Ivan Bandalovski
Ivan Georgiev Bandalovski ( bg, Иван Бандаловски; born 23 November 1986) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Early career Bandalovski started playing football in the youth team of Levski Sofia at the age of six. He was not offered a professional contract with the club and in the summer of 2004, at the age of 17, signed with Litex Lovech. He earned his first professional cap against Lokomotiv Plovdiv for Bulgarian Supercup in Burgas on 31 July 2004 at the age of 17. In Lovech Bandalovski played several championship matches and was noticed by Feyenoord Rotterdam. In January 2005 the player went on loan to the Dutch team for 18 months. In June 2006 he returned to Litex. Lokomotiv Sofia In January 2008 Bandalovski signed for Lokomotiv Sofia. Performing as a solid back, it didn't last long until he gained head coach Dragan Okuka's trust and became a starter. Sometimes credited as having a bad temper, he maintained the s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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PFC CSKA Sofia
CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ( bg, Централен Спортен Клуб на Армията). Officially established on 5 May 1948, CSKA's roots date back to an army officers' club founded in 1923. The club has won a record 31 Bulgarian titles and 21 Bulgarian Cups. Internationally, CSKA are the only Bulgarian club to have reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, which they have done twice, and they have also reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. CSKA's home colors are red and white and its home ground is the Bulgarian Army Stadium. The club's biggest rivals are Levski Sofia and matches between the two sides are known as " The Eternal Derby of Bulgaria". History 1923–1948 In November 1923, football clubs ' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bulgarian Supercup
The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. In case the champion of Bulgaria has also won the cup, the Bulgarian Cup finalist competes with the champion in the match for the trophy. The Supercup match is usually held during the weekend before the start of a new season. Since 2004 the Supercup game has been an annual event. The most successful club in the event is Ludogorets Razgrad with six Supercup titles and four times being runners-up. Ludogorets is the club that has participated in most seasons of the Supercup with ten appearances. The competition has been dominated by Sofia-based teams. The Sofia teams have won together a total number of 7 titles. History Inaugural Event 1989 The first match for the Bulgarian Supercup was held ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Free Agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. In some circumstances, the free agent's options are limited by league rules. Types Terms Unrestricted free agent Unrestricted free agents are players without a team. They have either been released from their club, had the term of their contract expire without a renewal, or were not chosen in a league's draft of amateur players. These people, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams in the player's most recent league and elsewhere and to decide with whom to sign a contract. Players who have been bought out of league standard contracts may have restrictions within that league, such as not being able to sign with the buy-out club for a period of time in the NHL, b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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FC Steaua București
FC Steaua București was a Romanian professional football club of which two current entities are claiming the records. The original ''FC Steaua București'' team was part of the namesake CSA Steaua București sports club and belonged to the Ministry of National Defence. In 1998, the club and facilities were separated from the sports club and taken over by a group of shareholders in a post-Ceaușescu privatisation scheme, allegedly leading to one of the shareholders (Gigi Becali) acquiring full ownership five years later. However, CSA Steaua București sued the football club in 2011, claiming that this was a new entity; the two have since been in a legal conflict regarding the ownership of the Steaua brand and honours, which resulted in multiple court cases and the forced change of the name of ''FC Steaua București'' to FCSB in early 2017. UEFA and LPF are attributing all of the original club history to FCSB. According to the newest court decision, CSA Steaua holds all honours up ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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PSFC Chernomorets Burgas
PSFC Chernomorets Burgas ( bg, ПСФК Черноморец Бургас) or simply Chernomorets ( bg, Черноморец) was a Bulgarian football club from the city of Burgas. The club never won any major competition, its most notable achievement being a second-place finish in the UEFA Intertoto Cup competition in 2008. The club was founded in 2005, following the folding of the historical FC Chernomorets Burgas, which played numerous seasons in the first tier of Bulgarian football. The new Chernomorets quickly ascended to the first tier and remained there until the 2013-14 season. Financial problems followed, which led to instability and relegations to lower leagues, ultimately to the fifth tier, where the team played last in 2018-19, before being dissolved. Fans and former players from the original club founded FC Chernomorets 1919 Burgas as the successor of the club. Club colours Kit history Honours Domestic Bulgarian A PFG: * Fourth place (1): 2011–12 Bulga ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bulgarian A Football Group
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league, located at the top of the Bulgarian football league system. Contested by 16 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second Professional Football League. The Bulgarian football championship was inaugurated in 1924 Bulgarian State Football Championship, 1924 as the ''Bulgarian State Football Championship'' and has been played in a league format since 1948 Bulgarian Republic Football Championship, 1948, when the A Group was established. The champions of the First League have the right to participate in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League based on the UEFA coefficient#League coefficient, lea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bulgarian Cup
The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matches being one-legged, except the semi-finals. The competition's winner gets the right to take part in the UEFA Europa Conference League. If the winner has already secured a place through the Bulgarian A Professional Football Group, the team that has come ''fourth'' in the championship substitutes it. The competition has been dominated by Sofia-based teams. The Sofia teams have won together a total number of 65 titles. The three most successful teams are Levski Sofia (26 cups), CSKA Sofia (21 cups) and Slavia Sofia (8 cups). The current cup holders are Levski Sofia, who beat CSKA Sofia 1–0 in the 2022 final. Format The Bulgarian Cup tournament is divided in two phases - the ''Qualific ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and has a capacity of 14,000 spectators. Founded on 25 July 1926, Lokomotiv is one of the most popular teams in Bulgaria and currently competes in the top-flight First League, which they have won once (in 2004). Lokomotiv Plovdiv has won also 2 Bulgarian Cups, 2 Bulgarian Supercups and 1 Cup of the Soviet Army. The biggest success of the club in Europe is reaching the third round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1965, after narrowly losing to the Italian Juventus in a play-off match. Lokomotiv have a fierce local rivalry with fellow Plovdiv-based team Botev Plovdiv. Matches between the two sides are known as the Plovdiv derby. History Throughout the club's history, it has undergone a number of complex reorganisations. These were in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bulgarian National Football Team
The Bulgaria national football team ( bg, Български национален отбор по футбол, Bǎlgarski natsionalen otbor po futbol) represents Bulgaria in men's international football and is administered by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. Bulgaria's best achievements are reaching the final at the 1968 Summer Olympics and the fourth place at the FIFA World Cup in 1994. Bulgaria have competed at a total of seven World Cups, debuting in 1962 and last appearing in 1998. In addition, they have participated in two European Championships, in 1996 and 2004. The team has also competed at the Balkan Cup, winning three titles. However, Bulgaria have failed to qualify for any major tournament since UEFA Euro 2004. History Early history The Bulgarian national football team was formed in 1922. In 1923, the Bulgarian Football Union was formed and the team's first match was held in Vienna on 21 May 1924, which resulted in a 6–0 defeat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dragan Okuka
Dragomir "Dragan" Okuka (; born 2 April 1954) is a Serbian football coach and former player. As a player, he was predominantly associated with his time with Velež Mostar where he won the 1981 Yugoslav Cup before joining Swedish club Örebro SK, the place his son, professional footballer Dražen, was born before ending his career soon after. Starting his management career with FK Bečej, Okuka would win his first coaching honours with FK Obilić when he won the 1997–98 Yugoslav league title with them. Since then he has achieved success with Polish club Legia Warsaw and managed the Serbia and Montenegro under-21 team to a fourth-place finish at the 2006 European Under-21 Championship. He has also managed several other clubs. Playing career Okuka, born in Porija, Kalinovik, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, started his football career playing for Velež Nevesinje.Book: "Rođeni - Prvoligaške generacije 1952 - 1991" by Zoran Mrđenović, pag. 37 However, he reached his affirmatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Litex Lovech
Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion, which has a capacity of 8,100 seats, electric floodlights and permission to stage European matches. As one of the successful Bulgarian clubs outside the capital Sofia, Litex have won the domestic championship four times and the Bulgarian Cup on four occasions. Together with CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia, Litex was also the third football club to represent the country regularly in the European Club Association. History 1921–1996 The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya and began playing league football two years later, in 1923. Over the years, the club has changed its name several times. From 1957 it was named Karpachev, before becoming Osam in 1979. Under that name the club played constantly in the B Group, the second division of Bulgar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |