FC Lokomotiv Mezdra (ФК Локомотив Мездра) 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 Macedon ...

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

from the town of

Mezdra Mezdra ( bg, Мездра ) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located on the left bank of the Iskar River just north of its gorge through the Balkan Mountains. History Although the area around it has been inhabite ...

, which currently playing in the Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium in

, with a capacity of 5,000. Team colours are red and black. The club's nickname is "The Irons from Mezdra", due to the city of Mezdra's connections with the railroad industry. The club was originally founded in 1945. Lokomotiv saw little success for the majority of its history, usually competing in the second or third tiers of Bulgarian football. In 2008, the team achieved a historic first promotion to the

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 ...

, (now known as First League). Lokomotiv Mezdra managed to survive two seasons in the elite, before suffering relegation after the 2009-10 season. In the following years, financial problems overwhelmed the club, forcing its folding in 2012. The team was re-founded in 2016, starting from the regional amateur fourth tier.

History

1945–2007

PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra was founded in 1945, under the name ''Iron sport club''. The team, nicknamed ''The irons from Mezdra'', counts 20 participations in the second division, and the best success in

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 ...

is a quarter-final in 1945–46.

2007–2012: NADIN ownership and promotion to the elite

The turning point in the history of the club was in 2007. The company NADIN bought the club, and almost all of its players were released and a significant number of valuable players were signed. The team won the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

without difficulty, finishing more than 10 points ahead of the second team in the table and qualifying for the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

for the first time in its history. In the first year in the top division, Lokomotiv's owner decided to bring players with a lot of experience in the Bulgarian football, his first signing being ex-

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 b ...

Saša Simonović Saša Simonović ( sr-cyr, Саша Симоновић; born 20 July 1975) is a former Serbian Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Simonović began his career with Radnički Niš, playing for the team between 1988 ...

, who arrived from

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 ground ...

for free.

Radostin Stanev Radostin Stanev ( bg, Радостин Станев; born 11 July 1975 in Varna) is a former Bulgarian football player who played as a goalkeeper. Career In Bulgaria Stanev started his career in Varna in the local Spartak. In 1998, he played for ...

Iliya Iliev Iliya Iliev ( bg, Илия Илиев; born 20 December 1974) is a former Bulgarian footballer, who played as a midfielder. Career Iliev started his professional career with Septemvri Sofia after coming up through their youth academy. He played ...

and Strati Iliev were just a few players who soon followed, as the club also signed seven imports –

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

David Silva David Josué Jiménez Silva (born 8 January 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Real Sociedad. Silva plays mainly as a central or an attacking midfielder but can also play as a winger or second striker. He is ...

, Rui Miguel and Fausto,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Zoran Cvetković Zoran Cvetković ( sr, Зоран Цветковић; born 16 December 1976) is a former Serbian footballer who played as a defender. Cvetković has previously played for Kastoria F.C. in the Greek Beta Ethniki and Vihren Sandanski in the Bu ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n Milan Janković,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Aristeidis Lottas Aristidis Lottas ( el, Αριστείδης Λώττας; born 16 September 1988) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Career Lottas began playing football in Olympiacos' youth teams. He also played for Bulgarian A PFG ...

and

Jiří Lenko Jiří Lenko (born 29 April 1985) is a Czech former professional football player. Lenko played mostly as a left-sided defender. Career Lenko started his career at Austrian team Rapid Wien, where he played from 2003 to 2005. He then joined K ...

from

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. The team coach was Viktorio Pavlov. The first top flight game was against Spartak Varna, a 0–2 loss. After the match, Pavlov decided to resign and Georgi Todorov was named in his place. In their first season in A Group, Lokomotiv eventually finished in 8th place, a success for a newcomer in the league. Their second season in the elite was less successful, and was marked by inconsistency on and off the pitch. Lokomotiv Mezdra eventually finished 14th, suffering relegation after two years of top flight football. The club was dissolved in early August 2012 after suffering from big financial debts. Two new clubs was founded in

– Lokomotiv 1929 in 2011 and Lokomotiv 2012 in 2012. Neither was really seen as a true and legitimate successor, and both eventually folded shortly after their founding.

2016–present: Refounding

The club was refounded in 2016, under the name FC Lokomotiv Mezdra, after the finantional failing of both Lokomotov 2012 and Lokomotiv 1929. In 2018, the new team managed to win the regional league of Vratsa and promoted to the Third League.

Honours

Domestic

Bulgarian 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 ...

*8th place 2008–09

* Twice 1/8 finalist 1946 and 2009–10

European

European Railways Cup European Railways Cup or European Railworks Cup or International Sports Railway Workers Union Cup or Cup of the European Sport Union of Railway Workers is a defunct friendly football club tournament. Winners Notes: *Note 1: Victory awarded to Yu ...

Winners (1): 2003Визитка

Current squad

Past seasons

Most games with the club

*1. 267 – Atanas Atanasov *2. 246 – Milcho Gergov *3. 210 – Bonko Raykov

Most goals with the club

*1. 83 – Georgi Yashov *2. 66 – Atanas Atanasov *3. 42 – Vladimir Hinkov

Notable players

Tsvetan Genkov Tsvetan Valentinov Genkov ( bg, Цветан Валентинов Генков; born 8 February 1984) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a striker for OFK Kostinbrod. Career Lokomotiv Mezdra Born in Mezdra, Genkov began his career in the l ...

(born 8 August 1984 in

, Genkov began his career in Lokomotiv at the age of seventeen, previously having been an athlete. For Lokomotiv he played 84 matches and scored 41 goals)

References

External links

*
Official websitebgclubs.eu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lokomotiv Mezdra Football clubs in Bulgaria Association football clubs established in 1945 Association football clubs established in 2016 1945 establishments in Bulgaria 2016 establishments in Bulgaria Mezdra