PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a
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 ...
n 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 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 tournamen ...
s, 2
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 an ...
s 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
Italia
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the Italy (geographical region) ...
n
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
The Plovdiv derby is the derby in Bulgarian football between Botev Plovdiv and Lokomotiv Plovdiv. It is named after the city, where both clubs are located. The Plovdiv derby is considered to be the second fiercest rivalry in Bulgarian football ...
.
History
Throughout the club's history, it has undergone a number of complex reorganisations. These were in part due to the political environment in
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 ...
during the
communist period (1944-1989) which led to enforced changes in the nature of sporting clubs throughout the country in order to follow the "Soviet model". For PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv, these changes led to the merger of two separate existing teams, different in nature, which in turn has led to misinterpretations of the history of the teams. In order to understand the origin of the contemporary team, Lokomotiv's history can be divided into two major branches – one defined largely by its followers (''Sportclub Plovdiv''), and the other by its functional characteristics, association with the railway, and funding as a labour union team (''ZSK Plovdiv'').
Roots of the Club (until 1944)
Sportclub Plovdiv
In the spring of 1922, the sport club ''Karadzha'' was founded when several casual amateur football teams in one of the districts of
Plovdiv consolidated so the players could compete in the Championship of Plovdiv. Two years later, in 1924, another sport club called ''Atletik'' was formed in the same district.
On 25 July 1926 Karadzha and Atletik merged to form Sportclub. The team chose white, black and red as the colours for their kits and crest. Several years later, the year of establishment (1926) was added to the crest. Lokomotiv Plovdiv still uses the same colours, while their full name (''Professional Football Club Lokomotiv 1926 Plovdiv'') shows the club's beginnings as the same year in which Sportclub was founded.
Sportclub had its home ground in the city centre. However, after the
1928 earthquakes
Nineteen or 19 may refer to:
* 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20
* one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019
Films
* ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film
* ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film
Music ...
, the team donated its land to those who had lost their homes so they could rebuild there. From 1928 on, Sportclub did not have their own football field for more than two decades.
![Sportclub Plovdiv Kits](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Sportclub_Plovdiv_Kits.png)
In the years after Sportclub was created, the team competed in the local Championship of Plovdiv. In the early years of Bulgarian football, there was no national league. The local championships, held at a regional level, were the most prestigious football tournaments in the country. Sportclub participated in the second division until 1933, when the team finished first and was promoted to Plovdiv's top tier as of 1939. In 1940, Sportclub became the Champion of Plovdiv for the first time.
In 1939 the team joined the
National Football Division – the countrywide football league which had been formed only a year earlier and which included Bulgaria's top ten teams. However, in 1940 the league was disbanded because of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. By that time the club had officially changed its name to (Sportclub of Plovdiv), primarily because several other teams in the league also had Sportclub in their names.
During World War II, the team participated in several other tournaments including the
Tsar's Cup, which was considered Bulgaria's most prestigious knock-out cup tournament at the time and a predecessor of the current domestic cup tournament. In the Tsar's Cup the team reached the finals twice – in 1940 and 1942.
By the time of communist rule in Bulgaria in 1944, Sportclub had become one of the best performing teams in the country, reaching the finals in many tournaments. The club had become the biggest in the Plovdiv region in terms of members and continually set attendance records for the period.
The Club of the Railway Workers in Plovdiv
In the mid-1930s, the railway workers' and sailors' labour union established numerous cultural and sporting organisations across the country. The railway workers established a sports club in Plovdiv as well, since the city is one of the major railway centres in the country. On 13 June 1935 the club ''ZSK Plovdiv'' was founded, abbreviated from (The sporting club of the railway workers in Plovdiv).
For the first few years, ZSK Plovdiv lagged behind other teams in the city such as Sportclub and
Botev Plovdiv. The team was not recognized as a full member of the national sport federation until three years after its creation. However, by the early 1940s they had improved and in 1944 they won the Championship of Plovdiv.
From an economic perspective, the railway club contributed heavily to the development of sports in the region, making large investments in the improvement of sporting facilities and conditions in the city. Most notably, the powerful national railway company, through ZSK Plovdiv, was the main benefactor for the creation of a state-of-the-art multi-purpose stadium that opened in 1943. The stadium was constructed on the football pitch of the existing team ''Levski Plovdiv'' and as such was the home ground for both ZSK Plovdiv and Levski Plovdiv. As a result, the stadium was named ZSK-Levski.
Creation of Lokomotiv Plovdiv (1944–1954)
Changes in Sportclub
In the years after 1944, the newly established communist rule embarked on several campaigns for the "reorganisation of the sporting clubs in Bulgaria" to make them align with the Soviet political agenda and follow the "Soviet model" of sport clubs. This meant that every local region should have its own sports club, but in order to make central investments more efficient for a larger member-base, only a few clubs were permitted per area. That led to the forced merger of clubs within the same locality.
Starting in 1944 Sportclub was merged with numerous other teams in the same district of Plovdiv. Being from an area with a diverse ethnic and religious population, the club was first merged with several lower-division so-called
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
n teams, such as and . Another merger followed in 1945 with the Catholic club . After this wave of mergers, like many other clubs in the country, the club was renamed to an abbreviation of the biggest clubs – S.P.-45, meaning ''Sportclub Parchevich – 1945''. However, due to the non-Slavic background of the words "sport" and "club", the team was officially renamed again before the start of the season to Slavia Plovdiv''.
![Slavia Plovdiv Crest](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Slavia_Plovdiv_Crest.png)
In 1947 a new wave of consolidations saw Slavia Plovdiv merged with the cooperative workers' union team, . This merger created a club known as ''Slavia-Chengelov''.
During 1944–1955, the club reached the domestic knock-out cup finals (at the time the
Cup of the Soviet Army) for the third time in its history – in 1948 as Slavia-Chengelov.
In the
1948 season the club became one of the ten founding teams of the new national top league –
"A" Republican Football Group (A RFG), the predecessor of the current Bulgarian top division league.
Through the mergers, the club originally named Sportclub kept its original colours and core team, with only a small number of players considered good enough to find a place in the first team of the "new" club. The supporters remained loyal to the colours and the players, and the followers of the assimilated clubs joined them, increasing the number of fans and members of the largest club in Plovdiv at that time. Though technically the numerous clubs merged, because of the sheer size of Sportclub in terms of members, the smaller clubs were effectively assimilated into the larger club.
Changes in ZSK
For ZSK Plovdiv, reorganisation began in the autumn of 1944. The club was initially merged with the team with which it shared a stadium, Levski Plovdiv, to form ''ZSK-Levski''. However, unlike most other forced mergers at that time, the ZSK-Levski merger was dissolved in less than a year.
After the separation in 1945, ZSK was renamed to ''Lokomotiv Plovdiv'' similar to other teams in various Eastern bloc countries which were connected with the railways. Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Levski continued to co-exist as separate entities, still sharing the same stadium.
Although railway workers' club was financially backed by the national railway, in the early years of communist rule the football team competed only at the third level of the recently formed national league. Furthermore, the club was the smallest in Plovdiv in terms of members and attracted only a modest number of spectators for its games, despite its large, state-of-the-art stadium.
Merger of Slavia-Chengelov and Lokomotiv Plovdiv
In the summer of 1949, the Bulgarian Communist Party adopted a new principle governing the construction of sports clubs. Clubs had to serve primarily as physical fitness departments of politically important national enterprises, such as oil refineries, police, army, national railway, and others. Thus, the geographical location of a club was no longer important and clubs were assigned to the major institutions in the country.
The reorganisation of 1949 assigned Lokomotiv to assimilate Slavia-Chengelov, since Lokomotiv was already a team strongly associated with a significant national enterprise. By that time, Slavia-Chengelov was the largest club in Bulgaria in terms of members, and with an even larger fan base.
''DSO Energiya'' was formed from this merger prior to the start of the
1950 season. They used Slavia-Chengelov's colours (white, red, and black) for both their kits and crest and the team itself retained only four players from Lokomotiv, with the core of the squad being players from Slavia-Chengelov. More than two decades after the 1928 earthquake, the fans of what was once Sportclub again had a home ground – the stadium of Lokomotiv. Changes in the formal names of clubs in the Soviet Union took place and a popular name for Eastern bloc sports clubs at the time, ''Torpedo,'' was adopted and the team was thus renamed ''Torpedo Plovdiv''.
![Torpedo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Torpedo.png)
For the 1950 season, Torpedo Plovdiv took the place of Slavia-Chengelov at the top level of the Bulgarian football league system (A RFG). National policy then required that, as part of the railway union, all club members and players had to be members of the union. This included former members of Slavia-Chengelov, who had no connection to the railways.
Before the
1951 season began, the railway union established a new club, ''DSO Lokomotiv (Plovdiv)'', which shared Torpedo's colours and stadium. Torpedo's players were transferred to DSO Lokomotiv, and in order to make them official union members each player was nominally employed by the national railways. Meanwhile, Torpedo Plovdiv was removed from the labour union and no longer funded by it or the railway company. DSO Lokomotiv also acquired Torpedo's license to play in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league, while Torpedo was relegated to the third division. The labour union thus effectively legitimised the new club without needing to limit the access of the members of Torpedo to the sports facilities. Existing members of Torpedo could still use the shared facilities and were no longer required to be members of the railway union.
As of 1951 the fans of Torpedo Plovdiv from 1950 now found themselves supporting the same players, with the same colours, in the same stadium, under a new name. As official membership in the club now required a job with the railways, the official number of members was drastically smaller than in previous years. Nevertheless, the supporters of the team remained the same. Hence, in 1951 DSO Lokomotiv effectively became the successor to Torpedo while Torpedo still competed at a lower level.
From 1951-1954 DSO Lokomotiv was one of the best performers in the Bulgarian football elite, annually reaching at least the quarter-final phase of the domestic cup competition (at that time
the Cup of the Soviet Army) and regularly finishing high in the top division league.
First Relegation from the Elite (1955–1960)
In 1955 DSO Lokomotiv's playing squad changed entirely – many aging key players were transferred to other teams, but their replacements seemed to be unable to collaborate and were not of the same quality. At the end of the
1955 season DSO Lokomotiv were relegated to the second division.
DSO Lokomotiv played in the second division for five seasons until it returned to the elite level for
season 1961–62. In the same year, the team reached
the domestic cup finals for the fourth time (after 1940 and 1942 as Sportclub, and 1948 as Slavia-Chengelov), but again lost.
In 1957 another sport reorganisation occurred and clubs were no longer required to be affiliated with national enterprises; instead, teams returned to geographical regions. Thus, sport clubs no longer needed to be "DSO" (English: "''voluntary sports organisation''"). Consequently, DSO Lokomotiv assimilated Torpedo Plovdiv and ''Septemvri (Plovdiv)'', changing its name to ''Lokomotiv Plovdiv'', which it has retained to this day.
Success Home and Abroad (1961–1984)
After rejoining the elite (A RFG) in 1961, it took Lokomotiv seven years to reach the top three and get a medal in the
1968-69 season.
Internationally, the team achieved success more quickly. In the
1964–65 season, Lokomotiv Plovdiv reached the third round of the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, where after two draws with the Italian team
Juventus, a third play-off match was chosen by
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
to be played in
Torino
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
. The game ended with a narrow loss by Lokomotiv with a score of 2:1.
![Hristo Bonev 1974](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Hristo_Bonev_1974.jpg)
Before reaching the third round, Lokomotiv had previously eliminated the Serbian
FK Vojvodina
Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second l ...
and the Romanian
FC Petrolul Ploieşti
FC may refer to:
Businesses, organisations, and schools
* Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India
* Finncomm Airlines (IATA code)
* FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC
* Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...
. Key players during this period include forward
Gocho Vasilev, star midfielder
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
, defender
Ivan Boyadzhiev
Ivan Boyadzhiev ( bg, Иван Бояджиев; born 12 July 1938) is a Bulgarian former football defender.
References
1938 births
Living people
Bulgarian men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia ...
and goalkeeper
Stancho Bonchev
Stancho Vasilev Bonchev ( bg, Станчо Василев Бончев) (1 May 1942-2013) was a Bulgarian football goalkeeper. He is legendary player of Lokomotiv Plovdiv and holds the record for the goalkeeper with the most First League appeara ...
.
In 1971, the team reached the
domestic cup finals but again lost, this time to
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 ...
with a score of 3:0.
In
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
, Lokomotiv won the A RFG silver medals, finishing the season with 43 points. In
1974, Lokomotiv finished the season in third place receiving the league bronze. The team was quite stable over the next few years and rarely under 6th place in the league table. Among the team's players was
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
– considered by most Lokomotiv fans as the greatest player and one of the greatest Bulgarian-born players.
In the
1979-80 season Lokomotiv Plovdiv was again relegated to Bulgaria's second football division, but took three seasons to earn back its place.
While being in second division between 1981 and 1983, the team reached the finals in the
Cup of the Soviet Army twice. On 12 June
1982 the team lost
the domestic cup final for the sixth time.
In 1982 the team acquired ''
Lokomotiv Stadium'', situated in Lauta Park near the city's newest district. It is part of a multi-sports complex also used by the club's other sports teams (such as volleyball, tennis and boxing). The inauguration event was scheduled for Monday ''6 September 1982'' with a match against
Neftochimic Burgas (Lokomotiv prevailed 4–1).
1982–83 Cup of the Soviet Army Winners
On 1 June 1983, led by
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
, Lokomotiv won their first national cup by beating
FC Chirpan
Football Club Chirpan ( bg, ФК Чирпан) are a Bulgarian football club based in Chirpan, who compete in the Regional Group – zone Stara Zagora, the fourth level of Bulgarian football.
Honours
Cup of the Soviet Army
* Runners-up: 1983 ...
3:1 at
Vasil Levski National Stadium
Vasil Levski National Stadium ( bg, Национален стадион „Васил Левски“), named after Bulgarian national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837–1873), is the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43 ...
in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
.
The Cup of the Soviet Army, held annually between 1946 and 1990, is recognised by the
Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) as the primary domestic knock-out cup tournament until 1982. In 1981, the Bulgarian Cup began to be held every year and overtook the significance of the Cup of the Soviet Army. BFU's current official policy considers the
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 tournamen ...
to be the primary domestic knock-out cup from 1983 onwards. Thus Lokomotiv Plovdiv is not officially recognised as the bearer of the domestic cup for 1983.
In the
1983-84 season, the team was again relegated to second level and played the 1984-85 season at that level. In 1985 it rejoined A RFG.
1985–2000
After its return to the top division in 1985 the team had a consistent performance for over a decade, placing itself in the middle of the league table until the late 1990s. During that time the team finished in the top three once, in the
1991-92 season. In the 1998–99 and 1999-00 seasons Lokomotiv Plovdiv played in
B PFG.
Georgi Iliev era (2001-2004)
In 2001 the club was purchased by Georgi Iliev, who at the time owned another football club,
Velbazhd Kyustendil
Velbazhd Kyustendil ( bg, Велбъжд Кюстендил) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Kyustendil. The club currently competes in the A RFG Kyustendil, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football.
The club was founded in 1919. ...
. It finished in third place in the top division for three consecutive seasons until 2000-01 and was national cup runner-up in 2001.
During the 2001-02 season, Iliev merged the two teams creating the contemporary Lokomotiv Plovdiv (Professional Football Club Lokomotiv 1926 Plovdiv). The new club is the official successor of the Lokomotiv club that merged with Velbazhd and uses the same colours. The team was formed almost entirely from the high-ranking players from Velbazhd Kyustendil's later years. The team finished third at the end of the season.
2003–04 Champions and Supercup Winners
The most successful season in the club's history was the
2003-04 campaign. Lokomotiv won the title, the only one in the club's history so far. Coach and former legendary player
Eduard Eranosyan
Eduard Antranik Eranosyan ( bg, Едуард Антраник Ераносян; born 8 February 1961), nicknamed ''"Edo"'' ''( bg, Едо)'', is a Bulgarian football manager and a former player who played as a striker. Eranosyan played for Lok ...
started well, with Lokomotiv leading the league by six points halfway through the season and remaining unbeaten. In the penultimate 29th round, the team defeated
Slavia Sofia
PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home groun ...
in
Plovdiv by 3:2 in front of more than 17,000 spectators and won the Bulgarian championship. Lokomotiv finished the season with 75 points, 3 more than the second team,
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 ...
. In the team lines was recent acquisition
Martin Kamburov
Martin Kamburov ( bg, Мартин Камбуров; born 13 October 1980) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the top scorer in Bulgarian First League history with 256 goals.
Kamburov spent the majority ...
who became the top goalscorer of the league with 25 goals. Key players during the season included
Vasil Kamburov
Vasil Kamburov ( bg, Васил Камбуров) (born 4 December 1975) is a retired Bulgarian footballer who last played for Rodopa Smolyan as a goalkeeper. He has also been employed as a goalkeeping coach at Loko Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovd ...
,
Georgi Iliev,
Aleksandar Tunchev
Aleksandar Blagov Tunchev ( bg, Александър Тунчев; born 10 July 1981) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a defender. He is currently head coach at Arda Kardzhali.
Club career Bulgaria
Tunchev started his career in h ...
,
Kiril Kotev,
Vladimir Ivanov,
Metodi Stoynev
Metodi Stoynev ( bg, Методи Стойнев; born 15 October 1973) is a former Bulgarian footballer, who played as a forward.
Honours
Club
;Lokomotiv Plovdiv
* A Group: 2003–04
* Bulgarian Supercup: 2004
2004 was designated ...
and Macedonians
Boban Jančevski
Boban Jančevski - Janker ( mk, Бобан Јанчевски - Јанкер) (born 30 April 1978, Vienna, Austria) is a Macedonian retired football striker who last played for FK Teteks in the Macedonian Second League.
Club career
Boban grew ...
,
Vančo Trajanov and
Robert Petrov
Robert Petrov ( mk, Роберт Петров; born 2 June 1978) is a Macedonian footballer who last played as a defender for Germanea Sapareva Banya.
Club career
Robert Petrov began his career in the Macedonian club FK Ovče Pole. In 1999, he ...
.
On 31 July 2004, Lokomotiv won the
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 an ...
, after beating
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 ...
at
Lazur Stadium
efbet Arena ( bg, „Ефбет Арена“, en, 'efbet Arena' ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Burgas, Bulgaria. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Neftochimic 1962 Burgas. The stadium holds 18,037 people ...
. The captain
Ivan Paskov scored a brilliant header in the last seconds of the game for the 1:0 win.
A few months later, the team played for the first time in the
UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds where they faced
Club Brugge from
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in the second qualifying round.
2005–2015
In 2004-05 the team finished third in the
A PFG
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 spon ...
and qualified for the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
. In the European club competition, Lokomotiv defeated Serbian
OFK Beograd
OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburm ...
in the second qualifying round (1:0 home win and 1:2 away loss) and were drawn to play against the English
Bolton Wanderers in the first round. However, the team from
Plovdiv was eliminated after a 1–2 loss at the
Reebok Stadium
The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming ri ...
in
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
and another 1–2 loss in a match played at the
Lazur Stadium
efbet Arena ( bg, „Ефбет Арена“, en, 'efbet Arena' ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Burgas, Bulgaria. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Neftochimic 1962 Burgas. The stadium holds 18,037 people ...
in
Burgas
Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a pop ...
.
In the next few months the club had significant financial problems causing many of the champions' team players such as
Aleksandar Tunchev
Aleksandar Blagov Tunchev ( bg, Александър Тунчев; born 10 July 1981) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a defender. He is currently head coach at Arda Kardzhali.
Club career Bulgaria
Tunchev started his career in h ...
,
Martin Kamburov
Martin Kamburov ( bg, Мартин Камбуров; born 13 October 1980) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the top scorer in Bulgarian First League history with 256 goals.
Kamburov spent the majority ...
,
Ivan Paskov,
Georgi Iliev,
Darko Spalević,
Kiril Kotev and
Boban Jančevski
Boban Jančevski - Janker ( mk, Бобан Јанчевски - Јанкер) (born 30 April 1978, Vienna, Austria) is a Macedonian retired football striker who last played for FK Teteks in the Macedonian Second League.
Club career
Boban grew ...
to leave.
In the
2005-06 season Lokomotiv finished 5th in A PFG and qualified for the
Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foo ...
. They were eliminated with a 2-3 (1-2 away loss and a 1-1 home draw) on aggregate by Romanian
Farul Constanţa.
In the next three seasons, the team finished in the middle of the table. In December 2009, businessman and ex-
Vihren Sandanski owner Konstantin Dinev acquired the club from Galina Topalova in a 2 million euro bid, with the intention to bring them back to European club competition.
Hristo Krusharski era (2016–present)
2018–19 Bulgarian Cup Winners
On 15 May 2019, Lokomotiv Plovdiv won the
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 tournamen ...
for the first time in the club's history, defeating local rivals
Botev Plovdiv 1–0 in Sofia. The winning goal came in the 73th minute with a back heel kick of
Alen Ožbolt
Alen Ožbolt (born 24 June 1996) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Hapoel Tel Aviv. He has been capped for Slovenia at all youth levels from under-16 to under-21.
Club career
Ožbolt began his career at Domžale ...
.
Ante Aralica
Ante Aralica (born 23 July 1996) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Polish club Wieczysta Kraków.
Club career
Aralica started his career at NK Lučko and made his senior debut in August 2014, at the age of 18. I ...
provided the assist.
Winning the Bulgarian Cup enabled the team to play in the
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 ...
second qualifying round for the 2019–20 season. In the second round, Lokomotiv faced
FC Spartak Trnava
FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup on four occasions, an ...
of Slovakia. Lokomotiv won the tie on aggregate, with a score of 3–3, progressing to the next round via the away goals rule. The next round's opponent was
Strasbourg. Lokomotiv entered as outsiders against the French side, and lost the first game 0–1 in Bulgaria. In the second match, Lokomotiv Plovdiv again lost with a minimum score of 1-0, being eliminated on aggregate 0–2.
2019–20 Bulgarian Cup and Supercup Winners
On 1 July 2020, Lokomotiv beat
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 Sport ...
on the final match played in Sofia and clinched the
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 tournamen ...
for a second consecutive time, becoming the first team winning two consecutive cups after
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 ...
in 2008 and 2009. The Smurfs defeated CSKA Sofia after a penalty shootout (5–3).
On 2 August 2020, Lokomotiv won the
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 an ...
for the second time, defeating
Ludogorets 0–1 at
Ludogorets Arena (Ludogorets home ground). The winning goal was scored in the last minute of the regular time with a volley kick of the captain
Dimitar Iliev.
Lokomotiv beat
Iskra Danilovgrad of Montenegro 1–0 in the first Europa League qualifying round on 27 August 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all Europa League qualifying ties this season before the play-off round featured only one leg. In the second qualifying round Lokomotiv faced
Jose Mourinho's
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
and it was close to eliminate the English team after the goal of
Georgi Minchev, but Spurs complete late turnaround after two red cards for Lokomotiv players.
Lokomotiv finished on 2nd place in the regular season and qualified for the Championship Round maintaining their status in the top three until the last round of the season.
The Smurfs started the 2020/21 season with a match against
Slovácko
Moravian Slovakia ( cs, Slovácko, older ''Moravské Slovensko'') or Slovácko is a cultural region in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, Moravia on the border with Slovakia and Austria, known for its characteristic folklore, music, wi ...
in a second qualifying round of the
Europa Conference League
The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...
. Lokomotiv won the first match at
Lokomotiv Stadium 1-0 with a 90th-minute winner of
Petar Vitanov
Petar Ivo Vitanov ( bg, Петър Иво Витанов; born 10 March 1995) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Challenger Pro League club Beveren.
Vitanov began his career with CSKA Sofia. After progressing ...
and loss with the same scoreline in
Uherské Hradiště
Uherské Hradiště (; german: Ungarisch Hradisch, hu, Magyarhradis) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 24,000 inhabitants. The agglomeration with the two neighbouring towns of Staré Město and Kunovice has over ...
. In the
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
Ilko Pirgov parried 3 consecutive penalties and Lokomotiv won 3-2.
In the third qualifying round Lokomotiv were eliminated by
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
of Danmark, following a 1-1 draw in Plovdiv and a 4-2 loss in the return leg at
Parken Stadium
Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable ...
.
In the league, Lokomotiv won the silver medals for the second time in club's history, finishing the season with 61 points.
Crest and colors
The configuration of the crest consists of a shield colored in red and black and a golden letter 'L' ( bg, Л) placed in the center. A white stripe with the inscription '
Plovdiv' is positioned on the upper part of the shield. The wings at the bottom of the shield represent the historical bond between the football club and the national railway company.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv's traditional home colors are white, black and red. In the past the club has also adopted sky blue as a kit color.
File:Lokomotivplovdiv.jpg,
Names
Lokomotiv was founded as Sportclub Plovdiv in 1926 and has carried a plethora of names throughout its history. In chronological order, they are as follows:
* ''Sportclub Plovdiv'' ( bg, Пловдивски Спортклуб) in 1926.
* ''S.P. 45 (Sportclub Parchevich 1945)'' ( bg, С.П. 45) in 1945.
* ''Slavia Plovdiv'' ( bg, Славия Пловдив) in 1946 and 1949.
* ''Slavia-Chengelov Plovdiv'' ( bg, Славия-Ченгелов Пловдив) in 1947.
* ''Energia Plovdiv'' ( bg, Енергия Пловдив) in 1949 (from 5 to 11 October).
* ''Torpedo Plovdiv'' ( bg, Торпедо Пловдив) in 1949.
* ''Lokomotiv Plovdiv'' ( bg, Локомотив Пловдив) since 1951.
Stadium
![Lokomotiv Stadium in 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Lokomotiv_Stadium_in_2018.jpg)
Lokomotiv Stadium, nicknamed Lauta after the name of the park in which the stadium is situated, is a
multi-purpose stadium
A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...
located in southeastern
Plovdiv,
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 ...
. Designed by architect Zdravko Vasilkov, the stadium was officially opened on
Bulgarian Unification Day on 6 September 1982 and is a part of a sports complex, which includes an indoor athletic hall, a volleyball hall, five tennis courts and three training pitches. The main pitch length is 105 metres and the width is 71 metres.
The stadium initially held a capacity of 24,000 people. The record attendance was back in 1983 when Lokomotiv played against
Chernomorets Burgas in a playoff game for entering the Country's top tier league. There were 33,000 people attending this game and at least 6,000 of those were actually outside of the stadium.
On 25 July 2019, the stadium hosted its first ever European competition game, as Lokomotiv defeated
Spartak Trnava
FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup on four occasions, an ...
2–0 in a
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 ...
fixture in front of nearly 10,000 spectators. This date also matched with Lokomotiv's 93rd birthday and the win was a great gift for the thousands of people attending the game.
In 2020 after a government funding for the Plovdiv city football infrastructure the works on the new Bessica stand started with the completion date set for the summer of 2022. Also by the end of the same year the opposite south stand were demolished and preparation started for the foundations of the stand. Both the north and south stands are planned to host 2,846 spectators each and being completed by the end of 2022.
After the Bessica and south stand are completed, the west stand called Sportclub is expected to be the next one to be demolished and build back up from the scratch. The total capacity for the stadium is planned to be 14,000 after the construction works are completed by the summer of 2024.
Support
![Loko fans](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Loko_fans.jpg)
Since its foundation, Lokomotiv has been one of the best supported football clubs in Bulgaria. Its fans broke attendance records on numerous occasions in the early years despite hardships (the team did not have a home ground for more than 20 years after the 1928 earthquake). By the 1940s the club was one of the largest in the country in terms of officially registered members. In 1968 its supporters established the amateur football club ''Friends of Lokomotiv Plovdiv'' as a means of organised support, and in 1988 the official fan club – ''Club of the Supporters of Lokomotiv Plovdiv'' – was established as the first of its kind in Bulgaria. The political environment of the time was unfavourable towards independently formed organisations.
In the 1980s the club was extremely popular and had the biggest away invasions, including more than 30,000 people at the final of the
1983 Soviet Cup
The 1983 Soviet Cup was an association football cup competition of the Soviet Union. The winner of the competition, Shakhter Donetsk qualified for the continental tournament.
Participating teams
Source: []
;Notes
* Dinamo Kiev received bye a ...
. The club also holds record attendance for a championship home game - more than 40,000 people versus Beroe. When Lokomotiv won the title in
2003–04 there were 50,000 people in the city's main square to celebrate the victory.
At the start of the reconstruction of Lokomotiv Stadium, the section for the most devoted fans was to be called
Bessica Tribune after the ancient
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
tribe whose artefacts were discovered nearby. Since the project's postponement, the name has been used collectively for the most dedicated followers.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv also has a
football hooligan
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...
fan base, with some of the most prominent factions being ''Lauta Hools'', ''Got Mitt Uns'', ''Napoletani 1995'', and ''Lauta Youths''. Lauta Hools, also called ''Usual suspects'', founded in 1992, adhere to the British form of support and are
casuals, and it is not uncommon to see the
Union Jack
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
in the stands as a result.
Friendships
Lokomotiv fans have a long-standing friendship with fans of the Italian team
SSC Napoli due to their creation of the name ''Napoletani Ultras Plovdiv.'' On many occasions, fans from both clubs traveled to watch each other's games.
Rivalries
Lokomotiv's main rival is the neighbouring city club of
Botev Plovdiv, and both form the
Plovdiv derby
The Plovdiv derby is the derby in Bulgarian football between Botev Plovdiv and Lokomotiv Plovdiv. It is named after the city, where both clubs are located. The Plovdiv derby is considered to be the second fiercest rivalry in Bulgarian football ...
. The Plovdiv derby is considered to be the second fiercest rivalry in Bulgarian football, after the
Eternal derby of Bulgarian football
The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby ( bg, Вечното дерби) is the name of the local derby football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulgaria: Levski Sofia and ...
. The rivalry poses a symbolic importance to supporters due to an assumed superiority that comes with winning the derby.
Another rivalry is with
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 Sport ...
and is the fiercest intercity football rivalry in Bulgaria, because of the historical competition between the cities of Plovdiv and Sofia as cultural, political and economical centres.
Players
First-team squad
'
''For recent transfers, see
Transfers summer 2022 and
Transfers winter 2022–23.''
Foreign players
Up to twenty foreign nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team in the
Bulgarian First League
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 spon ...
, however only five non-EU nationals 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.
Retired numbers
Player of the Season
Source
Honours
Domestic
Bulgarian A Football Group, First League:
*
![Gold medal with cup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Gold_medal_with_cup.svg)
Winners (1):
2003–04
*
![Silver medal europe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Silver_medal_europe.svg)
Runners-up (2):
1972–73,
2020–21
*
![Bronze medal europe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Bronze_medal_europe.svg)
Third place (5):
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat.
Events
Below, ...
,
1968–69,
1973–74,
1991–92,
2004–05
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 tournamen ...
:
*
![Gold medal with cup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Gold_medal_with_cup.svg)
Winners (2):
2018–19,
2019–20
*
![Silver medal europe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Silver_medal_europe.svg)
Runners-up (7):
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* Januar ...
,
1942
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...
,
1948,
1959–60,
1970–71,
1981–82,
2011–12
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 an ...
:
*
![Gold medal with cup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Gold_medal_with_cup.svg)
Winners (2):
2004,
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
*
![Silver medal europe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Silver_medal_europe.svg)
Runners-up (2):
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Cup of the Soviet Army:
*
![Gold medal with cup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Gold_medal_with_cup.svg)
Winners (1):
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
Regional
Plovdiv Championship
*
![Gold medal with cup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Gold_medal_with_cup.svg)
Winners (6): 1936, 1938, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1948
Trimontium Cup
*
![Gold medal with cup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Gold_medal_with_cup.svg)
Winners (2): 1938, 1946
Source
lokomotivpd.com
European record
Matches
;Notes
* 1Q: First qualifying round
* 2Q: Second qualifying round
* 3Q: Third qualifying round
* PO: Play-off round
UEFA club rankings
Current ranking
Recent seasons
League positions
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from:01/07/1948 till:01/07/1949 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1949 till:01/07/1950 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1953 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1954 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/07/1948 till:01/07/1955 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A 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 spon ...
"
from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1957 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1957 till:01/07/1958 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1958 till:01/07/1959 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1961 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group
The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...
"
from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1968 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1969 till:01/07/1970 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/1970 till:01/07/1971 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/07/1972 till:01/07/1973 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/1976 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979 shift:(0,-4) text:14
from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1980 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A 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 spon ...
"
from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1983 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group
The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...
"
from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " A "
from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 color:white shift:(0,14) text: " B "
from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989 shift:(0,-4) text:14
from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1999 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A 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 spon ...
"
from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2001 color:white shift:(0,14) text: "B Group
The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...
"
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:7
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from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2016 color:green shift:(0,14) text: "A 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 spon ...
"
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from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 shift:(0,-4) text:
from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2023 color:green shift:(0,14) text: " First League"
Records
Player records
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
holds the records for most Lokomotiv Plovdiv league appearances (404) and goals (180).
Bulgarian league top scorers
Bulgarian Footballer of the Year
Club records
* Biggest
league win: 9–1 vs
Dobrudzha Dobrich (21 September 2002) —
2002–03
* Biggest league defeat: 0–9 vs
Slavia Sofia
PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home groun ...
(2 March 1986) —
1985–86
* Biggest
cup win: 8–1 vs
Pirin Blagoevgrad
Futbolen klub Pirin ( bg, Футболен клуб „Пирин“), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football.
Th ...
—
19467–0 vs
Torpedo Dimitrovgrad —
1954
* Biggest cup defeat: 0–6 vs
Minyor Pernik
FC Minyor ( bg, ФК Миньор) is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, that competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The ...
—
1998–99
* Most league points in a season: 75 —
2003–04
* Most league goals in a season: 74 —
2003–04
* Most consecutive wins in the league (single season): 6 — from 25 April 1971 to 13 June 1971
from 23 February 2002 to 16 March 2002
from 9 August 2003 to 20 September 2003
from 10 April 2004 to 8 May 2004
from 24 April 2016 to 28 May 2016
from 13 September 2019 to 29 October 2019
* Most consecutive league games unbeaten (single season): 11 — from 17 February 2002 to 13 April 2002
from 9 August 2003 to 9 November 2003
from 6 December 2020 to 21 April 2021
* Record European competition home attendance: 40,000 vs
Juventus (10 March 1965) —
Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...
, Third round 2nd leg,
1964–65
''As of 25 July 2022''
Managers
Notable managers
Managerial history
* Stefan Paunov (1969–71)
* Ivan Manolov (1971–75)
* Borislav Milenov (1975–76)
* Аtanas Dramov (1977–78)
* Dimitar Grigorov (1978–79)
*
Petar Dimitrov (1979–80)
* Аtanas Dramov (2) (1982–83)
*
Atanas Angelov
Atanas Angelov ( bg, Атанас Ангелов) is a Bulgarian sprint canoer who competed in the mid-1990s. He won a bronze medal in the C–4 500 m event at the 1995 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg
Duisburg () is a ci ...
(Aug 5 1983–Sept 26 1983)
*
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
(Oct 29 1983–Dec 22 1985)
* Аtanas Dramov (3) (Feb 15 1986–April 19, 1986)
* Gancho Peev (Aug 9 1986–Nov 30 1986)
*
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
(2) (Feb 14 1987–May 28, 1988)
*
Stancho Bonchev
Stancho Vasilev Bonchev ( bg, Станчо Василев Бончев) (1 May 1942-2013) was a Bulgarian football goalkeeper. He is legendary player of Lokomotiv Plovdiv and holds the record for the goalkeeper with the most First League appeara ...
(Aug 13 1988–Jun 3 1989)
* Mihail Georgiev (Aug 12 1989–Jun 8 1991)
* Аtanas Dramov (4) (Aug 17 1991–Oct 31 1992)
* Petar Miladinov (Nov 21 1992–Jun 5 1993)
*
Ivan Vutsov
Ivan Kolev Vutsov ( bg, Иван Кoлeв Вуцов; 14 December 1939 – 18 January 2019) was a Bulgarian football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the Bulgarian national team.
He played in three mat ...
(Aug 14 1993–Mar 26 1994)
*
Voyn Voynov (Mar 26 1994–June 31, 1994)
* Ivan Kuchukov (Aug 19 1994–June 10, 1995)
* Ivan Gluhchev (Sept 2 1995–Oct 28 1995)
* Gancho Peev (2) (Aug 12 1995–Aug 26 1995)
* Vasil Ankov (Nov 5 1995–Feb 24 1996)
* Ivan Marinov (Mar 2 1996–1996)
*
Dinko Dermendzhiev (Mar 9 1996–May 11, 1996)
* Krasimir Manolov (Aug 9 1996–Dec 7 1996)
* Ivan Marinov (2) (1996–1997)
*
Stancho Bonchev
Stancho Vasilev Bonchev ( bg, Станчо Василев Бончев) (1 May 1942-2013) was a Bulgarian football goalkeeper. He is legendary player of Lokomotiv Plovdiv and holds the record for the goalkeeper with the most First League appeara ...
(2) (Feb 22 1997–May 31, 1997)
*
Radoslav Zdravkov
Radoslav Metodiev Zdravkov ( bg, Радослав Meтoдиeв Здравков; born 30 July 1956) is a Bulgarian retired Association football, footballer who played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder.
Club career
Zdrav ...
(1997–1997)
* Аtanas Dramov (5) (1997–1998)
* Ivan Gluchev (2) (May 1998–Sept 1998)
*
Dinko Dermendzhiev (2) (1998–1999)
*
Georgi Vasilev (1999–1999)
* Vladimir Fatov (1999–1999)
* Vasil Ankov (2) (1999–2000)
*
Ayan Sadakov (2000–2000)
*
Eduard Eranosyan
Eduard Antranik Eranosyan ( bg, Едуард Антраник Ераносян; born 8 February 1961), nicknamed ''"Edo"'' ''( bg, Едо)'', is a Bulgarian football manager and a former player who played as a striker. Eranosyan played for Lok ...
(2000–2001)
*
Stefan Draganov
Stefan Draganov ( bg, Стефан Драганов; born 13 August 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer who played as a forward. In his career he played for Lokomotiv Plovdiv, CSKA Sofia, Botev Plovdiv, Hong Kong club Instant-Dict and Portug ...
(2001–2001)
*
Dimitar Dimitrov (2001–2003)
*
Eduard Eranosyan
Eduard Antranik Eranosyan ( bg, Едуард Антраник Ераносян; born 8 February 1961), nicknamed ''"Edo"'' ''( bg, Едо)'', is a Bulgarian football manager and a former player who played as a striker. Eranosyan played for Lok ...
(2) (2003–2005)
*
Ayan Sadakov (2) (2005–2006)
* Ivan Marinov (3) (Sept 1 2006–Sept 23 2007)
*
Yasen Petrov
Yasen Petrov Petrov ( bg, Ясен Петров Петров; born 23 June 1968) is a Bulgarian former football player. His nickname is ''Giannini from Plovdiv''.
Career
Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Petrov played for the PFC Botev Plovdiv, PFC L ...
(Sept 24 2007–Mar 14 2008)
*
Dragi Kanatlarovski (Mar 20 2008–Sept 29 2008)
*
Ayan Sadakov (3) (Sept 29 2008–Aug 10 2009)
* Ivan Marinov (4) (Aug 10 2009–Nov 1 2009)
* Stefan Genov (Nov 1 2009–Dec 26 2009)
*
Naci Şensoy
Naci Şensoy ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Nađi Šensoj, Нађи Шенсој; born 20 February 1958) is a Kosovar- Turkish football manager and former player.
Playing career
Born in Prizren, Yugoslavia, he moved to Turkey where he began ...
(Dec 26 2009–June 30, 2010)
*
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
(3) (July 1, 2010–Oct 31 2010)
*
Nedelcho Matushev (Sept 28 2010–Apr 23 2011)
* Saša Nikolić (April 23, 2011 – June 30, 2011)
*
Dragi Kanatlarovski (2) (June 17, 2011–Nov 8 2011)
*
Emil Velev
Emil Simeonov Velev ( bg, Емил Симеонов Велев; born 5 February 1962) is a former Bulgarian footballer and currently manager.
Career
Velev started his career in Levski Sofia. Kokala James ( bg, Кокала) ''(The bone James)'' ...
(Nov 8 2011–Oct 9 2012)
*
Stefan Genov (2) (Oct 13 2012–June 30, 2013)
*
Aleksandar Stankov (July 1, 2013 – May 29, 2014)
*
Emil Velev
Emil Simeonov Velev ( bg, Емил Симеонов Велев; born 5 February 1962) is a former Bulgarian footballer and currently manager.
Career
Velev started his career in Levski Sofia. Kokala James ( bg, Кокала) ''(The bone James)'' ...
(2) (June 9, 2014 – July 8, 2014)
*
Nedelcho Matushev (2) (July 9, 2014–Sept 29 2014)
*
Hristo Kolev (Oct 1 2014–Feb 26 2016)
*
Ilian Iliev
Ilian Dimov Iliev ( bg, Илиан Димов Илиев; born 2 July 1968) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player. He is the head coach at Bulgarian First League club Cherno More.
He is best known for having played ...
(Feb 26 2016–Oct 17 2016)
*
Eduard Eranosyan
Eduard Antranik Eranosyan ( bg, Едуард Антраник Ераносян; born 8 February 1961), nicknamed ''"Edo"'' ''( bg, Едо)'', is a Bulgarian football manager and a former player who played as a striker. Eranosyan played for Lok ...
(3) (Oct 31 2016–Apr 9 2017)
*
Voyn Voynov (2) (Apr 19 2017–Oct 30 2017)
*
Bruno Akrapović
Bruno Akrapović (born 26 September 1967) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Starting his career in his native Bosnia, at the time part of Yugoslavia, Akrapović spent the ma ...
(Oct 30 2017–Nov 10 2020)
*
Aleksandar Tunchev
Aleksandar Blagov Tunchev ( bg, Александър Тунчев; born 10 July 1981) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a defender. He is currently head coach at Arda Kardzhali.
Club career Bulgaria
Tunchev started his career in h ...
(Nov 11 2020–Apr 7 2022)
*
Aleksandar Tomash
Aleksandar Tomash ( bg, Александър Томаш; born 2 September 1978 in Veliko Tarnovo) is a Bulgarian football manager and former player.
During his playing career as a defender, he made several appearances for CSKA Sofia, OFI Cret ...
(Apr 11 2022–present)
''As of 13 July 2022''
Source
loko-pd.com
References
External links
Official websites
Official website
Historical website (part of the official website)
Official fan-website
Lokomotiv Plovdivat
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
Media
Official YouTube channelOfficial Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Football clubs in Bulgaria
Association football clubs established in 1926
1926 establishments in Bulgaria
Plovdiv