FC Vitosha Bistritsa

FC Vitosha (Bulgarian: ФК Витоша) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Bistritsa, Sofia City Province, which competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. It is named after the Vitosha mountain range, where Bistritsa is located.

FC Vitosha Bistritsa
Full nameFootball Club Vitosha Bistritsa
Nickname(s)"The Bistritsa Tigers"
Short nameVitosha
Founded1958 (1958)
GroundStadion Bistritsa
Capacity2,500
ManagerNikolay Hristozov
LeagueSecond League
2021–22Third League, 2nd (promoted)
WebsiteClub website

Vitosha was founded in 1958, however, the club spent the majority of its history playing in lower leagues. In 2017, Vitosha managed to promote to the First League for the first time ever. The club was relegated after the 2019-20 season and re-founded in 2021.

The club became notable for having Bulgaria's prime minister, Boyko Borisov, as a registered player of the squad in the lower divisions.[1][2][3] The increased popularity of the club due to Borisov's presence led to its coach and players being featured on the TV series BNT Taxi in 2011.[4]

History

1958–2007: Regional divisions

The club was founded in 1958 and played in the regional divisions until 2007 when it gained promotion to the third division. In the 1972–73 Bulgarian Cup they entered the preliminary round but eventually lost to Pirin Blagoevgrad with a 3-0 result.

2007–2016: Amateur division and B Group breakthrough

From 2007 to 2016 the team played regularly in the V Group. In May 2012, Vitosha claimed the Amateur League Cup for the first time in their history, eliminating Dve Mogili 2–1 in the final match.[5] During the 2012-13 V Group, the club ranked second in the South-West V Group and achieved promotion to Bulgaria's professional B Group for the first time in their history.

During the 2013–14 Bulgarian Cup, Vitosha eliminated Bansko with an aggregate score of 3-1 to advance to the Round of 16 of the Bulgarian Cup for the first time ever. Previously, their highest achievement had been reaching the Round of 32 in the 1972 Bulgarian Cup.

2016–2020: From third tier to first tier, then dissolution

Vitosha finished the 2015–16 V Group in second place after CSKA Sofia, but due to the adoption of a new league structure for the Second League, they were promoted again.[6] In the meantime, the club started investing in a youth academy consisting of five youth teams for the 2016–17 season and reconstruction works on the club's stadium. On May 3, 2017, Vitosha presented an update of their current club crest.[7] A few days later, on May 8, 2017, they also signed a sponsorship agreement with Bulgarian gambling company Efbet for the upcoming two seasons.[8]

On June 2, 2017, Vitosha won the play-off relegation match against Neftochimic Burgas and achieved promotion to the top division for first time in their history.[9]

Despite their poor performance during the regular season, finishing last with the worst defense and attack, and gaining only one victory, Vitosha avoided relegation from the 2017–18 First League, winning the play-offs against Pirin Blagoevgrad and Lokomotiv Sofia. Vitosha improved their performance in the next season, avoiding relegation once more.

However, the 2019-20 season was disastrous for Vitosha. The team finished in the last place in the regular season, with only one win. Since the number of matches was reduced by half for the season, Vitosha was mathematically relegated even before the relegation phase started. This ended their three-year stay in the Bulgarian top tier.

On 28 September 2020, after several matches from the new season were completed, the first team was dissolved while keeping only the youth teams.[10]

2021–present: Re-founding and amateur leagues

On 25 May 2021 the team announced that they would join the Third League playing the most with youth academy players and Nikolay Hristozov as manager.[11] At the end of the 2021–22 season, Vitosha finished in second place in the Southwest Third League, but the team was promoted to the Second League after Tsarsko Selo, which was relegated from the First League, announced its dissolution, thus leaving an empty spot in the Second League. The Bulgarian Football Union gave Vitosha the place in the Second League, since they had accumulated the most points out of all second-placed teams from the regional third leagues.

During the 2022–23 season, while competing in the Second League, Vitosha also qualified for the Bulgarian Cup. Vitosha made a surprising performance by eliminating first tier side Botev Vratsa in the round of 32, after eliminating Chernolomets Popovo in the first round. Vitosha set up a meeting with another First League team, Lokomotiv Sofia in the round of 16.[12]

Honours

Bulgarian First League:

Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League

  • Winners (2): 2012, 2022

Bulgarian Cup

Players

Current squad

As of 8 October 2022

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Bulgaria BUL Boris Gruev
3 DF Bulgaria BUL Zdravko Panev
4 DF Bulgaria BUL Kristiyan Uzunov
5 DF Bulgaria BUL Giulio Charlov
6 DF Bulgaria BUL Teodor Dimitrov
7 MF Bulgaria BUL Kristiyan Kochilov
8 MF Bulgaria BUL Tomi Kostadinov
10 MF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Amzin
11 DF Bulgaria BUL Steven Slavkov
12 GK Bulgaria BUL Tsvetelin Stavrev
17 MF Bulgaria BUL Mihail Petrov
18 MF Bulgaria BUL Stanislav Petrov
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF Bulgaria BUL Viliyan Spasov
21 FW Bulgaria BUL Radoslav Iliev
22 MF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Naydenov
23 FW Bulgaria BUL Emil Gargorov (captain)
24 DF Bulgaria BUL Kristiyan Dimitrov
27 DF Bulgaria BUL Slavi Paskalev
41 FW Bulgaria BUL Deyan Hristov
77 FW Bulgaria BUL Tsvetomir Vachev
80 MF Bulgaria BUL Martin Stankev
86 FW Bulgaria BUL Valeri Bojinov
88 MF Bulgaria BUL David Ganchev
90 DF Bulgaria BUL Georgi Bozhilov
99 FW Bulgaria BUL Hristiyan Dimitrov

Foreign players

Up to one non-EU national can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the Second League. 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

EU Nationals (Dual citizenship)

Non-EU Nationals

Goalscoring and appearance records

As of 1 December 2019

Most appearances for the club in First League

RankNameCareerAppearances
1Bulgaria Chetin Sadula2013–202069
2Bulgaria Rumen Gyonov2014–201968
3Bulgaria Lachezar Kotev2016–202067
4Bulgaria Todor Gochev2017–201962
5Bulgaria Georgi Amzin2014–60
Bulgaria Stefan Hristov2017–201960
7Bulgaria Grigor Dolapchiev2017–201956
8Bulgaria Kristiyan Kochilov2015–202055
Bulgaria Ivaylo Lazarov2016–201955
10Bulgaria Petko Tsankov2017–201954
As of 1 December 2019

Most goals for the club in First League

RankNameCareerGoals
1Bulgaria Grigor Dolapchiev2017–201911
2Bulgaria Stefan Hristov2017–20199
3Bulgaria Emil Gargorov2019–7
4Bulgaria Ivaylo Lazarov2016–20196
5Bulgaria Chetin Sadula2013–20205
6Bulgaria Daniel Peev2017–20184
7Bulgaria Daniel Kutev2017–20203
8Bulgaria Ivan Valchanov2018–20192
Bulgaria Iliya Dimitrov2019–20202

Personnel

Kostadin Angelov who was head coach of the team between 2015 and 2018.

Manager history

Dates Name Honours
1959–2007 Unknown
2007–2014 Bulgaria Yasin Mishaui 99991 Amateur Cup title
2014 Bulgaria Nikolay Todorov
2014–2015 Bulgaria Borislav Georgiev
2015–2018 Bulgaria Kostadin Angelov
2018–2019 Bulgaria Rosen Kirilov
2019 Bulgaria Engibar Engibarov
2019–2020 Bulgaria Asen Bukarev
2020 Bulgaria Kostadin Angelov
2021– Bulgaria Nikolay Hristozov

Current technical body

Position Name Nationality
Head coachNikolay HristozovBulgaria
Assistant coachYordan VarbanovBulgaria
Goalkeeper coachValentin GalevBulgaria

League Stats

Seasons

2017–18 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

2018–19 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

2019–20 FC Vitosha Bistritsa season

League positions

Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGFirst Professional Football LeagueSecond Professional Football League (Bulgaria)Bulgarian V AFGBulgarian B Football GroupBulgarian V AFG

Past seasons

Season League Place W D L GF GA Pts Bulgarian Cup
2010–11V Group (III)32747702485not qualified
2011–12V Group619413533661not qualified
2012–13V Group22253521071not qualified
2013–14B Group (II)117712222428Second round
2014–15V Group (III)41866572260not qualified
2015–16V Group22354721674not qualified
2016–17Second League (II)31587372353First round
2017–18First League (I)1321124226817First round
2018–19First League1313519355044Second round
Green marks a season followed by promotion, red a season followed by relegation.

References

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