Stadion Hristo Botev ( bg, Стадион „Христо Ботев“, en, 'Hristo Botev Stadium' ) is a
football stadium currently undergoing reconstruction in the
Kamenitsa neighbourhood of
Plovdiv, Bulgaria. It is the home of
Botev Plovdiv. Originally named ''The College'', it is still popular by this name amongst fans, as in the early 20th century the pitch was owned by
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
Catholic College.
The stadium hosted the
2000 Bulgarian Cup Final
The 2000 Bulgarian Cup Final was played at the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv on 31 May 2000 and was contested between the sides of Neftochimic Burgas and Levski Sofia. The match was won by Levski Sofia
Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски Со ...
. In the past it has also been used as a home ground by other football teams from the city;
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 ...
played their home matches on the venue during the second half of the
1979–80 season, as well as one match in the
2003–04 season. It was also used by
Spartak Plovdiv
PFC Spartak Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Спартак Пловдив) is a Bulgarian football club based in Plovdiv, which currently plays in the third tier of Bulgarian football, the Third League. The club was established in 1947 and folded its seni ...
for several games during the
1995–96 season.
Since the middle of 2014 the stadium's reconstruction is on hold, due to the lack of financing. It is estimated that nearly €15,000,000 are needed in order for it to be completed. Since then, finances have been found and the reconstruction of the stadium is currently ongoing.
History
![Hristo Botev Stadium Plovdiv TB](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Hristo_Botev_Stadium_Plovdiv_TB.JPG)
In 1959, the authorities allowed the construction of a new club stadium at the place of the old field in the neighborhood of
Kamenitza. As a result, building works began, and nearly two years later,
Botev Plovdiv returned to their home ground. The reconstructed stadium had a capacity of 35,000 people and electric lightning. On 14 May 1961 it was inaugurated with a friendly match between
Botev Plovdiv and
Steaua București, which won by the club from
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
with 3–0.
In the years from 1926 to 1947,
Botev Plovdiv played six international matches on the ground, they were against
Admira Vienna (1–7),
Kecskemét
Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun.
Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's th ...
(3–2 and 2–4),
Beşiktaş (0–0),
Bohemians Prague (1–3) and the famous "wonderteam" of
Austria Vienna
Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...
(sensational win with 5–4). The attendance record of 40,000 people was set on 27 February 1963 during the quarter-final of the
Cup Winner's Cup against
Atlético Madrid (1–1). The record of 37,000 people for the Bulgarian championship was set in 1966 against
Levski Sofia
Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...
(0–1). Due to the riots between the fans, and the rush of fans on the field,
Botev Plovdiv was forced to host its derby matches at the
Plovdiv Stadium.
Renovations
1993
The renovations from this period include moving the away team's changing room to the eastern part of the stadium. In order to connect the changing room with the field a tunnel was built under the east and north stand, this slightly affected the overall capacity of the stadium.
1995
In 1995 electric lighting was installed, but it failed to reach the standards of the
Bulgarian Football Union.
2008
The stadium underwent minor renovations in the summer. The away team's changing room was moved under the central stand once again, the room was then modernised, other actions included improving the overall safety and security.
2012
The renovations included replacing the field's old grass surface with a new one, under which were set up new drainage, watering and heating systems. New football goals were placed, and 400 seats were mounted on the central stand.
Reconstruction
Following the renovations in 2012, which were the first phase in the reconstruction of the new stadium, in mid 2013 the second phase was activated and the east stand was demolished. The initial plan was to demolish the old stands and rebuild them one at a time and closer to the football field, but in order for the stadium to host the
2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship
The 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 14th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (33rd edition if the Under-16 era was also included), the annual European youth football competition contested by the men's under-17 nation ...
, a new less time-consuming plan was designed and in December the same year, all of the remaining stands were decimated. The change in plans forced
Botev Plovdiv to play its home games on the club's training base, the
Botev 1912 Football Complex
Futbolen kompleks Botev 1912 ( bg, Футболен комплекс „Ботев 1912“, en, 'Botev 1912 Football Complex' ) is a football complex in the Komatevo neighbourhood of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which is the temporary home of Botev Plov ...
, which is located in the neighbourhood of
Komatevo.
On 5 March 2014 a new and improved version of the stadium was presented by the directors of the club and the designing architect. The club decided to change the vision, due to the higher targets they wanted to meet. The new stadium had to be ready for operation by mid 2015, in order to host the
2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship
The 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 14th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (33rd edition if the Under-16 era was also included), the annual European youth football competition contested by the men's under-17 nation ...
. The plans included an overall capacity of 18,777 spectators, of which 1500 places were for the visiting fans. Other concepts included covering 75% of the seats, as well as building a parking with a capacity of 600 places for cars and 7 for buses. The stadium was supposed to be able to host semifinals from the
European club tournaments, such as
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
and
Champions League.
In the summer of 2014, the reconstruction of the new stadium temporarily stopped, due to the fact that
Botev Plovdiv's main sponsor ‒
Corporate Commercial Bank experienced issues. On 6 November 2014 the license of the bank was revoked. The reason for the revocation, according to the
Bulgarian National Bank
The Bulgarian National Bank ( bg, Българска народна банка, Bohlgarska narodna banka, ), or BNB, is the central bank of the Republic of Bulgaria. Headquartered in Sofia, the bank was established in 1879. It is the 13th oldest ...
, was a significant exposure of the bank's credit sheet to investors related to
Tsvetan Vasilev (who at that time was the owner of
Botev Plovdiv and the chairman of
Corporate Commercial Bank). The lack of financing forced the club to stop the reconstruction, and search for new investors.
After ages of problems, lack of investment and several reconstruction setbacks, the stadium is scheduled to host its opening match on the 29th of April 2023.
БФС насрочи мача, с който трябва да се открие стадион "Христо Ботев"
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References
External links
*
Club home page
*
Official website of Botev Plovdiv's fans
{{Portal bar, Europe, Bulgaria, Association football, Architecture
Botev Plovdiv
Sports venues in Plovdiv
Football venues in Bulgaria
Athletics (track and field) venues in Bulgaria