winner of the Balkans Cup for the first time, playing against Yugoslavian Velež Mostar after two spectacular final matches to take the cup.

The Golden Team (1981–1990)

In 1981, the club's forward Georgi Slavkov won the club's highest individual achievement, the European Golden Shoe after finishing as Europe's top domestic scorer with 31 goals. The same year, the team won its second Bulgarian Cup, after a win against Pirin Blagoevgrad. This period was very successful for the club. Botev finished 3rd in the A PFG, in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 2nd in 1986. In this year the team finished with 41 points, only 2 less than the first, Beroe, in spite of the 8–1 win against Beroe in the direct match. Many of the club's most notable stars played around this time, such as Antim Pehlivanov, Dimitar Vichev, Atanas Pashev, Dimitar Mladenov, Zapryan Rakov, Blagoy Bangev and Petar Zehtinski, forming the notable Golden Team.

An important achievement of that period was the 1985 Cup Winners' Cup campaign, when Botev qualified for the second round of the tournament. The team secured a 2–0 victory against the German powerhouse Bayern Munich (with Klaus Augenthaler, Dieter Hoeneß, Søren Lerby, Lothar Matthäus and Jean-Marie Pfaff in their squad). On November 7, 1984, in front of more than 45,000 spectators at Plovdiv Stadium, Atanas Pashev and Kostadin Kostadinov scored for the win, but Botev were eliminated after losing 1:4 in the first-leg. Another memorable win is the 1:0 home victory over Barcelona in a Cup Winners' Cup first-leg in 1981.

Brokers Era (1991–1999)

In 1992, the club was bought by a conglomerate of brokers led by Hristo Alexandrov and Hristo Danov. They brought in players with experience in Bulgarian football, such as Nasko Sirakov, Bozhidar Iskrenov, Kostadin Vidolov and Borislav Mihaylov. In this period, Botev signed the first foreign player in the club's history, the Hungarian Roberto Szabay. These big investments however did not bring any significant results and the club only reached third place in the A PFG in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

Hristolov takeover, financial implosion (1999–2010)

On 19 March 1999 Botev was acquired by Dimitar Hristolov. This day marked the beginning of difficult years for the club. In the 2000–01 season, the team was relegated to B PFG, after playing 47 years in the A PFG. Botev spent one season in the second division and quickly returned to the top flight, but in 2004 the club was relegated for the second time. From 2005 to 2009 the club played in the A PFG, but in the second part of the league table.

On 24 February 2010, Botev Plovdiv were administratively relegated from A PFG due to financial difficulties.^[1] Botev's opponents were awarded 3:0 wins by default during the second half of the season.

2010–present

After the financial collapse of the club in 2010, Botev Plovdiv started participation in the Bulgarian third division for the 2010–11 season. The club was completely rebuilt with a new organizational structure but featuring players with first league and international experience such as striker Atanas Kurdov, midfielder Todor Timonov, captain Nikolay Manchev, and goalkeeper Armen Ambartsumyan. Botev finished as a champion in the third league with 37 wins and one draw (112 points), and got a promotion to the second tier of Bulgarian football, B PFG.

For the new season the club hired a new coach – Petar Houbchev, who has international experience as a player and coach, succeeding Kostadin Vidolov. But because of bad results (3 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss), Hubchev was fired in October 2011. Botev reached an agreement with a new coach – Milen Radukanov who didn't show good results either. The team had one win 4 draws and 2 losses, and he was fired too. Kostadin Vidolov returned and succeeded in gaining a promotion to Bulgarian football elite (A PFG) after a playoff win against FC Sportist Svoge.

In the 2012–13 season, after the appointment of Stanimir Stoilov as head coach, the team gradually started to show good play and earned the 4th place in the Bulgarian highest football tier. Promising youngster Todor Nedelev and veteran Ivan Cvetkov led the club to victories against some of the top teams of Bulgarian football such as Levski Sofia and Litex Lovech at home. Though only the first three teams of A PFG qualified for the UEFA tournaments, the fourth (Botev) was allowed to participate in the UEFA Europa League tournament, taking the place of the at that time financially disturbed team of CSKA Sofia. The game against the Kazakhstan club FC Astana in the first qualifying round of the tournament marked the return of Botev to the European scene, as the club lay dormant on the European stage for 17 years. In the first leg, played in Astana, Botev managed a 1–0 victory. In the second leg, played in the Lazur stadium in Burgas, Botev won 5:0, thus eliminating Astana with a combined score of 6:0. In the second qualifying round the club faced HŠK Zrinjski Mostar and with a 1–1 draw in the first leg in Mostar, and a 2–0 victory in the second leg played in Burgas, Botev eliminated the team from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the third qualifying round the Bulgarian team faced VfB Stuttgart. With results of 1–1 in Bulgaria and 0–0 in Germany, Botev was eliminated because of the away goal rule, undefeated in internationally for the season.

Season 2013–14 started excellent for the team, but in the beginning of the second quarter Botev slid down from the top spots, experiencing a minor crisis, because of injured players.

Honours

A Group:

• Winners (2): 1929, 1966–67
• Runners-up (2): 1962–63, 1985–86
• 3rd place (13): 1930, 1937, 1943, 1957, 1961, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995

Bulgarian Cup:

• Winners (2): 1962, 1981
• Runners-up: (9) – 1947, 1956, 1963, 1964, 1984, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2014

Bulgarian Supercup

• Runners-up: 2014^[2]

Cup of the Soviet Army: (secondary cup)

• Runners-up: 1990

Balkans Cup:

• Winners: 1972
• Runners-up: 1981

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:

• Quarter-finals: 1963

Trimontzium Cup:

• Winners: 1943, 1984, 1987, 1989 (as Trakia Plovdiv)

European tournaments history

Season	Competition	Round	Land	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate	Qual/Elim
1962/63	Cup Winners' Cup	1/16 final		Steaua	5:1	2:3	7:4
		1/8 final		Shamrock Rovers	1:0	4:0	5:0
		quarter-final		Atlético Madrid	1:1	0:4	1:5
1967/68	European Cup	1/16 final		Rapid Bucureşti	2:0	0:3 (a.e.t.)	2:3
1968/69	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1st round		Real Zaragoza	3:1	0:2	3:3 (a)
1970/71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1st round		Coventry City	1:4	0:2	1:6
1971/72	Balkans Cup	Group stage		Göztepe S.K.	3:0	1:3	4:3
		Group stage		FC Brasov	1:1	3:2	4:3
		Final		Vardar Skopje	5:0	0:4	5:4
1978/79	UEFA Cup	1st round		Hertha BSC	1:2	0:0	1:2
1980/81	Balkans Cup	Group stage		Sportul Studențesc	3:0 ^1	2:3	5:3
		Final		FK Velež Mostar	5:6	2:6	7:12
1981/82	Cup Winners' Cup	1/16 final		FC Barcelona	1:0	1:4	2:4
1982/83	Intertoto Cup	Group 10		FC Vítkovice	5:1	2:4	7:5
		Group 10		Eintracht Braunschweig	0:1	0:2	0:3
		Group 10		IF Elfsborg	4:0	0:0	4:0
1984/85	Cup Winners' Cup	1/16 final		Union Sportive	4:0	1:1	5:1
		1/8 final		FC Bayern Munich	2:0	1:4	3:4
1985/86	European Cup	1/16 final		IFK Göteborg	1:2	2:3	3:5
1986/87	UEFA Cup	1st round		Hibernians FC	8:0	2:0	10:0
		1/16 final		NK Hajduk Split	2:2	1:3	3:5
1987/88	UEFA Cup	1st round		Red Star Belgrade	2:2	0:3	2:5
1988/89	UEFA Cup	1st round		Dinamo Minsk	1:2	0:0	1:2
1991/92	UI Cup	1st round		still to add	-:-	-:-	-:-
1992/93	UEFA Cup	1st round		Fenerbahçe SK	2:2	1:3	3:5
1993/94	UEFA Cup	1st round		Olympiacos	2:3	1:5	3:8
1995/96	UEFA Cup	1st round		Dinamo Tbilisi	1:0	1:0	2:0
		1/32 final		Sevilla FC	1:1	0:2	1:3
2013/14	Europa League	First qualifying round		Astana	5:0	1:0	6:0
		Second qualifying round		Zrinjski Mostar	2:0	1:1	3:1
		Third qualifying round		Stuttgart	1:1	0:0	1:1 (a)
2014/15	Europa League	First qualifying round		AC Libertas	4:0	2:0	6:0
		Second qualifying round		St. Pölten	2:1	0:2	2:3

¹. Sportul Studențesc withdrew from the tournament.

UEFA ranking

As of 20 September 2014^[3][4]

Rank	Team	Points
272	Hibernian FC	4.780
273	FC Differdange 03	4.775
274	PFC Botev Plovdiv	4.700
275	Hapoel Be'er Sheva FC	4.700
276	PFC Beroe Stara Zagora	4.700

Stadium

Entrance to the Botev Stadium with the Hristo Botyov bust

In 1959, the authorities allowed the construction of a new club stadium at the place of the old field in the neighborhood of Kamenitza. The first building works began on 21 July 1959. Two years later, Botev Plovdiv returned to The College. On May 14, 1961 the reconstructed stadium was inaugurated. The prime minister – Anton Yugov – attended the celebrations together with the deputy-minister of the defence Dobri Djurov and most of the communist leaders. The celebrations ended with a friendly match against FC Steaua Bucureşti won by the yellow-blacks with 3:0.

For more than 30 years, no big repairs were done on the College. In 1993, during the presidency of Hristo Danov, some serious repairs were made. The visitors's changing room was moved to the eastern part of the stadium. A tunnel under the East and the North stand was built to connect the visitors’ changing room with the field and the capacity of the stadium was reduced. In 1995 electric lighting was put in, but ironically it did not reach the standards of the Bulgarian Football Union.

In the years from 1926 to 1947, Botev played six international games on the ground – two wins, three losses and one draw. The matches were played against Admira Vienna (1:7), Kecskemét (3:2 and 2:4), Beşiktaş (0:0), Bohemians Prague (1:3) and the famous "Wonderteam" of Austria Vienna (sensational win with 5:4) respectively. The attendance record was set on February 27, 1963 during the quarter-final of the Cup Winner's Cup against Atlético Madrid (1:1) – 40,000 people. The record for the Bulgarian championship was set in 1966 against Levski Sofia(0:1) – 37,000 people, but because of the riots between the fans and the rush of fans on the field, Botev Plovdiv was forced to play its derbies at "The Big House" – the City Stadium.

Several times, the stadium was used for football matches from the city rivals from Lokomotiv Plovdiv. During the second half of the 1980/81 season, "The Smurfs" (Lokomotiv Plovdiv) played their home matches on The College (which was followed by a relegation in the second division) as well as one match in the 2003/04 season (when Lokomotiv won the A PFG for the first time). Spartak Plovdiv also used the stadium for several matches during the 1995/1996 season. The stadium has also hosted the Bulgarian Cup final in 2000, when Levski Sofia won the cup after 2:0 against Naftex Burgas.

In the summer of 2008, the stadium underwent renovations to meet the requirements of the Football Union, the Central Stand was renovated and the new visitors's changing room was built under it.

On March 26, 2012 began a major reconstruction of the stadium, starting with conceptual design by architect Georgi Savov and supported by the new owner of the team Tzvetan Vassilev. According to estimates construction will consume about 15 million euro, and the facility must be ready for operation by mid 2015 just in time to host matches at the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. The reconstruction will be carried out in two phases, the first starting from the end of March 2012 and will last four months. The first stage consists in the replacement of the field, which will have modern drainage system and heating system . The field will be measuring 68x105 meters. Second stage consists of the demolishing of the four old tribunes and building of new ones closer to the football field.

On home matchdays, Botev Plovdiv's players traditionally enter the pitch to the Blue Canary tune (by Marisa Fiordaliso and Carlo Buti) before the start of a game.

Supporters and rivalries

The club has an strong support, and their ultras group is called Bultras.^[5]

Botev's main rival is the neighbouring club of Lokomotiv Plovdiv forming the Plovdiv Derby. The two teams are the most supported ones in the second largest city in Bulgaria – Plovdiv – and the games between them are well known to the Bulgarian football community, and is one of the fiercest rivalries in the world.^[6] Botev is one the country's oldest teams, whereas Lokomotiv grew popular in the 70s. Traditionally, Lokomotiv's drew support from the lower working classes of society whereas Botev drew support form the middle and upper classes, although that no longer applies.^[7]

The club has also a strong rivalry with Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia, as they compete to be the most popular team in the country.

Colours

Botev's first kit.

The colours of the club are golden yellow and black, adopted in 1917. There are two stories about how the colours were chosen.

The first states that yellow and black is a symbol of the unity between the catholic collegians (golden yellow) and the orthodox schoolfellows (black) as the club's stadium – Hristo Botev was built in close proximity with the Catholic College of Plovdiv.

The second story says that the founders of the club copied the organizational structure from the then very popular Austrian clubs and that they took the colors of the Austro-Hungarian imperial flag (also the first club badge was very similar to the SK Rapid Wien crest).

Club's motto

Botev Plovdiv's motto is: Beauty, faith and fight (Bulgarian: Красота,вяра и борба; pronounced:/crɐsɔtɐ,vʝarɐ i bɔrbɐ/).

Current squad

As of 3 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 Victor Golas 4 DF Ihor Oshchypko 5 DF Kristian Dimitrov 6 DF Daniel Zlatkov 8 MF Todor Nedelev (on loan from Mainz 05) 9 MF Emil Kamberov 10 MF Serkan Yusein 11 DF Yordan Hristov (captain) 17 MF Lachezar Baltanov 18 DF Radoslav Terziev 19 FW Boris Tyutyukov

No. Position Player 21 GK Martin Dimitrov 23 MF Gregory Nelson 24 DF Lazar Marin 26 MF Radoslav Apostolov 28 DF Filip Filipov 30 MF Bozhidar Vasev 45 FW Nasko Milev 66 MF Orlin Starokin 88 MF Milen Gamakov 91 MF Rahavi Kifouéti 99 FW Ismet Ramadan

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 3 DF Georgi Kupenov (at Dobrudzha Dobrich until 30 june 2016) — GK Stamen Boyadzhiev (at Venezia until 30 June 2016)

No. Position Player — FW Rangel Ignatov (at Pirin Razlog until 30 June 2016)

Retired Numbers

• 12 Number Retired For The Fans

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 Rahavi Kifouéti Gregory Nelson

(Dual citizenship) Victor Golas

Non-EU Nationals Ihor Oshchypko

Player of the year

Year	Winner
2010–11	Atanas Kurdov
2011–12	Aleksandar Aleksandrov
2012–13	Ivan Tsvetkov
2013–14	Adam Stachowiak
2014–15	Lachezar Baltanov

Past seasons

League positions

Season	League	Place	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Bulgarian Cup
2010–11	V Group (III)	1	37	1	0	127	15	112	not qualified
2011–12	B Group (II)	2	14	9	4	40	17	51	Quarterfinals
2012–13	A Group (I)	4	18	6	6	51	21	60	Third round
2013–14	A Group	4	18	11	9	57	32	62	Final
2014–15	A Group	6	12	6	14	38	39	42	Second round
2015–16	A Group	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	Second round
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

Managerial history

This is a list of the last ten Botev Plovdiv managers:

Name	Nat	From	To	Honours
Kostadin Vidolov		20 February 2011	15 May 2011	–
Petar Houbchev		15 May 2011	26 October 2011	–
Milen Radukanov		26 October 2011	26 March 2012	–
Kostadin Vidolov*		26 March 2012	5 June 2012	–
Ferario Spasov		5 June 2012	10 December 2012	–
Kostadin Vidolov*		11 December 2012	1 January 2013	–
Stanimir Stoilov		1 January 2013	4 June 2014	–
Lyuboslav Penev		6 June 2014	7 July 2014	–
Velislav Vutsov		8 July 2014	3 December 2014	–
Petar Penchev		3 December 2014	29 July 2015	–
Ermin Šiljak		29 July 2015	10 November 2015	–
Nikolay Kostov		11 November 2015		–

Key

* Served as caretaker manager.

As of 3 December 2014

Chairman

Chairman Nat From To Stoyan Puhtev 1912 1922 Ivan Nikiforov 1922 1923 Georgui Hitrilov 1923 1926 Hristo Kanchev 1926 1944 Stoyo Seizov 1944 1947 Dimitar Ganchev 1947 1953 Dimitar Vangelov 1953 1960 Yovcho Yovchev 1960 1964 Stanko Stankov 1964 1972 Kiril Asparuhov 1972 13.09.1990

Chairman Nat From To Viden Apostolov 13.09.1990 01.10.1992 Petar Baldzhiev 01.10.1992 16.01.1993 Hristo Danov 16.01.1993 04.01.1995 Mihail Markachev 04.01.1995 14.10.1996 Georgi Chakarov 14.10.1996 16.09.1997 Petko Muravenov 16.09.1997 26.11.1997 Vassil Koritarev 26.11.1997 16.12.1997 Vasko Ninov 16.12.1997 16.03.1999 Dimitar Hristolov 19.03.1999 29.04.2010 Marin Bakalov 29.04.2010 30.10.2011 Yuli Popov 31.10.2011 19.03.2014 Ivan Dzhidzhev 19.03.2014 present

Notable stats

Most league appearances # Name Apps 1 Dinko Dermendzhiev 447 2 Viden Apostolov 429 3 Zapryan Rakov 359 4 Marin Bakalov 353 5 Petar Zehtinski 350 — Kostadin Kostadinov 350 Bulgarian league top scorers Year Name Gls 1961 Ivan Sotirov 20 1975 Ivan Pritargov 20 1981 Georgi Slavkov 31 1983 Antim Pehlivanov 20 1986 Atanas Pashev 30 2008 Georgi Hristov 19 Most league goals # Name Gls 1 Dinko Dermendzhiev 194 2 Kostadin Kostadinov 106 3 Atanas Pashev 100 4 Antim Pehlivanov 089 5 Ivan Sotirov 086

Note: For a complete list of Botev Plovdiv players, see Category:PFC Botev Plovdiv players.

References

1. "Bulgaria's Botev Plovdiv expelled from first division over debts". Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
2. Ботев загуби от Лудогорец във финала за Суперкупата
3. UEFA Club's Ranking 2014/15
4. UEFA Team Ranking 2014 – Current Stats
5. http://bultras.com
6. http://hooliganstv.com/riots-durind-the-plovdiv-derbylokomotiv-botev-17-10-2015/
7. http://www.footballderbies.com/honours/index.php?id=81

External links

• Official web site