PFC Botev Plovdiv

PFC Botev Plovdiv
Botev Plovdiv
Botev Plovdiv
Full name Професионален футболен клуб Ботев Пловдив (Professional football club Botev Plovdiv)
Nickname(s) Канарчетата (The Canaries)
Жълто-черните (The Yellow-Blacks)
Founded March 1912
Ground Hristo Botev Stadium,
Plovdiv
(Capacity: 22,000)
Chairman Marin Bakalov
Manager Milen Radukanov
League East B PFG
2010–11 South-East V AFG, 1st
(Promoted)
Website Club home page
Home colours
Away colours

PFC Botev Plovdiv (Bulgarian: ПФК Ботев Пловдив /bɔtɛv pɫɔvdiv/), is the oldest Bulgarian football club from the city of Plovdiv, which currently competes in Bulgaria's second football league, the B PFG.

The club was officially founded in March 1912 by a group of students and since then, it is one of the most prominent football clubs in Bulgaria. Botev's home ground, the Stadion Botev, is located in the residential quarter of Kamenitza and has a capacity of 22,000 spectators.

Botev Plovdiv is one of the best known clubs in Bulgaria. The Canaries (the nickname of the club) have won 2 league titles and 2 national cups. Botev have been twice vice-champion of Bulgaria, ten times has finished the league table 3rd, ten times has also reached the Bulgarian Cup's finals. The club is also a six-time champion of Plovdiv, years before the A PFG is created. Botev has been a four-time winner of the Trimontzium Cup (friendly international tournament held in Plovdiv). The club has also won the Interleague-86 Cup (trophy of the Polish Football Association). Internationally the club has reached one Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals and has won the Balkans Cup once.

Contents

Honours

Bulgarian A PFG:

  • Champions (2): 1929, 1967

Bulgarian Cup:

  • Winners (2): 1962, 1981

Balkans Cup:

  • Winners (1): 1972

Trimontzium Cup:

  • Winners (4): 1943, 1984, 1987, 1989 (as Trakia Plovdiv)

History

Early years (1912-1950)

Botev Plovdiv was founded in 1912, by a small group of students from the Catholic College and the First Male High School in Plovdiv and it was the first football club in Bulgaria. Upon its formation, Stoyan Puhtev became president, Nenko Penelov was the vice-president, Petar Delev secretary and Tenyo Rusev steward. Rusev chose to name it Botev in honor of the Bulgarian national hero Hristo Botyov. Since then, the club has changed its name several times: Botev (1912–1946), DNV(1947–51), DNA (1952–57), SKNA (1957), Botev (1957–1968) and Trakia (1968–1989). However, as of 1989, the current name is Botev Plovdiv. The club's colours, yellow and black, were adopted for the first time in 1917.

After the first World War, Botev Plovdiv began to become more successful. 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 for the first time 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 built 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 the 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 Atletico 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 the team lines was recent acquisition Ivan Sotirov who became the goals scorer in Bulgaria with 20 goals.

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.

European Achievements, 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 notable 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.

The most important achievement of that period in Europe was the 1985 Cup Winners' Cup campaign, when Botev qualified for the second round of the tournament. The team managed to secure a surprising 2-0 victory against the notable 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.

Hristo Danov Era (1991-1999)

In 1992, the club was bought by a conglomerate of brokers, led by Hristo Danov, who invested in the team in order to bring Botev to the top flights. Danov decided to bring players with a lot of experience in the 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 managed to reach the third place in the A PFG in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

Hristolov takeover, Financial implosion (1999-2010)

On March 19, 1999 Botev was acquired by Dimitar Hristolov. This day marked the beginning of very difficult years for the club. In the 2000-01 season, the team was relegated to B PFG, after a 47 years stay 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 stayed 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 and a number of related issues[1]. Botev's opponents will be awarded with 3:0 wins by default during the second half of the season.

The new beginning (2010-present)

After the financial collapse of the club in 2010, Botev Plovdiv started participation in the Bulgarian V AFG for the 2010-11 season. The club was completely rebuild and with new organizational structure compared to the previous seasons, but featuring a lot of players with first league and international experience such as striker Atanas Kurdov, midfielder Todor Timonov and captain Nikolay Manchev or goalkeeper Armen Ambartsumyan. Botev finished as a champion in the third league with the impressive 37 wins and only one draw (112 points), getting a promotion to the second tier of Bulgarian football, B PFG. For the new season the club was joined by a new coach - Petar Houbchev, who has international experience as player and coach, succeeding the club legend Kostadin Vidolov . Vidolov is now coach assistant and helps Hubchev with his main objective to climb the top to the A PFG .

Club's motto

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

Stadium

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 finally returned to The College. On May 14, 1961 the reconstructed stadium was officially inaugurated. The prime minister – Anton Yugov – attended the celebrations together with the deputy-minister of the defence Dobri Djurov and most of the influential 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 in order to connect the visitors’ changing room with the field and the capacity of the stadium was reduced. In 1995 electric lighting was built, but ironically it did not face the standards of the Bulgarian Football Union.

In the years from 1926 to 1947, Botev played 6 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), Besiktas (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 Atletico 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 some 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.

Colours

Botev's first kit.

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

The first states that the yellow and black is symbol of the unity between the catholic collegians (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 one 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).

Fans

The Botevists (the supporters of Botev Plovdiv) are said to be one of the most fanatic and loyal fans in all of Bulgaria, supporting the team during either good or bad moments. The club is famous for its eccentric Трибуна Изток /pronounced in Bulgarian:tribunɐ iztɔc/(East Stand), which is occupied by the bultras. Bultras is a generalized name for the extreme yellow-black fans and they are one of the three major football mobs in Bulgaria (along with Sofia’s CSKA and Levski). The word bultras is derived from Botev Ultras and it was firstly used by some hardcore fans during the mid-1990s.

European cup history

Season Competition Round Land Club Score
1962/63 Cup Winners' Cup 1/16 final Romania Steaua 2:3, 5:1
1/8 final Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 4:0, 1:0
quarter-final Spain Atletico Madrid 1:1, 0:4
1967/68 European Cup 1/16 final Romania Rapid Bucureşti 2:0, 0:3 (a.e.t.)
1968/69 UEFA Cup 1st round Spain Real Zaragoza 3:1, 0:2
1970/71 UEFA Cup 1st round England Coventry City 1:4, 0:2
1978/79 UEFA Cup 1st round Germany Hertha BSC 0:0, 1:2
1981/82 Cup Winners' Cup 1/16 final Spain FC Barcelona 1:4, 1:0
1984/85 Cup Winners' Cup 1/16 final Luxembourg Union Sportive 1:1, 4:0
1/8 final Germany FC Bayern Munich 1:4, 2:0
1985/86 European Cup 1/16 final Sweden IFK Göteborg 2:3, 1:2
1986/87 UEFA Cup 1st round Malta Hibernians FC 2:0, 8:0
1/16 final Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia NK Hajduk Split 1:3, 2:2
1987/88 UEFA Cup 1st round Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade 0:3, 2:2
1988/89 UEFA Cup 1st round Soviet Union Dinamo Minsk 1:2, 0:0
1992/93 UEFA Cup 1st round Turkey Fenerbahçe SK 1:3, 2:2
1993/94 UEFA Cup 1st round Greece Olympiacos 2:3, 1:5
1995/96 UEFA Cup 1st round Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi 1:0, 1:0
1/32 final Spain Sevilla FC 0:2, 1:1

Current squad

As of August 8, 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Armenia GK Armen Ambartsumyan
2 Bulgaria DF Vasil Vasilev
3 Bulgaria MF Dimitar Bayrev
4 Bulgaria DF Vladimir Bayrev
5 Bulgaria DF Nikolay Domakinov
6 Bulgaria DF Daniel Bozhkov
7 Bulgaria MF Svetoslav Asenov
8 Bulgaria MF Todor Nedelev
9 Bulgaria FW Martin Stefanov
11 Bulgaria MF Yordan Hristov
13 Bulgaria DF Kostadin Gadzhalov
14 Bulgaria DF Angel Rahov
No. Position Player
16 Bulgaria FW Petar Atanasov
17 Bulgaria DF Ivaylo Dimitrov
19 Bulgaria MF Vasil Gudzhev
20 Bulgaria MF Nikolay Manchev
21 Bulgaria MF Stefan Kikov
22 Bulgaria MF Irfan Yuseinov
23 Bulgaria GK Ilia Nikolov
24 Bulgaria GK Rumen Tinkov
27 Bulgaria DF Nikolay Dimitrov
30 Bulgaria MF Aleksandar Aleksandrov
31 Bulgaria DF Martin Dimov
33 Bulgaria DF Emil Argirov
39 Bulgaria FW Atanas Kurdov

Retired Numbers

  • 12 Number Retired For The Fans

Managerial history

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

Name Nat From To Honours
Mitko Dzhorov Bulgaria 20 October 2003 26 October 2003
Trifon Pachev Bulgaria 26 October 2003 30 August 2004
Yasen Petrov Bulgaria 30 August 2004 27 November 2005
Atanas Marinov Bulgaria 20 January 2006 31 May 2006
Svetoslav Garkov Bulgaria 30 June 2006 3 October 2007
Tencho Tenev Bulgaria 3 October 2007 30 May 2008
Kostadin Angelov Bulgaria 1 June 2008 15 June 2009
Petar Penchev* Bulgaria 18 June 2009 1 September 2009
Enrico Piccioni Italy 1 September 2009 15 December 2009
Marin Bakalov Bulgaria 15 June 2010 20 February 2011
Kostadin Vidolov Bulgaria 20 February 2011 15 May 2011
Petar Houbchev Bulgaria 15 May 2011 26 Oct 2011
Milen Radukanov Bulgaria 26 Oct 2011
Key
* Served as caretaker manager.

As of 27 February 2011

Chairmen

Chairman Nat From To
Stoyan Puhtev Bulgaria 1912 1922
Ivan Nikiforov Bulgaria 1922 1923
Georgui Hitrilov Bulgaria 1923 1926
Hristo Kanchev Bulgaria 1926 1944
Stoyo Seizov Bulgaria 1944 1947
Dimitar Ganchev Bulgaria 1947 1953
Dimitar Vangelov Bulgaria 1953 1960
Yovcho Yovchev Bulgaria 1960 1964
Stanko Stankov Bulgaria 1964 1972
Kiril Asparuhov Bulgaria 1972 13.09.1990
Chairman Nat From To
Viden Apostolov Bulgaria 13.09.1990 01.10.1992
Petar Baldzhiev Bulgaria 01.10.1992 16.01.1993
Hristo Danov Bulgaria 16.01.1993 04.01.1995
Mihail Markachev Bulgaria 04.01.1995 14.10.1996
Georgi Chakarov Bulgaria 14.10.1996 16.09.1997
Petko Muravenov Bulgaria 16.09.1997 26.11.1997
Vassil Koritarev Bulgaria 26.11.1997 16.12.1997
Vasko Ninov Bulgaria 16.12.1997 16.03.1999
Dimitar Hristolov Bulgaria 19.03.1999 29.04.2010
Marin Bakalov Bulgaria 29.04.2010 present

Notable stats

Most league appearances for the club

# Name Apps
1 Bulgaria Dinko Dermendzhiev 447
2 Bulgaria Viden Apostolov 429
3 Bulgaria Zapryan Rakov 359
4 Bulgaria Marin Bakalov 353
5 Bulgaria Petar Zehtinski 350
Bulgaria Kostadin Kostadinov 350

Most league goals for the club

# Name Gls
1 Bulgaria Dinko Dermendzhiev 194
2 Bulgaria Kostadin Kostadinov 106
3 Bulgaria Atanas Pashev 100
4 Bulgaria Antim Pehlivanov 089
5 Bulgaria Ivan Sotirov 086

Bulgarian league top scorer with the club

Year Name Gls
1961 Bulgaria Ivan Sotirov 20
1975 Bulgaria Ivan Pritargov 20
1981 Bulgaria Georgi Slavkov 31
1983 Bulgaria Antim Pehlivanov 20
1986 Bulgaria Atanas Pashev 30
2008 Bulgaria Georgi Hristov 19

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

References

External links


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